Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JACK
“Itake it everything is going according to plan?” Phillis stood in front of the panoramic windows of her office with a crystal glass in hand.
She wore a tailored black suit and spiked heels.
In all the years that I’d known Phillis, I’d never seen her look any other way besides perfect.
Perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect outfit. Nothing less would do for Phillis.
“You should’ve seen it.” I walked over to the bar she had sent up in her office and poured myself a drink.
Phillis turned to face the setting sunlight shining. “What was it like?”
“Unexpected.” I paused, taking a deep drink of the dark liquid and savoring the burn as it went down.
“How so?”
I moved to stand beside her and looked out the windows. “Usually, he does not show up until she’s about to die or is actively dying. Even then he remains invisible in his godly form.”
She turned back around to face the same direction. We sipped our drinks, gazing out over the water and watching the boats glide by. “And she wasn’t dying?”
I shook my head. “Not this time, though she’s taken enough risks over the last month.”
“Is that normal for her?” Phillis chuckled. “I can’t imagine thinking about what’s normal for a reincarnate.”
A heavy sigh left my lips. “Ana gave me a chance when no one else would. She trusted me. What’s normal for her changes with each of her lifetimes. But she’s still kind of the same in ways, different in others. It’s hard to explain.”
“Then explain to me how you are here like this after lifetimes? You are human, aren’t you?” Phillis had asked me this question before, but I never had an answer for her, and I still didn’t now. Even if I did know the answer, I wasn’t sure I would tell her.
“I am very much human.” I took another sip and held my other hand out. “No special powers that I know of.”
“Just Jack the Deathless.” She scoffed. “Ironic. One day I hope you let me figure it out for you.”
“No, I’ve always been Jack the Jinx.” Just thinking about that time with Ana brought a smile to my face. “Besides, have you stick me under a microscope? No thanks.”
She eyed me a little too closely, looking me up and down like she’d love to know how I ticked or what made me undying. “So, tell me, why is this time different?”
“He showed up out in the open, in front of everyone as if he were . . .” I paused, just thinking about how excited and normal he looked.
“As if he were?” she prodded me.
“Human.”
She scoffed. “That’s not possible. Thanatos has been plaguing the world with death since the beginning of time.
There was only one time when he was stopped and one time only: when my ancestor Sisyphus chained him up.
That name and that principle is what my family built this company on.
We’ve made this company immortal. He is not human.
He is a plague that makes us all human. Humans die. ”
“He didn’t seem godly,” I muttered.
“Doesn’t matter. We both know he’s a god and we both know that Anastasia is the only connection we have to him.” She walked over to her desk and dropped down into the chair.
I moved to the chair opposite her. “Yes, and she’s in place.”
“Are you so certain?” She narrowed her dark eyes at me.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Anastasia’s number. When it rang a few times, Phillis arched her eyebrows at me. Anastasia picked up a moment later. “Hey.” Her voice was breathless.
I smirked at Phillis. “Am I interrupting?”
“No.” She cleared her throat. “What’s up?”
“We have a location.”
A rustle of sheets filled the background and then the sound of a door opening and closing. “Where to?”
“Greece.” I paused. “You leave in the morning.”
“Send me the info.” Her voice sounded like a faint echo, as if she was in a bathroom. “I’ll be ready.”
I picked up my phone and hit a few buttons, sending the information over. “Sent.”
“Got it.” She paused, waiting for something.
“Anything else?” I offered as I glanced up at Phillis.
“Can I bring someone?”
Phillis pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, stifling her glee at the question. I hesitated. “Why would you bring someone to a job?”
Anastasia gave a nervous chuckle. “Down time?”
“Are we mixing business with pleasure?” I teased.
“I always get business handled.” She sighed. “But while I’m there, I see no harm in some pleasure as well.”
“This is a new side of you, Anastasia.” I chuckled.
“I’ve always had a love for adventure. It makes me good at what I do.”
“You’re not wrong,” I agreed. Phills waved me on and nodded, motioning to the phone. “If you fail to do your job—”
“I won’t,” she interrupted.
“Then I see no reason why you can’t bring a little entertainment.” I shrugged as though she could see it.
“You won’t regret it.”
“See you in Greece.” I ended the call and sat back in the chair.
“I don’t think it gets more perfect.” Phillis swung back and forth in the chair. “This is excellent.”
“I don’t think it could go better.” I took a deep drink. “She will bring him to us, and this will finally all be over soon.”
“You had better uphold your part of the deal.” She raised her glass to me.
I clinked my glass against hers. “Oh, I will, and then you will uphold yours.”
“I do hate to see our business coming to an end.” She got that shrewd glint in her eye. “We could do so much more, you and I.”
“I have only one objective.” I took a drink. “I will see it done.”
“You never know what the future will bring.” She sighed and leaned back in the chair.
I leaned back as well. “I’ve never known my future. No matter how long it’s lasted.”
She caught my eye and the joy she showed fell away. “We can’t miss this opportunity, Jack. For me, it’s a once in a lifetime one.”