Chapter 14
I received only speechlessness in return. “He’s really great!” I added helpfully. “He—”
But Alex held up a hand to stop me, her eyes still wide with terror. “Hold on. You’re telling me that’s the guy?”
At this, I couldn’t help but break into a grin. “I know, right?” I said dreamily.
This didn’t seem to calm her down, though. She gulped and wrung her hands together, knuckles drained of color. I supposed that was fair, after what she’d seen.
“You’re dating Death,” Alex repeated. “Thanatos, reaper of souls. That’s who you’ve been sneaking out to meet? Almighty fucking Zeus. How?”
“Is he not the most gorgeous man you’ve ever seen? I met him when Damarion died, remember that?”
She nodded slowly, and I meant to continue explaining, but I was cut off by a knock at our door, along with the sound of the lock clicking open. “Make haste or you’ll be late,” Andrew called from the other side. The patter of his footsteps retreated briskly down the stairs.
Unfortunately, his words rang true.
“Look, I’ll explain everything as soon as I can,” I said quickly. “Please, just don’t say anything. Don’t even pray about it!”
Sophie frowned and folded her arms. “We haven’t up to this point. Why start now?”
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I’ll explain at lunch.”
So we put off the discussion and reluctantly prepared for our work. I could feel my sisters’ stares burning into my back as I led the line of seers down our spiraling staircase. I couldn’t blame them. I would have to be patient with their fears and their questions.
The relief of potentially spilling my secrets did bring a small smile to my face, though.
I promptly discarded it before entering the courtyard; by now I was well practiced in concealing my emotions from parishioners.
Our morning work passed agonizingly slowly and mostly uneventfully, although Zoe did discern the impending demise of some man’s favorite cow. Too bad for that guy.
When lunchtime arrived, we gathered up as much food as we could carry and hurried back to the privacy of our room. There, with the door closed and all of us seated comfortably, I continued my tale in hushed tones.
“Thanatos doesn’t visit our realm too often,” I explained. “His plane is for the dead, so mortals don’t see him until the end. But when he came for Damarion’s soul, I did. I saw him there when I wasn’t supposed to. That’s my gift.” I grinned at them.
“Okay…but I’m pretty sure we all saw him this morning,” Alex pointed out.
“Yeah, well, that was an accident. I think maybe he got too cozy, lying there with me? Anyway, he’s been up here before, and you’ve never seen him.”
“Seriously?” asked Sophie. “Fuck, Cyrie. That’s…that’s pretty creepy, you know.”
“He wasn’t—ugh, he saw nothing of you!” I responded hastily.
“It was only once or twice you were awake in the room with him. All the other times…” I faltered, blushing uncontrollably.
“All the other times, he just came to cuddle me at night. Well, and these last few weeks I’ve been braiding his hair behind my curtains. ”
Sophie stared at me. “You’ve been snuggling with Death and braiding his hair,” she repeated flatly.
“Yes.”
“Do you even understand how serious this is?” she demanded, throwing her hands into the air.
“Of course I do. I’m well aware that if either the temple or the Olympians find out, it will mean the end for me.”
“No, that’s not what I meant, and I don’t think you understand at all,” insisted Sophie.
“We’ve supported your agency to knowingly risk your own life over love.
We’ve even gone along with your keeping this relationship a secret from us.
But now you’re saying that…that Thanatos has been cuddling you one bed over while the rest of us try to sleep!
Dear gods, no wonder Alex has bad dreams.” Her eyes flashed with concern and bewilderment as they searched my own.
“Come on, Cyrie! Death in our bedroom? You can’t tell me that’s not weird! ”
“Well, this entire situation is weird!” I retorted. “It’s really fucking weird, but I like it! And he’s not what you think. You haven’t let me finish.”
“Fine, fine. Go on.”
“Well, first of all, it’s not like he goes around killing people.
Get that out of your head. He just comes for our souls when our time runs out, and steals us away to the Underworld.
Anyway, all of that happens in a realm distinct from our own, so when I met him, he was really confused by my sight.
I shouldn’t have known that he was there. That’s why he talked to me at first.”
An unconscious smile tugged at my lips as I envisioned our first meetings.
“We were both curious about each other. And then I asked him to come back, and he did. Every night he came to see me, and we sort of just…happened.” I sighed dreamily.
“My Thanatos. Oh, and he’s the one who fixed my face! And sliced up Keeper’s…well, you saw.”
Zoe made a noise of discomfort. “And you’re not afraid at all? Even after seeing what he’s capable of?”
“I mean, I was afraid at first,” I admitted. “But only until I realized he wasn’t trying to kill me. After that, I just wanted to get to know him. And as I did, my feelings became very different.” I shrugged, my smile spreading wider. Then I remembered something else.
“Oh! And it all makes sense now, doesn’t it?” I added excitedly. “Why I’m such an awful prophet? It’s because my gift seems to work differently than all of yours. Instead of granting visions of the future, my gift lets me see him.”
“But you’re not an awful prophet,” Alex replied, frowning. “Have you forgotten your cursed boy, and your hero’s valor?”
I snorted. “I was seven years old, and nothing even happened.”
“It still counts.”
“That’s not the point,” I complained. “The point is that I see Thanatos where no one else can. I met him during the rite of passing, and we just…I fell in love with him.”
It looked like they needed a moment to let my words sink in, so I nervously returned to picking at my lunch. I glanced up at their expressions while I waited, but for now my sisters’ thoughts were unreadable. Eventually, though, Zoe piped up to ask me more.
“So…you know secrets of the Underworld, then,” she guessed. “I mean, has he told you about the afterlife?”
That was a question I hadn’t expected, though perhaps I should have. “Uh, yes. But I don’t think he would want me to tell you about it. You weren’t even supposed to know about him, about us.”
“But surely you can reveal something to us,” Sophie cut in. “Any of the knowledge you’ve gained through your sight?”
“What? No!” I protested, my brow furrowed. “Why is that what you care about? You’ve looked into the eyes of a god, and you want more? Just…be happy for us.”
“I hardly think it a blessing to look on the face of Death!” Zoe retorted, her voice rising to a higher pitch.
She scooted over to rest her hand on my knee, in what I found to be an exceedingly patronizing motion.
“Your sight might not be like ours,” she pressed, “but look—it still granted you such precious knowledge! More precious than ours, even. This is your chance as an oracle, but you won’t share your gift with the world? ”
I’d never thought about it that way before, but the way she phrased it only emphasized the betrayal I would be enacting. “No, I won’t,” I said plainly. “Don’t ask me about it again.”
“You would truly choose Death over the three of us?”
“Don’t speak of him as though he’s a curse,” I snapped. “Let this be the knowledge that I give to you. Thanatos is more than what you consider him to be. Leave him alone!”
“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.” Zoe took her hand back and shoved some bread into her mouth.
The four of us returned to eating in awkward, heavy silence.
I knew there was more they wanted to hear, but now I had nothing else to give.
I’d wanted—no, expected—to hear giggles and girl talk, but it seemed they were still hung up on the whole ‘Death’ bit.
Dear fucking gods. I had to acknowledge my disappointment. Maybe they just needed more time.
So I resigned myself to that, and I said nothing more of it, not even as dinner came and went and we were locked in our room once again.
Silence ruled our chamber until the sun set, when the hushed sound of wings finally reached my ears.
I grinned when Thanatos appeared, and I jumped up to throw my arms around him.
“Hello, my love,” he said, giving me a squeeze. He pecked my lips in greeting. “Is everything okay?” His gaze fell on my sisters’ stupefied faces, then back to me.
“Could he maybe not be invisible?” Sophie squeaked out from the couch.
“Oh. Right.” Thanatos fluttered his wings. To me, nothing changed at all, but in unison my sisters twitched in surprise. Alex mumbled a hello.
“Don’t worry. They won’t say anything about us,” I assured him. “Right?” I added pointedly in their direction.
“Of course,” Sophie agreed. Despite their reservations about my relationship, I was grateful of my certainty that they would never put me in danger.
“That is a relief,” said Thanatos. He shot another glance in their direction. “Perhaps this is fortuitous. They know now, right? And you are safe. So…can we…?”
I blushed; of course that was the first thing he thought to ask. Well, I supposed I was guilty of thinking it, too. “Will you cover for me?” I asked meekly, turning to my sisters. “Just for the nights? You won’t even know I’m gone, I promise.”
They exchanged glances. “Sure, I guess,” said Zoe slowly.
“Yay!” I giggled, then bit my lip. “I mean, I’m sorry to put you through such trouble. Thank you for being on my side.” I received nods in return.
“Come with me,” said Thanatos. The room was already twisting around us, but I managed a little wave of goodbye before we plunged into the dark.