Chapter Eighteen
Emily
Asha led me over to our couch and sat down with me. My throat was tight as she told me everything that happened to her. It was surreal to think Death existed, and he was hot. Also, a magician with a saucepan. I’d said as much, and she laughed before patting me on the back and going on.
After explaining that she’d been marked by Pestilence—aka, my slimy bastard—and had to find a way to stop the sickness from killing her, I was having trouble breathing again.
“Than figured out a way to save me, but then…well, Michael found me. She wants the end of the world as much as some of them do. Not all of them do, though, Ems. Some are fighting to stop it from happening, but that still means killing us.”
“Of course it does. Because why leave us alive when you could stab us and be sure it doesn’t happen?” My knee-jerk reaction was to crack jokes when I was overwhelmed and spiraling. “So what happened? You didn’t die, did you?”
Her eyes were softer now, the toll of her story weighing on both of us. “I did.”
“But you’re—”
“Not dead?”
“Yeah.” I stared at her, looking for signs that she was dead, or worse, undead. Were zombies a thing here? Vampires? Ghosts? Horsemen with weird abilities clearly existed. Same with the existence of a hot-as-fuck Death.
Her arms were around me as she held me close, her warmth soothing some of my fear. “It’s complicated. I’m not too sure how it happened, but I guess I have a new job now.”
I was a little afraid to ask. “And what’s that?”
“Helping souls find their afterlife.”
My fucking best friend became Death. What were the odds?
“That’s cool, I guess. Beats working at an office,” I said, voice hollow.
Asha’s laugh was just as hollow as mine. “It’s got its perks.”
“I’m all about perks.” I pulled away and searched her face.
I was in shock, probably. Maybe I’d never come out of shock since I was attacked by a demon. A week was hardly enough time to digest a supernatural alt-verse. But tonight, I just felt numb. Maybe a little bit broken. And it probably meant I liked him more than I thought I did.
Everything was hitting me all at once. It was a lot. I’d both lost my best friend and gotten her back without even knowing it. I couldn’t settle the emotion inside my chest at the thought I’d nearly lost her forever. That if she hadn’t figured something supernatural out, she’d just be…gone.
A tear broke away and slid down my face. “But seriously, Ash, you died and didn’t fucking tell me? What the hell?”
Her laughter lacked the usual feeling as she swiped away my renegade tear. “Would you have really believed me if you didn’t know about all of this?”
She made a fine point. I’d also struggled with how to tell her that the end of the world was nigh and I was in a fight to stop it.
It sounded very holier-than-thou of me, or rather, very street corner crazy dude of me.
But it was essentially how I saw it before my savior turned out to be my enemy.
Now I wasn’t too sure what the fuck I was doing.
The craziest part about all of this was that my head and heart were screaming what I had with Zelus was more than that.
That he hadn’t been out to take my soul.
He could’ve killed me this entire time, so why wait?
Why not do it that first night after we fucked?
Was I really just a game to him? A means to an end, literally?
It didn’t feel that way, and I couldn’t kick the thought that something wasn’t adding up.
I stared at my friend, holding her hands like a lifeline. “Why hasn’t he killed me yet?”
Her face fell, at a loss. “Thanatos mentioned the Horsemen have to ripen our souls before they can deliver them. Something like that, anyway. Maybe he’s been waiting for that.”
“Ripen? Ew, gross. What the fuck does that mean?”
She shrugged. “Not sure. He never explained that part.”
“So that’s what all this was?” I gestured at nothing in particular. “A mating dance for death?”
It didn’t feel right. Something still nagged at me. I’d read total honesty from him earlier. But maybe that was the part of me that was still hung up on Zelus.
Her lips kicked up at the fun new spin I’d taken on their pre-apocalyptic actions. “I think so. It’s hard to know with Zelus.”
“You’ve met him before. You said he tried to kill you?” I probed, uncomfortable with the idea that a guy I’d been very close to falling for had hurt my best friend. Not sure how I’d do it, but I’d kill him myself once my head started working better.
Before she could answer, Thanatos was back and hovering nearby. He appeared the same way Zelus did, out of fucking nothing. My pulse took a serious hit, but otherwise I didn’t react.
His expression was pensive. “He mentioned a demon and refuses to leave.”
Asha growled and a sudden darkness overtook the room. Death powers, I guess. My bestie had been scary as shit when she was human, but as Death? Watch out world.
“That bastard can go fuck right off. He’s not getting anywhere near my best friend. This so-called demon shit is probably just another attempt to weasel his way into her life.”
Thanatos ghosted over and knelt by her side. “I’ve known him a long time, little raven. Not once has he shown this much anger or determination to protect anyone. It’s not in his nature. I think we need to heed his words. She’s clearly been marked for Hell.”
I hadn’t expected him to defend Zelus after what he’d done to Asha. “You believe him?”
His eyes lifted to mine, no longer a pale blue but a startling white instead. “I do.”
Asha grumbled under her breath. “So he can use her soul to start the apocalypse, right?”
It was hard to hear it said again in so many words, that what I’d been feeling for him was one-sided. That again, I was deceived by someone I’d put my trust in. That Zelus was just another man who’d betrayed me in a long list of them.
I swallowed to clear the burning in my throat.
But Thanatos said something neither of us expected. “I can’t be sure.”
Glancing at him like he was crazy, Asha huffed in annoyance. “What does that even mean, Than? He tried to kill me, and he’s been hellbent on finding his Counter Soul this whole damn time.”
His eyes darkened at the mention of her nearly dying, and I got the feeling he wanted revenge for it. But the emotion bled away and he brushed Asha’s face with his knuckles, nothing but love in his eyes.
I wasn’t even the least bit surprised that my girl would have a powerful being like Death falling for her. She was a goddamn prize.
“Counter Souls are meant to be humanity’s last defense against their demise,” he explained. “They were put between us and the apocalypse for a reason, though we still don’t know what that reason is. We could only theorize about them before now, so what we do know is limited to our interactions.”
His stare darted to mine.
“Zelus doesn’t care what I do to him as long as you are taken care of. He asked me for my help, and he hasn’t formally requested my assistance in any capacity until now. Not like this. Whatever demon is after you, it’s one even he fears.”
Asha seemed confused by the statement, but I wasn’t.
“I get the feeling it’s a very small list that makes you guys worried?”
His smile was annoyingly gorgeous. “You’d guess right.”
And he’d asked Thanatos for help instead of demanding he have me back? Those weren’t the actions of someone who planned to kill me. At least, it didn’t add up if that was the case.
My gut was telling me that there was more to this, so I asked, “This demon is seriously bad news, isn’t he?”
Thanatos nodded and brushed his hair back. “Based on Zelus’s accounting of the last week, yes. It’s likely to be one of Lucifer’s seven brothers with the number of demons he’s sent and how often they’ve crossed over without issue.”
“Lucifer’s brothers? So, like, fallen angels?” I asked.
Without seeing it happen, he suddenly had Asha on his lap, and it oddly made me miss Zelus, though I’d still have to kill the asshole for trying to murder my bestie. “Something like that.”
Asha held my hands tighter but turned her face toward her beau. “Why would someone like that want her?”
Thanatos shook his head. “It’s hard to say, but it appears Zelus is determined to find out. He asked Limos to assist as well, and those two don’t get along. I’m surprised Limos agreed.”
My mouth fell open in shock. “The dude with white hair and red eyes who I’m pretty sure models as a past time? That guy?”
His amusement reached his eyes. “Humans call him Famine.”
Holy fuck. I’d now met three of the four Horsemen and lived to tell the tale. Though, for how much longer, I couldn’t really say.
Asha’s eyes went from me to him. “Did he really ask you for help? After everything he’s done?”
Thanatos stared at her. “He did, and I admit, I’ve never seen Zelus this frantic to get me to listen.” He seemed surprised by his own observations. “He apologized.”
My friend’s mouth pursed. “To you?”
“And to you,” he added. “He said if we only watch over Emily and keep her safe until time’s run out or the demon is dealt with, he’d do whatever it took for however long it took to make amends.”
“Time’s run out? As in run out the clock on the apocalypse?” Asha asked in disbelief. “That’s what, in two or three months?”
Thanatos expression was grim. “None of us truly know. We’d thought a month at first, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“Great,” she huffed angrily. “So indefinitely unless everyone agrees no apocalypse.”
His smile was affectionate, and I had to be glad it was him who found her. Even if, you know, he was Death and had planned to end the world before meeting her.
“I’m guessing Z doesn’t apologize often?” I asked the question bugging me most when the quiet stretched between them. I half-expected them to start making out and banging on the couch with how much sexual tension lingered in their stares.
Thanatos hummed his agreement. “I have never heard him apologize to anyone. That bastard believes he’s always right.”