Page 19

Chapter Nineteen

Asha

I hadn’t expected to wake up. When I slipped into a boundless darkness, I thought for sure that was the end of my story. So, when I woke up with Thanatos holding me and Michael hovering over my face, I couldn’t believe it. He’d done it. He saved me.

But at what cost?

I worried about it before I realized that Emily would find the letter I left if she hadn’t already. If I could help it, I wanted to make it back home, check on her, and then get rid of the damning evidence that I'd nearly kicked the bucket. I’d worry about the supernatural-world consequences of what Death had done to save me once I got the real-world consequences of what I'd tried to do resolved.

A girl could only do so much at once.

When we appeared inside my living room, Thanatos didn’t wait. His lips came down on mine so hard I tasted blood in my mouth. His tongue pushed inside, coaxing mine to tangle with his. The desperation of his kiss was so sudden that I couldn’t get my thoughts together. He held me so close, so hard, that I couldn’t get away, so I just kissed him back and hoped Emily wasn’t home.

When I finally pulled free, the God of Death stared at me in that dangerous way of his. Like he’d consume me whole after chasing me. Like he couldn’t wait to rip my clothes apart and fuck me until I screamed.

Gah! I wanted it, too, but I stole a look at the window. It was daylight. Either Emily was asleep or already at work. Either way, I didn’t have time to get distracted by the gorgeous soul collector. If he caught me with another kiss like the first one, I’d be his before I did the one thing I’d come to do. I’d get lost to the all-consuming current of his caress.

“One minute,” I pleaded with my finger in his face when he moved forward, ready to attack. “I’ll just get the letter and then…then I’m all yours.”

Thanatos’s lips lifted impishly, and my heart hit harder against my chest. “All mine? Aren’t you already?”

“You know what I mean, asshole. I—just give me a minute!” I rushed to say, then headed for my room with my pulse pounding in my ears.

I tripped over the rug and barely saved myself from a faceplant. Shit. My legs were already jelly after one fucking kiss. It was the first day with him all over again. I couldn’t get my pulse under control. My body was ramped up, ready to be his in every way it could. Again.

I nearly died a few minutes ago. I’d dodged death, but that didn’t mean I wanted to evade Death himself. Fuck that. I wanted to jump his bones and show him how glad I was to still be here; that we’d been given more time. But first, I’d remove all evidence that I’d been close to breathing my last.

With a happy grin distorting my face, I opened the door to my room and walked over to the bedside table. The letter was where I'd left it. The back was still sealed. She hadn’t seen it. Thank fuck. After tearing it to pieces and throwing the mess into the drawer so I could discard it covertly later, I turned around. I thought at first Thanatos had followed me in, but it wasn’t him in front of me. It was someone else. Someone I hadn’t expected to see in my room. But with how dark it suddenly was, it took me a minute to figure it out.

I chanced a look at the door, but it was closed. “Wait…why are you here?” I asked in a startled whisper as wings spread out with brilliant light, no longer a fluorescent shape but fully solid beams. The feathers were unmistakable and damning.

My heart hit harder and acid rose into my throat.

Why would she be here now?

With the curtains drawn, I couldn’t see anything else but the glimmer of her smile. “Nothing against you, human. I need to make good with God. You understand, right?”

I hadn’t any clue what she meant until sharp pain echoed inside my chest. She yanked a glowing blade covered in dark liquid from my body. I reached up, the blood pouring quickly over my hands, but my head hadn’t caught up with the sight covering my fingers and soaking my dress. Was this my blood? Before I could do anything but gasp, I collapsed.

“Your soul is needed to start the apocalypse. It’s His will. Nothing you or Death do can change that. It’s always been Thanatos’s purpose—and yours. But since he’s abandoned it, I guess I’ll have to do it for him.”

I tried to inhale, but blood was already filling my mouth. I coughed and tried to clear it out, but it didn’t help. More blood just replaced it. Struggling, I stared up at the angel hovering over me like the sight of me dying was a mere inconvenience.

“Apologies. I meant to hit your heart, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to put my blade through a human. I’m out of practice. You won’t suffer long, Chosen One. I’m sure you’ll be greatly rewarded for the part you played in doing His will. If anything, you should be honored.”

I couldn’t react to the crazy speech she spouted at me. I mean, was she serious? Me, thankful for my death that would lead to millions—no, billions of other deaths? How did that make sense? Why would I take any pleasure in that?

Unable to breathe, I clawed at my throat. The pressure in my head from being unable to breathe grew too impossible to ignore. I moaned and whimpered, desperate for it to end. And as the seconds ticked on, my vision tunneled. I tried to fight as hard as I could, but my body was shutting down. The pain was ebbing away. A numb cold swiftly took its place.

Michael cocked her head to one side, staring down at me like I was a bother. “That should be close enough. Your soul looks ready.” She reached for me, but surprise widened her eyes. After light beamed around her hands and then dimmed to nothing, her lips curled into a snarl. “That just fucking figures. God would make this whole thing complicated. Guess I’ll just have to make sure the next Horseman does their bloody fucking job, won’t I?”

I didn’t understand what was happening, only that she seemed upset that whatever she tried to do wasn’t working. She peered down at me before her head jerked over to the door. Then she was gone.

It was ironic how everything came full circle. I’d evaded my death the night I met Death, and yet here I was, still dying. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Maybe we couldn’t escape our fate, but I hated that tomorrow, the world would end because I wasn’t strong enough to keep my soul. Tomorrow, I’d be the reason every human ceased to exist.

I sputtered, coughing blood, staring up at an entirely dark ceiling thanks to the zero-light curtains Emily encouraged me to get. It was odd to be dying only a few rooms away from Death. It was such a waste to think I hadn’t gotten a chance to work out how I truly felt about him. I didn’t want to leave him like this. I just had to hope that wherever I went after this was somewhere maybe I could see him again. But based on how he acted when I’d told him about the mark, that wasn’t going to happen.

Tears rolled down the sides of my face when I thought I never really got to say goodbye to Emily. I’d torn up the letter. She’d be alone when the world ended, and that was probably the worst part about all of this next to dying before I got the chance to explore my feelings for Thanatos.

So many regrets, and all of them selfish in the end.

Before my vision completely blackened, Thanatos’s figure loomed above me, his face distorted with impossible rage. I tried to smile and tell him it was okay. I’d been ready to die the day we met. Guess even having a good relationship with Death couldn’t save you from the inevitable. I didn’t want him to blame himself. Not that he would. He was Death. I was a blip in a long life of moments, so he’d be free after this.

I just wished that I could ask him not to use my soul to end the world. If I got one wish, that’d be it. But I couldn’t talk anymore. I couldn’t even breathe. I slipped away before I got the chance to tell him that I wished we had more time; that I would’ve done anything to stay by his side and show everyone humans were worth saving.