Page 55 of Shadow of Death

“We’ve?” I asked. I was done not pushing back, just taking whatever they said and dealing with it or being left hanging.

“Me and others of my kind.”

So a bunch of gods were sitting around chatting about my life.

“And what have you all decided aboutmylife?” I asked, not hiding my derision. If they were going to kill me then so be it, but I wasn’t going down without even pushing back.

“When mortals have been given this much power in the past, the majority of them have succumbed to it with dire results. Kicks’ father didn’t have nearly the power flowing through you and he nearly killed all humankind.”

I crossed my arms, staring him down. “Except you keep forgetting I don’t have access to any of it.”

“But you will. It’s only a matter of time before you overcome that.”

So itwaspossible? I still had my abilities? I wanted to ask him about the wolf but wouldn’t. If I were channeling powers through him somehow, it wouldn’t be good to bring it to his attention. Trusting this creature would be a mistake.

“What powers did Kicks’ father have?” I asked instead—after all, he’d brought it up.

“He discovered a way to shift the line that divides the living from the dead for just a short moment. When he shifted that line, he caused the massive moment of death to occur.”

“How did he discover such a thing?”

“That is something that will never be discussed and has since been rectified. But in his pursuit, he caused the most vulnerable among you to die.”

He must have somehow known it would kill more humans than shifters.

“We can no longer look the other way when one among you achieves such power,” Charon continued. “Death should notmeddle in the affairs of the living in this direct way. It isn’t done.”

“Then you should speak to her.”

“She is not one who is open to such things.”

I’d thought it was just me. Looked like she was on the outs even with her fellow gods. Considering what she’d been like the last time we talked, like a serial killer getting addicted to the high, it only spoke better of them.

“So what does this mean for me?” I asked, sick of this back-and-forth. I was getting used to going it alone. In some ways, I preferred it.I’dshow up for me. Couldn’t always say that about everyone else.

“There are those among us who feel that because you never asked for this, you should be left alone. Others are leerier, especially after what has happened.”

Why did I have a feeling he was among the ones ready to kill me? Why wouldn’t he be? My life was nothing to these people, as Death had proven.

“We’ve come to a compromise. We’ve decided we might be able to leave you be, perhaps even help, but you’ll need to prove yourself first. One, you’ll have to agree not to do any more of Death’s bidding.”

“I can’t stop her.” How many times was I going to have to tell him this?

“If you pass our tests, we will help you unlock your powers so that you won’t have to do what she needs.”

Something wasn’t fitting here. Why wouldn’t they just kill me and then stop her?

“You can’t stop her on your own, can you?”

There was a second too long of a delay before he said, “We’d prefer to handle it this way.”

Yeah, and didn’t that just say it all? They couldn’t stop her.

“What do you want me to do to prove myself? Isn’t the fact that I’m begging her to stop proof enough?” All I’d tried to do was figure out a way to rid myself of anything she’d given.

“No. Not when we might make you that much more powerful.”

That meant I’d be able to protect the people I loved without having to fear the darkness inside of me or worrying about what price Death might extract for her help. It meant peace. Being able to build a life of stability for Charlie and maybe a future for myself.

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