Page 15 of Patron of Mercy

“Yup.”

Neither one of them moved toward the cronuts. Seconds ticked by without any other explanation. Clearly, Thanatos didn’t think he was owed one. Hell, he wasn’t wrong.

Prometheus returned then. Somehow, the titan’s energy seemed to fill the room, working into the chasm Lach felt between himself and Thanatos.

“You don’t want one?” Prometheus asked. “Adrian assured me they’re very good.”

“I’d love one,” Thanatos replied smoothly, sending Prometheus a genuine smile. Lach had bought him a slice of the best pizza in DC, and he hadn’t gotten even a hint of a smile like that. “Thank you.”

Daintily, Prometheus put one on a plate for him and passed him a napkin. “Lach?”

“Sure,” Lach grunted, way too surly to manage good manners. Thanatos narrowed his eyes at him, so he huffed out a low “thanks.”

Prometheus, despite this less-than-pleasant exchange, remained delighted as he leaned against the counter and ate his cronut. He hummed his pleasure, glancing between the two of them for confirmation.

Thanatos took a bite and nodded. “It’s very good.”

Loath to be left behind, Lach took a bite of his. Gods damn it all, it was delicious. Defeated, he sighed, but Prometheus seemed to think it was in satisfaction.

“I’m determined to try every pastry on the eastern seaboard,” Prometheus informed them. “Breads aremuchbetter now.”

Thanatos laughed. “Don’t I know it? Breads, cheeses, wine—all so much better.”

“I didn’t know,” Prometheus replied. A shadow passed between the two of them, and Thanatos reached out to touch his arm.

“I’m sorry.”

Thanatos met his eyes frankly, no hardness there, none of the defensiveness he’d shown Lach. Once upon a time, Thanatos had looked at him like that. After so long, it shouldn’t have hurt that things had changed, but leaning against that counter, Lach was lost. These two beings before him were immeasurably powerful and kind. They made each other smile and laugh, and exchanged comforting touches like that meant nothing. All Lach wanted to do right then was stuff his face with another cronut. Or four.

Lach brushed his wavy hair back from his face, more to fidget than because it bothered him. He’d gotten used to the light brown curls falling in his eyes.

“There is absolutely nothing to be sorry for,” Prometheus said gently, reaching out to squeeze Thanatos’s hand.

Chewing on the edges of his tongue, Lach reminded himself that he wasn’t there to win over Thanatos. He was there because he’d watched his little brother waste away when the fish had swum from his father’s nets and Helios’s glow kept things from growing on the island where he’d been born. Because there weren’t many worse ways to die, and people were in trouble.

“Should I be jealous?” a man asked in a pleasant rumble of a voice. He had broad, sharp features and the kind of scruff on his cheeks that Lach wanted tickling his thighs.

Prometheus laughed. With his own heart all twisted up, it was like Lach had missed the punchline.

“Julian, this is Thanatos, and his friend Lach.”

Julian smiled charmingly and stepped in to shake each of their hands. “Nice to meet you,” he said.

“How’d your meeting with the huntsman go?” Prometheus asked.

“All quiet. Did you get a cronut?” Julian asked when he returned to Prometheus’s side, slipping his arm around the titan’s waist. Prometheus looked at him like he was deep fried and covered in sugar, and for the first time, Lach considered that whatever had been between Thanatos and Prometheus, it might not be what he thought.

“I did. But I’m planning on another,” Prometheus said.

Elated, Lach grinned at Thanatos. Only Thanatos didn’t look half as thrilled as Lach felt when he stared back at him.

“So,” Thanatos said, turning to the pair of them, “we actually came to talk about Cronus.”

Donut Bones

He didn’t know what was going on in Lach’s head, going from stunned to surly to thrilled in the space of a few minutes, but Thanatos was almost worried about him. And annoyed, because Prometheus had been through enough without Lach being weird to him.

“Cronus another of Zeus’s bizarro family?” Julian asked, leaning over to look at the box of pastries. He was a beautiful man, and the smile he gave Prometheus was almost blinding.

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