Page 54 of Patron of Mercy

It took Lach a moment to realize what was wrong. His heart sank. “You thought I left?”

A fair assumption, but it hurt how easily Thanatos could jump to it. “I’m sorry,” Lach blurted out. “I should’ve left a note. Let you know where I was.”

“Because you needed to go shopping?” Thanatos asked, shaking the bags. “You got shot, Mis sank, and you, what, needed to work it all out with some retail therapy?”

Lach’s spine straightened. His shoulder gave a dull throb. “No.” He took one slow breath, hoping that would give him the chance to come up with a perfect response. No luck. “Hermes brought me clothes, but he stole them. I thought you wouldn’t like—I don’t know. Figured I should try and pay. When you rip my clothes off, I don’t want you thinking about how they’re stolen.” He tried to pass the last off as a joke, but Thanatos only blinked at him. “I really am sorry I worried you.”

“I wanted you to rest.” Thanatos’s voice was small and hurt.

Lach bit his lip. “I know, but I’m not good at that. I did for a while, but I didn’t know when you’d be back, and... I don’t know. I fucked up.”

Thanatos shook his head. “You don’t have to run everything you do by me.”

“Well, maybe not all the time,” Lach agreed, “but I think we both know today wasn’t the day to just disappear. I was thoughtless.”

Again, Thanatos shook his head. “I figured you might be... I don’t know, upset with me?”

“Why would I be upset with you?” As much as Lach had wanted to go back for Mis, he couldn’t fault Thanatos for trying to keep him alive.

“I manipulated you.”

“You mean when you calmed me down? Thanatos, that doesn’t matter.” Maybe the idea of someone having that kind of power over him should’ve freaked him out, but it wasn’t like Thanatos had ever made a habit of it. On that dock all those millennia ago, Thanatos could have commanded Lach to stay. At any point, he could have used his formidable power to bend Lach’s will however he wanted. He hadn’t; he’d only done it for Lach’s own benefit. “I needed it.”

Thanatos grimaced. He looked unconvinced as he dropped the bags at the foot of the bed.

“I got you something,” Lach said.

As he straightened, arms crossed, Thanatos frowned. “What?”

Lach stepped in close, bent to search through a bag, and came up with the jewelry box. He held it out to Thanatos.

“I figured after New York, I owed you one.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Thanatos said softly as he opened the box.

Lach swallowed. He wasn’t a fool—a god didn’t need a watch, even a Cartier one. But what could Lach give Thanatos that he genuinely needed?

“Sure, but I figure, I don’t know, that it’d look nice with all your, uh, suits and stuff. Do you like it?”

Thanatos smiled softly. His thumb brushed over the watch face. “It’s nice. Too expensive.”

Lach laughed. “So? What, you think I’m destitute?”

The god blinked at him like he’d never considered an alternative. “Well, you steal.”

“From people who deserve it. When they have too much to pay attention. Thanatos, I’ve been working for the literal earth for millennia. Gaia’s got gold veins and gems running through her entire body, and she likes me. You think I’d still be working for her if I didn’t get paid? That sound like me?”

He leaned in and took the watch out of its box. He held it out for Thanatos to slip his hand inside, then clasped it shut around his wrist.

“Are you trying to seduce me with your riches, Lach?” Thanatos asked, and finally, Lach felt some of the tension in the room disappear. He might’ve startled Thanatos, but the damage he’d done wasn’t permanent.

“Maybe,” Lach admitted, smirking. “Is it working?”

Thanatos rolled his eyes.

Lach looked at the shining metal on his arm and shrugged. “I know it’s stupid. I just wanted to give you something,” he said. “I can’t be Elysium, and I don’t guess I can give you peace like that, but I can make being here a little better for you. Well, I can try. I’d like to try—”

Thanatos cut him off with a gentle hand around the back of his neck. He pulled him in. The god’s lips were soft but unrelenting. His tongue slid into Lach’s mouth, and the second his lips parted, Lach groaned.

---