Page 53 of Patron of Mercy

“Much as I’d appreciate the show, no.” Hermes waggled a pair of shoes in the air once he set down the rest of the clothes. “Had to guess your sizes. Figured they’re similar to mine.” Hermes’s assessing gaze flicked down Lach’s form under the covers. “Think I got pretty close. Could size you up for myself...”

Lach narrowed his eyes. “You testing me, Hermes?”

Hermes shrugged. “Thanatos isn’t like us. I don’t want to see him get hurt again. And frankly, I don’t want to watch Charon turn you inside out.”

Though he clamped his mouth shut, Lach’s sigh escaped through his nose. He couldn’t say he and Hermes were nothing alike—flippant, untrustworthy thieves, the pair of them. Shit, Lach was every bit as self-destructive as Hermes was, and just as prone to running away when things got rough.

“I’m not going to hurt him.” He might have to say it every day for the rest of his life to convince anybody, but he intended to follow through this time.

“Uh huh.”

Well, Hermes wasn’t the first god he needed to convince. “So,” Lach pivoted, “how much do I owe you?”

Hermes started. “What?”

Lach nodded toward the pile of clothes. “For those?”

“Oh.” Hermes waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Seriously, it’s no big.” Thanatos hadn’t let him pay for their room either. It hadn’t occurred to him that anyone might think he was every bit as destitute as he’d been on Thrinacia. Sure, he didn’t go around living the life of Riley, but he’d been ticking a long time. “I’d rather be square with you.”

“Lach”—Hermes waved a hand down his body as if Lach needed an introduction to his very existence—“god of thieves. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, uh...” Once upon a time, Hermes thieving him a new wardrobe wouldn’t have bothered him in the slightest, but Thanatos wouldn’t like it. Lach didn’t want to face his disappointment, even if he hadn’t done the actual stealing. Already, being with Lach was a compromise for Thanatos—a human who wouldn’t die, a man who wouldn’t settle down, and kind of a prick. If Lach wasn’t as close to perfect as he could get, the miraculous shot he had at being with Thanatos again wouldn’t last. “So where’d you get them then?”

“Main street in Thera. Couple different shops. Why?”

“No reason. They seem nice, and I lost everything. Might need more clothes.”

Hermes was looking at him like he’d gone crazy. “Okay. Well... You good?”

“I’m good.” Lach didn’t think it wise to ask a god, even a relatively friendly one, to run any more of his errands. “Thanks.”

With two fingers to his temple, Hermes saluted him. In a flash, he was gone.

Lach was surprisingly sore when he sat up. He shrugged his shoulder, and the pain that exploded in his head was so overwhelming he had to blink spots out of his vision. It’d been decades since he’d gotten shot, and modern guns were nothing if not efficient. Goddamn cowards hiding behind their technology.

He got out of bed. Hermes had a pretty keen eye, and the first shirt he pulled on fit fine. Trying everything on right away was out of the question—hard enough to get dressed trying to only use one arm.

Thank goodness Thanatos had grabbed his phone and wallet, so he stuffed those into his pocket. He left the little inn, making note of the name so he could get back, and had the woman behind the desk call him a cab.

That afternoon, Lach went around to the stores in Thera, trying to pick out ones he owed money to. Of course, he could’ve planned it better. By the time he got there, Lach had forgotten what most of the clothes looked like. When he described Hermes to the clerks, people just looked at him funny. Nobody’d seen him—of course they hadn’t—he could move faster than they could see.

Denied the chance to make true repayment, Lach settled on buying things he saw and liked. Until he walked past a jewelry case and saw a watch glinting in the display. It had a leather band, subdued and classic except for the large Roman numerals and the peculiar warmth of the gold casing. Thanatos didn’t wear jewelry that he’d seen, but Lach would put money on him favoring gold. Quite a lot of money, in fact.

“How much?” he asked the clerk in Greek.

He bought it without haggling. The sun was starting to go down when he stepped outside. It was probably time to get back.

Thankfully, Thera was less than half an hour from Oia, where they were staying. His bags fit with him in the back seat, but hauling them out again was a pain.

When he got back to the inn, up to the room Thanatos had gotten them, he struggled to get the door. Suddenly, it pulled in. On the other side of the threshold, Thanatos stared at him.

“Where were you?” Thanatos demanded. “I came back, and you were—” He cut off abruptly.

Lach frowned. He shifted the bags. “Little help?”

With both hands, Thanatos snatched them all from him. “Where were you?”

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