Page 72 of Patron of Mercy

Thanatos stared at the second hand, ostensibly some kind of submarine that had rammed the cultists’ boat. A thought started to form in his mind, but around Hermes, nascent thoughts were rarely able to come to fruition.

“So anyway, I gave Dad the cultists. He’s still all pissed at me, but he hates his dad way more than Hera, so maybe I’m a little out of the doghouse.” He looked so hopeful that it broke Thanatos’s heart. Zeus was a better father than his own had been, but no good father produced sons who feared him as much as they were desperate for his approval. And really, it didn’t take much to be a better father than a man who ate his children.

“And the cultists?”

Hermes sighed as though put upon, but there was still mischief twinkling in his eyes. He was so much like Lach, sometimes. “I guess there are more who didn’t make it for the sacrifice. Lach-rifice?” He shook his head. “Anyway, Dad told me to track down the rest of them, ’cause we can’t have people trying to free Cronus around.”

A little of the energy went out of him, and he frowned at the floor.

“Hermes?” Thanatos prodded.

Hermes looked back up, offering a half smile for a second before biting his lip. “I dunno. Something seemed off about the way he was acting. If I didn’t know Dad better, I’d say maybe he was, like... scared.”

Things were getting stranger and stranger as they went, but at least for the time being, Thanatos was done with godly infighting and plots to destroy all humanity. He hoped he was, anyway.

“If your father is nervous about it, I hope you’ll do your best to be careful, Hermes. Zeus isn’t easily frightened, and they might have been easy to round up, but those cultists almost succeeded in summoning Cronus.”

Hermes frowned at that but nodded. “I will be. And if things go bad, I’ll call you and Lach. I mean, not right away, because you guys are going to be going at it like—”

“Good night, Hermes,” Thanatos said, stepping back and closing the door.

Just before the door clicked shut, Hermes said, “But it’s morning!”

Thanatos rolled his eyes and turned to see Lach watching him from the bed. This was getting to be a habit. “Sorry. I was hoping we wouldn’t wake you, but Hermes is... Hermes.”

Lach grinned at that. “Hey, I like him. Most of the time. Didn’t know he liked me, but he’s fun.”

“Didn’t know he liked you?” Thanatos asked, staring in disbelief. “You didn’t think the god of tricksters, thieves, and travelers would like you, the thief and trickster who’s spent the last few millennia traveling around the world on boats?”

Lach didn’t answer, just shrugged and kept grinning at him.

That was when he remembered Hermes’s odd story about the cultists’ boat. “You want to get dressed and take a walk?”

Lach quirked an eyebrow. “A walk? Why would we go for a walk when we have a perfectly serviceable bed right here?”

“Humor me. You’re going to have to get used to that.”

Without further argument, Lach hopped out of bed and set to dressing. There was no struggle this time; it seemed that while Gaia’s healing hadn’t replenished his energy, it had definitely healed both the knife wound and the previous gunshot.

Thanatos had always been a little bitter toward Gaia for keeping Lach’s loyalty when he couldn’t, but that evaporated like so much dew in the dawning light of Lach’s bright grin. Gods didn’t worship other gods, but Thanatos sent off a tiny mental thank you to the earth for preserving the man he didn’t know how to exist without anymore.

Melitini

Lach had never been the sort to take early morning walks or even late morning walks. Whenever he strolled, it was with an eye to what he could get out of it. Now, his prize was slipping his fingers through Thanatos’s, which was definitely worth getting out of bed for.

They stopped at a bakery for breakfast and got melitini. The pastry was golden and flaky, the sweet, creamy cheese melting on his tongue. Thanatos insisted he eat first, and Lach indulged him by taking the first bite. Then he held it out in front of Thanatos’s lips.

“You have to get over the idea that I’m so fragile, I need pastries to keep me alive,” Lach chided, earning a faint glare.

“You almost died. You need to get your strength up.”

“Not sure this is the most nutritious option, Thanatos.” When Thanatos furrowed his brow as if he were considering dragging Lach off for a dozen eggs and a rasher of bacon, Lach laughed. “It’s fine. It’s good. Try some.”

Watching pleasure bloom on Thanatos’s face when he took a bite made Lach wish they’d bought a dozen rather than four, carefully wrapped for later.

They walked along the edge of the coast, and Thanatos narrowed his eyes out at the water. In the distance, Lach could make out the shape of Nea Kameni, but Palea Kameni was hidden behind it.

“Are we looking for something?” Lach asked.

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