Page 16 of The Death God
“Have you told him about Alaric?” Rufus leaned against the counter by the coffee maker.
“Who?” Prophecy looked between them.
“I thought you knew everything.” Jaki was still focusing on the cake, but Gregory took some pleasure in watching Prophecy give a silent snarl.
“Not yet.” He looked into Rufus’ eyes. “I’m working on establishing some trust.”
“And how is that going?” Rufus quirked his lips.
Gregory shrugged. “Small steps.”
“There are steps?”
The surprise in his voice made Gregory want to growl, but he swallowed it. He didn’t want to talk about it with an audience, so instead he shrugged, and bit into the piece of cake he’d cut for Thanatos. He hummed in approval, and Rufus sighed.
Once he’d eaten the whole thing, he looked around the silent kitchen. “What? It’s good.”
“It is.” Jaki nodded to show his agreement.
“I never doubted it was, but I believed you cut the piece for Thanatos.” Rufus took another sip of coffee before moving toward the table where Minerva and Prophecy had already squeezed in on the bench and started grabbing things Thanatos had brought out for them.
Gregory snatched a bread roll, cut it in half, and then went about slicing an egg and placing the rounds on the sandwich and adding some mayo. Then he cut another piece of the breakfast cake and went in search of Thanatos.
There were no sounds when he knocked on his door, not a single rustle. He walked toward the big room Thanatos and Jaki had painted and turned into a living room with a large TV on one of the walls. It was also empty. Could he have been in the bathroom when Gregory knocked?
He went back to knock again. Still nothing.
With a sigh, he walked back to the kitchen, sat by the table, and bit into the egg sandwich.
“Didn’t he want breakfast?” Rufus looked up from his coffee cup.
“Couldn’t find him. He wasn’t in his room and not in the living room.”
Rufus frowned.
“He might be with Zidane.” Jaki bit into another piece of cake.
“Zidane?” Gregory wanted to snarl but believed he managed to keep his tone normal.
“Yeah, he goes there from time to time.” He could hardly make out Jaki’s words since he was chewing.
“Why?”
Jaki shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s nice to talk to someone who doesn’t talk back. A staked vampire is the best kind of vampire.” Jaki grinned at him. “We could stake you, and maybe he’d want to hang out more.”
Prophecy chuckled, and Minerva smiled at her plate, not looking at Gregory but finding the idea of staking Gregory amusing for some reason.
“The gratitude in this group is astonishing.”
He should’ve beheaded Zidane. What did Thanatos get out of talking to him? There would be no replies. Zidane couldn’t move. He turned it over in his head. Zidane couldn’t move. Was that why? If Thanatos was with Zidane, he wasn’t alone, but there was no risk of being grabbed. But what point was there in talking to someone who didn’t talk back?
He got up and cut another piece of cake. They should have cake for breakfast every day. It was awesome.
A yawn forced its way through his system. Fuck, he should get some sleep. Thanatos should get some sleep. And food.
“Any jobs lined up?” Rufus looked at him. “We need money. Did you bring a tuxedo, or do we need to buy two?”
“Where are you going in tuxedos?” Minerva looked between Rufus and Gregory.
