Page 49 of The Death God
Shortly after, the kitchen emptied of everyone but Thanatos.
“I know you don’t like it, but we can’t leave them.” Thanatos looked nervous. He increased the distance between them, and his gaze never met Gregory’s.
Gregory didn’t say he believed leaving them would be for the best. Instead, he got up and grabbed the bottle of gin. He found ice cubes in the freezer and dropped a few into a wine glass, then repeated the action in another wine glass.
Once he’d poured gin over the ice, he moved back to the table. “Here.”
“Should you be drinking when you’re about to head out?”
“I’m not heading out for hours to come, and I’m a vampire. A little gin won’t do any harm.”
Thanatos got up from his seat, and Gregory feared he’d run off to his room, but he went to the refrigerator and reached for his sourdough on top of it. He examined it for a few seconds, then he went to get flour and added some water. Gregory watched his every move. Not because he was interested in sourdough, but to find a way to get rid of the tension in Thanatos.
Once he put the jar back on the refrigerator, he glanced at the doorway as if contemplating escaping.
“Come here.”
“Maybe I should—”
“Have a drink with me, darling.”
Thanatos hesitated but slowly moved closer.
“Sit with me.” Gregory had taken the chair and gestured for Thanatos to sit near him on the bench. He wanted to pull him onto his lap, but the no chairs or tables warning was still ringing in his mind. Sitting on his lap on a chair might be triggering.
With a defeated sigh, Thanatos sat. He grabbed the glass Gregory placed in front of him and sipped. Gregory grinned as he crinkled his nose, but then he took another sip.
Chapter 17
Thanatos wanted to run and hide somewhere Gregory couldn’t find him. He’d angered him, and he was unsure of what consequences it would have.
He sipped on the cold drink again. He couldn’t decide if he liked it or not. At first, he thought not, but something made him drink a little more, and a little more, and a little more. Gregory kept quiet, and it was driving Thanatos insane. He needed him to do something. Snarl at him, tell him he was stupid to think they could trust these psychics, punish him for forcing Alaric, Rufus, Amell, and Gregory to risk their lives for people they’d never met. Oh, God, he’d put them all at risk. What if they got hurt? What if they got killed?
Panic wrapped around him like icy tendrils preventing him from breathing. If Rufus died, Jaki would die too. Shit, it would only be Minerva, Prophecy, and him left. They wouldn’t be able to protect themselves. What would happen to the castle? Where would they live? They’d go back to the house of horrors.
“Breathe.”
He jumped at Gregory’s voice.
“What if something happens?”
Gregory gave him a crooked smile. “Something will happen. The superintendent or whatever will hear that the mating is off. They’ll come to collect Himeros.”
Thanatos took another swallow of his drink only to realize it was mostly ice left.
“More?” Gregory was looking at him with amusement. How could he be amused when Thanatos had demanded he risk his life for people he didn’t know and didn’t want to get to know? Before Thanatos could answer, Gregory got up and fetched the bottle. He poured more of the see-through liquid into Thanatos’ glass but didn’t top his own glass off. Most likely because it had most of its content left.
“Fuck.” Thanatos put his elbows on the table and cradled his head.
“Tell me a good memory.”
Thanatos looked up. “What?”
“A good memory, something that made you happy.”
Thanatos shrugged. His mind blanked. Did he have any good memories? Sharing a room with Prophecy most of his life, there hadn’t been any jokes or funny incidents. Meeting clients never made him happy, even if they didn’t hurt him. “I don’t know if I have one.”
“Of course you do. Something has to have made you happy at some point, something that made you feel good.”
