Page 60 of The Death God
Thanatos placed the pans on the table and served coffee.
“How much could she have influenced Alaric through you?”
Amell shrugged, and dread filled Thanatos’ gut anew. “If you were incapacitated, would she fill in for you?”
Both Gregory and Amell studied him.
“How do you mean?” Amell’s hold on the coffee cup tightened.
“Alaric said by mating with you, she would’ve become powerful. But powerful how? Would people be forced to obey her orders simply because she was your mate? If you were, say, crippled with sadness and unable to attend meetings, would she fill in for you? If you were unable to function right, would she take over your spot? Get a say in the pack’s decisions? Do you have meetings about things or does Alaric call all the shots?”
“He has the final say, but what’s the point in having a council if you don’t listen to them? As for if she’d have a say…” He looked into the distance. “I think maybe she would.”
Gregory lowered his fork. “You believe she would’ve used other psychics to gain control over the Quin pack?”
“I have no idea. I was only trying to understand, but knowing there is someone like Penthus out there, and she most likely has access to them, if she has enough money—”
“You think it’s an attack on the pack, not just me.” Amell looked furious.
“I don’t know. I don’t understand what she’d gain from mating you. Is it enough power or status or whatever for someone to want to bind themselves to someone in a life-long loveless bond? Would she be like a queen or something?”
Amell stared at him, and he sighed. Maybe it was a secret to the outside world.
“I only meant the mating might have been the first step. Who the hell knows what skills the other psychics have? I doubt the superintendent only has five psychics when the warden had forty. She might specialize in those who can work within society while the warden kept us locked up and had customers come to us. There is no way to know what skills are out there.”
Amell looked a little pale. “Fuck, I hate this.”
“Eat.” Thanatos gestured at the food. “I’m gonna bake.” He got off the bench.
“Not yet.” Gregory grabbed his wrist. “You eat something, too.”
He grimaced.
“I mean it. You eat now, or I’ll pull you down on my lap and force-feed you.”
Thanatos snorted but sat. He didn’t want Gregory to do something when Amell was watching, and he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t, so he grabbed a slice of bread and reached for the cheese.
* * * *
Gregory looked around the forest. There was a pile of clothes on the ground in a clearing not far from where they stood. “This is where you dumped it?”
“There is only one road leading here, and I’m assuming they’ll come by car if they’re planning to bring him in.” Amell was looking around the trees. Alaric and Rufus had left shortly after they’d arrived, heading back to the castle to get some rest. There had been nothing to report.
“Do you think they’ll come? They must know the mating is off, and the tracker hasn’t moved.”
“Maybe they think he’s passed out.”
Yeah, it made sense. It wasn’t the answer Gregory had hoped for, but it made sense.
“How is it being with a psychic?”
Gregory peered at him. “Meaning?”
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll control you?”
“Had I been with someone like Himeros, I would have, but Thanatos sees death. It’s his only skill.”
“Gruesome.”
