Page 21 of A Waltz with Lord Death
“I don’t know.”
Time sighed and dropped her hands from his shoulders. “Death, be reasonable here. You’ve always been sensible. Don’t stop now.”
The room fell silent as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared intensely at the floor. A selfish part of him hoped in vain to fill the empty, lonely voids of his heart. Meira always managed to touch his soul with warmth. But he could not change her decision.
Pushing back his own desires of happiness, he nodded and dropped his hands to his sides. The burdens of Death had never felt so heavy upon his shoulders. “You’re right.”
He started to exhale a breath once again when a loud clamor reached his ears. Shouts echoed from the next room. Acrid smoke filled the air. Isaac’s eyes widened moments before he took off toward the ruckus.
“Wait, no!” Death shouted, but when he attempted to grab the man by the collar of his shirt, his fingers missed by mere inches. “Isaac, come back!”
He didn’t. Instead, the smoke thickened, obscuring his view. He held his breath as he squinted through the smoky haze and started forward, but a violent cough behind him held him back.
Betha fell to her hands and knees as coughs attacked her small frame. He was by her side in an instant.
“Go after him!” she cried before another violent coughing fit. “He’s more important than me. I’ll likely survive this fire.”
Heat seared his skin as gray smoke became black. Screams lifted into the air. He didn’t dare breathe in the smoke as well.
Pulling up his tunic to hide his face, he said, “I don’t care to test that theory.”
He lifted her into his arms and shoved her face into his shoulder to shield her from the worst of the smoke. She still coughed, and her body spasmed. The heat was stifling. Unbearable. Heat had never affected him before as Death, but fire was far different. It burned. He’d heard it was one way to kill an immortal like himself, but it was only a myth.
One by one, screams died down. He approached the wall and placed a gloved hand to the searing brick, pushing all his destructive power into the rough material. After a few moments, the wall crumbled, and a rush of fresh air burst toward them. He hopped over the rubble, and only when they were far enough from the burning building did he set Betha down. Her coughs died down little by little, until together, they watched fire claim not only the building, but the entire town. Men on horseback carried torches and whooped as they set homes ablaze.
They were trying to burn the plague-infested town down.
“Betha,” he growled as he watched the men ride away. Even though Isaac was immune from aging, even he couldn’t have survived the flames. “I need you to step through time and change the outcome of the fire. We need Isaac.”
“Step through time?” she wheezed. Soot stained her skin, and he reckoned he didn’t fare much better. “I’m using far too much power holding Barret in the time prison. I don’t have enough remaining power to do as you ask.”
“Then turn back time only for the building.”
“I can’t. It’s too big a sphere of influence.”
“Please try.”
After looking into his eyes for several long moments, she finally nodded and took out her golden pocket watch. Her eyelids closed over blue irises. The space around them rippled. A tingling sensation shot up his arms. His heart pounded with hope as he watched flames retreat the way they had come, but all too soon, the flames leaped back up and continued their path of destruction.
Betha fell to her knees in exhaustion. And then she hid her face in her hands and began to weep.
“I can’t do it!” she cried. “I can only do a minute and nothing more. That’s not enough time to save Isaac.”
Devastation struck him in the heart over the loss of the man who could have become Life, while a pang of remorse hit him in the gut.
“It’s fine,” he whispered, rubbing her back soothingly. “We’ll find someone else.”
“But people are dying! So many people. What happens when there’s no one left?”
He’d tried hard not to think about it, but he needed to face the reality that if they didn’t find someone to replace Barret, life would end as they knew it. Controlling his powers became harder and harder by the day when they met no resistance.
Finally, she stopped crying, and he moved to stand when she snatched his hand. Tears and soot created black stains across her face. She swallowed and lowered her voice to a whisper. “D, if you’re lonely…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t need to. For many years, she had always harmlessly flirted with him, even in front of Barret, who hadn’t cared because of the trust and security in their relationship. But until now, she had never been serious. Her earnestness shocked him.
With a shake of his head, he pulled his hand out of her grasp. “I know you’re lonely, too. Barret was your soulmate. Don’t give up on him now. We will save him. You have to believe it.”
Another round of tears escaped her eyes as she nodded. “Then I hope Meira can return your love. You deserve it.”
