You could hold him captive.
The thought causes my breath to still.
I could hold him captive.
It would be like trying to rein in a hurricane. You can’t stop a force of nature.
That doesn’t quell my rising excitement. I mean, who knows? Maybe I can rein him in.
There’s really only one way to find out.
Death wakes on the floor of an abandoned barn. The place smells like mildew and wet animals. Oh, and scented smoke—Death’s horse decided to join us in here. And to be fair to the incense, it does cover up the other two odors fairly well.
I sit cross-legged in front of Thanatos, my body still aching from all the effort it took to get this overly large, winged man in here.
As I watch, his eyelids flutter, then he blinks. It’s a strange magic, watching Thanatos come back from the dead. Stranger still to watch his blood vanish from my clothing and his armor—which I discarded near the overpass—reappear on his body.
Immediately, his gaze hones in on me.
“Lazarus.” For a moment, he smiles, like he can’t help himself. The sight is so shocking that my heart flutters at the sight. “To what do I owe this uncommon pleasure?”
The horseman tries to move his arms from where he lays on his side, but I bound him with a length of cord I normally use as a clothing line. It’s not the thickest stuff, but I made up for it by tying it tight.
He glances down at his bound hands and ankles, his smile slipping away. “You knocked me down,” he recalls.
I try not to wince at the memory of my graceless leap.
His gaze rises to mine. “And then you stabbed me.” Accusation laces his words. “And now …” His attention returns to his bindings.
“You’re my captive,” I tell him as he awkwardly pushes himself up to sitting position. His wings lift at his back as he does so.
Death’s eyebrows lift. “I’m your … ?” He smirks then. “Captive.” He says the word with relish and perhaps a pinch of humor, and maybe I should stab him again. Just, you know, to remind him of the power dynamics here.
He jerks his head back to toss a lock of hair behind an ear, and I jolt a little at the sudden action, my adrenaline rising.
Thanatos notices, and it causes him to grin again.
He clicks his tongue. “That will never do, kismet. How are you supposed to control me if my every movement startles you?”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“This is how it’s going to be,” I say slowly. “We’re going to stay here, together, and if you make any move to escape,” I touch the bow resting next to me, “I will shoot you.”
“I guess I’m trapped,” he says. He doesn’t sound worried. Or defeated. He doesn’t sound like someone who’s gotten themselves into an unfortunate situation at all.
If anything, he seems amused.
Bastard.
“What will you do with me?” he asks, his gaze flicking over my form. Something about the way he assesses me has blood rushing to my cheeks and core.
“I’m going to keep you here, where you cannot destroy any more towns.”
Death’s eyes gleam, but he says nothing to that.
I’ve caught a creature higher up on the food chain than myself. I truly am a fool for even attempting this.
“So then we are to live here?” he asks, glancing around at our surroundings. “Together?”
He makes it sound like the two of us are shacking up like some couple.
My plan is unraveling.
I frown at him. “That’s not how this situation works.”
“Then how does it work?”
“If you move, I attack.”
He flashes me a sly glance, then leans to the left.
“I’m moving,” he taunts.
“Don’t be childish,” I say.
“I wouldn’t know how to be childish,” he counters, “I’ve never been a child.”
I narrow my eyes at him again.
He leans right. “Still moving.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Quick as lightning, I pull out my bow, nock an arrow, and shoot.
He hisses when I hit a wing, the arrow getting caught in his feathers.
“This isn’t a joke to me,” I say. “I will keep shooting you if you don’t listen.”
“Will you?” Death presses, a muscle in his jaw flexing with the pain. “Because I have a feeling your violence only goes so far.”
I have nothing to say to that. It’s so painfully close to the truth, and I have no idea how I’ve become that transparent.