The smell, however, lingers in the air, and the deep rooted stench of it makes me think that there were recently dead carcasses lying about that either scavengers dragged out of sight … or Death had.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. I know he feels our newfound romance is fragile, and he probably wants to do everything he can to not mess it up—which would include hiding bodies.
Ah, horseman chivalry. What a concept.
We move through Austin, and continue on. The sun has just set when I start seeing standing structures in place of collapsed ones. Untouched land. Even then, however, the houses are sporadic.
“I have made a mistake,” Death admits, out of the blue.
I glance over my shoulder at him. “What is it?” I ask.
“I have been so keen on passing the land I’ve touched that I have forgotten to find a place for us to stay.”
Touched? That’s what he’s going to call the destruction around us?
I’m quiet.
“I don’t like this silence of yours,” he admits. “It feels … accusing. Tell me where your mind is at.”
“I’m thinking that you still understand very little about me,” I say. “Otherwise, you’d know that I’m not upset about the thought of sleeping under the stars.”
Behind me, the horseman pauses.
“But when I first took you, you hated being outside. You were cold—”
“I was uncomfortable,” I agree, “but mostly, I was trying to shame you into letting me go.”
Death’s hold tightens on me. “Never,” he vows.
I grimace as an electric thrill courses through me. I hate that I like that declaration.
I clear my throat. “I’m fine sleeping in a normal house—or outside, provided I have bedding to keep me warm,” I say. “And I was quiet a moment ago because I was thinking of all the cities you’ve … touched,” I say that word derisively.
It’s Thanatos’s turn to go quiet.
“I will find you a … normal house for tonight,” he says softly, not bothering to address the other part of what I said. “But I do not plan on making this a habit. I cannot give you what you most want,”—an end to the killing, he means—“but I can give you this, at least.
A short while later, I notice a cluster of lights in the distance.
A town.
It feels like a small eternity before we actually reach those lights. The gas lamps that run on either side of the road illuminate storefronts so weathered that it looks as though they were abandoned twenty-odd years ago, when the horsemen first arrived. If it weren’t for those gas lamps running through the town—lamps that someone had to light by hand—I would’ve assumed this place was nothing more than the bones of the world that existed before everything went to hell.
“You remember our deal?” I say softly to Thanatos.
The one where he doesn’t kill everyone right away.
“I have not forgotten.”
I can hear the frown in his voice.
His horse only takes a few more steps when the ground starts to tremble, and I can hear glass rattling in the warped windowpanes of a nearby building and the sound of a hanging wooden sign banging into the antiques shop it advertises.
The quaking grows and grows until the gas lamps begin to fall like dominos, their glass casings shattering as they hit the ground. In the distance, someone shouts.
“Thanatos,” I gasp.
A few of the felled lamps still glow, and the flames flare brighter as the fire follows the trail of spilled kerosene. It casts an ominous orange glow on the buildings—which are thankfully still standing.
“You have forbidden me to kill,” he says. “This is all I have left.”
I give him a look over my shoulder. I hope he knows he sounds ridiculous.
Death meets my gaze as rain begins to fall, going from a sprinkle to a torrent in seconds. It washes away the kerosene, effectively snuffing out the streetlights. And completely drenching the both of us in the process.
“Are you doing that?” I ask, narrowing my gaze as the rain comes down faster and faster.
“I’m not too keen on any stray humans catching sight of me.”
Ah, now the broken streetlamps make sense.
I frown. “And I’m not too keen about getting wet.”
I can barely make out the smile spreading across the horseman’s face. “Oh, but I disagree, kismet. Given the right circumstances, I think you very much enjoy getting wet.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, his meaning clear.
Death pulls me in close. “But, if you are uncomfortable, I could peel off your soaked clothes and kiss the wetness from your skin,” he breathes. “Simply ask, and it will be done.”
My God.
I actually consider his proposition. That’s how hopeless I am.
“Why don’t you find us a place to stay in for the night? Then we can discuss … the rest of that offer.”
“Fine,” he agrees, his lips brushing my ear, “I’ll find us a house if you focus on staying wet.”
“Thanatos.”
How has he already become dirtier than me?
Death lets out a husky laugh, then urges his horse onwards. It’s hard to see anything now that the lamps lay broken and scattered across the ground. I notice a few dimly lit houses, and there are even one or two with someone peering out the window, probably wondering what happened to the lamplight. But the rain keeps them in and hopefully the night hides Death’s identity from them.
I shiver a little, my body soaked through with rainwater. The horseman clutches me closer to him, and his wings move forward, wrapping around the sides of the horse. It looks like an awkward position to hold, but he keeps them there, and they drive off the chill.
Down a street to our right, I hear someone’s voice carry over— “I don’t know why Coco’s acting this way, she’s never done this before.”
That’s when I notice that over the pounding rain, there’s frantic, almost pained barking.
The animals sense Death.
We’ve gone another quarter mile when the horseman says, “You have bested me, Lazarus.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You do not want to stay in an abandoned house, but you do not want me to kill the town until we have passed through it, so I cannot take one of the occupied homes either. I am at a loss for what to do.”
My heart pounds. He’s right, though I hadn’t thought about it in those terms. Of course, there’s still always the option of camping, though I’m not about to suggest that while it’s raining.
“I’m fine staying in an abandoned house—”
“Liar.”
“I am,” I insist. “You can even do all those dirty things you were fantasizing about a minute ago—”
“Really, my kismet?” he says, sounding blatantly unconvinced. “You would happily get intimate if you were lying on moldering flooring, the stink of rotting walls and wet vermin around you?”
When he puts it like that …
“As I thought.”
“I’m sure not every abandoned house is that terrible.”
“You think I’m willing to take the chance?” he laughs, even as he prods his steed into a full gallop. “I will ride through this city, then end it, then find us a place to stay.”
“Wait,” I say, even as Death’s horse continues to gallop. I want this man to see a little bit of what humans are like. “We can do it your way, but please, we’re already here. Let’s at least stop at a house for a moment so I can show you what life looks like.”
“You wish to introduce me to some hapless family?” he says, aghast at the idea. As though his job doesn’t have him brushing elbows with countless souls all the damn time.
I guess living souls are very different than dead ones.
“No,” I say, “I just meant that we could peer in on someone.”
Okay, that sounded far creepier than intended.
However, the idea does cause Death to slow his horse.
“You would like me to watch some living humans for a span of time?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“How long?” he demands.
I don’t know. “Just a short while.”
“And then you will not fight me when I kill off this town?”
I swallow. “I’m never going to be comfortable with that,” I say. “But no, I won’t fight you,” I agree.
The horseman draws in a deep breath. “Alright,” he says. “Alright. I can do what you request.” He glances around. “Where do you want me to go?”
The truth is, I have no clue where to go. I hadn’t really planned this far in advance.