Page 27 of Bound to Death

Sneaky little bitch.

Turning on my heel, I stomped my way over to the door to take out my frustration on the stranger who thought it was a great idea to bother two single women at nearly eight at night. But when the door swung open, my jaw dropped in surprise. Leaning up against the wall was a man just as impossible as the one who’d kissed me only moments ago.

Two words: Beautiful and dangerous.

Everything within sight was pierced. Not in an unattractive way but definitely in a way that made it clear he liked the way it hurt. He was in a black tank top that exposed all his tattoos. Full, shoulder-to-hand sleeves of tribal ink outlined his beautiful musculature. Not too thin, but not grossly large either. Singer of a band vibes. Still, he’d be someone I’d outright avoid if I saw him on the street. Nothing but bad news central. The dude screamed toxic bad boy, and not in a fun fictional boyfriend kindof way. In a way that had any woman within reach starring in the next murder documentary.

Put simply, this bro was a hundred percent Emily’s type, but only because she liked to make his kind beg. Something about taking down a “superior breed” got my friend with too many issues to count all hot and bothered. She’d explained it once, but I’d barely listened because I was almost certain that out of the two of us, she needed the most therapy.

The stranger’s short and styled vibrant red hair was a similar color to mine, completely unnatural, but his neon-yellow irises were what took me off kilter for a second. Contacts? Wait…

“Demon,” I spat out loud.

“Rude. Those bottom dwellers have nothing on me, bird. My friends call me Z, but you…” His unsettling eyes took a very pointed path down my body. “You can call me whatever you like.”

I couldn’t immediately narrow down his accent, but he was probably from somewhere in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t strong, but it was there.

The stranger tilted his head, trying to look past me, and I prickled with alarm. Something in my gut told me I didn’t want whoever this asshole was to see Emily. I couldn’t explain it, but the urge to protect her was so powerful it led me to walking right out of the safety of my own home and straight into the belly of the beast.

I shut the door behind me, on guard. “What can I do for you, sir?”

His eerie-colored eyes danced with delight, and he licked his lips in an overtly sexual way. Something told me he was used to getting any woman he wanted. The dude was annoyingly pretty. Of course, they always were. But he’d never dealt with someone like me—a girl who could ignore a pretty face when the rest of him was screaming serial killer.

Well, up until Thanatos, at least.

“Sir? I like that.” Leaning in, Mr. Pretty and Pierced reached out, but I was quick to get one of his fingers into a hold that put the asshole in his place before he could do any nonconsensual touching. “Cheeky. Z likes. To answer your question, love, you and I have a friend in common. One who seems to have revealed a few things to you already. Interesting. So, tell me, is my good ol’ buddy Thanatos hiding in there by any chance?”

I released his finger begrudgingly. “You just missed him, actually. Too bad, so sad. Well, later!”

He caught my wrist before I could make an escape. “Not so fast, bird. I think he’ll come looking if I take a pretty little thing like you with—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the lights flickered ominously. The hallway was suddenly drenched in darkness, and the hand that had been wrapped around my wrist was gone. I took a step back, a sudden wind chill slamming into my body. A loud thud shook the space, and birds cawed outside the stairwell window.

“Hello, Dead,” I heard the stranger greet in a sultry whisper. “Looks to me like you found what you werelookingfor. Sort of funny how you failed to mention it to anyone else…”

I blinked at the two figures outlined by the light coming through the window. Thanatos had the stranger pinned to the wall he’d been previously leaned up against. But something about his face was off. Black, inky veins grew like electricity over the skin around his white, moon-colored eyes. It was the first time since the night he killed the five men who attacked me that he looked like the monster he supposedly was.

“Pest. I think you’ve forgotten that I don’t owe you a fucking thing. Why are you here?” Thanatos didn’t look over at me. His eyes stayed with the stranger the entire time as if he was worriedwhat would happen should he look away. It was the most hostile I’d seen him since the first night.

Pest?

“Aww, Dead. Is that how you greet your mate? So, she knows who you are but not why you’re here, is my guess?” The thundering growl Thanatos released only made the pierced bad boy grin. “Thought so. Oh, this iswaymore fun now.” The redhead cut his glowing yellow eyes over to me, then laughed a little to himself. “I always thought it was weird nothing ever got to you, but I guess it was only a matter of time, aye, Dead?”

Thanatos let the man go, and the shadows around him moved in agitation, creeping closer to the arrogant nuisance. “That’s where you’re wrong, Pest. You think simply finding them is all that’s needed?” Thanatos had blocked my view of the other man by standing in front of me, so I could only hear the exchange, but I barely understood any of it, anyway. “How juvenile. Patience and careful execution are key, and that's why you haven’t found yours. You couldn’t possibly do something you don’t first try to understand, and that’s why you never will. Don’t interfere again, Zelus. It’ll be the last time you do.”

Death’s threat hung in the air before the lights flickered back to life, and the stranger was gone.

Why did the pierced bad boy’s name feel important? What were they even talking about? Find yours? Yours, what?

But before I could spend any more time thinking about it, Thanatos had turned and grabbed my face. “Did he touch you?”

Blinking in confusion, I stared at him. “Touch me?”

“Yes, Ash. This is important. Did he touch you?” he asked again, his voice bottoming out. I looked down at my wrist, and his eyes followed. Inky veins encircled the spot the asshole had grabbed. “Fuck.” Lifting my hand, he inspected my wrist. “I fucking knew it wouldn’t be that simple.”

“Who was he?”

Thanatos pushed his loose black hair back and his jaw clenched. “Someone I’d hoped to avoid for as long as possible, but this complicates everything. What he’s done can’t be undone without help, and to get that help, I’d have to…” He didn’t finish, just cursed again.

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