Page 41 of Bound to Death

I hadn’t any clue what she meant until sharp pain echoed inside my chest. She yanked a glowing blade covered in darkliquid from my body. I reached up, the blood pouring quickly over my hands, but my head hadn’t caught up with the sight covering my fingers and soaking my dress. Was this my blood? Before I could do anything but gasp, I collapsed.

“Your soul is needed to start the apocalypse. It’s His will. Nothing you or Death do can change that. It’s always been Thanatos’s purpose—and yours. But since he’s abandoned it, I guess I’ll have to do it for him.”

I tried to inhale, but blood was already filling my mouth. I coughed and tried to clear it out, but it didn’t help. More blood just replaced it. Struggling, I stared up at the angel hovering over me like the sight of me dying was a mere inconvenience.

“Apologies. I meant to hit your heart, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to put my blade through a human. I’m out of practice. You won’t suffer long, Chosen One. I’m sure you’ll be greatly rewarded for the part you played in doing His will. If anything, you should be honored.”

I couldn’t react to the crazy speech she spouted at me. I mean, was she serious? Me, thankful for my death that would lead to millions—no, billions of other deaths? How did that make sense? Why would I take any pleasure in that?

Unable to breathe, I clawed at my throat. The pressure in my head from being unable to breathe grew too impossible to ignore. I moaned and whimpered, desperate for it to end. And as the seconds ticked on, my vision tunneled. I tried to fight as hard as I could, but my body was shutting down. The pain was ebbing away. A numb cold swiftly took its place.

Michael cocked her head to one side, staring down at me like I was a bother. “That should be close enough. Your soul looks ready.” She reached for me, but surprise widened her eyes. After light beamed around her hands and then dimmed to nothing, her lips curled into a snarl. “That just fucking figures. Godwouldmake this whole thing complicated. Guess I’ll just have to make sure the next Horseman does their bloody fucking job, won’t I?”

I didn’t understand what was happening, only that she seemed upset that whatever she tried to do wasn’t working. She peered down at me before her head jerked over to the door. Then she was gone.

It was ironic how everything came full circle. I’d evaded my death the night I met Death, and yet here I was, still dying. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Maybe we couldn’t escape our fate, but I hated that tomorrow, the world would end because I wasn’t strong enough to keep my soul. Tomorrow, I’d be the reason every human ceased to exist.

I sputtered, coughing blood, staring up at an entirely dark ceiling thanks to the zero-light curtains Emily encouraged me to get. It was odd to be dying only a few rooms away from Death. It was such a waste to think I hadn’t gotten a chance to work out how I truly felt about him. I didn’t want to leave him like this. I just had to hope that wherever I went after this was somewhere maybe I could see him again. But based on how he acted when I’d told him about the mark, that wasn’t going to happen.

Tears rolled down the sides of my face when I thought I never really got to say goodbye to Emily. I’d torn up the letter. She’d be alone when the world ended, and that was probably the worst part about all of this next to dying before I got the chance to explore my feelings for Thanatos.

So many regrets, and all of them selfish in the end.

Before my vision completely blackened, Thanatos’s figure loomed above me, his face distorted with impossible rage. I tried to smile and tell him it was okay. I’d been ready to die the day we met. Guess even having a good relationship with Death couldn’t save you from the inevitable. I didn’t want him to blame himself. Not that he would. He was Death. I was a blip in a long life of moments, so he’d be free after this.

I just wished that I could ask him not to use my soul to end the world. If I got one wish, that’d be it. But I couldn’t talk anymore. I couldn’t even breathe. I slipped away before I got the chance to tell him that I wished we had more time; that I would’ve done anything to stay by his side and show everyone humans were worth saving.

Chapter Twenty

Thanatos

My shadows reacted too late. I found the redhead on the floor covered in blood seconds after her assailant fled. The sensation in the air told me it was Michael. She’d used herpower to buy herself time to stab Asha. But it was clear she hadn’t managed to take her soul. Interesting. Was I the only one who could? My vengeance against Michael would be swift, but it wouldn’t change anything.

I was too fucking late to save my little raven.

Her eyes closed before she could entrust her soul with me. Before I could vow myself to her forever. I’d wasted time. I should’ve told her that I loved her. But she slipped away before I could.

Her soul lifted away from her lifeless form, glowing the way the ones marked for more were. But I couldn’t be sure what that mark entailed. Even the Horsemen weren’t sure how Counter Souls served their purpose. Typically, the ones that glowed the way she did were headed for Heaven. If I touched her, she could be swept away by an angel. Or she could be delivered to start the apocalypse. But she was mine. I refused to let her go. She’d be gone forever if she brought the end of the world. And she’d lose her memories of me should she go to Heaven. Either way, I…

No, I had to keep her somehow. Maybe I could guide her to my realm until I figured out how to bind her soul to mine.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

There had to be something I could do. I was Death. I ruled over shadows and ravens. I ushered souls to wherever I saw fit. If I had to, I could steal her soul. I could keep it, surely. If all this power had to amount to something, then taking one soul for myself had to be it.

The shadows around my body ached to touch her, but I kept them close, tied the wild things to my body, afraid of what they might unwittingly do should they reach out. I couldn’t lose her now after all I’d done to keep her.

I'd take my own soul first.

But the sensation in the air was magnetic. Electric. Explosive. Her soul reformed in a breathtaking way, naked and sogoddamn beautiful. The sight of it hit me right in the chest. She was so fucking perfect. Her soul hovered over its prone human form, no longer attached to it.

But then her eyes met mine.

As if she was waking from a dream, my little raven stood in front of me, smiling in that heart-shattering way of hers. It hit harder than I expected to see her gorgeous soul ready to be collected. I didn’t think I could feel sadness or loss, but looking at my little raven this way destroyed me from the inside out.

Her hand reached out, waiting for me to take it. How the fuck could she be so willing to go? How could she think of leaving me now? Did I matter so little in the end? Was she happy to be free of me? What had our time meant to her?

I swallowed, terrible sensation crowding my throat in a way it never had. She was asking for permission. She was seeking my touch. I stepped back, but she followed. She chased for once. It was sickeningly ironic to think one day I’d be afraid of anyone.

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