“No,” he says simply.
“Then what happened?” Even as I say it, my voice wavers.
The answer is right there, in that taste at the back of my throat. Or maybe it’s my skin, which is cold and clammy in the most unnatural of ways.
But I want the Reaper to deny it.
To deny that I died.
He takes me in for a long time, and then he slowly nods his head.
I shudder, my spooked eyes moving back to Thanatos.
He killed me, and he did it so quickly that I didn’t even realize it. I try to recall anything that came after that … but there’s nothing there.
I couldn’t have been dead for very long. We’re still in that same bit of forest I last remember seeing, and the stormy sky looks about the same.
But if Thanatos killed me, then why am I breathing—?
The second awful realization hits me.
My gaze snaps back to Famine.
“You agreed to it,” I say. Death’s second offer. That’s why he’s apologizing to me.
The Reaper squares his jaw. “I did.” There’s no remorse in his voice.
It took months for Famine to set aside his murderous ways, but apparently only a few minutes to pick it back up.
All because of me.
I would’ve never imagined that the fate of the world might actually depend on me one day. I’ve always assumed my life was fairly insignificant. But somehow, without my say, I’ve now fucked everyone over.
I grip Famine’s arm. He winces, his arm jerking under my touch. I glance down. Seeing the odd bend to it, I release it immediately.
What happened to you? I want to ask. It’s clear there’s more to the story that happened while I was … gone.
“Why did you agree to it?” I ask instead, uncaring that we have an audience.
I don’t want to go back to the way things were. I barely coped with the horrors I already witnessed. I don’t know how much more I’d be able to bear.
Famine’s face is grim. “Because, despite how much or how little I care for humanity,” he says, touching my face again, “I still care for you much, much more.”
That’s the most beautiful, terrible thing he could have told me. It’s a compliment and a sentence all rolled into one.
The Reaper pulls me in close, pressing his lips to my ear. “All is not lost, little flower,” he says, his breath harsh against me. “Let Death see what it means to be human. If I can be swayed, so can he.”
Famine pulls away a little to meet my gaze. Keeping his voice low, he adds, “There is still hope for your world.”
“More people will have to die,” I say. My voice has grown rough.
“More people will die, regardless,” Famine says.
I hear the clatter of metal, and my gaze moves from him to Thanatos. The final horseman is picking up his armor and wiping the mud off. He inspects the silver breastplate, which looks badly dented, before tossing it aside. Death moves over to the two horses that wait nearby. He grabs their reins, then heads over to where Famine and I sit, leading the horses along behind him.
He steps in far too close to me, his presence stifling. I can still remember that lethal hand on my cheek.
Death is huge and muscled like Famine—truth be told, he might be slightly bigger—and he has that same sharp beauty that is somehow too pleasing to the eye to be fully human. His skin is pale, his cheekbones are high and his jaw is sharp. Those deep eyes of his are old—so old I can’t bear to look at them for too long—but his lips have a rueful curve to them. His hair is so dark I imagine it shines blue in certain light. Now however, the rain has plastered that hair to his face.
Where Famine is capricious and conniving, Death seems solemn … and ancient. … He’s beautiful in an enigmatic sort of way.
My gaze moves back to Famine, and for a moment, I simply stare at the two of them. They are leviathans, and I am nothing.
But that’s not true.
Death hands the reins to Famine. “Mount your steed, brother.”
The Reaper looks at the proffered rein for a moment before taking it. I can practically feel the weight of Famine’s task falling back on his shoulders.
An aching sort of despair fills me. This is all because my life means more to Famine than everyone else’s. If that suddenly weren’t the case, maybe the Reaper wouldn’t agree to Death’s terms …
My gaze cuts to a dagger sheathed at Famine’s side.
For about two seconds, I consider doing something self-sacrificing for the benefit of humanity, like falling on Famine’s blade, but … I’m not that broad.
I’m a bar-fighting, pussy-hustling, scrappy-ass bitch, and I’m not going to just go along with this quietly.
So I grab the hilt of Famine’s sheathed dagger and withdraw the blade. Weapon in hand, I spin on the other horseman beside me. Then, I do to Death what I could never do to Famine.
I stab that motherfucker.
Chapter 56
Thanatos stares at me for several seconds, an odd, surprised look on his face. I’m still holding Famine’s blade, even though it’s embedded itself into the horseman’s abdomen.
“Ana!”
I ignore Famine’s alarmed voice, focusing all my attention on the horseman in front of me.
Death’s hands go to the wound just as I withdraw the blade.
He hisses in sharply and gazes down at the wound. There’s not much to see, other than a growing wet stain on the black shirt he wears.
“Ana,” Famine says again, only this time he grabs me by the arm and drags me away. “What have you done?”
My gaze is still locked on Death.
I should feel some remorse. It’s odd that I don’t. Then again, my cheeks are wet and maybe it’s the rain but maybe it’s my eyes. I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s been a weird, awful day.
“If he thinks we should all die, then it’s only fair he knows what it feels like,” I say, staring at the final horseman as though in a trance.
Death makes a choked sound, his hands moving to the wound, and I smile.
I fucking smile.
It took an apocalypse, mass murder, and a few near death experiences, but I think I finally lost it.
Using Famine’s dagger, I point at the wound. Blood is slipping down Thanatos’s fingers. “That’s for taking my parents. And everyone else, you fucker.”
Famine drags me back with his good arm, and I can feel him trembling. He grabs the blade from my hand, wipes it on his trousers, then sheathes it at his side once more.
Beyond the Reaper, Thanatos sways, then drops to his knees. He’s making pained noises, and even from here I can see his limbs shaking, undoubtedly from the pain.
“You’ve never been on this side of death, have you?” I call out to him as the Reaper hauls me onto his horse the best he can. I can still remember with perfect clarity the awful sensation of the blades that entered and exited my own body. “Feels like shit, doesn’t it?”
“Ana, stop,” Famine says.
Thanatos focuses his gaze on me. I expect him to look angry, but those ancient eyes are agonized. Reaching out, Death angles his palm at me.
“Brother,” Famine says sharply, “stay your hand. We have a deal.”
“Her … stabbing me … wasn’t … part … of it,” he rasps out.
The Reaper’s hand settles on my thigh.
He stares down at his brother. “And like you said, this place is not fair. Welcome to the land of the living.”
Famine clicks his tongue and, turning his horse around, the two of us take off.
Chapter 57
“You little firebrand,” Famine says once we’re out of earshot. And then the wicked love of my life laughs. “Remind me never to cross you.”
Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, I’m beginning to shake. In response, the Reaper pulls me close.
“Are we really just going to leave him back there?” I ask, looking over my shoulder.
I’m beginning to f
eel the first tendrils of remorse. Or maybe it’s fear.
The Reaper gives me a look like I’m the most insane human he’s ever crossed paths with. “You stabbed him. Would you like to go back and see how forgiving Death is?”
A shiver works its way down my spine. “No thank you.” I’ve already died enough times today.
The two of us cut past our house, which looks a little worse for the wear, now that it’s endured several earthquakes and a supernatural storm. Famine doesn’t bother to slow. I barely get a moment to glance at it before we pass it by and head for the nearest road.
Oh God, we’re really doing this.
I take a deep breath, but there’s no bracing myself for all the traveling and killing that lies ahead of us.
“Where are we going?” I ask, dreading Famine’s answer.
There’s a long pause.
Then—
“We’re going to get my brothers. It’s time this ended, once and for all.”
Acknowledgements
I think I say this every time I put out a new book, but it always remains true: thank you all so much for reading my novels and getting lost in my world. I hope you found a soft spot in your heart for my third—and perhaps wickedest—horseman and the woman who tamed him. I kept pretty quiet about both Famine and Ana because, well, both of them are a little rough around the edges.
To my beta and ARC readers—I deeply appreciate all that you’ve done to help me with this release. It came down to the wire! To my author friends who cheered me on during the year that it took me to write this (and who gracefully put up with my periods of radio silence), thank you for being my people.
To my family and friends, thank you for your constant support and love and just being genuinely accepting of my weirdness. To my husband—I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re my biggest fan and always my first reader. I love you, I love you, I love you. And to my two nuggets, thanks for always keeping it real.
I can’t believe there’s only one horseman left! Hopefully humanity makes it out alive. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Until then—
Hugs and happy reading,
Laura
Keep a lookout for the next book in Laura Thalassa’s The Four Horseman series:
Death
Coming soon.
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Be sure to check out Laura Thalassa’s new adult paranormal romance series
Rhapsodic
Out now!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Be sure to check out Laura Thalassa’s new adult post-apocalyptic romance series
The Queen of All that Dies
Out now!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Be sure to check out Laura Thalassa’s young adult paranormal romance series
The Unearthly
Out now!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Other books by Laura Thalassa
The Four Horsemen series:
Pestilence
War
The Bargainer series:
Rhapsodic
A Strange Hymn
The Emperor of Evening Stars
Dark Harmony
The Fallen World series:
The Queen of All that Dies
The Queen of Traitors
The Queen of All that Lives
The Unearthly series:
The Unearthly
The Coveted
The Cursed
The Forsaken
The Damned
The Vanishing Girl series:
The Vanishing Girl
The Decaying Empire
The Infernari series:
Blood and Sin
Novellas:
Reaping Angels
Found in the forest when she was young, Laura Thalassa was raised by fairies, kidnapped by werewolves, and given over to vampires as repayment for a hundred year debt. She’s been brought back to life twice, and, with a single kiss, she woke her true love from eternal sleep. She now lives happily ever after with her undead prince in a castle in the woods.
… or something like that anyway.
When not writing, Laura can be found scarfing down guacamole, hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
Famine (The Four Horsemen Book 3) Page 40