Thanatos set a cup of coffee down with Damien’s wholesome, organic breakfast. Having not been caught with Hypnos, Damien straightened his shoulders and took the first victory sip of coffee. As Thanatos was sitting back down in his chair, Damien made a face and a few obnoxious smacking noises to catch his father’s attention.
“What is it?” Thanatos braced himself for whatever complaint was coming.
Damien took a second sip of coffee, an investigative sip. He rolled the coffee around in his mouth like scotch and asked, “Decaf?”
Death knew there was no sensory difference in regular and decaffeinated coffee. “How could you tell?”
Damien smiled to himself. “I couldn’t, but thanks for confirming.”
Thanatos inwardly groaned at this entrapment and said, “Don’t say that word. We do not say thanks. We say I appreciate it. Now, I said I’d give you coffee. I never said-”
“That it would be caffeinated. Yeah. I know. Cheap shot. But, don’t worry. I’ll get you back.” Damien smirked.
“Are we in a competition now?” Death’s eyes narrowed in interest.
“We’ve been competing ever since I pickpocketed the family jewels off of you in the street. It’s on, old man.” Damien raised up his cup of decaf.
Thanatos snapped open his newspaper to the centerfold. “If you insist.”
Damien took in the blond vampire gracing the front page news. Feeling smug and enjoying that it wasn’t his father’s face on the cover for once. “VanGarrett’s giving you a run for your money, though, huh?” Damien blew the steam off his coffee.
“No. I own the newspapers,” Death said.
“Then why is he on the cover?”
“Because, his soapbox nonsense pushes my income tax increases back to page five.”
Damien nodded, sipped, swallowed, and blurted, “You know, one of these days these little gravity-assist maneuvers you use will backfire.”
“If you think that then you don’t understand how gravity works.”
Damien raised an eyebrow. “I think I know how it works. What goes up must come down.”
“Exactly why Alec is inconsequential.”
“I don’t know. You’ve been up there for a while...” Damien asked, “What if you’re the one to fall?”
Thanatos lowered his paper. “Alec is a pawn. I have much bigger pieces on the board to worry about. Speaking of...” He whipped out his pocket watch. “I have to run. Patrice double booked me with my new contractors, completely obliterating my schedule. Now, I will have meetings all day today. I suppose the chaos is par for the course. The first meeting is with Loki, afterall...”
Damien gave him a small smile for his jab at Loki.
Thanatos stood and pushed in his chair. “Enjoy your coffee, and if you would, clean this up. When I return, I want us to go straight to the training room. Your leg needs work. I trust you can entertain yourself for the day?”
“Yes, sir.”
Thanatos nodded and exited the mansion and appeared in front of Loki’s townhome. He knocked and waited. He smiled a real smile while no one was looking. He was doing well with Damien. Damien was talking and joking and playing with him. His son was opening up and trusting him, and Damien was ready to learn a hard lesson, which Death would teach him today in training. But, the meeting first. He needed to focus on that.
Loki opened the door and advanced onto the stoop. He was putting on his gloves. “Ready?” Loki asked Thanatos, who looked back at him with a perplexed look. Loki said, “I don’t know if I’m ready for this, but the prospect is exciting. That is, only if I can keep my head through the meeting. I might lose it or it might be taken from me. It will be fun to see which way it rolls.” Loki snorted. “Get it? Rolls? Head- Oh, come on! It’s funny!”
“Where is Eros?” Death asked.
“Oh,” Loki grimaced, “...he’s not coming.”
“Why?” he snarled.
Loki opened his mouth and moved it around, hoping it would form words. “Well... Er... You know, it’s-”
“Enough of this.” Thanatos rushed the door, but Loki threw himself before him. “Loki, he can’t stay locked in there forever, and you cannot protect him.”
Loki’s comic demeanor became seamlessly sharp and threatening. “Watch me.”
Death stepped back.
“You gods only give a fuck about him when he’s useful to you. Otherwise, he’s a poisonous pariah! Love and Desire isn’t a weapon for you to wield to get what you want. And if you’re looking for someone to click their ruby-red heels and defeat the witches, why isn’t Damien here? Hm?”
“Fine. Fine.” Death continued to back away.
They both descended the steps. The palpable tension remained as they walked shoulder to shoulder down the sidewalk. Loki was chewing on his lower lip, but that didn’t stop his frustration from erupting. “What would you say if someone told you that you can’t protect Damien forever?”
“I’d kill them,” Death said.
“My point exactly.”
***
In Thanatos’s white tower was a white conference room filled with Norse gods. Loki and Death gave their coats to the secretary at the door. She hung them next to the others, which were a mixture of overcoats, suit jackets, and fur cloaks. They were the last to arrive. They were not late, however. Thanatos planned it this way so that the Norsemen would have time to talk and confer before he interrogated them.
“Good morning.”
The room greeted him back, but Thor stood to capture Loki in a monstrous embrace.
While Loki was shrinking under Thor’s grip, Death said, “Thor, would you please sit so that we may conduct this meeting quickly? I have an appointment with a contractor in half an hour, so I intend this to be brief.”
Thor froze awkwardly, and Tyr and Odin exchanged humorous glances.
Thor cleared his throat, patted Loki on the back, and took his seat.
Loki sat at the right hand of Thanatos, who stood at the head of the conference table.
Thanatos addressed the group. “How did you come to hear about this little operation of ours?”
“A Völva,” said Frigg.
“Well then, this meeting is adjourned.” Without hesitation, Thanatos turned towards the door despite the uproar of the Norse pantheon behind him.
Loki’s eyes darted around in wonder, but prompted, in an overtly rehearsed tone, “But, Thanatos, do you mind explaining why?”
Death turned around, his hands behind his back. “Because, Völvas, your seers, get their information from the Norns, the Fates. They see what is fated to be, meaning the Fates gave you this information, meaning you are already compromised, and I won’t discuss this any further with you... You did sign the confidentiality agreements before you came in, didn’t you?”
“Thanatos?” Loki stood, “Can we discuss this in the hall for a moment?”
In the hall, Loki asked, “What the hell is wrong with you? We,” he pointed back and forth between them, “cannot do this alone. Eros and I damned near went to Tartarus last time. We could have used some back up! When the Fates come back, they will have a plan, and we will need an army. And the Fates know most of what we’re up to anyway. The more the merrier, I say!”
“It will give them more eyes with which to spy!”
“Exactly. This can be an information war rather than a physical one. We don’t have to tell these people everything, just what we want them to know- What we want the Fates to know. We can take this to their level and kill them with their own game. We can plant disinformation and false intel, and we can teach the gods my magick system to block out their prying eyes. We can spread propaganda and make the gods fear their influence. This is the perfect strategy!”
“No. It’s not.”
Loki all but pulled out his hair. ”Why not?”
“Damien!” Thanatos’s voice broke out of his usual hissing whisper.
The silence that followed accentuated the sounds of the office- the phones and copiers, the shuffling of polyester.
Loki readjusted and stuck a hand in his pocket.
“I will not do anything to put him at further risk, and if you tell me I cannot protect him,” Thanatos stepped up to him, “...I’d hate to have to kill you. Do not go behind my back on this.”
