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  A spurt of fear shot through her. Catching herself before she stepped away from the awesome and fearsome figure, she licked her dry lips. “How is it a beginning? Once you’re dead, that’s it. Finite. Kaput.” She frowned. “Right?”

  “That depends.” Niko offered her his hand. “Afraid?”

  “A little.”

  “Don’t be.” He nudged Morpheus closer. The Pegasus folded his wings so they hugged his frame. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Her gaze shot from the bleached-white skull to his gloved hand. Trust me. The words shouted in her head. Those two words were pushing her to accept what she suspected most people, even paranormals, were so terrified of that they’d beg, borrow or steal to not meet him.

  “Wait. Whoa.” Her heart chugged hard. “Are you in my head?”

  “Yes. You live around telepaths. I’m no different from them.”

  “Except you could kill me.”

  “So could they if the mood struck them.”

  Good point.

  “One short ride,” Morpheus appealed to her adventurous side. “I promise not to make any hard turns.”

  “It’s so much to take in.” Really, what did you expect? He’s Death.

  “I know,” Niko said, his tone grave. “Unfortunately, Morpheus and I have clients to see to so you are going to have to make up your mind. Go with us or stay here until we’re done.”

  Make up your mind. She sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. Thinking back to their love-play, she nodded. He hadn’t hurt her—well— cool it. He’s in your head.

  “Okay. I’m game.”

  The instant she grabbed his hand she was lifted and settled in his lap. His strong arms went around her. Strangely, the man holding her didn’t feel like bones, but like any guy.

  This gets weirder and weirder.

  “Ready?”

  She smiled shakily. Staring at his grip on Morpheus’s mane, goosebumps shivered up her arms. “Sure.” Trepidation filled her when he kicked Morpheus. The horse reared.

  “Hey!” Hiding her face against his chest, she prayed Niko wouldn’t let her fall from her precarious perch. “God help me.” Dear God, please save me.

  Niko steered his mount toward the west. “Hyah!” The Pegasus’s wings unfurled and flapped once, then twice.

  Morpheus had the unmitigated gall to chuckle at her. “This is not funny,” she retorted hotly. If she hadn’t been so busy clutching Niko she would have punched his horse first for his callous nature, and then Niko secondly for getting her to agree to this suicide mission.

  “Relax.” Niko tightened his hold on her. “You might want to open your eyes.”

  “I hate heights.”

  “We’re still on the ground.”

  “I hate horses.” She refused to give in. Terror was terror and that’s what she felt—

  terrorized. What? What, God, did I do to deserve this?

  Niko laughed. “You’re fine. Morpheus would sooner drop me than you.”

  “So?” Not assured, Lyra peeked at the ground flying by beneath the horse’s hooves.

  “I’m holding you. He knows what our boss, Cain, would do to him if he was stupid enough to dump me on my ass. With you, the leader of the death caste would have Morpheus’s head for breakfast and his wings for lunch.” With a firm tug, he steered Morpheus in the other direction. “Relax and enjoy the ride.”

  “Are we actually going anywhere?” She didn’t think so since Niko was racing Morpheus over hill and dale but not taking flight. He had said something about clients to see. Well, at this rate they were getting nowhere fast.

  “Morpheus needs to burn off some pent-up energy.” He brushed his free hand up her back. “I’m letting him have his will.”

  “Oh,” she said because it was all she could think of to say. Forcing herself to calm down, she silently admitted to herself that she wasn’t so much afraid but overwhelmed.

  “There’s a bag of sleep sand in my pocket. Would you get it for me?” She reached for the small slit cut into the side of his cloak. Retrieving the simple cloth bag, she sighed. “Here it is.”

  “You’ll have to distribute sweet dreams this go ’round. I’ve happily got my hands full.”

  Hearing a seductive note enter his tone, she wanted to shriek at the man. She closed her eyes and bit her lip when Morpheus began to pulse his wings up and down. She would have dropped the sleep sand if she wasn’t clutching it the same way a drowning man gripped a lifeline.

  “Lyra, trust me. I’m not going to let you fall.” In direct opposition to her common sense, she peeked at their surroundings. “When did we take off?” They weren’t thrillingly high off the ground, but Morpheus’s hooves no longer plodded along the fertile earth. She tugged the string loose on the sack and took out a pinch of sleep sand. The glittering white crystals dotted her fingertips. A few of the grains were ripped away by the wind. They left a sparkling trail as they fell to earth.

  “How do I do this?”

  “A sprinkle here and a sprinkle there,” Morpheus said. “Don’t worry about trying to hit every home. It’s impossible and not how my duty works.” For a long time she let the sleep sand drift from her fingers, not thinking, not feeling—just being. Coming to grips with the fact she was riding on a winged horse, held safely in the arms of Death personified. Nobody is ever going to believe this.

  “Probably not,” Niko commented.

  A chilly silence fell between them. “How did your meeting go with Mayor Fergus?” she asked. Her attempt at engaging him in chit-chat was met with a rasping sigh. She figured that was his way of saying it was none of her damn business.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this morning that you were a virgin?” He answered her question with one of his own.

  Shrugging, she let another pinch of sleep sand float from her fingers. “I didn’t think it mattered.” She shook her head. “I didn’t really think about it at all.” Because it never came up. Because I was crazy out of my mind with lust. Because you are the first man I’ve ever wanted to get naked with.

  “I see.” He kneed Morpheus to the north. “Do you regret that it happened?”

  “No.” She frowned and tilted her head back so she could look at his face. The bleached-white bones were cast in a surreal glow from the moon’s light. Gauging his attitude as noncommittal and nonjudgmental, she shrugged. “Why would I?” It was bound to happen sooner or later. Still, she was glad he’d been her first. Tremors of desire sparked inside her. Warmth seeded deep in her belly. Her nipples tightened to hard buds.

  “Do you regret it?”

  “Absolutely not,” he said softly.

  “Thanatose, we’re here.” Morpheus interrupted them.

  “I see that.”

  Lyra gazed at the brightly lit facility below them. “It’s a prison.” She saw blinding white halogen lights gleam off razor-wire, and could even make out guards in their towers. She narrowed her gaze to see a man carrying an assault rifle. “Hell no.”

  “My duty takes me to many unsavory places, Lyra,” Niko whispered. “Once birth occurs, death is inevitable.”

  “Wait!” Lyra cried when Morpheus touched down in the middle of the exercise yard.

  “The guards.” She imagined being shot on sight.

  “They can’t see us,” Niko told her. He tucked an errant strand of her hair behind her ear. “Stay with Morpheus.” He brushed his glove-clad knuckles down her cheek. The nerve-jangling rasp of bones swiveling on bones hit her ears when he looked at the side entrance to the prison. “I won’t be long.”

  He took the bag of sleep sand from her hand, closed the drawstrings and shoved it into the pocket of his cloak. Eased off Morpheus’s back, Lyra peeked at Niko as he dismounted. Her legs felt like jelly, and she grabbed Morpheus’s mane to keep from collapsing. Ouch! her brain shouted when she stepped out of Death’s path.

  “Sore?” The empty eye sockets seemed to inspect her from the top of her head to the tips of her worn sneakers.

  “A litt
le.” A blush of embarrassment heated her cheeks. “I’m new to this.” Both riding and sex. She wasn’t sure which was the cause, or if both had brought on her discomfort. Her blush deepened.

  “Morpheus, see to my lady while I attend to Joseph Andrew Pritchard.”

  “Yes, Thanatose.” He shifted to his mortal form.

  “Thanks.” Lyra felt strong hands on her waist. She watched Niko’s ground-gobbling gait take him toward the entrance. “Be careful.”

  Morpheus chuckled at her naive statement of concern. “Try to walk. That will help with the stiffness.”

  “You’re best friends.”

  “We are. Thanatose and I have been partners for a long time.”

  “What’s he like?” She kept her thoughts blank, but needed to know more about the man.

  “Death is what you make of it.”

  “I meant Niko. What’s he like?”

  “Are you asking me if he has a girlfriend?” Morpheus teased.

  “No.” Her blush flamed on her cheeks. She took a few steps and found that walking did ease some of the discomfort from her legs. “Tell me about him.”

  “There isn’t much to tell. He’s an ancient who is dedicated to his duty.” Morpheus let her hang on his arm as she moved in a slow circle. “If you want me to be more specific you’re going to have to spit it out. I can’t read your mind.” Interesting. Very interesting. “Okay, does he have a girlfriend?” Might as well start there. The last thing I need is an angry immortal lover launching a personal vendetta against me.

  “No.” Morpheus laughed. “The goddesses who survived Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, aren’t very enthusiastic toward the ancient gods. Even if they were, I doubt Thanatose would ever entreat one of them in more than a dalliance. He has very high standards.” His mirth disintegrated. “At one time Thanatose was, to use the modern term, married to a goddess, but she isn’t around anymore.”

  “Really?” Her curiosity piqued, Lyra focused her attention on Morpheus.

  A sad expression crossed his handsome features. “Eternity. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.” Morpheus nodded and his voice fell to a shallow, awe-struck whisper. “Her powers were immense. She could see the past, the future and all points in between. There were times she even changed history, or so it was rumored.

  Only Thanatose knows for certain if it’s true.”

  “What happened to her?” Lyra asked absently, silently pondering if she was going to have an extremely powerful ex-wife from hell showing up in her room.

  “I don’t know. One day she was in the Third Level, the next she was gone.” Morpheus turned her so she faced him. “A few of the elder gods suspect she’s paying heavy penance in Hell for playing with time. Others think she walked into Oblivion, thus ending her infinite lifespan.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure Thanatose knows. He’s never spoken of her since she disappeared.”

  “Wow. Talk about incredible.” You can end an immortal life?

  Morpheus’s gaze slashed to the entrance. His hands fell from her shoulders. “Are you feeling better?”

  Out of her peripheral vision she spied Niko approaching. Lyra went over all she’d learned from Morpheus, then filed it away. “Yes, thanks.” Before she could blink, the beautiful Pegasus stood beside her. “Where to next?” she asked when Niko joined them.

  “I have three more urgent clients for tonight, and then we can go wherever you want,” he told her. He mounted, and then offered her his hand.

  Unlike the last time, she didn’t hesitate. Her fingers curled around his gloved palm.

  Amazed by his strength, she smiled once he’d settled her in his lap. The memory of touching his naked skin flew through her system. “Stop that.”

  “What?” he said on a chuckle.

  “You know what I’m talking about. Just stop putting thoughts into my head.” Rejecting the urge to squirm, she narrowed her gaze on his face when she felt the distinctive bulge of his erection against her butt. Another vision popped into her mind’s eye. Her jaw ached from clamping down on the moan rising in her throat. Unable to get away from the mental picture, she failed to notice that Morpheus was once more airborne.

  “You like this, don’t you.”

  His voice sounded in her skull. She shook her head but the image of the two of them showering under a waterfall, his hands playing with her tits as he plunged into her from behind, wouldn’t go away.

  Wetness gathered in her panties. She gasped when the arm holding her to his frame slipped a little so he could caress her jean-clad thigh. Dryness tightened her throat. “You have a one-track mind.” She shivered. His fingers inched closer to her crotch. A throb took hold of her crotch. “Knock it off. I got the hint. You’re horny.” Niko threw his head back and laughed. “Only for you,” he commented once he’d sobered. “Only for you.”

  Gazing up and into the gaping eye sockets of the skull, she heaved a harsh sigh. In a valiant attempt to get her proverbial feet beneath her, she changed the subject. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about her wanton lust. “You never did tell me how your meeting went with Mayor Fergus.”

  “She wouldn’t see me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We’ll meet again.” He steered Morpheus toward his next client. He leveled his stare on her face. “Sooner rather than later, Mayor Fergus will give up her secrets to me.”

  Sensing he was couching his words, Lyra grabbed the sack of sleep sand from his pocket. “And?” Lyra’s heart pounded hard in her chest. She nibbled on her lower lip.

  “There is no ‘and.’” His breath rushed down on her. “I’ll perform my duty.”

  “Were you sent here to kill Jacinda?” Kill isn’t the right word. “Were you sent here to—”

  “Release her fae soul? No.”

  “Oh. Good.” She opened her mouth to tell him all of Mayor Fergus’s better qualities.

  He gripped her thigh. “But, Lyra, you have to understand this. If she stands in the way of me performing my task, she’ll reap the full-force of my power. She’ll taste firsthand the damage I can cause not only to her town but herself.” The fine grains of sleep sand fell from Lyra’s fingers. She nodded. A clog of emotion grew in her throat. It was part anger at his callousness and part sadness. “She’s not a bad sort.”

  He tilted his face to hers. “Lyra, she’s interfering with Death and his client.” For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why Jacinda was standing in his way. “She probably has a good reason.” Their gazes locked.

  “I highly doubt that,” he said.

  Chapter Four

  There is something to be said for basking in the sunshine.

  With his roster of priority clients out of the way, Niko let Morpheus have his will.

  Since their discussion regarding Mayor Fergus, Lyra had remained stubbornly quiet. He took the bag of sleep sand from her hands and shoved it into his pocket. “Where to, Lyra?”

  “Are you done for the night?”

  “Yes.”

  She nibbled on her lower lip. “I think I’d like to go home,” she muttered, so low he had to bend his head to hear her. “I’m a little tired and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  “Because when is it not a long day when you’re around?” She sighed. “Ever since I’ve met you it feels as though time has crept by.” He chuckled. “You aren’t the first person to ever tell me that.”

  “Why?”

  “Mostly because my duty is long and drawn-out.” He turned solemn. It was part of the reason why he’d been bound to Eternity way back in the day. Unlike other gods who’d had multiple duties, both of theirs were dedicated to one aspect of mortality. Both were tedious and required a great deal of personal fortitude. He shoved the thoughts of his mate away. “Not only do I release the souls appearing on my lists, but then I have a mountain of paperwork to fill out. Death registries, the log of souls and their final destinations�
�”

  “Where do you think I’ll finally end up?”

  “I thought you didn’t believe in life after death.”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “Let me just put it this way.” Niko tugged sharply on Morpheus’s mane when the Pegasus snorted. “The afterlife is what you make of it.”

  “Okay.”

  Again the conversation broke down. He sensed that she was genuinely curious, but she wasn’t willing to get into a heavy theological discussion with him. Glad for that, he directed Morpheus toward Strange Hollow. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to visit New York City or Paris?”

  “Maybe tomorrow.” She leaned her head against his chest and snuggled against his cloak.

  A clog of emotion formed in his throat. Tomorrow. My last day in Strange Hollow.

  Your last day of life. “Would you mind if we took a short detour?” Torturing himself wouldn’t make this easier on either of them. The plan was to get Lyra to live a little. If that required him showing her a place no mortal saw before they died, then so be it. “We won’t be there long.”

  She shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Morpheus, take us to the closest Ethereal Gate.” He knew exactly where he was going to take her. The place he went to when the stress of his duty made him nuts and the one he’d shown her in her mind’s eye when he was performing his preferred type of foreplay. The Goddess Falls located in the Third Realm.

  “Are you sure?” Morpheus asked.

  “Yes.” He knew he was taking a risk for bringing a mortal to the Third Realm before her death. Hell, he was burning a proverbial candle at both ends considering he’d already broken the rules and was yet to complete his mission.

  “At once, Thanatose.”

  Beneath Niko’s legs, Morpheus’s powerful muscles worked. Streamers of sleep sand fell from the Pegasus’s hooves.

  “Hold on, Lyra.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No.” He chuckled. They broke through the thin part of the barrier separating the temporal plane from the ethereal one. Slicing through the bright light leading them to the Third Realm, Niko groaned when Lyra dug her fingernails into the skin of his chest. He remembered her raking her nails down his back when they’d had sex. His cock hardened.