Page 132 of Mortis

Teddy raised his hand and lifted a finger. “Immortal means actually immortal. I can’t die from old age or illness. I can’t be murdered. I can’t die in an accident. I can’t die because of some weird technicality where you decide death didn’t technically ‘claim’ me because I choked on a grape or got hit by a bus.” Mammon opened his mouth. “And before you say anything, those were examples, not an exhaustive list.”

Mammon closed his mouth and Arlo snorted.

Teddy raised another finger.

“You don’t own me. I don’t worship you, I don’t serve you, and you can’t summon me to Hell because you suddenly decide supplying you with souls counts as employment.”

Another finger.

“Kael stays free too. No chains. No summoning circles. No taking control of him. No ordering him back to Hell. He stays here because he chooses to.”

His next finger rose.

“We stay on Earth, together, for as long as we both want to. We continue providing you with the souls that pass through Adler & Sons, but nobody gets killed specifically to fulfil that agreement.”

Teddy hesitated, then raised another finger.

“And if one day, for whatever reason, we decide we’ve had enough of eternity, we get to end it. Together. On our terms. You don’t get to decide when that is. We do.”

Mammon’s expression flattened further.

Teddy inhaled deeply, then raised his final finger.

“And most importantly, no loopholes.”

Mammon had grown increasingly irritated as Teddy spoke. His jaw ticked. The skin around his eyes tightened. Even the air around us had grown suspiciously warm.

“Are you quite finished?”

Teddy thought about it. “I think so.”

He paused, and Mammon’s nostrils flared.

“Actually, one more thing.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but Teddy interrupted.

“When Arlo and Grandad eventually die, you don’t get their souls.”

Mammon’s eyes drifted towards Arlo, who was smiling proudly at his friend, before returning to Teddy.

“Anything else?” he bit out.

Teddy considered it, then asked, “What counts as an accident?”

Mammon stared at him in silence before pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m beginning to understand why you work with corpses.”

I pulled Teddy towards me, pressing his back against my chest.

Just in case.

“Fine.” My master lifted his head and glared at Teddy. “You’re both immortal. Neither of you belongs to me. No murder loopholes, no accidental deaths, no hidden clauses. Kael remains in the mortal realm, your family’s souls are exempt, and I receive every other soul that passes through your funeral home.” Teddy’s lips parted and Mammon pointed at him. “Do not.”

Teddy wisely closed his mouth.

Then Mammon snapped his fingers.

We all tensed. After all, we’d just witnessed what happened the last time my master snapped his fingers. But rather than exploding into bloody smithereens, a curtain of fine golden glitter rained down around us. The particles settled on our skin, sparkling beneath the moonlight before disappearing completely.