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The breath whooshed out of her body. “You mean you’re not… alone?”
Seeming amused by the idea he shook his head slowly. “You really think one guy can take care of all the deaths in this world?”
Well… when he put it like that… no.
She replied with a jerky shake of her head.
“There are many of us. Once ordinary men and women, we were offered the chance of immortality in exchange for ferrying the dead into their afterlife.”
Avery felt sick. She shivered, her eyes narrowed on him. “You chose to do this? Why would you do that?” This man, this immortal, who she was at once attracted to and wanted to run from, was some soulless creature who had sold himself to the underworld for the chance at immortality. She was disgusted with herself for being drawn to him.
Brennus’ face darkened, his eyes flashing dangerously, reminding her who he was and how powerful he was. “You misunderstand, little one.”
Even though her breath was coming in shallow gasps, Avery was determined not to be browbeaten by this… creature. “Then explain.”
“We don’t kill people, Avery. We just show them the way when their time is up.”
“But why would you want that kind of job?”
“Someone has to do it.”
At his sad answer Avery felt a little faint and she let her body slide down the wall until her bottom hit the wooden floors. “What do you want with me?”
Sighing, Brennus leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. His gaze had softened again as it washed over her face, tallying her features. “We’re called the Ankou. Or the Thana, depending on where you’re coming from.”
Avery just stared at him, not even asking what he meant.
“My province was London,” Brennus continued. “I was responsible for seeing the safe journey of the dead there over to their afterlife-”
“For how long?” Avery interrupted, needing to know, no matter how upsetting (could it get any more upsetting considering she was sitting here talking to Death?).
“Nearly two thousand years,” he replied promptly. “When London was Londinium and much smaller, I might add. I had more free time back then.”
She gave a little guffaw of hysterical laughter, ignoring his glare. She waved him off. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m just laughing at this.” She gestured around her. “I think all the trauma has finally gotten to me.”
Brennus stared her down. “You know this is real, Avery. You know me.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Yes. You do,” he insisted, his voice hardening under her denial.
She shivered, clutching her stomach, heat blossoming on her cheeks. She felt a little feverish. “Why?” She desperately wanted to cry as she pinned him with her forthright blue gaze. “Why are you so familiar?”
Brennus exhaled, a relieved smile playing on his lips. He had a beautiful mouth, she realised distantly. He relaxed back into the armchair. “I only took over New York nine years ago. I came here for a reason. When she was ten years old, a little girl and her parents came over from the U.S. to Britain, and they were involved in a tragic car accident. I came for them all.”
Avery swallowed past the lump in her throat, not sure if she had heard correctly over the rushing of blood in her ears. “Them all?”
Nodding, Brennus leaned forward again, his eyes dark with sympathy. “I took the parents easily. But the little girl…” He shook his head, his face alight with wonder. “…she fought me. No one had ever fought me before. You fought me, Avery. You fought me and won.”
“No.” She quivered, pressing her spine against the wall, wishing she could melt into it. Tears spilled over her lids but she couldn’t escape the truth. No wonder he was so familiar.
“We made a connection that day that can’t be broken. I knew I had to watch over you. So I called up Edward who controlled New York and we traded.”
Her jaw dropped. “You make it sound like you traded baseball cards.”
Brennus shrugged. “After eighteen hundred years as an Ankou you tend to be less sensitive about death.”
Avery ignored the comment, staring at her bare feet in a daze. She’d painted her toe nails black today. That wasn’t an omen, was it? “So you followed me?”
