“Shh.”
“You know I won’t let that happen.”
He thumbed up the volume.
“Than.” I touched his arm.
He paused the movie and looked at me.
“I can’t be claimed by a god. Can’t be…beholden to any. As the Bridge to Ordinary, I must remain impartial. No god can rule me.”
“I’ve read the laws. All of them. I am very aware of Ordinary’s boundaries and your own.”
“Right. So breaking the spell is out of the question. You can’t claim me with a mark or blood or whatever. That’s not happening.”
“Must we settle this before we can watch the film?”
“I just…no. That’s all. That’s all I needed to say. We can watch.”
He held my gaze, and two long fingers fished in the small breast pocket of his striped pajama shirt. When he withdrew his fingers, a small business card balanced between them.
I stared at the paper, which he wiggled at me until I took it.
It was heavy card stock, bone white with tasteful gray lettering. One word was precisely centered on the card, written in an elegant font.
Death
“You have a card?”
“I believe the fool is singing the plot to us.” He turned back to the screen.
“Why do you have a card? No, wait. That’s not what I want to know. Why are you giving your card to me?”
His thumb hovered over the pause button. “I am taking you on as a client.”
“A client.”
“Yes. As my client, my full offering of services are available to you. At your discretion.”
“What does that mean? Is this some kind ofcontract?”
He sighed and pressed pause. “It means, Delaney Reed, that we agree we are friends. When a friend calls, whenyoucall, I shall offer you my full abilities.”
“So this isn’t a claim?”
“Nothing so slight. This is a promise.”
The air seemed just a little colder, all the shadows of the room deeper, all the lights sparking hard and bright.
Then he blinked and gestured with the remote. The world reset to normal mode. “Shall we observe?”
I nodded and settled back to watch the show. It was a good thing I’d seen it a couple dozen times. My thoughts were too scattered to follow the clever wordplay, wheeling between Ryder’s declaration—
—never marry her—
—and Than’s promise—
—we agree we are friends—
