Then his hand’s on the knob. It’s locked, but that won’t stop one of us. He rips the door off the hinges and steps forward.
I try to block him, but strong bands of wind yank me backward. Pluto. I swear loudly while I knock those back, but Osiris is already plunging through the doorway.
There’s a loud explosion behind us, which Osiris ignores, and then Thanatos leaps out of the ground. “Why you have the right to summon us, I will never understand.” He’s scowling mightily, and he already has a staff in hand. “If there isn’t a good reason for this, I swear?—”
Osiris has dragged Whitney out by one arm.
She’s thrashing around, and somehow she found some kind of—what is that?—to stab him in the shoulder. It looks like a chair leg.
“We’re about to kill the human who ensorcelled Xolotl.” Osiris is beaming, in spite of bleeding profusely from the spot where Whitney stabbed him.
I use wind to tear her away from his side and pull her against mine. “You’re not about to do a single thing to my champion,” I snarl. “And if you try, I’ll fight you without forgiveness, and eventually, I’ll destroy you.”
Thanatos smiles. “It does appear this human has done something to Xolotl.”
“He may be the most powerful among us,” Pluto says. “He may be able to drop humans with a mere thought in ways we don’t really understand, but there’s no way he can take all three of us.”
I do something I’ve never done before. I reach for the same light, the same power, the same critical point I sense in humans, but this time, in Osiris, and I pull.
He staggers. “What was that?”
“I’m about to end you.” I press Whitney closer to my side. “I told you to leave her alone, and I told you I’d never forgive you if you ignored me.” I pull a little more.
Osiris coughs, and blood splatters the ground. “Brother, we’re helping you. You’re clearly sick.”
“I’m telling you that I’m fine.” I straighten. “And I will end you if I must.”
Thanatos jogs closer, and I feel for his life force, prepared to do whatever I must. But instead of striking me or Whitney, he pivots and faces Osiris and Pluto. “You two can’t destroy this human anyway.” He turns back to me. “Because she’s mine.”
Rage rips through me at that proclamation, and I prepare to end him.
Whitney’s trembling at my side. “I—I don’t belong to anyone.”
Thanatos reaches for her, and I feel for his life force, and I prepare to squeeze. But then he steps back, smiling at Whitney as he does so. “You’re my child, girl. Mine and Lechuza’s.”
“What?” Pluto and Osiris ask at the same time.
My anger dissipates. He appears to be speaking to her origins, not his current possession of her. I should clarify, however. “I also don’t understand.”
“Lechuza and I—many years ago, we fell in love. Connections between life and death were obviously not allowed, so we hid our child among the humans. She’s a descendant of that offspring of light and dark combined. Our power and theirs, blended with the humans. A truly unique bloodline.”
Whitney doesn’t even look surprised.
“Did you know this?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I’d heard something like that before.”
It’s why I saw light in her and dark both. It’s not her human nature—it’s a power she inherited.
“But he’s bonded her as his human champion,” Osiris says. “What does that mean?”
Thanatos looks sad. “I’m not sure. I wouldn’t have thought he’d be able to, but I guess only time will tell the effects of one of our kind being bonded to one like her. Any problems that arise are my fault, so I’ll take responsibility.”
“For breaking Xolotl?” Pluto swears. “What can you possibly do to fix him?”
“I’m not broken.”
They ignore me.
