Heart's Redemption (MxM)

Chapter 32 ~ Sam

If Toni's intention is to make up for her past actions and gain our, or at least Carlos's, forgiveness, she's doing a poor job of it so far.

In the space of the last thirty minutes, she hit Carlos (I get that she's upset, but that doesn't make it okay), and told Ian he's going to die. One more strike and she's out, as far as I'm concerned.

"There must be some way to get rid of this 'anchor' thing, though, right?" I ask, frowning at the slight bulge in Ian's breast pocket where the black marble now rests.

Predictably, Toni shakes her head. "Afraid not," she says. "A death mark is like a spiritual tattoo. It's not something you can wash off with soap and holy water. Once it's claimed a victim, death is the only end."

I feel myself growing warm again, the tell-tale sign that my emotions are making my demonic side visible, and Ian gives me another warning look and gently massages the back of my neck with one hand. I do my best to relax, and the skin of my arms and hands pales once more.

Hopefully, none of the Walkers notice my tendency to turn 24-karat when I'm upset, but at the moment I have bigger concerns.

I don't care what Toni says. I'll fight Thanatos himself if I have to, but no 'death mark' is taking Ian away from me.

He's mine.

Meanwhile, Toni continues her examination of the scene. "Carlos tells me you've had a spate of untimely deaths recently. That so?"

The Walkers stand ranged in a loose line, Maria and Inez at the center with Sofia and Cass to one side and Elliot and Jack on the other. Carlos stands beside Jack, with Ian and I at the end. Altogether, we form a half-circle around the border of the burned spot.

"Yes, there have been four deaths in the past few months. Five, depending on what happened here," Maria says. "All were ruled as suicides, though."

Toni nods, scuffing her boot over the ground near the car. "That makes sense. This ritual—the death summoning—can work in a few ways, depending on what exactly is summoned and why. One is simply to attract bad luck—fatal accidents and the like. The other—what I think we're dealing with here—is to attract a death-bringer to kill whoever is bound to the mark."

"Death-bringer?" Sofia asks, crossing her arms over her chest. She's wearing very short khaki shorts and a too-small camo-patterned tank top. I think she needs to get out of this town.

"Yes," Toni replies. "Death-god, Shinigami, Reaper, Angel of Death—whatever you want to call it. Its job is to bring death. My guess is it's either causing people to die in ways that look like suicide, or is somehow forcing them to carry out the deed themselves. The question is who is compelling it to do such a thing. Usually, they're not this...aggressive."

"Someone tried to kill Sam," Cass says, glancing my way, "and tried to make it look like he'd...meant to drown himself."

Toni looks at me. "Interesting, but Sam doesn't have the mark."

"I'd left it in my shirt pocket," Ian says slowly, his hand still stroking the back of my neck like I'm a cat or something, "and I left my shirt near where he slept. If this thing is drawn to it...maybe it thought he was the target, and then stopped once it realized it had the wrong guy."

"The only problem with that theory," I say, "is that whoever attacked me was flesh and blood."

"It's rare," Toni muses, "but it's possible the death-spirit is possessing someone—using them to carry out its will. My suspicion is it's the same person who summoned it in the first place. The question is who, and why. Does your clan have many enemies?" she asks, turning back to Maria and Inez.