Hiya! I’m here as Holly today 😊 A couple of days ago, The Death God was released, so I thought I’d pop over here and share the first chapter.
Now, this is the sequel to Rufus the Dead, and I strongly suggest you read it first. In Rufus the Dead, we get to meet Rufus (of course), Jaki, Minerva, Thanatos, Prophecy, and Gregory. Gregory and Rufus are vampires who steal four psychics (the names above minus Rufus and Gregory 🤪), leave their coven behind, and buy a fixer-upper castle.
The Death God is about Thanatos and Gregory. Thanatos’ skill is that he can see how people die. Gregory, who went searching for a way to prolong his life and found a vampire willing to turn him wants nothing to do with Thanatos and every time he sees him, it’s a reminder he won’t live forever.
But there is an event hosted by the local werewolf pack, and they’re invited. To explain why they’ve left their coven without telling everyone they’ve stolen four psychics, they decide Gregory is gonna pretend to have fallen madly in love with a human. And that human is Thanatos.
It’s somewhat of a challenge LOL
The day we’re celebrating is World Gin Day, because when things don’t go as Gregory wishes – which they seldom do – he drowns his sorrows with gin.
Read the first chapter below!
The Death God
Sequel to Rufus the Dead
Drinking vampire blood saves lives, but it comes with a price.
A couple of months ago, Gregory Acklam gave his blood to one of the psychics living in his castle. Vampires don’t share their blood willingly since it creates a partial mate bond when they do, but Thanatos would’ve died if Gregory hadn’t intervened. The effects of a partial mate bond wear off after a couple of weeks, so how is it possible Gregory still feels drawn to Thanatos?
Thanatos Sage never asked anyone to save his life. It doesn’t mean he’s not grateful, but no one asked him. It feels unfair he should be punished for something he didn’t do, but months after it happened, Gregory still refuses to be in the same room as him.
It all changes when Gregory needs a fake boyfriend to bring to a werewolf event. Gregory goes from avoiding him to constantly being in his space. He claims they need to smell of each other to fool the werewolves into believing they’re a couple. Thanatos is surprised to realize he doesn’t mind playing the part of Gregory’s boyfriend, but shouldn’t they stop pretending now that they’ve met the werewolves?
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Paranormal gay romance: 50,482 words
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Chapter 1
Gregory Acklam walked through the dark corridor of the cold basement until he reached the room with all the booze. The former owner had left a lot of things behind, including a room filled with a variety of bottles.
He’d never met them, but the real estate agent had said everything in the castle was included in the price, since the current owner was in a remote location and unable to come into the country to empty it. Suspicious? Yes. But that was why it was so cheap. The owner was looking for a quick sale, which worked in Gregory’s favor. Though, he believed the price had more to do with the risk of the building falling on their heads any second now.
It didn’t matter. He’d bought a fucking castle.
He grabbed a bottle of gin, uncapped it, and guzzled several mouthfuls before walking along the dark stone corridor.
He glanced into the room where they held Zidane. His still form was sprawled on an old, scarred table, the stake protruding from his chest.
Zidane was a fellow vampire they kept in one of the basement rooms in case of an emergency. He’d tried to kill them, so Gregory didn’t feel bad about it. He talked to him from time to time to let him know they were still there. He didn’t answer, of course, which was for the best. He’d never liked Zidane. Looked like a fucking fairy and acted as if people should be pleased to see him. They already had Prophecy in the castle, and one person with that kind of personality was more than enough. Unpleasant bastards.
He snorted and took another swallow, only to grimace.
Two months ago, Gregory had made a decision he wished he hadn’t. Seven years earlier, Orla, his maker, the leader of his coven, and a close friend, had been murdered. Iris, the new coven leader, had tried to pin it on Gregory’s best friend, Rufus. Gregory had been able to provide an alibi for Rufus at the time of the murder and therefore saved his life. Rufus had been sentenced to being staked in a coffin for seventy years though, and Rufus was claustrophobic.
It ate away at Gregory knowing Rufus was living his worst nightmare while Gregory was getting on with his life—or trying to get on with his life. He lost his will when both his friends were taken from him, but he couldn’t give up. Not until he’d gotten Rufus out of the coffin.
So he’d done what any good friend would do—offered Rufus up for an arranged mating with a person neither of them had ever met. Yup. It was the kind of friend he was.
Blood bonds were forever. There was no way out. From the moment of the blood exchange till the second you drew your last breath, you were mated, and Gregory had made sure Rufus got the gig.
It turned out the person Rufus got mated to was a psychic named Jaki who lived in a fucking asylum commonly known as the house of horrors. Or maybe not commonly, but it was the name it went under in this house. Castle. It wasn’t a house; it was a castle, and they owned it because Gregory had panicked.
He’d believed he’d lose Rufus again, so he’d sold everything he owned. Then he’d sold everything Rufus owned. The home he loved, all things with monetary value, and his backup home. Rufus was careful like that. He always had a backup plan for everything, aliases for aliases, and places he could move to should his home get compromised. Not now though, since Gregory had sold everything.
Yeah. That was the kind of friend Gregory was. The kind who set you up for arranged matings and sold everything you owned.
Rufus took it in stride. He might have grumbled about the fucking castle, and he might have been right, but when did you ever get a chance to buy a castle? It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing even for a vampire who, essentially, could live forever.
Had they still had any money, they could’ve blown everything out and fixed it up. It could’ve been lovely.
Now they’d settled to make sure all rooms had intact windows.
He took another swallow of gin.
“Having a good day, Zidane?” He watched for a flicker of life, a sign he’d heard him, but there was none. Being staked left you aware but unable to move or feel. Gregory could cut his hand off, and Zidane wouldn’t feel a thing.
He walked into the room, took another gulp from the bottle, and stroked his hand over Zidane’s eyelids. He looked into forest green eyes—because of course they were forest green. The only thing missing from Zidane living a real-life Lord of the Rings movie was pointed ears. The eyes didn’t move, but Gregory knew from experience he could see and hear him, and his brain worked as effectively as it did when not staked.
“Yeah, me either.” He took another swallow of gin. “I’d offer you a drink, or maybe not, since you tried to kill us.”
He leaned against the cool stone wall and closed his eyes. He couldn’t go on like this. He skipped meals, and he wasn’t sleeping. All he wanted to do was grab Thanatos and carry him to his bed. Except, he fucking hated Thanatos. There was no creepier man than Thanatos the death god.
When things had gone south, Iris had sent Jaki back to the house of horrors, so, of course, Gregory had stolen Rufus from the coffin he was in—because it was the kind of friend he was. He’d done it right after having sold everything Rufus owned.
They’d gone to the house of horrors to get Jaki only to find it empty. But since Rufus was bonded to him, they could follow the pull of his heart—not as romantic as it might sound—and they managed to locate Jaki. In a convoy of vans.
Rufus narrowed it down to two possible vans Jaki could be in, so they’d taken them out and grabbed all the psychics in them. Luckily, it had only been Jaki and three more. Minerva was okay. Prophecy was an ass Gregory wished they’d eaten instead of saved, and Thanatos… the death god.
He’d taken one look at Gregory, his eyes had gone completely white, and now he knew how Gregory would die.
Then, at the same time as they’d gotten hold of Zidane, Thanatos had been about to bleed out, and Rufus had begged Gregory to save him—because that was the kind of friend he was. Fucker. So Gregory had formed a partial blood bond with Thanatos, and now he wanted to kill him as much as he wanted to fuck him. And care for him. And keep him safe. And gaze into his eyes and say sappy things. Ugh.
He snarled before bringing the bottle to his lips. He swallowed greedily. With too little food and too little sleep, a bottle of gin created some buzz.
The problem was it had been two months. A partial mate bond should only last for a couple of weeks, and yet Gregory couldn’t be in the same room as Thanatos. He didn’t feel any different now than he had the moment the one-sided bond had slid into place.
He fucking hated Thanatos.
“Next time one of them is about to bleed out, we’ll feed them your blood.” He nudged Zidane’s shoulder, but he wouldn’t feel it. “Do you think it’s different because they’re seers?”
He didn’t think so. The mate bond acted the same whether you mated a human, a shifter, or another vampire. Vampire-vampire bonds were a little different since they couldn’t feed from each other, so there was no natural way to strengthen the bond. Though he suspected they bit each other now and then to keep the bond strong. Or not. A bond was a bond, and he feared he’d gag if he had to drink dead blood.
As soon as the hold of the partial bond let go of him, he’d go into the closest town and hook up with the first stranger he encountered. Or maybe not the first. He had some standards. But a nameless, faceless one-night stand was what he needed to free himself of this weird hold Thanatos had on him.
“I’m gonna go and get drunk in the kitchen now. I’d invite you to join me, but I don’t think you’re fit for company.” He leaned over Zidane and closed his eyelids. He was kind like that; didn’t let his prisoner’s eyes dry out.
* * * *
Thanatos Sage looked at the instruction video from the beginning. Again. He’d followed it step by step, but his sourdough starter didn’t bubble.
It had been two months since Rufus and Gregory had saved him from the house of horrors, and his new life was so much better than his previous one.
When he’d lived in the underground facility, the warden had sold his services, and his services included both his skill to foresee someone’s death and his body.
He never wanted to go back.
The warden was dead. Jaki had shot him, but since there hadn’t been any news about a group of people being found anywhere, he suspected someone else was running the show now. It was a lucrative business, and all the guards and other staff knew it.
Thanatos had lived most of his life in the blue wing. It was called the blue wing because everyone who lived there wore blue scrubs. Each small room with its crisp white walls housed two unhappy psychics. He’d shared a room with Prophecy since the day his father sold him to the warden.
Not now. Now he had his own room, and he loved it. He closed and locked his door behind him every night. He’d gotten extra locks. Rufus had looked at him as if he were insane when he’d asked for door latches, but he’d provided. Thanatos now had three sliding latches and two door chains. It made him sleep better. Or maybe not, since he didn’t sleep, but it made him calmer.
He tapped on the glass jar, hoping to see a bubble in the dough, but nothing.
Jaki and Rufus were his new favorite people. He’d lived next door to Jaki in the house of horrors, but they had never spoken other than a grunted hi from time to time. He’d heard him through the walls though. Not words, but he could pick out the tone of his voice as he and Minerva had talked.
His and Prophecy’s room had always been silent. It was as if there had been an invisible barrier in the middle of the room preventing sounds from filtering through.
Prophecy never asked how he was, what he was thinking, or if they should go to the canteen together. He’d envied Jaki and Minerva. The only ones he ever spoke to were his clients and he didn’t want to talk to them.
He shuddered and shook the glass jar. Still nothing. He watched the instruction video again, poured out most of the sourdough starter and fed it again. He moved the rubber band on the jar to where the surface of the dough started and placed it on top of the refrigerator.
When steps approached, he pressed himself against the kitchen counter and held his breath. Praying whoever was walking in this direction would turn around.
Gregory appeared in the doorway, scowled, and muttered something Thanatos couldn’t make out.
Gregory wasn’t as big as Rufus, who was a tall, broad-shouldered vampire with flaming red hair and a scarred face, but he was still taller than Thanatos. Thanatos was the smallest of the men currently living in the castle. It didn’t matter, but when Gregory glared at him, he shrank into himself more.
Pathetic. He was almost certain Gregory wouldn’t touch him. Almost. But a lifetime of experience had him keeping his distance.
Gregory drank from a bottle, the liquid see-through. Thanatos didn’t know enough about alcohol to be able to guess what it was from looking at the bottle, but he was sure it was liquor.
He didn’t know if a vampire could be an alcoholic. Since they healed almost everything, addiction seemed far-fetched, but he was no expert.
“Gonna stand there for long?”
Thanatos shook his head. As soon as Gregory moved away from the doorway, he planned on running, but moving now would mean stepping closer to him. His heart was beating hard in his chest, and his breath came in stutters.
Gregory narrowed his eyes, then grunted and walked further into the kitchen. Thanatos sucked in air and held it. As soon as there was a wide enough gap between Gregory and the kitchen counter, he rushed for the doorway. Had Gregory wanted to grab him, he could have. Vampires could move faster than the human eye could catch when they wanted to.
He rounded the corner of the doorway and panted as he hurried down the corridor toward his room. Once there, he closed the door and engaged all the locks.
This was better than the house of horrors. Much better. He had his own room, his own bathroom, he could pick clothes, and he was allowed to be in the kitchen and try to cook as many things as he wished, but it didn’t make his hands stop shaking or his heart wanting to break out of his ribcage.
What if the guards had killed the remaining seers in the house of horrors? He believed there had been twelve on the blue wing, but there was a pink wing and a green wing too. How many seers had lived there, he didn’t know, but no one would kill forty-ish people, would they?
He’d search all the news sites again tomorrow. It had been two months. Someone had to have found the other seers. Though, if someone had taken over the operation, he feared they’d never be found.
