3:00 p.m.

Loki and Eros were in the boardroom with all of the Norsemen.

"Good afternoon." Death, with Loki by his side, stood before the Aesir and the Venir prepared to tell them lies. It was an uncomfortable thing to do with Odin and Frigg locking eyes with him, as they both had the gift of foresight. They might be able to sense his deceit, but he had to try.

Death knew five things:

He knew Alec, who the Fates were using as a puppet, would be at the launch that evening. But, the Fates would be safe and sound very far away.

He knew Alec had one, if not both, of The Beasties. The folklore said there was only one, but only he, Hypnos, Eros, and the Fates knew there were two. But, there were only twelve bullets made- six for each revolver. Which meant, at most, Alec would have ten bullets left. At a bare minimum, one. However, Death was always one for the middle ground and assumed Alec had just one of these pistols, and only one set of six bullets. After having killed Victor and Josanna with one bullet each, he would have four left. Despite this, Death would pretend that Alec had all ten possible bullets, just to be safe.

He knew that Alec would be vaporized if he crossed the magick blocks protecting Death and his audience at the event.

He also knew that Alec knew this. Alec had been to his Collectors Gala and was aware of the safety precautions Death took at his gatherings. This meant if Alec were to strike, it would be before or after the event, and he would have to be within thirty yards to pull the trigger successfully.

Death knew he had to utilize all of his resources to even half-way pull this off. He had Odin, Thor, Frigg, Frey, Skadi, Heimdall, Tyr, and of course, Loki. Damien and Hypnos, undoubtedly, would make their appearance at either the most convenient or most inconvenient times. If Eros knew what was happening, then he too would be there, despite everything. He knew Eros too well after all this time. He knew Eros hated to be left out.

Death looked at the Norsemen in front of him. "Today, we have an opportunity to fight Fate. I apologize for this being such short notice; however, we couldn't risk communication before knowing all the details. The Fates, themselves, will not be there physically. Instead, they are sending Alec VanGarrett, the new Vampire King, to do their work for them. He has bullets, forged by the Fates. Each bullet has the capability to kill each and every one of you, even if you're shot in the shoulder or the leg. If you are shot, you will die, without hope of resurrection or reincarnation. No Valhalla. If this fact is unsettling to you, I suggest you leave now. Before I continue, are there any questions?"

Silence.

"Good. The Fates are scared. Sloppy. This is their last resort." True.

"They are likely to kill anyone who gets in their way." Lie.

"They are desperate to regain their power. We must stop them at all costs. The goal here, tonight, is to use me as bait." A partial lie.

"I'm the one they want to kill." True.

"I intend on making it easy for them." Not true.

"I typically employ protection blocks to vaporize those with ill intent coming to my events. Tonight, I will not raise them. I'll do this to lure Alec out into the open." This was mostly a lie.

"Alec will need to be at close range to fire his shot. Hopefully, then, we can ambush him and seize his weapon. Alec, I'm sure, will bring his devout circus of cockroaches with him. Please, feel free to kill as many as you want. You have my permission." This was mostly true.

"Once we have Alec and his weapon, we will move onto phase two. Phase two will be explained when it approaches." Another partial lie. He would explain phase two only if necessary.

Are there any questions?" Death asked.

Thor raised his hand like an awkward high school boy.

Death gestured, "Yes, Thor?"d

Thor leaned forward on the table. "So, our job here is... vampire slaying? We are to slay vampires?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you just say that?" Thor stood, excited, and unhooked Mjolnir from his belt. "Grab your stakes and your torches! Time to kill some aptrgangr!" He roared, and he sent an electric pulse of frenzy through the room into his kin.

Thanatos gazed steady on at the Allfather, who only took in a breath. Odin joined in the gaiety for just a moment before turning to Tyr, the one-handed god of War, and they began to have a silent conversation. Thor made a loud cry to assemble weapons for aptrgangr slaying. While some Norsemen were riled up with him, some of the others were indulging him the way adults will indulge an excited child, so as to not ruin the fun. Shortly after assigning positions and posts, the band of gods disassembled to fetch their weapons.

When Loki and Thanatos were alone in the conference room, Loki collapsed into a chair. They were silent for a moment, listening to the seconds tick by on the clock above the glass door. "Thanatos?" Loki sighed.

Death produced a cigarette from thin air. "Yes?" He lit it. He hadn't smoked in ages, but given the stress he was under, he allowed himself just this one.

Loki said, "This is a terrible idea."

"Yes."

They weren't even looking at each other. They stared blankly off in opposite directions.

Loki clicked his tongue. "Have I told you I hate you recently?"

"No." Thanatos came off the wall he was leaning against and ashed his cigarette in the tray at the head of the table. "You have called me a dullard, though."

Loki grimaced but didn't change his mind. Death was still a dullard. He said, "I wish you would have at least asked Hypnos to do this."

Death ignored him. "Are you ready?" He asked, taking in one final drag before crushing his cigarette in the tray.

And Death heard his own voice retort back, "Do I have a choice?"

Where Loki was sitting, there was now a new Thanatos, all dressed in his white suit. Loki stood, taking in his now-white slacks, belt, and shoes. "How do I look?" Loki asked in Death's voice. Loki, in the image of Death, spun on his heels and straightened his suit jacket with as much dramatic swagger as he could summon.

Death took Loki in. He examined every detail down to the slight wrinkles which parenthesized his lips. "There's a smile in your eyes," Death said. "Get rid of it. Remember. You're dead inside."

The Loki-Death leaned in with his sharp knowing smile, which played terrifyingly well on Death's face. "Thanatos, you only wish that were true."

The real Death looked at his pocket watch. "Let's get to our places, shall we?"

Loki-Death nodded and they each left out of a different glass door.

***

When Eros followed Damien out the front door, they entered into a cramped, grey world. They should have walked onto the stoop. They should have been looking at the street lined with cars. Instead, they were staring at the Fates.

"Oh fuck." Eros stopped dead and spun on his heel to turn back around, but his front stoop and door were gone. He said to Damien, "See! This is why I don't get out of the house! Every time I follow you or your father through a door I end up here!"

The Fates screamed-

"Why are you here?"

"How did you get to this place?"

"How dare you show your face!"

"And you brought FUCKING EROS?"

Eros turned to the Fates and yelled, "I don't want me to be here either!" He turned to Damien. "See, I told you I wasn't smart." Then, more to himself, as he brushed back his hair, "Bloody hell..."

All the screaming was driving Damien to his breaking point. He held his hands up by his ears, fingers clawing at the air. He grinded his teeth and clenched his eyes.

When the Fates and Eros all saw him doing this, like a bomb about ready to blow, they all quieted. Damien opened his eyes and stuck his burning gaze upon the Fates. Each one of the ladies shrank a little but quickly corrected themselves.

Damien lowered his hands, clenching them at his sides. "The only thing saving you from non-existence was a four letter word- Anna. And you killed her. What- why did- Why would you do that?" He cut them off before he could answer. "You know what? Just..." He poised his fingers to snap. "Fuck you." Damien clicked his fingers.

***

9:00 p.m.

On the opposite side of Rippertown is an industrial shipping area. It sits on the edge of the sea and is covered with huge, concrete, box-like buildings and a web of railroad tracks, not too far from Darkside. In this industrial area, the clean, white concrete had turned grey. Weeds were conquering the sidewalks, and the air was filled with the smell of propane and brake cleaner. The roads were pitted and rough from all the heavy equipment Thanatos's project had been barreling in, day in and day out.

On this side of town, on the night of the transportation system soft launch, the renovated area was zoned off with high chain-link fences and construction barriers. Shining cars parked in the oil-stained street. A newly constructed boardwalk, lined with people awaiting the ribbon cutting, was surprisingly well lit despite the setting sun. The streetlights, headlights, and camera lights illuminated the walk and cast strange theatrical shadows on the building behind the crowd. Bored media sat on the bumpers of their vans waiting for something interesting to happen, scribbling notes in their flip books. They didn't notice Eros trying to push his way through the crowd of wool and fur coats.

Eros had maneuvered through the crowd by making people desire to get the fuck out of his bloody way, but one time, he used a little too much energy and got goosed by someone he couldn't see. When he was finally at the front, the bouncer eyed him and said the doors would open in five minutes.

Eros pleaded, "Right, but it's sort of an emergency and Thanatos-"

The bouncer cut him off, "Do you have an invitation?"

"No, but I'm sure I'm on the list."

The man shook his head. "It's invitation-only. If you don't have the physical invitation, you can't come in."

Eros groaned and threw his head back. "Can you explain to me why this world is so against digitizing? Like, really, an e-vite with a QR code would fix so much!"

The bouncer said nothing.

Eros groaned and closed his amber eyes, and focused. Upon opening his eyes again, the bouncer became overwhelmed with lust for him.

"Well, for a pretty little thing like you, I guess I can make an exception." The bouncer winked and opened the door.

Eros simpered and slipped inside, the crowd behind him growing restless and aggravated as the door closed behind him.

Inside, the staff was putting the finishing touches on the room. It was much smaller than Eros anticipated. The space was crowded with tables dressed in white linen cloth and adorned with white rose centerpieces. It almost resembled a wedding. Front and center, there was a stage with a microphone, which a crew member was currently testing. There were caterers off to the side of the room, filling glasses with champagne, blood, and water.

He hurried to the stage, where the audio tech was adjusting and testing the microphone. Eros smiled sheepishly at the woman. "Hi. Um, I'm a supervisor over the wait staff, and we have a small issue with the hors d'oeuvres. It's really important I get to Thanatos. Have you seen him?"

A brief sympathetic urgency swept across the woman's face. "He just went to the back." She thumbed in the direction. "I think he's in make-up."

"Much appreciated." Eros ran along the back wall behind the stage, which was covered with a white velvet curtain. He started parting it to see if he could find his way through. Expecting to find a concrete wall on the other side, he was startled to find that his hand went through upon first inspection. He parted the curtain and passed into an immense echoing, glistening train station. Eros had to marvel at it and take it in before he was able to continue his search. The ceilings were domed glass. The modern curve of the concrete buttresses twisted with a dramatic grace, and before him was a glimmering bullet train, set upon a single rail set in the ground. The nose of it was narrow and pointed, and the whole thing was white, sleek, and aerodynamic. The train was detailed with a racing horse, its mane and the wind rushing behind it spelled out White Horse Transit.

The cavernous train station echoed with the sound of rushing people, and Eros finally turned to see a makeshift vanity mirror being disassembled as Thanatos stood from his chair. Patrice was brushing off the shoulders of Death's suit. Death made eye contact with Eros and said, "What the devil are you doing here?"

Eros hurried up to him, and Death matched his stride towards him.

"Listen," Eros said, "can we go somewhere private to-" Eros recoiled. Thanatos was reaching out to embrace him. "What are you doing?" Eros turned his body to the side to avoid contact. He grimaced in disgust.

Death drew back at Eros's evasion. He started making wild hand gestures, but shoved his hands in his pockets once he realized what he was doing.

Eros tilted his head at this.

Death bit the corner of his lower lip, and Eros's eyes grew wide with recognition of his boyfriend's biggest quirk. Eros whispered harshly, "What the devil are you doing?"

Loki-Death cleared his throat. "I'm an entire ten seconds behind schedule. Make it quick."

Eros glared at him. "This is serious!" He tried to keep his voice low. "Loki, where is Thanatos?"

Loki broke character. "Why are you out looking for him? Why are you out at all?"

Eros was frantic. "We can't talk here!"

Loki started to gesture wildly and whined, "Well, I have to go greet people!" He realized Thanatos would never be so theatrical and pulled himself together.

Eros snapped his fingers at a passerby. "You there, with the name badge! Hi, what's your name?"

The guy stopped and pointed at his face. "Me? I'm Bob."

Loki-Death said, "Bob? Your name is actually Bob?"

Eros stamped on Loki-Death's shoe.

Loki winced but laughed it off as best he could.

"Yes, Bob," said Eros. "Go find someone important, and tell them to open the doors. Thanatos has something to wrap up. Go!"

"Right!" Bob jumped to it and ran off.

Eros told Loki, "Walk with me casually, casually, into the dark corner over there."

Loki-Death folded his hands behind his back and accompanied Eros into a semi-dark corner. "I don't see how this is any more private."

"Loki, listen to me. The Fates are gone."

"Gone? Like gone, gone?"

"Damien. He killed them... or something. They are gone. Not-coming-back gone." Eros glanced to make sure no one was overhearing them.

Loki smiled. "Well, this sure does throw a wrench in things."

"A wrench in what exactly? Why are you him right now?"

"Alec is going to shoot him."

Eros froze. "You mean you? Alec is going to shoot you because you look like him?"

"No, no, no. That's not the plan... although there is a slight possibility."

Eros grabbed Loki-Death's perfect white tie and yanked him to his level. "Oi! Loki Laufey. If anything happens to you, I swear upon all that is holy, I will bring you back and kill you myself. Do you understand?"

"Don't threaten me with a good time." Loki giggled and snorted, but Eros's gaze stayed on. "You're, uh..." Loki pointed, "you're wrinkling the tie. It- It's silk."

Eros kissed him hard on the mouth and released him. "Now, where is Thanatos?"

Loki-Death opened his mouth to speak, but Patrice came tapping up in her stiletto heels, pencil skirt, and cat-eye glasses. "Boss?"

Loki had always wanted to do this. He growled, "What is it, Patrice?"

Nonchalantly she said, "There are vampires outside screaming anarchy and they are attacking our guests, so the guests are all stampeding over each other, trying to get inside, sir." She popped a pink bubble. "It's kinda bloodbath-y."

Loki-Death straightened his tie and followed after Patrice, leaving Eros backstage.