Dinner was nothing more than sitting and staring in awkward silence.

I ate my food politely, spoke when spoken to, and analyzed every breath taken in my vicinity. As Death ate with us this time, I studied his movements. Which arm he favored. When he spoke, with what cadence and words were chosen. If he was guarded.

After several hours of wondering, we'd established that Seb had been chewed up and spit out by the vicious dog. Even the large animal couldn't stand the godawful taste of coward, I supposed.

All the answers were being laid out in front of us and I was about to get one more. Death was about to give me all the ammunition I needed.

Until here we sat through Death regaling us with an old story from the medieval days. All the murder and blood spilled, how glorious it was back then.

I was sick to my stomach after eating so much, hearing the in-depth retelling.

Demetri sat firmly at my side, hands clenched in his lap. The white knuckles were telling enough, his posture tight and shoulders rigid. The golden irises flickering back and forth between the speaker, his food, and casual glances between Noah and me.

It ended rather suddenly, Noah making a few sideways glances at me while the Wraith got drunk and began slurring his speech. It seemed absolutely ridiculous that the God of the Underworld could be such a lightweight.

Atticus excused himself and Death to make sure the bumbling idiot got to some lair, I'm sure to sleep off the immense hangover likely to come.

"Do Gods have hangovers?" I ask Demetri, passing him a glance when they're out of earshot.

The playful side of the Reaper smiles. "From what I've seen, he's going to be in a Royally unpleasant mood tomorrow."

For some reason, the sound of that soothes my insides and I slouch a bit. Demetri observes this too, eyes scaling the length of my back before settling on the plate in front of him.

"We should be getting you to bed," he says, anything caring sinking out of his voice and slipping back into his throat. "You have a lot to do tomorrow."

I shrug a little bit, looking back at the unwitting Noah. He's still in the dark about this challenge, still looking at his Handler like a nuisance. Perhaps he wouldn't have any trouble killing Atticus at all. That could make him stronger than me in the long run, more likely to win.

The thoughts bumbling together inside my head are intrusive and exceptionally invasive. I can't get a clear moment.

"Can I talk to him for a sec?" I ask, gesturing to Noah.

Demetri shrugs, teasing me softly with a warning look before allowing himself to be removed from the table. I don't know anything about Reapers. If they can hear better or sense things, but I know he's being polite.

"You're not going to give me more waterworks, are you?" Noah smirks, chuckling to himself and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Because I don't need to hear about any of the sappy shit you have to say. We're going to face our last battle tomorrow, you and I are going to do our best. We're going to try and win. You understand me? No crying about being dead, we already are. I've mourned that loss. Now, we just do our best."

The words sink in, I find myself nodding along.

Not because I agree with his words, but because somewhere in my heart, I know they won't be necessary. I know I'm going to find a way to solve all of this, right every wrong this stupid competition has put us through. With everything we've endured, it has too.

"Of course," I smile, showing him a confident killer on my face. "I was only hoping to wish you good luck."

"That's my girl," Noah agrees.

He gets up from the table and walks away, down the hallway and towards his final night of sleep. Demetri waits for me with a knowing look I cannot understand. With arms crossed and a weird smile, he approaches and tries to usher me back towards the door.

I hold firm, looking up for a moment. "What?"

"The girl I met would've said what's on her mind," Demetri says. "Unless it's something so ridiculous, no one would believe her."

Shrugging, I follow after him. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you think."

"What I'm worried about, is that I do."

Total Word Count: 23,399

I know! Super short! But just as important.

I'm trying to power through the finish of this book today, even if I've already entered my lot. I hope everyone does well! Good luck!