“You do.” Declan smiled at him, and Leviathan felt an odd stirring of something he couldn’t quite name as he watched them. It wasn’t jealousy, though he supposed that would make sense, sitting as he was with the literal personification of greed… but no, that wasn’t right, was it? Arwyn wasn’t really Avarice, not anymore. Not since Declan. Now he was Desire more than Avarice, regardless of which form he wore.
Was that what Leviathan wanted? Not Declan, though he was pretty enough and had always been respectful to Leviathan as both a god and Arwyn’s brother. Declan had been a sailor, too, so he loved the sea almost as much as Leviathan did. The boat was probably for Declan, come to think of it. Arwyn preferred to be on land, having spent so much of his existence trapped in his Well.
“Arwyn didn’t mean to insult you by calling you less fun,” Declan said to Leviathan. Arwyn rolled his eyes. “He’s just bad at showing concern.”
Before he could reply, the thunder outside grew louder, and louder still, and the air became heavy and oppressive.
“Ah.” Arwyn jumped up, nimble as a cat. “Death’s come calling, gentlemen. Let’s get this family reunion underway. But on the deck, please. I don’t want Nyx giving me a lecture about picking up my clothes.”
Azaiah, the god of death, was in his long-prowed boat beside Arwyn’s ship. He looked exactly as Leviathan had imagined in his—admittedly ill-thought-out—plan to summon him, save the lack of a scythe on his back. Behind him, dressed in the same plain, well-worn traveling clothes and boots he always wore, was Nyx.
“Hello,” Azaiah said, voice deep and warm, while lightning flashed in the sky above. The water stayed calm, of course, as Azaiah’s influence didn’t touch Leviathan’s realm, and thanks to Nyx, no true deluge would follow Azaiah’s thunder.
Arwyn leaned over the deck rail. “Hi, hurry and get up here. Levi’s beingveryboring, so I’ll need you to fix that.”
Declan reached out and grabbed a fistful of Arwyn’s coat. “No more hauling gods out of the sea tonight, please.”
“I would have landed on the boat,” Arwyn said, scowling, and Leviathan realized he was having the same strange feeling as before, watching the two of them. He still didn’t understand what it was.
There was another low rumble and the scent of ozone, and then Azaiah and Nyx stood on the deck. Azaiah, who was the kindest of all those who had worn the mantle of Death, immediately embraced Leviathan. “Brother,” he said. “It has been some time since I have seen you in this shape.”
Leviathan didn’t always like being touched in his human form, as things that weren’t water occasionally felt too abrasive on his skin. But Azaiah’s embraces never bothered or itched or made him feel anything other than… cared for, protected. Leviathan hugged him back, inhaling the scent of lavender that clung to Azaiah’s cloak. “Thank you for coming.”
“Yeah, he was going to drown a ship to get you here,” Arwyn said, the tattletale. And he calledAstrabratling? “My ship.”
Azaiah’s brow furrowed, which was an odd expression on his usually serene face. “You shouldn’t do that. Arwyn and Declan won’t go across the river until they’re ready, anyway.”
“Never. People might be tedious, but the things they come up with that I can use to fuck Dex are too remarkable to shuffle off,” Arwyn said cheerfully.
“I didn’t know it was his,” Leviathan said. “Obviously. I thought it had humans on it.”
“Maybe don’t do that, either,” Nyx said.
Leviathan’s temper, which was already on edge, sparked at that. He stepped neatly by Azaiah to stand before Nyx, and the sea began to lift and bob as the water stirred to match the storm brewing above. “I did not drown an empire for you, only to be lectured about my behavior.”
“You didn’t do it for me. You did it for Ares,” Nyx said, chin tilting.
Leviathan stared at him, unblinking, as the sea churned around them. “Andtheydid it for Azaiah, who did it for you, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Even if youdon’t.”
Nyx held his gaze longer than Declan could have—he was a dominant, and had endured much in his time as a mortal besides—but eventually he lowered his eyes. “Lord Tempest. I intended no disrespect.”
“Nyx is my grief; of course he doesn’t want anyone suffering a death at sea simply to call me forth,” Azaiah added. He placed a hand on Leviathan’s arm. “Brother, what vexes you so? Your mood is as stormy as your seas.”
“And if you could do something about that,” Arwyn managed, grabbing onto the railing. “I don't necessarily care to fish more gods out of the sea.”
Azaiah’s calm, spring-green gaze searched Leviathan’s. “What is it? Please, let me help if I can.”
“I need to kill someone, and he won’t die,” Leviathan said.
“Your way with words, Levi, it’s truly something spec— Ow, Declan, do not stomp on my foot. What is familyforif not to irritate?”
“Shh,” Declan said to Arwyn.
“Everyone dies,” Azaiah said kindly. “But why are you feeling so murderous toward humans, brother? I haven’t known you to pay much attention to them, in all the years I’ve walked with you.”
Leviathan hadn’t, not since Angel, which had been before Azaiah’s time as Death. And no one knew about that except Arwyn, who was, for all his teasing, good at keeping secrets. All Leviathan had to do was tell him that he was the only one who knew something, and that was enough for Arwyn to guard it like a wyvern.
“Has someone tried to hurt you?” That was Nyx again, sounding just as affronted as he had, earlier, about the hypothetical drowning of sailors.
