The sands of the hourglass ran smoothly through the center. The silence was unbroken for a second, and I could swear I could hear it hitting the bottom of the glass. It was just the sand, and the sound of my beating heart.

Jai was in the doorway. Jai.

Even thought I knew it wasn’t him dead on the floor, I still felt my heart lift. But the silence was broken by another soft chuckle from Thanatos.

“Oh no,” he said, and his voice was mocking. “It’s the guardians, whatever shall I do?” He took a step towards Jai, who stiffened. “You idiot boy, your power is weak here on earth. You know that as well as I do.” His voice took on a sing song quality. “You’ve grown weak and I’ve grown strong. Tables are turned, boy.”

Thanatos swept past me without a second glance. Before Jai could move, the man’s arm shot out and one pale, spidery hand covered Jai’s throat, slamming him back into the doorframe. “See how strong?”

I expected Jai to fight him, to reach up and swat him away. Instead, Jai’s body seemed to lock up. He shook, and his eyes rolled backwards, mouth dropping open as he gasped for air. A trickle of darkness began to bleed from Thantos’ pale fingers, snaking upwards over the surface of Jai’s throat. “Rot and ruin,” Thanatos said softly. “Ruin and rot. Oh dear, you’re not looking so good…”

“Stop!” I dragged myself forward, ignoring the pain sawing at my leg.  Propelling myself upwards with my hands and one good leg, I launched myself directly at Thanatos. I must have caught him by surprise, because he let go of Jai and whirled on me, shoving me backwards.

The floor came up in a rush, smacking me in the side of the face, cracking my temple. Bright stars danced in front of my eyes, and a blurry outline of Thanatos leaned over me. In spite of my daze I saw something drop out of his shirt. A red, multifaceted stone on a fine silver chain.

The necklace.

“Oh darling.” Thanatos sneered down at me.  “That looked like a rough tumble. Did it hurt?” When he reached out the chain around his neck swung, making the diamond move back and forth. I was about to reach up and grab it when a wave of sickening pain rocked me, and the room spun again. My stomach lurched, and I fought the gorge rising in my throat. Thanatos was pressing one pale hand against my broken leg.

“Oh, does that hurt?” He laughed. “Do you think I can’t see you eyeing the necklace? You really think I’m going to let you surprise me? I’ve been a step ahead of you and your buffoons the entire way, Lady Time.” He spat the last two words out like they were poison.

“Hey!” A voice from the doorway made us both jerk in surprise. “Get away from her, you slimy bastard.”

My heart leapt when I saw Manda. She was standing just inside the doorway, beside Jai, who was slumped on the floor panting. In her right hand she was carrying a long, curved blade.

The instruments were back.

Thanatos narrowed his eyes at her, and I took the opportunity, lunging forward in spite of his hand, still on my broken leg, gritting my teeth through the pain. My hand closed around the cool surface of the diamond just as Thanatos jerked back in surprise, and the chain tore away.

He reached out for me, and I rolled sideways just as Manda came charging for him, swinging the scythe wildly. He jumped back, laughing and that’s when Manda saw Horace.

She faltered, and her eyes went wide. For a split second the scythe wavered in her hands and her mouth formed a round “Oh” expression. Thanatos struck.

Manda flew back as he drove both fists into her chest, and the scythe went clattering to the floor. Her momentum was stopped by the wall, and she doubled over wheezing and gasping. Thanatos bent down and picked up the scythe casually, rolling the staff around in his palms.

My chest was tight. It was hard to breath, and I kept looking at Jai. The black on his throat hadn’t faded away, and he was still stretched out on his back breathing heavily. Was he alright? My stomach was in knots. It looked like he was dying.  Guardians could die. I knew that for sure now. Horace wasn’t getting up anytime soon. I’d already got him killed. And now Jai was dying, even though I’d sacrificed Horace for him in the first place. This wasn’t fair. I couldn’t lose Jai. Really, I wasn’t sure if I would care enough to continue the fight if Jai was gone.

Thanatos approached me, and his expression was amused. “I’ll give your guardians one thing, they don’t give up.” He leaned forward, bringing the hooked blade closer, until the edge was resting against my throat. Suddenly I was aware of my every breath. Every heartbeat that echoed in my ears. I remembered what Jai had said about the blade. That it meant permanent death for anyone who was killed by it.

I don’t want to die.

Thanatos laughed, and the blade wavered, making me flinch. “Lady Time, threatened by her own instruments. This is too much fun. I’m so happy you came to visit me, Kali.” For a moment he reached out and cupped my cheek. His fingers were cold and clammy. It was like being touched by a corpse, and I tried to hold back my shudder of disgust. He glanced at the hourglass on the floor and pulled his hand away. “But, I’m afraid our time together is nearly over.”

I took a shaky breath, refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking at the hourglass. The sands were nearly drained. The guards would be waking soon and then everything would be over. There were too many of them for us to fight. He was going to win.

The sound of wracking sobs made Thanatos glance up, and his smile grew wider. Manda was leaning over Horace, her face streaked with tears. She curled both fists in his bloody shirt and buried her face in it. Her entire body shook with each sob.

“Ah, young love cut short so soon.” He paused as if to consider this. “Well, technically very old love.” He winked at me. “You were right you know, to outlaw their love. She really should be helping you right now. But she went straight for him, and he’s dead.” He chuckled. “Well, technically dead. His soul is escaping right now as we speak. Such a shame.” He glanced at my right hand, still curled around the stone in my palm. “You could save him, you know. But you’d have to sacrifice yourself. Your memories are in there. It has room to store another spirit, but part of you would be lost forever. It might even kill the rest of you.”

I stared at him, eyes round. His words echoed in the empty white space of shock. The room was getting fuzzy again. When I spoke my voice was a raspy croak. “Why are you telling me this?”

He leaned in again, not even attempting to pry the stone from my palm. The blade of the scythe pulled away a tiny bit as he came closer. “To torment you. I know you’ll never sacrifice yourself for one of your guardians. It’s not in you to do that. But you will torment yourself about it. That amuses me.”

I only glared at him, and he laughed again. “You see, the thing is…I know you. We’re enemies, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know you almost intimately. Every proud thought, every gesture. You’re arrogant and jumped up on your own power. I’ve tussled enough with you to realize what you really are, Lady Time. You live for yourself and only yourself.” He leaned closer and whispered. “You know what you said to me once? What good are guardians if they do not serve the greater good?” he chuckled. “That was you with everything. The greater good. And you stepped on a lot of people for the greater good, Kali my love.”

I tried to concentrate on breathing evenly. On the slow burning rage that kept my mind off the pain, and the fact that Thanatos’ repulsive face was so near to mine.

He smiled again, showing all his teeth. “See? You have nothing to say. Do I know you inside and out, or what?” He laughed again.

“You don’t know me. Not anymore,” I ground the words out from between my teeth. “You changed that when you brought me here.” I jerked my hand sideways, opening my fingers. The stone clattered across the floor towards Manda, and Thanatos reared back, eyes wide with shock.

The blade pulled away as he did so, and I rolled sideways and out from under him. Everything was a blur of movement and chaos. I saw Manda snatch up the necklace and hold it over Horace, I saw Jai finally drag himself up from the corner, I saw Thanatos turn towards Manda, scythe raised high in the air.

Ignoring the bolts of pain shooting through me, I tackled him, reaching up to grab the handle of the scythe. The second my hands wrapped around the wood I heard the clock again.

The thunderous TICK. TICK. TICK  reverberated through me, matching the rhythm of my heart. Thanatos’ jerked backwards as if he were thrown, face slack with shock. Two steps, that’s all that separated us.  Two steps to close the gap. Two seconds to reach him.

I swung the scythe, and the light from the rising sun glittered along the blade, making the patterns erupt in a display of neon blue. My arms burned as I swung at him, the impact jerking my muscles as the blade cut through his neck.

Thanatos remained standing for all of two seconds, and then his head toppled off, hitting the marble floor with a dull thud. His body toppled after, and crimson splattered outwards, spraying all over my sneakers and pant legs.

My fingers were numb.

The blade clattered to the ground at my feet, and I tilted my head back to watch the ceiling revolve slowly above me. The hole I’d fallen through was now a distant black smudge. I was going to be sick. I was going to faint.

I’d just beheaded Thanatos. Gross.

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