Read Online Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler - Free Book Online

presumptuousness of the words.
    Love is stronger than death.
    Ridiculous. A previous incarnation of the Black Rider had died of heartbreak. Nothing was stronger than death.
    “Such flattery,” Death murmured. “One would think you want something.”
    “Not this time.”
    He smiled. “Liar. You just don’t know what it is you want. But you want something. All living things do.”
    “I’m not like them,” she said. “Not anymore.”
    “You think just because you’ve turned your back on your humanity that you’re no longer human?” He chuckled. “You’re adorable. And you didn’t answer my question. Do you miss her?”
    The Black Rider said nothing. In her arms, the dried flowers flaked to ash.
    “Of course you do,” Death answered for her. “Despite your protest, you’re only human. And so you miss her like a starving man misses food.”
    She lifted her chin. “You’re wrong.”
    “I’m many things, but I’m not wrong. She was your best friend—past tense, verging on the pluperfect—and yet here you are, present tense, at her wedding. You miss her.”
    “You’re
wrong,
” Famine insisted.
    “Am I now?” He gazed upon her, gazed through her with his empty blue eyes. “Since you know so much, do you want to know what you were to her?” His smile turned sly. “Nothing.”
    A lump formed in the Black Rider’s throat, and she choked it down.
    “In the scheme of things, you were just a distraction to her. That’s all.” Death stood in his ill-fitting green and white striped pajamas, and he stared blankly at the bride and groom, even as that sly smile played on his face. “She cut you out of her life so that she might live. As for him, he never cared for you in the first place. You didn’t matter then. And neither of them thinks about you now.”
    Stung, Famine cringed.
    “It doesn’t matter that you emulated her. It doesn’t matter that you followed in her footsteps. Lisabeth Lewis left you stranded in a field of dust.”
    The Black Rider whispered, “Why are you being so cruel?”
    “If truth is cruelty, then I am a sadist.” He turned to face the Black Rider, and this time she flinched as his empty gaze fixed upon her. “You look so hurt. Don’t be. Embracing the truth can be cathartic. Rather like purging, wouldn’t you say?”
    She bit her lip until she tasted blood.
    “Here’s more truth for you: People make choices, and each choice brings with it repercussions.” He laughed softly, the sound like a graveyard wind. “A butterfly flaps its wings and the earth trembles. Lisabeth chose to walk away from you, and as a consequence you chose to become Famine. In doing so, you chose to walk away from your humanity. What do you think the consequence of that action will be?”
    “Nothing,” the Black Rider said tersely. “I may as well have never existed before I took the Scales from you. I’m Famine, now and forever.”
    “Nothing is forever, Tammy.”
    The room filled with thunderous applause.
    Her lip sore and already swelling, Famine glanced at the altar. The groom was kissing the bride. And kissing. And kissing. It looked like he was eating her face. When they finally paused for air, Lisa giggled and her groom, James, kissed her again, to the hearty approval of their guests.
    Famine dropped the dead bouquet to the floor, where it landed in a pile of black stems and ash. The satin bow fluttered to the ground, a discarded memory of something bright and festive. The Black Rider sighed. She wanted to be happy for her former friend, but she just couldn’t manage it. She was too raw inside. Empty, like Death’s bouquet.
    Just as well, she decided. Famine didn’t go hand in hand with happily ever afters.
    Nothing is forever,
Death whispered in her mind.
Especially happiness.
    She turned to argue the point, but he was already gone.
    Even though she wasn’t cold, she couldn’t stop herself from shivering.

Xander
    Xander glanced at the thermostat as he headed toward the