Deidre's Death (#2, Rhyn Eternal) (7 page)

“I can’t believe they’re here. What did you
do, Gabriel?” she demanded at last, the fire flaring in her eyes
once more.

“You always assumed I’m the one who messed
up,” he replied.

She met his gaze.

“I never was, though, was I?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t say
never.
” At her shiver,
he offered his hand. She eyed it.

“Gods, woman. You melted for me last night,”
he reminded her. “Before you walked off to betray me to
Darkyn.”

That did it. Deidre’s face flamed red once
more. She took his hand. Gabriel drew her into his body, and she
tucked her head against his shoulder, so she didn’t have to look at
him. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her womanly musk.
Her fine hair tickled his chin. He was far too content holding the
petite woman he didn’t dare trust.

“What were the terms of your deal?” he asked
carefully.

“I told you. He cured my human side, brought
the deity side back, and joined our souls,” she replied a little
too quickly.

“Darkyn doesn’t do shit for free. What were
the rest of the terms?”

She was silent. Gabriel waited. She pressed
her face to his neck.

“I love the way you smell,” she
murmured.

“Terms, woman.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I couldn’t leave Hell
with any deity powers and um, basically only one of us left.
Because we were combined.”

He didn’t need to read her mind to know she
was lying. But why? If the deal was over, and she was here, what
did she need to lie about?

He made the mistake before of not reading
her mind when he should have. Though he hated the idea, he wasn’t
about to take any chances this time around. Gabriel prodded her
thoughts.

They were sealed off to him. Surprised, he
tried again. He almost felt relief, knowing he couldn’t ever be
tempted to read her mind again. She had violated his mind at every
turn when she was Death. He swore never to do that to her and now,
wouldn’t be able to. Except suddenly, he realized this was the one
time he needed there to be an exception. Too much could be at stake
for him not to know what went down with Darkyn.

“Do you have an outstanding debt to Darkyn?”
he asked.

“None.” This assertion was firm.

“I guess I can check the Oracle.”

She tensed in his grip. “It was a private
deal.”

“Convenient.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“No.”

Deidre pulled away enough to meet his gaze.
She was frowning.

“I want Wynn to verify your tumor is gone,”
he added.

“You’d trust that Immortal over your mate?”
she asked, anger flaring.

“You trusted Darkyn over me.”

“He could do something you …”

It was Gabriel’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Care to finish that? Or maybe explain why you didn’t even tell me
before seeking him out? It’s not like you didn’t have the
opportunity.”

She pushed at him to try to move away.
Gabriel didn’t let go. Deidre appeared frustrated and wiggled
again.

“Easy,” he warned. “We’re having a nice
little chat about trust. Something neither of us does well.”

“You didn’t use to be like this,” she
snapped.

“You didn’t used to be a weak, puny
human.”

“Son of a bitch!”

Gabriel chuckled. “Things have changed,
Deidre.”

“You’re scaring me, Gabriel.”

“You know I’ll never do anything to hurt
you.”

When he refused to release her, she sighed
and leaned against him. The warmth of her body made him not want to
let go.

“Wynn is in Hell,” she said at last. “We
were both in the portal room. Darkyn sent me home, but Wynn didn’t
follow.”

“He’s still there?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t stay to find
out.”

“Why was Wynn there?”

“To make sure my … operation went well.
Darkyn dragged him down to help, since it was his magic in my
head,” she replied.

“I didn’t think Darkyn needed help with
anything.”

“I think Wynn was insurance, in case
something went wrong. What Wynn did was really bad, Gabriel. I was
going to die in a few days.”

One arm tightened instinctively around her
while he lifted the other to touch the soft skin of her neck. The
scars from the demon attack were there. He rested his hand around
her collar, disturbed by the scars. He found himself drawn to her
again, almost too strongly to resist, and reminded himself
something was off about her story. What if the tumor wasn’t gone?
He’d pushed her away in order to keep the tumor from growing.

If he wasn’t able to find Wynn, there was
always Andre, who could tell him if it was there. Maybe Andre could
read the thoughts that were blocked to Gabriel.

Her breathing was quick, the pulse he felt
in her neck flying. She was affected by his touch. He ran his hand
down her arm and rested his hand at her lower back. He wanted to
let his hand drift downwards but stopped himself.

The urge almost seemed stronger with her
today than when he left her last night. He was already struggling
not to let his hands roam her body freely, the way he wanted
to.

But something was wrong. His mate was lying
to him. It had to do with her trip to Hell, with the deal she made
Darkyn.

Gabriel.
Landon’s summons drew his attention.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said, standing.

“Where?” she asked.

“Work.”

He hugged her close. She wrapped her arms
around him and squeezed him back.

“If you need anything, Katie is four doors
down on the left,” he reminded her.

“Okay.”

Gabriel withdrew and called a portal to take
him to the lake. He glanced over his shoulder as he entered the
shadow world.

Deidre was watching him, her large blue eyes
lost and frustrated.

He forced himself to walk away, uneasy.
Disliking the thought, he did what he should’ve done last night. He
shut down her ability to use the portals, just in case there was
something else going on.

“Did you find out who it belonged to,
Landon?” he asked as he emerged onto the bank beside the eerily
glowing lake.

The massive lake was roughly round with a
panhandle on the side nearest the fortress. His death dealers were
lined up along one side of the panhandle, waiting for the invasive
mind check, where Gabriel went through their heads for signs of
betrayal. He hated the idea but understood the necessity,
especially after finding the second compass in the hands of demons
within a week.

“Boss, we have a bigger issue,” Landon’s
voice was hushed.

Tymkyn, the best tracker in the underworld,
stood behind him, hands clasped and chest heaving. He looked as if
he’d fought his way through a herd of demons to reach them. The
tracker was wide and thick, a head smaller than Gabriel, and built
like a boulder.

“Mind check,” Gabriel said.

Both death dealers bowed their heads without
hesitation. Gabriel knew they were loyal before he placed hands on
their heads based on their body language. Still, he made a show of
checking the two assassins before he let them continue.

“You find Harmony?” Gabriel asked Tymkyn in
an even voice. The highest ranking of his death dealers to defect,
Harmony had been Gabriel’s lover for months and his
second-in-command since he took over the underworld. She
disappeared, and Gabriel assumed she was in Hell hiding.

“I did,” Tymkyn replied. “She’s in the
underworld.”

Gabriel stared at him.

“They’ve been moving through the portal in
Hell,” Tymkyn explained. “Harmony and a few others.”

“How?” Gabriel’s gaze went to the waiting
death-dealers. He counted a total of seven missing, including the
three known traitors.

“Apparently, the portal isn’t closed from
Hell. The demons can’t access it, but an Immortal or dealer who
goes through Hell can.”

“You mean, one who survives Hell,” Landon
muttered.

“Or who makes a deal with the demons,”
Tymkyn added. “They’re aggressively recruiting dealers.”

“Five reported interactions with demons this
evening,” Landon said. “Probably when they realized why they’re
here tonight. Another four are missing, assumed in the
underworld.”

“I’ll determine who’s at risk in about five
minutes,” Gabriel said firmly, eyes going to the waiting death
dealers. “Landon, start taking accountability of dealers and
compasses throughout the day. Surprise visits and inspections.”

“Will do. But, boss, that’s not the worst
news,” Landon said with a glance at Tymkyn.

“The dealers in the underworld are
rebelling,” Tymkyn said. “I caught one of the them in the shadow
world on his way back to the mortal realm. They know you’re shut
out, and Harmony has told them it’s because you were of human
origin and the underworld is rejecting you. According to the dealer
I cornered, there’s been some skirmishing between those loyal to
you and those who want to install someone else.”

“Install someone else,” Gabriel repeated and
shook his head. “It’s not possible.”

“They seem to think it is. They’re searching
for something. They tore a part the palace and your cabin. I don’t
know what it is, but it’s important. They seem to think if they can
find it, they’ll be able to replace you with a Death of their
choice.”

Gabriel frowned, unaware of anything that
could push him from his position as Death.

Deidre would know.

His gaze drifted towards the fortress.

“How bad is it in the underworld?” he
asked.

“Bad. Those who support you are few and are
being driven into the Everdark forest,” Tymkyn replied. “But, you
have to take the information in stride. It’s one source only. He
might’ve been bluffing to keep me off guard.”

“Where is he?” Gabriel demanded. “I can
determine that.”

Tymkyn pulled a soul from his pocket.
Gabriel sighed in frustration. He took it.

“Find me another one,” he ordered. “Keep
them alive until I can go through their minds.”

“Will do, boss.”

“Let me get this over with. Landon, my mate
is here. Keep that quiet, though. I want Cora assigned to her
fulltime.”

Landon nodded. Tymkyn waited for more.
Gabriel lifted his chin in dismissal. His second-in-command
signaled Cora over while Tymkyn disappeared into a portal. Gabriel
checked Cora’s thoughts, relieved to find her clean and started
down the line.

He found the five who reported the demon
interactions with ease. Demons – especially those personally
trained by Darkyn – knew how to sense weakness. They’d done their
jobs well. All five of the death dealers were borderline about
abandoning Gabriel. He pretended not to notice, though, and thought
hard as he checked the minds of the remaining assassins.

What did he do to those who hadn’t taken
that final step but probably would soon?

The responsibility of Death weighed heavily
on his shoulders. There was no room for traitors in his ranks, not
with his critical mission on the human world and his own mate
within striking distance. The underworld would open for him, when
he’d conquered his challenges here in the human realm. The deity
Fate had told him as much, after shutting down Gabriel’s access to
the underworld.

A mate lying to him and death dealers
deserting right and left.

Gabriel reached the end of the assassins and
turned to gaze at the lake with its souls. His duty was beyond
question the most important there was: protecting the souls of the
dead mortals and dead-dead Immortals. There was no room for
mistakes or hesitation.

He drew a deep breath then turned to the
waiting death-dealers. He walked down the line to the nearest of
the five the demons had approached with offers and paused before
the Immortal with icy blue eyes. Reading their minds confirmed they
were considering the demons’ offers.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you
now,” Gabriel said calmly.

The death dealer stared at him. Those around
them were silent, still. Instead of responding, the assassin
knelt.

“Granted.” Gabriel acknowledged the request
for a quick death. He placed his hand on the assassin’s head. A
small pulse of power, and the man dropped.

Gabriel called the soul to him silently and
watched the green fog form around his hand before it crystallized
into an emerald. Gabriel tossed it into the lake. He moved onto the
next death dealer whose loyalty was swaying and paused before the
slender woman.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you
now,” he repeated.

She knelt.

Gabriel went down the line. None of the five
fought him or made excuses. All obediently requested quick deaths,
and he granted them, tossing their souls into the lake instead of
crushing them to send them to Hell, which was the usual fate for
the souls of traitors.

“Dismissed!” he called to those
remaining.

Landon waited for him a short distance away.
Gabriel took a moment to breathe deeply, unsettled by how quickly
his assassins were falling. He thought them all loyal and
supportive when he took over. At the first sign of real trouble,
those who weren’t had begun to show their true allegiances.

He never expected there to be so many. It
was a blow to him, considering he’d worked with many of them for
thousands of years. No matter what they thought of his human
origins, he was still the deity in charge of the underworld. More
importantly, the underworld accepted his appointment. He was
starting out doing a shitty job, but he was slowly conquering his
challenges here on the human world.

Landon was right. Morale was low, and many
had lost faith in Gabriel. He wasn’t certain how to prove to them
he was their leader, aside from doing his job. In the meantime,
killing dealers he used to consider colleagues or allies weighed
heavily on his emotions at a time when he needed to think
clearly.