Rhyn's Redemption (9 page)

“Gabe?” she said.

He sighed in frustration.

“Do you think my son will have Rhyn’s powers?”

“He might have some of them. I don’t know what your human blood will do, dilute or enhance his abilities.”

She squeezed her eyes closed at his response. The real Gabriel had been the one to tell her that the child she carried was a girl.  

“I guess we have to wait and see,” she forced herself to say and added silently,
I hope you’re safe, Gabriel, wherever you are.

Part of her desperately tried to make excuses for Gabe.  Maybe he was fatigued or Death had done something to him. She debated what to do.  She knew where Gabe was allegedly taking her, but she couldn’t outrun or fight a demon or an assassin or anything else chasing her through the underworld.  She’d need help.

She squinted into the jungle, trying to see Andre again.  This time, he wasn’t there.

Chapter Six

Rhyn grunted and rolled onto his stomach.  The stone floor beneath him was cool but not cool enough to soothe the hot fury of his magic.  The effects of whatever Toby had injected into him were almost gone.

“My plan didn’t exactly work,” Kiki’s tone was frustrated.

“What happened?” Rhyn squinted towards the sound of his brother’s voice, struggling to balance the sensations within him. Kiki was chained to the wall while Rhyn was sprawled on the floor of the small room.

“Ully’s dart worked a little too well. You went down like an elephant.”

“Where are we?”

“The dungeon.”

Light filtered in from somewhere, and Rhyn tried to make sense of his surroundings.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

Kiki didn’t have a chance to answer before the wooden door to their prison creaked open.  Rhyn’s head spun as he was hauled up and dragged into a well-lit hallway.  Light and shadows wreaked havoc on his sense of place and time until he hit the cool stone floor again.

“Still no control,” Darkyn said, his voice seeming to come from everywhere. “At least try, half-breed. You made it to the castle by nightfall. I’d planned for some sort of onslaught, not to find you slung over the shoulder of your brother – the
wrong
brother, though I guess that’s the most I can expect out of a half-breed.”

A tingle of alarm went through Rhyn, but his head was too heavy for him to process it.  Instead, he focused hard on containing the power within him.  When he felt he wouldn’t explode, he looked around.  Darkyn had claimed Kris’s library and stood near a pane of windows overlooking the snowy Alps. The morning light was too bright for his eyes, and he turned to face shelves of antique books.

Toby. 
The angel needed him. Rhyn focused hard on the demon lord then on putting one foot, then the other, beneath his shaking body. He rose despite his whirling equilibrium.

“So I made it,” he said. “You have to let Toby go.”

“I said I’d let him live, not let him go.”

“Fucking Kiki.” Rhyn grabbed the arm where his brother had shot him. It throbbed still. “What do you want, Darkyn?”

“I happened to overhear your little talk with Death in the sacred chamber.”

Rhyn eyed him.

“I know you spent most of your life in the same place I did, Hell. Which makes me think you don’t know that what she promised you cannot be.”

“She swore it.”

“And you trust her?” the demon-lord challenged.

Rhyn said nothing, aware the creature before him couldn’t be trusted anymore than Death.

“If Death frees a mortal from the underworld, she violates a code even older than she is. I don’t know what the consequences will be,” Darkyn explained. “But I know her well enough to know she won’t make a deal that breaks bad for her.”

“What are you saying?”

“She set you up.  She bought herself the time she needed. She won’t need to break the Immortal Codes and return your mate to you, because in the next three days, you’ll be out of her hair.”

“She’s counting on you to wipe me out,” Rhyn said, his stomach sinking.  He’d suspected Death’s promise was made too easily, but it had seemed too clear to be anything but what she’d said. Yet Darkyn’s words made too much sense.  Gabe had told Rhyn enough about Death’s double-talk for him to know the deity always seemed to shape things to benefit her.

“I imagine she has a few options.  Kris isn’t your biggest fan, either.  You have fewer allies than I, half-breed.”

“All I want is Katie back,” Rhyn said.

“Go get her.”

“As if it’s that easy.”

“Why isn’t it?  You’ve been to Hell.  You can go to the underworld.  You can find Death and force her to give you what you want,” Darkyn said. “You have the power.”

“Power I can’t control.”

“You’re on your feet right now and the walls are still standing.”

Rhyn glanced around, not noticing his head had cleared and his magic was contained until Darkyn pointed it out.  Anger at Death – not power – made his blood boil. 

“You are half-demon. Death can only contain your Immortal powers in her domain, just like I can only contain your demon powers in Hell.”

“What do you gain by having me go to the underworld?” Rhyn asked, ignoring the bait.

“How much do you want your mate back?” Darkyn countered. “There’s only one way to do it. You can stay here as my prisoner until Death gets what she wants and one of us kills you. Or, you can find her and make her give you back your mate. Only Death knows where Katie’s soul is. Make a choice.”

“Obviously, I’ll find my mate.”

“Good. Then go.”

“Just like that?” Rhyn asked skeptically.

“Just like that.”

“I’m taking Kiki.”

“I won’t stop you.”

Rhyn couldn’t help feeling as if Darkyn was playing him as Death had. Yet Darkyn asked for nothing in exchange for freeing him.

Save Toby.
The words were faint but firm in the same tone Katie had taken with him in the dreamland. Rhyn ignored them, instead fixating on how to track Death in the underworld.  He stumbled with his first step but was soon running hard through the castle, his mind on finding Death to regain Katie. He found himself outside the door where Kiki was being kept prisoner. For the first time since leaving Darkyn, Rhyn realized no one had tried to stop him yet.  No demons stood in front of Kiki’s door and Darkyn hadn’t ordered the castle after him.

Darkyn was serious about letting them go.  Wrenching open the door, Rhyn strode into the chamber. Kiki sprang up from his seat in the corner.

“Toby’s in Hell. You need to go save him,” Rhyn ordered.

“I can’t travel to Hell, Rhyn.”

“I’ll drop you off.”

“Gods, Rhyn, take a minute to think before you act.  What’s gotten into you anyway? We have some time to think about this,” Kiki said, peering at him closely.

“I’m going to find Death and take Katie back.”

Kiki started to chuckle and then frowned. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Let’s talk to Kris. I can’t just go to Hell without a plan, and maybe he can – “

“No, Kiki. I’m doing this on my own. You want me to drop you off in Hell or not?”

“I want to see Kris first.”

Rhyn turned on his heel and left.

“Rhyn, wait!” Kiki called after him. “You can’t offset the balance of the entire universe for one woman.”

“She’s my mate, Kiki.”

“You’ll destroy everything, Rhyn, and for what? The two seconds you have with your mate before the Dark One unleashes demons across the mortal realm?”

He’s right,
Katie’s soft voice said.

“No,” Rhyn growled.

“Andre never would’ve brought you to the Council if he didn’t see the good in you,” Kiki called as Rhyn walked. “All you have to do is –“

“ - nothing and let Kris send me to Hell again?”

“There is a higher purpose to our own suffering. Maybe this is what Hell should’ve taught you.”

“As if you know suffering!” Rhyn said.  He spun, surprised his pragmatic brother would compare an existence in Hell to one of luxury and freedom.

“Every man, woman, and creature knows suffering, Rhyn,” Kiki said. A shadow crossed his features, one Rhyn didn’t expect to see.

“Nothing compares to Hell.”

“Lost love?” Kiki offered. “If you loved her enough to destroy the world for her, then you know the pain Kris has been through twice.  Hell cannot hold a candle to that kind of pain. Every one of your brothers has felt it at some time. It’s what reminds us of why we fight for humanity, and it’s what makes us who we are. But you have to move on, Rhyn. It’s the way the world works. Katie is dead-dead. There’s an ounce of honor in you. Andre saw it, and I see it. Kris gave you the position of enforcer. Take your place with us on the Council.  We can deal with Death without breaking down her front door and pissing her off.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Rhyn replied. “Not for me, not with the power I have.  Besides, Death promised to return Katie to me after four days and lied.”

Rhyn opened a portal and left Kiki in the hallway. He paused in the middle of the cool shadow world gazing at the portals. He thought of Hell, and the portal glowed blacker than night.  He thought of Kris, and the portal for the Sanctuary lit up.  He thought of the Immortal underworld – Death’s domain – and the portal turned gray.

Rhyn stepped into Death’s domain.

At the Sanctuary, Kris was just getting ready to return to his tent when Kiki burst onto the beach, looking as if he were being chased by demons. The portal closed behind his half-brother, and Kiki lowered the knife in his hand, facing Kris.

Kris crossed his arms, recalling the last message he’d received from his spies.  They’d been certain of two demon shapeshifters infiltrating his organization.  While no one knew who they’d replaced, one thing was clear: he couldn’t assume people were who he thought they were.

“What’s wrong, Kiki?” he asked.

“What’s not wrong?” Kiki snapped in response. “Rhyn’s gone ape-shit crazy and decided to kill Death.  Toby’s in Hell, and Darkyn is planning something big, but I don’t know what.”

“C’mon, we’ll talk,” Kris said and motioned for him to follow as he walked to the tent he shared with Hannah on the beach. His nerves had been shot since Rhyn left and the Immortals stumbled upon the message about the shapeshifters. Even the Sanctuary didn’t feel safe anymore.

Kiki poured himself a glass of whiskey and tossed it back. Kris watched him for any telltale signs he was a demon.  So far, every move was very Kiki.

“I thought Rhyn was going to kill Darkyn,” Kris started. “What happened? And why were you there?”

He listened as Kiki explained Rhyn’s visit, ending with the half-demon’s resolve to destroy the boundary between Death’s domain and the Immortal underworld in the hopes of getting Katie back.  When Kiki finished, Kris poured himself a glass of whiskey while he thought.

“That puts me in a difficult spot,” he said at last. “I don’t know if Rhyn could kill Death, but if he disrupted the balance between worlds …”

“He’s done that since he was born,” Kiki pointed out. “He’s just taking it to the next level.”

“He’s a menace to everything.”

“If Katie hadn’t died …”

“She balanced him, even though there wasn’t a day that passed where I didn’t want to strangle her. And I thought he’d started to accept a role on the Council, even if it was the one of the enforcer.”

“Can Hannah’s blood be used like Katie’s?”

“I don’t know. Even if it could, only Ully knew what Ully was doing in the lab,” Kris said in frustration. “I told him for years to take notes so our other scientists can pick up wherever he left off.”

“Whatever Darkyn is planning, it has to do with Rhyn.  He let us go.  There were no guards when Rhyn came for me and no demons to stop us,” Kiki mused.

“Maybe he’s gunning for Death’s seat and using Rhyn to get to her.”

“Andre always said Death was more dangerous than the Dark One, because he understood what the Dark One wanted.”

“Andre never factored Darkyn into the equation,” Kris said. “Still, Rhyn can’t kill Death. I’m not sure what good Rhyn is to Darkyn. Maybe Rhyn going on this crazy journey keeps him out of Darkyn’s hair.”