Deidre's Death (#2, Rhyn Eternal) (10 page)

Wynn was right. She’d have to throw herself
at Gabriel’s mercy.

“No,” she said out loud. “I can make this
work. I’m a former deity. I ruled Death’s domain for countless
millennia. I can make it as a human. I can win him over.”

“It is your choice, of course. If any part
of you believes he loved the human you created, you will realize
you must tell him what happened to her. If there is any way to save
her, he will find it,” Andre said.

“There’s not. This is Darkyn. She was damned
the moment she stepped into Hell,” Deidre said firmly. “By now,
he’s found a way to keep her there, even if she wins our deal. Or
he’s killed her. Darkyn does not hesitate.”

Andre said nothing.

Deidre avoided his gaze. The oppressiveness
of the air around her faded, leaving her confused as to what they’d
been talking about. Until she remembered his other gift: mind
manipulation. Andre pulled the truth out of her in a way that
reinforced how weak she’d become.

What did she tell him? Deidre drank the rest
of her tea but had lost her appetite. She knew Andre to be
discreet, but could even he withhold these secrets from Gabriel,
the deity who raised him from the dead-dead?

Remorse.
Heavy in her mind was the thought that there
might’ve been something Gabriel could’ve done to save the other
Deidre. What if there was? What if her assumption about Darkyn was
wrong?

What if it was her fault the human Gabriel
loved died?

“I need some fresh air,” she mumbled. “My
head is killing me.”

“I can walk you outside, if you’d like.”

She nodded and rose. Andre waited as she put
on shoes. He led her through the stronghold and into the courtyard
and garden area between the walls and the fortress. Deidre’s eyes
were caught by the gardens but drifted to the pine trees beyond the
walls.

“I believe Cora is staying with you,” Andre
said.

Deidre glanced over her shoulder, not really
caring at that moment, not when she felt like her world was
squeezing the life out of her. She headed for the door in the wall
that led from the gardens to the exterior of the compound.

She was able to breathe easier when she
stood outside the massive fortress that sat on a clearing the size
of two football fields. Deidre gazed at the strange human forest,
whose trees weren’t alive like those of her underworld. These
didn’t move out of her way when she started into them. She stopped
and gazed around, spotting a small dirt trail a few feet away.

Deidre started down the trail, holding out
her hands to the pine trees. The needles were long and soft, their
vibrant green coloring leaving her breathless. The forest air was
cool and damp. It smelled of earth and sunshine. She walked slowly,
taking in everything from the patches of blue sky visible through
the trees to the spring flowers sprinkling the forest floor.

She traded everything for this moment, and
Gabriel wasn’t beside her.

Were Wynn and Andre both right about telling
him?

Did it matter, if doing as they said cost
her Gabriel?

Deidre walked deeper into the forest,
wrestling with herself mentally. After half an hour, she grew tired
of the internal argument. She wasn’t able to win either way. She
loved human emotion, but she hated the doubt and insecurity she
felt.

“Gabriel.” She didn’t know why she summoned
him, except that right now, she wanted to see him, to reassure
herself.

Thousands of miles away, Gabriel was with
one of his death dealers surveying the gruesome discovery. His
dealers were beating the demons to the souls. Gabriel was working
them – and himself - overtime to try to catch up. Their list of
outstanding collections was growing smaller.

So was his list of dealers able to collect
them. Landon reported one more going missing and another killed in
a fight with five demons when he went to claim a soul.

Gabriel rose from his position crouching
over the body of someone he knew. This Ancient Immortal hadn’t
given up his soul without a struggle. Erik, one of Rhyn’s
half-brothers, was bloody and bruised from what looked like a
prolonged battle with several demons. Four demons lay dead in the
living room of his house, while the Immortal had dragged himself
into the garage.

Not that it mattered. The fifth demon had
finished him off by crushing his skull and taking his soul. Gabriel
studied the scene before deciding finally he had to tell Rhyn.

He summoned the half-demon and waited.

Each of the Council members had a unique
gift. At the moment, he wasn’t able to remember what Erik’s was.
The quietest and most distant of the brothers, Erik was charged
with protecting northern Europe from demons. Gabriel doubted Darkyn
was after the Immortal because he was fighting demons. Rhyn
reported Erik missing months ago. It appeared as if he’d been
living quietly here, until discovered by demons.

“Yo,” Rhyn said, stepping through a
portal.

Gabriel moved aside. Rhyn froze, staring at
the body of his half-brother. Gabriel knew from his history with
Rhyn that there was no love lost between Rhyn and any of his
half-brothers, none of who wanted him alive, aside from Andre.

At the same time, Rhyn’s undying loyalty to
his family was what made him do everything he could to keep the
Council together. It didn’t matter that he’d been sentenced to Hell
by the very people he was now charged with protecting. Gabriel
assessed the half-demon was conflicted.

“What message is he sending me?” Rhyn
growled.

“You think it’s a message?” Gabriel asked.
“Could there be anything Darkyn wanted from Erik?”

“Damned if I know. He went missing and
refused to come when any of us summoned him. I went looking for him
at one point,” Rhyn said. “I almost assumed he was dead-dead but
thought you’d tell me if so.”

“I would,” Gabriel agreed. “Darkyn is
already slaughtering kids. I don’t know if this is a message or
something else.”

Rhyn was quiet. He knelt beside his
brother.

“His soul is gone,” Gabriel said
quietly.

“What the fuck would Darkyn want with Erik’s
soul?” Rhyn asked angrily. “He’s not Sasha. Sasha was fucked up.
Erik was just … stubborn.”

“I don’t know why either.”

“He took out four demons and still didn’t
summon me before the fifth took off his fucking head.”

Gabriel said nothing, sensing the
half-demon’s explosive temper was close to the surface. He looked
around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything else that might give
him a sign as to what Darkyn was doing by killing off an Ancient
Immortal.

“He had to know I’d come!” Rhyn added and
stood.

“This isn’t your fault, Rhyn. Don’t start
down that path.”

“Easy to say when you’re not fucking up
everything.”

“But I am,” Gabriel said, laughing.

Rhyn snorted.

“If nothing else, keep an eye on your
brothers, I’d say.”

“Maybe Darkyn is still pissed at me for
breaking into Hell to rescue our friends a few months ago.”

“Maybe,” Gabriel said. “There’s no telling
with that sadistic bastard.”

“I’ve gotta do something about the kids,
Gabe.” Rhyn’s voice was hushed. “We’re tracking the demons now but
not fast enough.”

“You’re not thinking of a deal with
Darkyn.”

“I am.”

“You’re a brother to me, Rhyn, but let Andre
negotiate, if you do that,” Gabriel advised. “I don’t think it’s
wise at all. You’ve got Andre. Let him help you. You’ll catch
up.”

“How many more die before we stop him?” Rhyn
asked. “Gabe … I’ve got a hatchling on the way. All I can think
about is what I would do if something ever happened to her. Darkyn
tried to grab Katie already to get to her.”

“Darkyn preys on the desperate, Rhyn.
Remember that,” Gabriel cautioned his friend.

“I know it. I also know I’m feeling
desperate right about now. Will you let me know if you find Erik’s
soul?” As he spoke, Rhyn fingered the black necklace he wore. On it
was one soul, that of his brother Kris, who had given up his life
to get Katie out of Death’s underworld.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll issue an alert to the Immortals.
Except Tamer. Darkyn would be doing me a favor if he took out that
jackass.”

Gabriel said nothing. Rhyn and Tamer were
similar enough in temperaments that nothing would make them get
along.

“I’m headed to see him next,” Gabriel said
casually. “I’ll let him know.”

“Whatever.”

“You want Erik’s body taken to the basement
at the castle?”

Rhyn considered. Gabriel knew how sensitive
the crypt in the basement was. It had been where Wynn, the father
of all the Immortals on the Council, had lain for hundreds of years
before being dragged out by Sasha, the son who betrayed them all to
Darkyn.

“Yeah,” Rhyn said softly. “He’s my brother.
He deserves a burial of some sort.”

“I’ll have someone bring him over.”

Rhyn nodded. His gaze lingered on the body
of his half-brother. Gabriel summoned Landon and gave a quick order
for the dealer to deliver Erik to Rhyn’s fortress. He then called a
portal to visit Tamer, the Immortal making the soul compasses.
Gabriel withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket as he went,
studying the symbols. Tamer, Rhyn’s half-brother and the least
friendly member of the Council, had deciphered five of the twenty
symbols on the compass. The keeper of ancient Immortal histories,
Tamer was able to read scripts from the time-before-time. It was
his secret power, the one few others knew about.

Gabriel emerged into Tamer’s palatial home
in Cairo. The limestone and marble foyer was lined with artifacts,
a sign of Tamer’s passion for all things ancient. The door to the
secret library was open, as if Tamer expected him.

Gabriel strode down the narrow hall to the
only open door and entered. Muscular and dark-skinned, Tamer was
hunched over the table in the center of the room, putting the final
magic touches on a new compass.

“Wait,” the Immortal barked.

Gabriel snorted and sat in one of the plush
chairs. He studied the five symbols on the paper in his hand. Tamer
had translated them, but they meant little to Gabriel.

River, ravine, tree stump, cloud, rain.

Magic vibrated in the library then
faded.

“Alright. Here’s another,” Tamer said and
held out the compass.

The tool lit up at Gabriel’s touch, the
symbols swirling around the edges then settling. He handed it back.
Tamer hefted it.

“Looks good,” he said with a satisfied nod.
“What do you want?”

“Good day to you, too,” Gabriel said, always
amused by Tamer’s curtness.

“You had to tell Andre about all this,
didn’t you.” Tamer motioned to his library.

“I didn’t tell him anything,” Gabriel
replied. “I sent him to ask you a question. Whatever happened from
there is on you. You’re welcome for bringing him back, by the
way.”

“Now I’ve got two brothers in my hair.”

Despite the words, Gabriel knew Tamer was
pleased about Andre’s return. All the brothers were, because Andre
alone had been able to manage the different personalities in such a
way that they all trusted him. He debated what to tell Tamer.
Technically, it wasn’t his business or duty to tell Rhyn’s brothers
about Erik.

“Speaking of people in your hair, you may
want to keep an eye out for any pesky demons,” Gabriel said. “They
may be after you all.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“Alright. You get any farther on these?”
Gabriel asked, holding up the paper.

“A little.” Tamer rustled through a
notebook. “Figured out three more. Shrub, well, mountain.” He
scribbled them down onto another piece of paper and tore them off
for Gabriel.

“Well,” Gabriel said, recognizing the
symbol. “That’s the one the demons seem to be after. Any clue how a
hole in the ground equates to an evil soul?”

Tamer was pensive for a moment. His eyes
went from Gabe to the paper in front of him. He started to sketch
something, paused then leaned forward with more interest and
continued.

“I saw something in an ancient text,” Tamer
mumbled. “It compared the earth to a cesspool.”

“Helpful.”

Tamer scowled. “The sky was given the status
of something pure and clean, the earth sort of a dirty wasteland,
and anything below water level or the ground considered Hellish.
See what I’m saying?” He showed Gabriel the drawing of the
different symbols with a sketch of the sun on one end and the
ground on the other.

“Hole, meaning a bad soul,” Gabriel said,
gazing at the symbols. “Darkyn is after the bad apples. Makes
sense. He’s building an Army of Souls to attack the human world. He
won’t want anyone with a conscience.”

“I’d say not. I have no fucking clue what
the rest of these symbolize, except that it’s a ranking structure.
These in the middle, I’m guessing about,” Tamer said, circling half
the images he’d drawn.