The Underworld (Rhyn Eternal) (17 page)

Only when it was closed did she relax. “Did the death dealers find us?”

“Maybe. I’d rather meet them on neutral territory than risk fighting in that mess.”

Past-Death returned to the caldron, wishing she knew what was supposed to happen in the sacred place. “I guess we wait them out this time.”

“Okay, so no one is here,” Deidre stood in the doorway of the cell she’d shared with past-Death and Jared. There was no blood in the air, a sign past-Death hadn’t been eaten before leaving the dungeon.

He got his fill of the guards on the floor above.
She’d stopped to look too long, drawn by the delicious scent of blood and the eerie, nauseating acknowledgment she had the same ability to disassemble a human body as Jared had.

“I don’t know where to start looking. I could search this place forever.” Troubled, she moved away from the cell. Past-Death had the advantage of knowing the palace, whereas Deidre was easily lost and running on fumes.

Karma had drifted down the hallway and stood halfway between Deidre’s old cell and her own.

“Karma, are you ready to go?” Deidre called as loudly as she dared with a worried look over her shoulder.

The deity’s hair had gone straight, a sign Deidre took to mean she was upset. Approaching, Deidre reached out to touch Karma’s arm.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” she said. “We’ll get out of here together.”

“This does not worry me,” Karma replied.

“What’s wrong then?”

Without replying, Karma turned away and started down the hallway, towards the exit. Deidre followed, concerned as much for her new friend as she was being discovered.

Or being forced into a position where she had to kill again.

“Your friend is not here,” Karma observed. “We should leave the palace. Find those seeking you.”

Deidre’s heart skipped a beat. “Darkyn.”

“The Great Imbalance and others.”

“They aren’t here for me,” Deidre said. “But he is. You think we can evade the dealers long enough to reach the forest?”

“Karma isn’t sure.” The deity studied her. “You are very weak.”

“I know.” Deidre swallowed hard. “I don’t have a choice though, do I?”

Karma shook her head. “And if you die-dead, Death or the Great Imbalance are the only who can raise a soul.”

“So we need to find them no matter what.” Deidre chewed on her lower lip. “What about my friend? What if she’s in trouble or worse?”

Karma rested her hands on Deidre’s shoulders, and her hair instantly tightened into spirals. “You are in trouble now. You will not live long enough to help her. We must go to the forest and save your life.”

Deidre managed a smile. “Why do people hate you? You’re so sweet.”

Karma’s eyebrows quirked. “I am sweet because you are. I reflect those around me, remember?”

Deidre nodded, not wanting to think about how Karma was going to react when she ran into the Dark One.

“We will fix you then come back. Come!” Karma took her hand and took off at a quick trot, jarring Deidre out of her spot. “It will be dark soon. We can escape then.”

“Really? It looked like noon to me.”

“I has been here long enough to understand how time passes. Night is coming.”

Deidre said nothing, focusing her remaining energy on fleeing.

“Once we leave the palace, don’t let go of my hand, until we reach safety. No matter what.”

“Okay,” Deidre replied. Reluctant to leave past-Death behind, she also suspected she wasn’t going to last long enough to make a difference in helping her quasi-friend, if she didn’t find her mate in time.

The idea he’d come to the underworld to find her – that Gabriel let him – filled Deidre with an emotion so happy, it gave her strength when she feared hers was almost gone.

Together with Karma, she ran.

Gabriel checked the sky once more. The two suns were up in the position of midday, but the forest animals had grown quiet, preparing for the night they knew was coming.

Calculating how long he had before someone noticed the scouts missing on the eastern side of the palace, he determined he had enough time to await nightfall. There were hundreds of death dealers in the palace. He didn’t need to go in, just make it to the wall where he knew there to be an entrance to one of the secret passages past-Death taught him about.

He settled back into the brush and withdrew a rag to wipe the blood from his weapons. Steadying his breath, he focused on grounding himself in the short period of time he had between day and night.

“Are we not charging full speed to take the palace?”

Tensing, Gabriel twisted to face the speaker without raising his weapons.

Fate crouched a few feet away, dressed as if for a safari, down to his round hat and the binoculars dangling around his neck. The stunning deity was lean and toned, his eyes swirling every color and no color at all. Brown hair peeked out from the hat.

Gabriel wasn’t entirely certain how to take the deity’s visit. “You come when no one wants you and don’t come when I could use insight. You are brilliantly inconsistent, Fate.”

“As are you, Death.” Fate smiled, flashing white teeth. Ostensibly open and friendly, he was nonetheless devious in the way of a powerful, bored god. He settled onto a stump near Gabriel. “But I’m happy to say you’re getting better.”

Gabriel continued with his weapons, debating what to say to the deity who had proven to be both the best mentor he’d ever had and the greatest liar he’d ever dealt with.

“Did you figure it out?” Fate asked at his silence.

“Figure what out?”

“What’s wrong with the underworld. Why it locked you out.”

“
You
locked me out.”

“Semantics. It would’ve done the same if it could. A domain is vulnerable to its master, even if he doesn’t intend to hurt it.”

Gabriel eyed him. “Maybe I did. It was broken, because I came close to breaking two of the three original laws, thanks to human emotion.”

“Terribly romantic, isn’t it?” Fate grinned. “The great deity Death suffers from heartbreak and turns away from his destiny, and the universe crumbles.”

“Terrible, yes.” Gabriel sheathed his weapons. “What’s worse: why you couldn’t just tell me what to fucking do.”

“It’s complicated.”

“No it’s not. Just say, hey, Gabe. Stop being an ass and be a good Death.”

“I think I did try that approach.” Fate grinned. “I told you a lot, Gabriel, but you weren’t ready to hear it or didn’t understand it, if you did.”

Gabriel shook his head, sensing it was probably the truth.

“You needed to learn a few more important lessons first,” Fate said simply. “I can’t force feed outcomes, Gabe. I may egg along chains of events from time to time, but if I am to respect free will, I need to show you the road without necessarily telling you where it goes.”

Gabriel swallowed the retort he wanted to give.

“And then there was Deidre,” Fate added a bit more sadly. “Every once in awhile, the plight of a human makes me almost-feel something.”

“That’s the problem,” Gabriel seconded. “I can’t get over it.”

“You must, if you are to heal yourself and the underworld.”

“You have no fucking clue what it’s like to feel. Not
almost
feel but really experience emotions.”

“I don’t,” Fate agreed. “But maybe you should look at it the way Deidre does. As a silver-lining. If past-Death hadn’t done what she did, Deidre wouldn’t exist.”

“She wouldn’t hurt or spend eternity in Hell, either.”

“She wouldn’t have reached the part of you and Darkyn that can feel.”

Gabriel was quiet, considering. “I’d rather spare her the misery of her current life than letting worthless gods
feel
.”

“Gabriel, you are missing the point. You are Death, the Keeper of Souls, Guardian of the Dead, Master of the Underworld, the first ever human-turned-deity. Your very existence was destined to start a new era, rewrite the Immortal Code, and create billions of new chains of events.”

“I think you’re exaggerating,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. He moved onto his belly to peer through the brush and monitor the movement of dealers to and from the palace.

“If you being
you
has resulted in this, then what do you think Deidre being Deidre will do? You are both anomalies, created at just the right time, and given just the right power you need to forever alter the Future.” Fate crawled down beside him.

“To prevent another upheaval,” Gabriel guessed. “To stop Darkyn from raising his Army of Souls.”

“What’re we looking for?” Fate had his binoculars out.

“You blind, old man? We’re barely thirty meters away.”

“They came with the outfit. There must be a reason to use them.”

“Look for anything that might prevent me from reaching the palace.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Am I right? Are the two super important humans coming into play on your chessboard right now to counter Darkyn’s plans?”

“Yes.”

“So this is less about helping me and more about some danger only you can see,” he surmised.

In that light, Fate’s explanation made sense. Unfortunately, it came from the mouth of a known liar.

However little he trusted fate, Gabriel understood that Deidre was as special as he was. She was first human to become a deity’s mate – twice even! – and the first and only mate of a Dark One. She’d already displayed her ability to influence Darkyn, to protect the innocent and therefore limit the reaches and power of Hell.

“It’s both,” Fate replied. “I’m ninety percent more likely to succeed now. Besides, everyone needs a favor from Death at some point.”

“You plotting against me?”

Fate smiled without answering.

Gabriel fell quiet, dwelling on the explanation while also scouring the tree line for signs of activity. Fate had a way of softening horrible events, of making them sound manageable, if not necessary. If it weren’t the fact he was also an untrustworthy, lying asshole …

“I can see the appeal,” Fate said. “These are effective.”

It was hard to stay upset at the low-key deity who appeared impressed by something as human as binoculars.

“You swear on what horrible, corrupt, shriveled up soul you have that Deidre was not created simply to suffer?” Gabriel asked.

“I do swear it. You were both created for reasons greater than you know. Besides, the past is done, Gabriel. Hanging onto it is what got you into this mess. It’ll kill you, if you don’t let it go.”

Gabriel relaxed. The assurance eased some of his concern while making the hair on the back of his neck raise in alarm at the smug note in the deity’s voice.

“Speaking of Darkyn,” Fate murmured. “He and Rhyn are smashing through the forest.”

Gabriel looked in the direction Fate was peering. Without the precision of the binoculars, Gabriel saw the forest’s frantic movement and the darting of dealers in the direction but was unable to identify exactly what came.

“Good timing for a distraction,” he said and pushed himself up.

The suns had begun to drop rapidly towards the shifting horizon of the underworld. In a matter of two minutes, it’d be sunset.

“What’s the plan?” Fate asked, standing as well.

“You can see the Future,” Gabriel said wryly. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“It’s more fun when you don’t look.” The lean deity clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “I’m ready.” Dressed in his safari clothing and matching wide-brimmed hat, Fate was armed with binoculars and his grin, about as far from ready as Gabriel could imagine.

“You’re really coming with me?” Skeptical, Gabriel started to smile.

“Until things get bad, at which point I’ll leave,” replied the deity.

“Appreciate the honesty.” Gabriel growled. “So I should assume you don’t have my back.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“It never is.”

“This adventure isn’t going to wait long for us.” Fate faced the palace.

“Did you peek at the future and know it’s safe to go or are you a fucking lunatic as usual?”

Fate stepped from the forest.

Gabriel drew his weapons with a muttered curse and followed, lifting his weapons into ready positions, in case Fate was fucking with him.