The Underworld (Rhyn Eternal) (8 page)

My soul.
She didn’t answer him out loud. The one-week deal she’d made with human Deidre was over.

She’d lost. Gabriel didn’t love her, and time was up. Her soul belonged to the Dark One’s mate, who lay dying in a cell down the hall.

Tears rose, and past-Death swallowed hard. If she’d been outside of the underworld, there would be no problem. Her soul would become Deidre’s only upon death.

But here, in Death’s underworld, there were no barriers between living and dead like those that existed in the mortal plane. She was able to live here eternally – with or without a soul.

The process of her soul leaving was painless. It was the realization that she’d failed to win over Gabriel that felt like it was killing her from the inside out. For a moment, she wasn’t sure why she needed to leave the cell at all. She’d failed to win the man she loved, failed as a human in every way possible.

She’d once retained the knowledge of the universe, the secrets of deities and stories of every life that ever existed. She’d given up everything, her power, her control – and lost everything she cared about. Nothing prepared her for being human.

Nothing prepared her for failing.

Past-Death leaned against the wall. Tears trickled down her cheeks. Rather than the emotional mess she expected to be, she was numb.

She’d risked everything and lost. The hole growing inside her ached, and she stared blankly into the dark corner opposite her. What did humans do when they ran out of options? Die-dead? Run away? Try again? How did they live like this? What purpose was living in the shadow of someone she loved and spending the rest of her long days knowing she’d driven him away?

How much worse was she as a human that Gabriel had been able to love her when she was a goddess?

Trust.
He’d told her it took time to build. Humans by nature didn’t have as much time as others in the universe. How much time was required? Two weeks? A month? She’d never bothered to count months before, because they passed in a blink to a deity.

But now, a month seemed like forever, if it mattered at all at this point.

Without the one week bet hanging over her head, she doubted there was any need to rush. If trust took a month, then she only had to figure out one thing: How did she wake up each day knowing she’d lost Gabriel?

Or … did she wake up each day hoping to win back a small part of him?

Or was it simply too late?

Desperation made her hurt from the inside out.

It was the most painful thing she was able to imagine. She’d reached a dead end, one that none of her manipulations and power could help her walk away from.

She had to earn her way out of this mess the way a human did, and she didn’t know where or how to begin.

Maybe by saving Deidre. I owe her that much.

Her life as a human may have been wasted, but she could still do whatever was possible to help those she’d wronged. It meant putting aside her agony and despair to save the woman she’d condemned to Hell a week before and expecting the world to continue to hate her, no matter what good she tried to do now. It was too late for her. It wasn’t too late for Deidre.

Past-Death drew a shaky breath. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she focused on calming her mind enough to put herself into the strange sleep, the only way to reach Deidre.

It didn’t matter what happened once they escaped. She had nothing to look forward to, and her soul officially belonged in Hell.

I’m not meant to live through this ordeal.
The stark realization made her sick to her stomach. Deidre deserved better. Gabriel deserved better. Past-Death caused chaos and hurt everywhere she went.

The cool stone felt good against her hot head, and she focused on falling again into the vivid sleep. It was getting easier to enter it, and she gripped the keys tightly as the sense of floating into darkness returned.

When she was able to register where she was, she stood facing the doors of one of the two cells she knew should never be opened.

This time, she had no choice. She had to save Deidre.

Past-Death shook the thoughts free. She turned to face one door, safe in her dream-like state from whatever was inside. If the death dealers weren’t able to see her when she stood in front of them, she was able to take a peek at what horrible monster she’d imprisoned before surrendering her position as a deity. She could free Deidre and then run back to her own cell and open it.

Not like I have anything to lose at this point.
Her heart fluttered fast. Unlocking the door, she pushed it open only far enough to peer into the cell.

It appeared to be empty.

Surprised, Past-Death pushed it open a little farther until she was able to see three of the corners.

Nothing.

She entered the cell and looked around critically. There was no sign of Deidre or anyone else. A thick, undisturbed layer of dust coated the floor.

“It’s the wrong fucking key.” Past-Death’s panic stirred. She’d grabbed one key but not the other, which meant Deidre was in the other cell.

Why would she have secured a cell with no prisoner? Especially one of those at this end of the hallway? Or had the death dealers freed the occupant?

“I know someone was here,” she muttered.

Past-Death opened the door wider to illuminate the cell as much as possible. A small, blue gem winked as the faint light from the hallway caught it. Sensing no one in the cell, she crossed to the flicker of light and was able to make out something else.

Bones. Whoever had been in the cell was long dead.

She picked up the blue gem. The emerald-shaped gem rested in a band of metal that appeared to be a cross between brass and gold in color. By its size, it belonged to a man. It seemed rather plain and like it could use a good cleaning. If it held any sort of magic, if it was more than a trinket, she wasn’t able to tell.

“I guess you’re no longer a threat,” she said, uncertain if she should be relieved or disturbed to know she had unwittingly left him to die. “Rest in peace, whoever you are.”

It didn’t seem right to take away the only possession belonging to the dead man. Past-Death set the ring down and left, locking the cell once more.

Sensing someone behind her, she whirled.

No one was present. She stood perfectly still, waiting for some sign that someone else was there, perhaps someone as invisible as her.

She thought she saw the flames of the nearest torch flicker, as if someone had passed by it, and the flicker of blue. A full minute passed with no other sign.

“I really hope I didn’t just let something out,” she murmured. Her gaze fell to the door across the hall. With a jolt, she realized she needed the other key in order to rescue Deidre.

Past-Death hurried down the hallway towards the stairs, intent on grabbing the key and helping Deidre before something worse happened.

Deidre hit the cold stone floor and heard the cell door slam shut. Too weak to move, she lay still. The world was one of haziness and blood – her blood. She smelled it, and it rendered her hungry and made her want to sob. But her energy was gone, along with her voice, depleted after all her screaming and struggling.

Her lower body was shredded from what the men had done, her upper body bruised and broken from their blows when she’d tried to fight them. Her head had a gash in it, her vision blurry and her nose broken and streaming blood into her mouth and down her throat.

No more pain.
It was there, at the corner of her mind, waiting for the barrier that left her numb to fall. After a lifetime with a brain tumor and more surgeries than she cared to count, she’d learned how to separate herself from the pain.

As long as she didn’t move. Agony would tear down the brittle wall between her and her sanity if she did. Tears trickled out of her eyes to the cold floor.

What did I do to deserve any of this?
It wasn’t the first time she’d thought such a thing, but it was the first time she wasn’t able to find any sort of silver lining in her situation. There was no demon lord to save her, and no matter what she said, she hadn’t been able to convince her attackers to take mercy on her.

It was light outside. She’d spent several lifetimes screaming or so it felt like, but she was able to see the suns through the window, high in the sky. Either little time had passed at all or an entire day had.

Chains rattled from one side of the cell, drawing her attention away from her thoughts. Even if Jared wanted to eat her, she wasn’t able to move. From her peripheral, she glimpsed a dark shape inching towards her cautiously from the direction of the corner.

She closed her eyes, destroyed by the idea that she was about to be eaten by a demon after the disaster that was her life. A sob escaped her, and it hurt so bad, she swallowed the next one.

“Demon?” It was a woman’s voice that came from the other prisoner in her cell.

Deidre opened her eyes and blinked way tears.

The face that hovered over hers wasn’t anyone she recognized. The young woman had long, curly dark red hair, skin made pale from her imprisonment, and a round face. Her eyes were those of a deity: flashing black then white then every color in between. They stopped at dark purple and stayed that color.

“Are you a demon?” she asked in a rough whisper, as if she hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time.

“Yes.” Deidre mouthed the word, unable to talk.

“You are hurt.”

“I want to die.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “That is not for you to decide.”

Deidre started to cry again, and pain filtered through her. “I can’t live … like this … anymore. My life is hell.”

“Then you want her to balance you,” the redhead murmured. “If you are worthy of death, you will die. If you are worthy of life, you will live. If you are worthy of some other state, you will have it.”

I don’t care anymore!
Deidre wanted to scream.

“Do you wish to be balanced?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Just say yes, and it will be over, in some form.”

“Yes.”

“Take her hand.”

It took all of Deidre’s resolve to raise her hand to the one the redhead held out. Deidre took her soft, cool hand and closed her eyes, unable to help the sobs that escaped her. She went over the past few weeks in her mind, from finding out she was terminal to meeting Gabriel to entering the sick world of the Immortals. One choice, and she’d ended up in Hell, the mate of the Dark One, and a demon. For a split second, she’d found a place at his side, only to end up here.

My life was a waste.

“Please let me die!” she begged again, body seizing uncontrollably from pain and sorrow.

“Almost done,” the woman replied.

Deidre clenched her hand. The wall between her mind and the pain slipped away, and she started to slide into dark agony. Just when she thought she was about to lose herself for good, the pain stopped. Broken bones grew together and the tears and bruises in her skin healed themselves. The inhuman movement of her body fixing itself scared her as much as the pain.

The woman released her.

Deidre lay still, terrified to move in case the pain returned.

“It is not your time to die,” the woman said.

The scent of blood was on her clothing still, and she was weak. She examined the forearm that had been broken in the light. It was healed, along with every other part of her. She gazed at herself, unable to recall fully what happened to her. She’d been taken out of the cell with past-Death, wandered up to discover Gabriel’s soul and then … blank.

Without the memories, she no longer had the urge to jump off a cliff and end it all.

Deidre pushed herself up, beyond relieved when the movement caused no pain whatsoever. “This is amazing. How did you do that?” Deidre asked.

The woman had crept back into the shadowy corner of the cell. She settled, the rattling of her chains quieting.

“
You
did that,” came the quiet response.

“Pretty sure I would’ve killed myself, if I had the ability,” Deidre said. She wiped tears from her face. “How can I heal without my mate?”

“The Dark One.” It was a scoff. “The Great Imbalance!”

Deidre shifted to sit comfortably, exhausted. Her stomach was hurting again, and she gritted her teeth until the discomfort was gone.

“You had the ability to heal but slowly. I sped it up,” the goddess said, calming.

“You’re a deity, aren’t you?” Deidre asked. “Fate has eyes like yours.”

“I know. My brother comes to visit me sometimes.”

“He’s your brother and won’t help you out?”

“Long story,” the deity in the corner sighed.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised
, Deidre thought. If Fate was one thing, it was unpredictable. “Why are you locked up down here in the first place?”

“Deity business is messy.”

Deidre smiled faintly. “I know.”

“You are the first demon she hasn’t killed.”

“She?” Deidre’s brow furrowed. “You mean you?”