by Lizzy Ford
Harmony slapped her.
Deidre licked away the drop of blood from her lips, head ringing and cheek hot.
“Look at what I’ve done, little demon. I’ve taken over the underworld. A human like Gabe can never become a god, or this place wouldn’t be falling a part! I’m making things right. As soon as I’m Death, the Dark One will have to bargain with me as an equal. If there’s anything left of you, I’ll use it to bring him down,” Harmony said, agitated yet resolved.
This is madness. Deidre listened, aware of how precarious her situation was.
“Once I kill Gabe, things will calm down. You’ll see,” Harmony added.
“So he’s here?” Deidre asked.
“What do you think?”
I think he’ll kick your ass.
Harmony sealed the vial and handed it to the death dealer who cut Deidre. “Take this to the ogres. See if it works.” She moved towards the door. “Stay here, Deidre. I need a bucket of blood for the next one.”
“Want a guard posted?” one of the men was looking at her a little too eagerly, a familiar glow in his gaze.
“This little mouse is too scared to run,” Harmony replied.
Deidre’s heart fell to her feet. She was already suffering from hunger; she didn’t think losing half her blood was going to make it easier to escape. She wasn’t a coward, either. How was a human supposed to act when she was alone and vulnerable in the world of Immortals and deities who didn’t think twice about killing and harming those weaker than them?
All three left, and she sat on the table, fingers pressed to the wound in her arm. When the bleeding stopped, she stood and paced.
Five minutes passed then ten. Too anxious to sit still, she went to the door and placed her ear to it. She heard no sounds from outside that indicated Harmony had left a guard.
She tested the door. To her surprise, it opened.
“I’m not a coward, Harmony,” she murmured, face warm with the idea she was trapped in a room that hadn’t been locked.
Deidre peeked into the hallway. She heard and saw no one. The doors lining the dungeon were all closed, and she mentally kicked herself for not paying attention to how far they went. She wasn’t able to trace her way back to the cell where past-Death and the demon were.
… go to the top floor, center wing. In my bedroom is a jewelry box. It’s there.
What were the chances she’d make it out of the dungeon, let alone to the top floor of a place she’d never been before? Deidre debated, her heart racing at the thought of being caught.
Then again, what did she lose if they threw her right back here in a cell?
There are worse fates than death.
For once, she was grateful for her ignorance about the Immortal world. Something told her she didn’t want to know what those fates were or how bad it could get. She definitely didn’t want to be there when Harmony returned to drain the rest of her blood.
“I can do this,” she whispered. “Find Gabriel’s soul then come back here and rescue Deidre.” Not sure what to do about the demon, though. Was she obligated to help him, because they were both demons? Or did she just leave him to his fate, knowing he’d probably end up trying to kill someone on the way out? “First things first. Up.”
Choosing a direction, she crept down the hallway then jogged. At the end was a stairwell. She saw no guards but heard people talking in a room near the end of the hallway on the basement above the dungeon.
Lifting her skirts, Deidre ran on tiptoes up the winding stairwell. She paused at the first landing leading to the upper level of the two subfloors to peer down a long hallway before continuing up. The voices came again, this time from the stairs behind her.
She ran faster, bypassing the second landing without bothering to look for any sign of danger. The stairwell dead-ended at the fourth level, indicating the palace was three stories tall. The voices drifted off, as if the dealers had exited on the second floor.
Deidre crept down the hallway. There were muffled voices from behind the closed doors of the room nearest her, and she hurried by them and trotted down the hallway. Light poured in from windows in the center of the hallway, and she paused, startled by what she saw outside the palace.
The forest was alive. Deidre stared at the trees with snakelike branches. They hissed rather than rustled in a chilly breeze, and some large creature with six legs was disappearing into the brush. She’d thought it early morning by the weak sunlight and was surprised to see the two suns full up in the grey sky directly overhead.
And I thought Hell looked weird. She couldn’t take her eyes off the tree branches. The sound of some strange birdcall came from the forest.
“I need to get out of here.” She eased back from the window and started down the hallway again. There was only one intersection on this level in the middle of the long corridor.
Deidre turned down it, hoping she was following the directions. This hallway was much shorter than the other, but it was lined by two doors on either side, spaced far a part, and one door at the other end.
She paused to listen then opened the door closest to her. It was a guest bedroom with everything covered in white sheets. Uncertain what past-Death’s room would look like, she decided to open all the doors before beginning to search in depth.
The other three on either side were identical: massive chambers with sheets covering all the furniture. Deidre hurried to the door at the end of the hallway and opened it.
This one felt different, as if she should know it.
It was completely trashed, the petrified wood and stone furniture shattered, the white drapes and bedding shredded. Souls littered the floor, and she closed the door behind her, not at all certain what she sought.
Deidre nudged green gems aside with a grimace, guessing Gabriel’s wasn’t among them, or it would’ve been picked up already. She sought out the jewelry box. It was nowhere in sight. Deidre walked carefully through the soul-covered room and searched it once.
“Under the furniture?” She eyed a massive stone block that appeared to have formed the base of a dresser. There was no way she’d be able to lift the destroyed pieces of furniture.
Determined to find the soul before someone found her, she circled the room again, this time pausing in front of a door in the corner. A crumpled letter lay a few feet in front of it.
Come on in and meet me.
Her eyes went to the door. Was it just her or did the edges of the door glow unnaturally? What was behind it? Who was the note for?
“Not me,” she said. She knelt to get a better look at the floor.
Jammed under a piece of stone that used to form the bedframe was a plain wooden jewelry box.
Deidre crossed to it. Dropping to her knees, she pushed and pulled it until it began moving then worked it free.
She opened it. The contents were simple: a green soul and a tarnished ring, the only treasures the former deity had found worthy enough to safeguard.
“You’ve always loved him,” she murmured with a touch of sadness. “I hope you can earn his love, Deidre.” For a moment, she was struck by deep sorrow. There was a time when she found herself falling for Gabriel, too, only to have the rug yanked out from under her.
Darkyn was a different kind of man, a hard one to understand, and an almost impossible one to love. Yet she found herself yearning to be in his arms again, to see the look on his face she’d witnessed only once, when he last made love to her. He did love her in as much as a demon could. She was as much a part of him as he was of her, and the absence of his magic and presence made her ache with hollowness.
And hunger. The cramps were getting worse. Grimacing in pain, Deidre doubled over and gripped her stomach. She waited for the pain to pass before breathing deeply.
Voices in the hallway made her gaze fly up. She listened, assessing this was a search party by the shouts going back and forth. Deidre snatched Gabriel’s soul and closed the box. She pushed it under the bed and rose, tucking the soul into the smal
l pouch hidden in her dress to join the green gem Fate gave her before she was snatched by death dealers.
She went to the door and pressed her ear to it.
The shouts grew quiet. She waited a moment then eased the door open.
The large form of a death dealer was on the other side.
Deidre panicked and tried to slam the door closed.
He jammed his foot between door and frame then shoved it open.
Deidre stumbled back.
Darkyn! She screamed silently, knowing her mate wasn’t able to hear her this time.
The death dealer snatched her arm and yanked her into the hallway.
“Got her!” he shouted, hauling her to the main corridor. “Tell Harmony!”
Three other death dealers were in the hallway lined with windows. One darted away at the order while the other two lingered, eyes on her.
Deidre saw the flare of lust in both their gazes. She dropped her gaze, trying to be as still and quiet as possible to keep from drawing more attention.
“This is Darkyn’s little demon,” one said. “Where were you going, little demon?” He lifted her chin to see her eyes.
The light of lust burned brightly.
Deidre swallowed hard. “Nowhere. Just looking for a way out.”
“Pretty little thing,” the other said, joining them. “Looks like she needs a lesson in not running from us.”
“Harmony wants her alive,” the man holding her said.
“Fucking scum of the earth demons.” One spat.
The man holding her chin was peering at her with an unhealthy level of curiosity. “This is the mate of the Dark One. If she can handle him, she can handle us.”
Shit. Deidre glanced up at the man holding her arm, expecting him to be somewhat immune.
The same gleam was in his eyes.
“Harmony won’t want you to hurt me,” she managed.
“Listen to that purr,” one said with a grin at the other.
“My mate will slaughter you,” she added with more firmness. “Do you want to know what he did to the last man who touched me?”
The three glanced at one another.
“You really think you’ll leave this place, little demon?” the first asked. “Death can’t even get into the underworld. He’d never let the Dark One in.”
This statement seemed to help them make up their minds. The three shifted closer.
Deidre wrenched away from the man holding her arm and began backing away. “Do you really want to take the chance he never finds out? It’s only an eternity of your souls in his hands.”
“I’ll take that chance for a taste of you.”
Deidre’s heels hit the wall. Panic flared within her. Darkyn wasn’t able to help her this time, and neither was Gabriel.
“Don’t do this,” she whispered. “Please.”
“She’s begging for it.” One of them laughed. “Your wish is about to be granted, little demon. We’ll do you up right then throw you to the beast.”
God, please, if you’re there. Save me, just this once.
Chapter Four
“Time does not pass in Hell as it does here.”
Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at Darkyn, who was eyeing the sky with suspicion. The suns had gone down and popped back up in less than two hours only to remain in the same place in the sky for over ten hours. The night – if it could be called such – lasted less than forty-five minutes. A full day had passed while a second day seemed stuck.
“You get used to it.” Gabriel almost smiled at the demon lord’s discomfort and faced forward again, focused on the trail at his feet. The Underworld wasn’t resisting his plunge into the forests, but it wasn’t exactly helping much, either. As he expected, branches and bushes shifted to create a path for him to walk.
But they moved so slowly, he’d thought twice about abandoning the path and using his sword to hack through the trees.
“These are not real trees,” Darkyn added, smashing the hilt of his dagger into a snakelike branch that got too close.
“The trees are a defense mechanism. Normally, they tear demons a part, limb from limb,” Gabriel said. “Show a little respect, Darkyn. They’re being relatively civil with you.”
The demon lord growled from deep in his chest. He was a generally tolerable companion, one who remained quiet, for the most part, and helped push stubborn bushes or branches out of the path when needed.
In truth, Gabriel wasn’t certain why the trees hadn’t attacked the demon. It was nothing he had done. He’d tried asking the trees for help getting to the palace. The most they were willing to do was grudgingly move out of the way – and it was clear they weren’t happy about it. If they wanted to tear Darkyn a part, they weren’t about to listen to Gabriel telling them to stop.
As if aware of his resentment, the path disappeared.
Gabriel looked up and froze.
The trees had formed a wall before him, blocking the direct route to the palace completely.
“You –” Darkyn started.
“Don’t say a fucking word, demon,” Gabriel snapped, frustrated. “How the fuck do I get to where I need to be when my own underworld won’t listen to me?” He placed his hands on his hips, unable to imagine his predecessors running into any sort of problems like he had since taking over as Death. “Is it because I’m of human origin? Are you working for Harmony now?” The words were directed at the wall of foliage before them.
Darkyn’s dark chuckle was amused. “Baby god, can you not see what is before you?”
Gabriel clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to smash a fist into the face of the creature who had helped upheave his life.
“Your domain lives. It talks, and when you fail to listen, it will demand,” the Dark One said. “This path is not the right one.”
“It’s the most direct route!”
“You misunderstand. This path is not the one your underworld wishes you to take.”
Gabriel absorbed the words, not wanting to listen to the latest deity telling him he was doing it wrong. No part of him wanted to ask Darkyn of all creatures to help him understand.
Facing Darkyn, he was about to pull his sword free and start hacking, when he saw the Dark One studying him.
“What?” he growled.
“I have an observation to make about you of human birth.” Darkyn tilted his head to the side. He was pale beneath his tanned skin, a sign of the strain he faced without his bloodmate. “Your ego is that of a god while your understanding is that of a child.”
“Great. Thanks.” Gabriel blew out a breath. “You’re saying I’m too stubborn to ask you for help.”
“Correct.”
Gabriel turned his gaze to the sky, thinking hard. It was hard to deny that the Dark One had been around longer than any deity or Immortal Gabriel knew, and even harder to admit that he might know a thing or two that Gabriel needed.
“I don’t trust you,” he said.
“It is not about trust. It is about winning. You do not owe me trust, and I do not owe you assistance. But right now, we have somewhere to be and no way to get there, if you do not use what I know.”
It felt like a trap. Given what Gabriel knew of the Dark One, he doubted any information was going to be provided free of charge, even if Darkyn didn’t ask for anything in return.
Yet.
“Okay. What am I missing?” he asked grudgingly.
“Your underworld is telling you something. Ask the right question, and it will answer.”
“You think my underworld is … what? Going to talk to me?”
“In its own way, yes. Every deity with a domain has a bond to his realm. It’s what allows him to reign,” Darkyn said. “You clearly have no bond, and yet, your underworld is trying to guide you.”
“It’s not this way with Hell?”
“Hell is strictly won or lost, passed from victor to victor. Your domain has patience. Almost like it chooses you, instead of you winning the right to rule.” Darkyn was
eyeing another branch that snaked too close.
“I imagine it would’ve chosen someone not of human origin, if what everyone keeps telling me is true,” Gabriel grunted.
“Does that matter now?” Darkyn snapped.
No. Gabriel faced the wall of branches and trees. He’d spent millennia in the underworld among the trees beneath the grey sky. He existed as another living being among the forest and now, he was the master. His relationship with his surroundings had changed. The trees realized it long before the idea occurred to him.
Your domain lives.
He knew there was life in the underworld, but he’d never quite thought of the collective life as being one large, living creature, one capable of choosing who ruled it. It was almost too farfetched for him to accept.
Then again, Fate had claimed the same about the Immortal Codes that were flexible to deities and no one else.
“Sometimes the souls best equipped are those of human origin,” Darkyn added. “Frail creatures whose lives are over in a blink. Nonetheless, your kind has its occasional uses.”
Gabriel regarded the Dark One with quiet amusement. “She surprised you. You didn’t expect to keep her around, did you?”
“Not at first.” Darkyn was licking one of his fangs almost absently. “She is like your underworld. Different.”
“That they are.”
“Ask it the right question.”
“The right question.” Gabriel faced off with the wall of foliage. “You don’t want me to take this path,” he said. “What path should I take?”
The trees and three-winged birds overlooking him went still. An eerie silence fell, and he sensed the magic of the underworld around him, shifting and moving, even if it remained out of his reach.
It’s talking. Or maybe, thinking. His underworld was debating what to do and what to tell him.
Gabriel shivered. He’d never looked at the underworld the way the deity Fate taught him to view the Immortal Code: as a person, one that could be negotiated with. At most, he’d thought of his home as being something obligated to obey him, because of his position as Death.