The Underworld (Rhyn Eternal)

by Lizzy Ford

  He lifted an eyebrow at the familiar teasing note in her voice.

  “Now that I understand why, it makes me happy,” she added.

  “Because I love you,” he said. He gathered her into his arms, not convinced she was healed, and hugged her against him.

  “Is it over?” she asked.

  “Almost, yeah.” Gabriel breathed her scent in deeply, enjoying the feel of her warmth and softness after almost losing her. The muscles of his body relaxed instinctively, the bond between them no longer suffering from pain.

  “What happens when it is?” There was apprehension in her question.

  “Then we won’t have any more excuses not to make this work.”

  “I like that idea.”

  “Me, too,” he said, chuckling.

  She lifted her head from his shoulder and gazed deeply into his eyes. “Thank you for waiting for me for all these years,” she said. “I promise you, Gabriel, I will be everything you deserve in a mate and more. I don’t care how long it takes for you to trust me. I’ll prove I’m worthy of you. I’ll work on being a good human every day.”

  “I do trust you, Deidre,” he said softly. “The moment you chose to let Harmony kill you instead of telling them the whereabouts of my soul, I trusted you. The goddess I knew never would’ve sacrificed herself that way, even for me.”

  “You mean it? We’re not dysfunctional anymore?”

  “I don’t think we’ll ever be normal, sweetheart,” he said, laughing. “But we’re the perfect kind of dysfunction.”

  She smiled. Past-Death leaned forward and kissed him hard, her warm lips pressing to his. Gabriel responded with some restraint, recalling how hesitant she’d been when they made love the first time. The sensations and world were still new to her, and he wasn’t about to rush when they had an eternity to enjoy one another. Deepening the kiss, he slid his tongue between her lips and tasted her, his blood heating and racing through him at her sweet flavor.

  The mating bond resonated inside him, stirring the ferocious need he’d been repressing around her, along with the protective, possessive compulsion to make her his again, to explore her body and its reactions to him until he knew them by heart. The time for restraint would be gone soon, and every fiber in his body sang in anticipation of claiming his mate.

  “I did it again!” Deidre’s exclamation reminded him of his surroundings.

  With some regret, Gabriel withdrew from his mate and rested his temple against hers. Her breathing was uneven, the pliant body in his arms making him want to run away from the frozen world long enough to make love to her.

  “You have to … fix this,” she whispered. “Make sure the souls are okay.”

  “I know.” He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “It might take me a while.”

  “I’m never going anywhere again, Gabriel.”

  The fierce determination on her face pulled a smile from him. “Good. Stick close to me. We’ve got to take care of a few things. Then, it’s just you and me. We’ve got some making up to do.”

  She grinned. “As long as you’re naked.”

  “Promise.”

  She laughed somewhat breathlessly.

  He rose and pulled her to her feet. Hand-in-hand, they went the direction Deidre had gone. She’d awoken Tymkyn, who was getting to his feet, his dazed gaze taking in everything around him.

  “You alive?” Gabriel asked, slapping him on the arm.

  The small man nodded. He picked up his sword.

  “Get to work. Every death dealer not allied with us loses his head. They should be easy pickins’ while frozen.”

  Grimly, Tymkyn nodded. “Understood.”

  “Who’d you come up here with?”

  “No one. Andre couldn’t be moved from the dungeon. Karma was with me on the stairs and then … gone,” Tymkyn explained.

  Gabriel frowned at the news about Andre. “Before you start, go check on him.”

  “I’ll go, too,” past-Death said. “He was pretty badly injured.”

  Gabriel gave Tymkyn a long look and nodded towards his mate.

  “With my life, boss,” Tymkyn said solemnly.

  “Hurry back,” Gabriel told past-Death.

  She smiled. Her features were radiant, and there was a spring in her step he’d never seen before. He watched her trail Tymkyn into the palace.

  Gabriel turned his attention to the chaotic scene on the roof and in the sky. A dozen dealers were stuck in the air above the place, having been snatched by a now non-existent storm. Hundreds littered the rooftop, and he scrutinized them as he wove among them, uncertain which were dead-dead and which were frozen.

  He’d seen past-Death claim souls en masse before. Closing his eyes, he envisioned the souls leaving the bodies of the dead-dead and depositing themselves at his feet. Cool power unfurled within him. The souls began to tell their stories in faint voices. He listened until the flow stopped and then opened his eyes. A pyramid of souls was at his feet.

  The sheer number saddened him. While traitors did deserve Hell, he wasn’t able to get over the amount of colleagues who chose to turn away from their duty and him.

  It’d be easier if the dead-dead were all one side of the roof, he thought absently.

  Deidre gave a startled cry, and his gaze flew up.

  The bodies of the dead-dead were being lifted by green fog and deposited on one side of the roof.

  Slowly, Gabriel smiled. The power that refused to listen to him before was growing more responsive. “Bring any allies to me,” he directed the magic.

  The fog brought him two dozen bodies, some of which came from the surrounding forest.

  “So few,” he whispered, shaking his head. He scoured the faces until he saw Rhyn and relaxed, thrilled to see his best friend among the living. Kneeling beside him, Gabriel envisioned the half-demon and the others awakening. Seconds later, the men on either side of him stirred.

  “What the fuck?” Rhyn sounded groggy.

  “Guess who figured out how to be a god?” Gabriel asked.

  “’Bout fucking time, dude.”

  Gabriel helped his friend up. “Got a mission for all of you,” he called to the group. They were bloodied and injured – but loyal. “Every dealer in the palace and on the roof, aside from those on that side, are to be beheaded and their souls deposited into the pile in the middle.”

  He watched the expressions of the men as he spoke. Not one of them flinched or appeared taken aback by the order.

  “The only exception: Harmony.”

  “Got it.” Rhyn swung his sword free and strode towards the first. “Good to see you, Gabe!” he called over his shoulder with a grunt as he decapitated the first dealer.

  “You, too, Rhyn.” Gabriel hid a smile and faced the direction where Deidre stood.

  The death dealers nearest her had moved away uncertainly, as if sensing her power but unwilling to challenge it.

  She was watching him. Gabriel waved her over. He strode towards Harmony and stopped, gazing at the death dealer responsible for the events of the underworld.

  The Dark One joined him, her power making the air around him uncomfortably cold.

  “Stay calm,” he reminded her with a glance at the sky. The clouds were darkening once more, the wind picking up. “Got it?”

  She nodded.

  “You sure you want to see this?” he asked, withdrawing the long sword from his back.

  “Yeah.” There was no hesitation or remorse on her face. Hell and the underworld had hardened her enough that he believed her capable of standing up to Darkyn the way she claimed she would to protect humanity.

  Gabriel touched Harmony’s shoulder and envisioned her unfrozen.

  She dropped to the ground again and caught her balance, staring at them.

  “Let’s keep this clean,” Gabriel said. “On your knees, Harmony.”

  The death dealer looked around, confusion on her features. She grabbed a knife like the one she’d used to try to kill past-Death.
>
  Gabriel didn’t give her the chance to strike but swung the sword once, taking off her head with a single blow. He lowered the weapon and watched her body drop. It was a kinder death than she deserved, but Hell would make up for that.

  “It’s over,” Deidre whispered.

  He said nothing but called the soul to him. When the emerald had formed, he handed it to her.

  “For Darkyn,” he said. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the onyx soul of her mate and passed it to her. “For you.”

  She held the soul up, peering at it with mixed emotions.

  “You’ve got the power of the Dark One, one of the only two entities that can raise men from the dead,” he explained. “Do me a favor and wait until you’re home to try it.”

  “Will do.” She pocketed it. “What happens next?”

  “The Dark One gets the fuck out of my domain,” he said, smiling.

  Deidre offered a small smile in return. “Sorry about the damage.”

  “Could be worse.”

  “I don’t want to know. Tell Deidre farewell for now. And if you find that demon, can you send him back? I think he belongs in Hell’s prison. I owe him for killing my ex.”

  Gabriel laughed. “It wouldn’t be his first time.”

  She held his gaze a moment more before turning and stating away. A portal appeared before her.

  “Deidre,” he called. “One more thing.”

  She faced him.

  “When you raise someone from the dead, they owe you a favor. No conditions, no restrictions, no questions asked,” he said, grinning evilly. “Just, you know. In case you need some leverage with him.”

  A slow smile spread across her face, and her eyes flickered black before retuning to their normal hue. Without another word, she disappeared through the portal.

  “Gabe, there’s no one in the dungeon,” his mate reported breathlessly as she trotted up to him. “Andre isn’t anywhere to be found.” A flicker of something went through her gaze. He wasn’t certain what exactly.

  “Shit,” he muttered. “I’ll let Rhyn know.”

  She took his hand with both of hers, gaze going to Harmony’s body. “I am so sorry, Gabe.”

  “I’m not,” he said firmly. “It’s a new era, a new way of doing things. We’ll rebuilt the army and clean up this mess.”

  “Fresh start?”

  “Yep.”

  Past-Death smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He enveloped her in a hug, tension easing from his frame.

  “Yo, Gabe!” Rhyn called, approaching. He wiped his bloodied sword on one leg. “Good news: mind-to-mind communications are back. Bad news: something happened at home. I gotta go back.” There was concern in the half-demon’s silver eyes.

  “Katie okay?” Gabriel asked.

  “Yeah. Not sure what’s going on.”

  “Rhyn, about Andre …”

  His friend’s frown deepened.

  “He was badly wounded and isn’t among the survivors we’ve found. We’ll keep looking.”

  Rhyn muttered a string of curses, pensive and agitated. “Let me know what you find,” he said finally. “I gotta go.”

  Gabriel watched his friend storm off through a portal, worried yet certain if anyone could handle it, Rhyn could.

  “Karma’s missing, too,” past-Death said. “I’m not surprised. She’s got a lot of unfinished business. I just wish I knew why I had her and Peace in my dungeon.”

  Gabriel scowled. He sought his bond to the underworld and silently asked about the two deities.

  The response: the only god or goddess in his underworld was him.

  “You know what? I’m fed up with deities today. As long as they’re out of my fucking domain, I don’t care what they’re doing,” he said. “If any of them come back, we’ll know. I’ll unfreeze the world when the dealers are taken care of.”

  “Smart, as usual.”

  “Wanna take a walk to the Lake and make sure it’s okay?”

  Past-Death nodded.

  Taking her hand, they started across the roof. Gabriel’s focus went from the to-do list he was mentally generating about how to fix his realm to the woman beside him, and he began to believe everything was going to work out the way it should for the first time since he took over. There were no more obstacles between him and rebuilding the parts of his life he cared for most: his mate and the souls.

  I can’t believe this is really happening. He had the woman he’d loved his whole life at his side, and this time, nothing would ever come between them again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Glad you’re back,” Kiki said the moment Rhyn stepped through the portal back into the Immortals’ fortress in the French Alps. The modern stone castle was warmer than the underworld had been. Cheerful, bright sunshine drifted through the windows of the study where Rhyn routinely went to meet his brother.

  “What’s up, Kiki?”

  “Do you, uh, want to change first?” Kiki asked.

  “Nope.” Rhyn sheathed the sword at his back and placed his hands on his hips, waiting.

  Kiki, the most practical and semi-loyal of his half-brothers, carried his usual iPad and was casually dressed in jeans and a sweater. He looked over Rhyn’s bloodied, torn clothing critically but said nothing else about it.

  “There have been a couple of changes while you were gone,” he started.

  “Changes? In what? Three days?” Rhyn asked skeptically.

  “It’s been eight here. The first is … well, you were voted off the Council.”

  Rhyn stared at him.

  “Second, you were also voted into exile,” Kiki continued with his normal crisp, factual delivery.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Rhyn demanded. “How can you vote the head of the Council out when he’s not even there?”

  “That’s precisely why you were voted out,” Kiki replied calmly. “The Council felt you were abandoning your duties to the Immortals by going to the underworld for a friend. There were convincing arguments about needing someone here who was more stable.”

  “Wait a minute. There were two members of the Council that stayed behind. You and that chicken shit, Tamer, who was supposed to be in the underworld with me! You both were here while Andre and I were in the underworld, which means at most, the vote was tied two-two. You can’t kick me out with a tied vote.”

  “It was three-two,” Kiki said.

  “Three? Did Erik come back from the dead-dead?”

  “Wynn.”

  Rhyn went still, senses heightening. “I knew I should’ve killed that fucker when he showed up here.”

  “That fucker is our father,” Kiki reminded him. “He brought up some good points about needing to rebuild the Immortal warrior corps and reclaiming the territory we lost recently because of the demon attacks.”

  “Tell me you didn’t turn it over to him.”

  “He should make a good leader.” The words sounded forced, and Kiki appeared uncomfortable uttering them.

  Something is really off about this. “What the fuck is going on, Kiki? Really. Exile?”

  “Temporary exile, if you prefer to call it that.”

  Coldness slithered through Rhyn. He’d left his mate and hatchling here in the fortress, the safest place for them to be.

  Unless Wynn was in charge.

  “Where’s Katie?” Rhyn took a step towards him.

  “Upstairs. Safe.” Kiki backpedaled. “Look, it’s not personal, Rhyn. You aren’t equipped to handle the types of things Wynn can. He’s not the man he was before.”

  Rhyn’s head felt like it was ready to explode. Not only was he hungry for his mate, but he was worried about how he’d take care of her, if Wynn decided to act on the threat he’d made about hunting Rhyn down to kill him.

  They were better off as far as he could take her from here.

  “Fine. I’ll leave,” he snapped. “But you listen to me, Kiki. That man is a lunatic waiting to fuck up your world. You all have hated the way I did bu
siness, but you’re about to find out just how fucked up it can get. And if any of you ever, ever come after my mate and hatchling, I will slaughter every last one of you. I’ll make what Darkyn’s demons did up here look like a fucking picnic!”

  “Rhyn-”

  Ignoring him and anxious to ensure his mate was indeed safe, Rhyn stormed out of the study, nearly running into Andre, who lingered in the hallway outside.

  He stopped short despite his hurry. “I thought you were dead-dead,” he said. “I mean, again.”

  Andre smiled. He was impeccably dressed as usual in slacks and a button down shirt. Rhyn smelled no blood, and Andre appeared well rested. Rhyn’s brow furrowed. The battle for the underworld hadn’t been over long enough for anyone to have showered let alone healed from his wounds.

  “I made it back in better shape than you,” Andre said, eyebrow raised as he took in Rhyn’s state.

  “I don’t have time for this shit.”

  “What’s wrong, Rhyn?” Andre’s voice was even more soothing than usual, his presence making the tension between Rhyn’s shoulders melt.

  “I’m leaving. Exiled, thanks to Wynn, the new head of the Council. You vote against me, too?” Rhyn asked with a snort.

  Andre’s smile faded, and something sparked deep within his turquoise eyes. He pulled his hands from his pockets. Rhyn caught the glint of a ring he didn’t recognize on one finger, a brilliant blue-green gem in tarnished bronze.

  “I’ve never voted against you,” Andre said quietly.

  “You never outright supported me either, except to send me to Hell.”

  “I’m not your enemy, Rhyn.”

  Rhyn drew a calming breath. “I know. But this … this is wrong. Even I know that. Not that what you all do is any of my business anymore. I’m taking Katie somewhere safe where we can raise our hatchling far away from this shit.”

  “Which is …”

  “None of your fucking business.”

  “Very well.”

  “Glad you’re not dead-dead. Have a nice life.” Rhyn strode away, concern for his family making him want to leave as soon as possible.