Gabriel was fed up with everything. His mate, the demons, his exile to the human realm. Today, it seemed harder to swallow than before. He wasn’t certain why; they were making progress on every front. He knew what souls the demons were after, and his death dealers were equipped with the soul compasses. His mate was allegedly no longer dying of a tumor, even if he couldn’t figure out what secrets she hid, and his newfound independence left him wary of the Immortal Laws but no longer enslaved by them.
The longer he thought, the more he realized his frustration had nothing to do with his duties as Death. It had to do with a certain mate. With not trusting her but wanting to without understanding why. Andre confirmed that her tumor was gone, which meant they had a chance at a healthy relationship. Gabriel could move forward, try to win over the woman who seemed much more interested in him than she had a few days ago, before her deal with the Dark One.
Did her secret really matter? It wasn’t possible that it could affect their life together. Nothing could, at this point.
“Darkyn,” he summoned the Dark One, determined to uncover what he could.
Tomorrow. The response was instant.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. What was so important that the Dark One ignored a summons?
He tapped the lectern on which the Oracle was busy writing in her book. The heavy Caribbean air of the Sanctuary was warm and fragrant with the scent of the sea. Pushing himself away from the book that would reveal nothing he sought, he went to the small, square window overlooking the stone structure of the Sanctuary.
“If Daniela finds you here, she’ll flip out,” he said without turning.
“Shit. There’s nothing she can do to make my day worse.”
“She could poison your tea.”
“Gods, I hope she does.”
Gabe smiled, glancing over his shoulder at the frustrated half-demon. Rhyn looked angry, his air crackling with agitation. His dark hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck. He wore jeans and a snug t-shirt that outlined his muscular frame. He was armed with several knives, and his silver eyes were fiery.
“You really aren’t supposed to be here,” Gabriel chided, knowing it was useless. His friend was well aware he got a pass at just about every rule he broke.
“Hey, you wanna spar?”
“What’s up?” Gabriel faced his friend, entertained at Rhyn’s apparent restlessness. “You act like you’ve been shut out of your underworld or your mate made a deal with Darkyn and turned into someone else. You upset about Erik?”
“Shit no.” Rhyn flashed a grin. “Ever have like a secret you can’t tell your best friend but you really, really want to?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t have one now. It was about Katie, when she was in the underworld and you didn’t know she was alive,” Gabriel clarified.
Rhyn stared at him then began to laugh.
Gabriel eyed him, unaware of what the half-demon found funny about the major event preceding his takeover as Death. Rhyn stopped after a minute of belly laughs.
“Alright. You made my day,” he said. “Where’s this poisoned tea?”
“Something going on?” Gabriel asked, perplexed.
“For once, I think Kiki is right. I need to be discreet. Besides, we’re even now.”
“I don’t want to know.” Gabriel shook his head. “I feel like I’m winning my battles but losing the war.”
“I won a battle today,” Rhyn said with a frown. “No idea what it’ll cost, though. The demons stopped killing human kids.”
“Please tell me you didn’t make a deal with Darkyn.”
“I didn’t. All I did was ask someone who had some influence with the bastard.”
“No terms?” Gabriel asked, unaware of the Dark One doing anyone favors for free.
“None.”
“That’s great, Rhyn.”
“I want to think so.” Rhyn didn’t look happy at all. He shook his head.
“There’s a lot more, isn’t there?” Gabriel asked. “Darkyn doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“Yeah. But, it’s done,” Rhyn hurried on. “Your dealers are finding souls and you’re beating the demons. I don’t think you’re losing the war. Making up ground, maybe.”
“Could be. Something isn’t right yet. I’ve got a handle on things, but the underworld is still closed to me. I can’t fix whatever is wrong down there,” Gabriel said in frustration. “I found out there’s a way for the rebellion to permanently remove me from my position.” His gaze went to the Oracle, who had shed no light on what was going on in his underworld. Even the book was shutting him out.
“So you’d be stuck here?” Rhyn asked.
“No, I’d be sent to Hell.”
Rhyn grimaced. Gabriel felt a pang of guilt. He’d been the one to deliver his friend to Hell many years ago. Though he had visited Rhyn regularly, Gabriel never was able to fully forgive himself for what felt like a betrayal of the only friend he had.
“I need to get back home,” he muttered. He definitely didn’t look forward to waking up one day in Hell. He wanted to think that being booted from his position was the least of his concerns. He always put his duty first.
But he was worried about his soul.
“Can Deidre help?”
“Not sure. Darkyn did a number on her before sending her back,” Gabriel said.
Rhyn looked at him blankly then said. “Oh, yeah. Your current mate.”
Gabriel eyed him.
“You could always ask her. Maybe there’s a backdoor or someone she knows in Hell who can help you.”
“I will,” Gabriel said, doubting that Deidre was able to help without her memories.
“Any news on Erik?”
“No. None.”
Rhyn watched him. To anyone else, the predatory stare of a demon would come across as threatening. Gabriel knew his friend well enough to know he was contemplating.
“Sometimes, you have to let go of shit that happened in the past,” Rhyn said at last.
Gabriel laughed. “You are the worst philosopher I know.”
“I’m being straight with you.” Rhyn grinned. “I think you’re here looking for answers in that thing.” He motioned to the Oracle’s book. “You have your mate. She’s healthy. She adores you. Go with it.”
“I’m waiting for the tables to turn and there to be another Deidre. I’ve known what? Three in the past few months?” Gabriel shook his head.
“I think this is the last Deidre you get. I don’t think the other one is coming back,” Rhyn replied. “Not that there is another one. Just that … whatever happened, it’s done.”
Gabriel studied him.
“You’re afraid of being hurt and not willing to take a chance,” Rhyn assessed. “I know you Gabe. Trust me. Whatever is going on, this Deidre is your mate.”
“You think I’m in my own way again.
“I think you’ve suffered enough. Deidre is here. The rest will work itself out. You might as well accept it.”
Gabriel smiled. Every once in awhile, the half-demon surprised him with the depth of his observations and compassion. Though rough around the edges, Rhyn was the best friend Gabriel had ever had.
He considered the simple wisdom of his friend. Rhyn was right. Whatever deal the Dark One made, the result was clear. Gabriel’s mate was alive and well. No tumor, nothing to stop them from working through whatever issues they had to make a life together.
His gaze drifted back to the Oracle. The only danger he saw of losing his mate – again – was if she had any outstanding debt to Darkyn. She claimed not, but he wasn’t entirely certain. Even so, he had his mate, and she wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe, just maybe, it was okay to take a chance.
“Alright. I’m headed back. You staying here?” Rhyn asked, opening a portal.
Gabriel looked around. The Oracle had given him nothing, and he didn’t feel able to sit still and drink tea with Daniela, the headmistress of the order of nuns who managed thi
s Sanctuary.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll make sure Deidre hasn’t set the place on fire yet.” Gabriel followed Rhyn into the portal. Instinctively, he looked around for the grey door leading to his underworld.
Every time he didn’t find it where it should be, he grew more homesick.
Rhyn went through one door while Gabriel went through another. He emerged beside the lake, where two death dealers stood over Cora. The female dealer was in her bra and a soaked pair of pants.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and he went to them curiously. Of all the insanity going on around him, he figured Cora was the last to go crazy and dive into the lake.
“We figured it out!” she exclaimed. “Well, Deidre did.”
“Figured out what?” he asked.
“Where the souls are coming from.”
Gabriel glanced out over the lake. Cora flung water from her arms and stood. A rope was tied around a rock nearby. It was taut. His gaze followed it to the water, where it disappeared into the lake.
“She thinks the Lake of Souls cracked the same way the sky did,” Cora said in excitement. “We found where the souls are coming into the lakes. There are little tears between the two worlds, and the souls are escaping.”
Though terrible news, Gabriel couldn’t help thinking it was the best thing he’d heard all week. He was able to tackle this kind of problem, unlike the strange tension between him and his mate.
“Deidre figured it out,” Cora said again.
“How?” he asked, hoping this wasn’t secret knowledge she hadn’t shared with him.
“She noticed the currents then climbed a tree and said they were moving in a pattern around the lake. We went to where the pattern started, and there were the cracks.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. We found five tears. They’re letting in about five souls a minute.”
“Five souls a minute times how many minutes in the past six months …” Gabriel shook his head. “If souls can get out, maybe we found a new way in.”
“Well … I tried to hack a part one of the tears,” Cora said. “It didn’t work. The only thing we might be able to do is plug the holes.”
He chose to overlook Cora’s disappointment at how close she’d been to home without being able to go back. They were all suffering; the more he dwelled on it, the worse it seemed.
“What is this?” he asked, kicking the taut rope.
Cora’s eyes dropped, and she jerked forward. “Oh, gods. I forgot about her.” She leaned over to grab the thick rope and yanked it up, pulling it up hand over hand. Her lean body handled the strenuous task easily.
“Let me guess. My mate?” Gabriel asked.
Cora grunted in response. “By the way, if she tells you she can swim, she can’t.”
Gabriel crouched near the edge of the lake. A few seconds later, Deidre’s blond head bobbed to the surface. She was a few feet into the lake, coughing and sputtering.
“Cora!” she complained.
“Sorry,” Cora replied. “I forgot.” She hauled the smaller woman closer to shore.
“It’s … okay. I’m not … dead.”
Gabriel smiled. It shouldn’t be funny, especially not when coming from her. When Deidre was close enough, Gabriel stretched out and gripped the rope looped under her shoulders. He hauled her out of the water easily. Deidre gasped, gaze flying up to him.
He rested her on the ground. For a moment, she seemed apprehensive. And then she grinned. A huge, triumphant grin with the satisfaction of the goddess and the beautiful flush of a human. She was drenched and shaking from cold but happy.
“I figured it out!” she told him.
“I heard.” Gabriel untied the knot from the rope and tossed it.
“I can’t feel my hands,” she said and displayed them, fascination on her features.
This time, Gabriel did laugh. “I think you need to warm up.”
“Not before we seal the tears,” she told him stubbornly. “We have to take care of the souls first, Gabriel.”
“Are you lecturing me again?” he asked, entertained.
“I’m helping you. How long have the souls been here and you didn’t know? And now I’ll help you fix everything, since you can’t do it yourself.”
She was too happy for him to be offended. She truly wanted to help him. Gabriel wasn’t certain why that surprised him. Deidre had always been protective of the souls. Suddenly, he thought that she had never looked as beautiful as she did standing drenched and shivering beside the lake. She glowed.
“Cora. Plug the holes,” he ordered. “You’re going to warm up, Deidre.” He opened a portal.
“No, Gabriel, I – “
“I’ll carry you.”
Cora coughed to cover up her laugh. Deidre stared at him as if deciding whether she wanted to be angry or disappointed. Finally, she went. Gabriel trailed her, resisting the urge to wrap her shivering body in his arms.
When they reached her room, he went to her wardrobe.
“You need to change before you get sick,” he said.
“I don’t get sick.”
“Humans do.”
She appeared surprised. Water dripped off her into a puddle at her feet. Her attention shifted to her hands, and he stared at her as she focused on moving them. There were moments when he didn’t know what the human side of her was thinking. She seemed to have dropped any form of common sense somewhere between Hell and her world.
He shook his head and pulled out a new sweater. Deidre glared at him.
“Different color?” he asked.
“Don’t touch my clothes.”
Irritated by her tone, he reached in and ran his hand down the line of her sweaters.
“They’re mine, Gabriel,” she retorted. “You could be nicer. I just helped you protect the souls.”
“You did,” he said. “I’m impressed.”
“You shouldn’t be.” She crossed to him and pushed the door to her wardrobe closed. “You don’t have to trust me, but I really am trying to help you.”
“Because you love me.” The words were out before he thought to stop. He wasn’t even certain why he said them. She’d claimed as much yesterday.
Deidre didn’t respond. She locked the wardrobe, still shivering.
“Am I right?” he asked, bracing an arm on either side of her.
She kept her back to him. “I shouldn’t have said it.”
“So it’s true.”
Deidre sighed.
“You said it earlier. I just want to hear it again,” he said.
“Why? You already said we’re dysfunctional.”
“We were dysfunctional. It doesn’t mean we have to be this time around.”
This caught her attention, and she turned. Deidre rested against the wardrobe, arms crossed as she shook from cold but blue eyes riveted to him. He liked trying to get a rise out of her, and he really did want to know where they stood in her mind and whether or not he had to worry about her running off to make more deals with Darkyn.
“How do we become not dysfunctional?” she asked, puzzled. “Especially since I never knew we were.”
“I think it starts with us giving each other a chance.”
Deidre studied him. He wasn’t certain what might be going through her mind. She appeared conflicted yet hopeful. The difference between her before her Monday night deal with Darkyn and now almost made him reconsider. But wasn’t this what he wanted? The woman he fell for on the beach, without the tumor?
“How do I do that?” she asked.
“You started today with the souls. I’m grateful for your help.”
“We can do it together, Gabriel.” She beamed a smile. “I can help you with being Death. We can both take care of the souls.”
It was a far cry from the woman who ran away screaming from the soul she accidentally touched last week or the goddess who would’ve commanded him rather than risk getting her hands dirty. Gabriel was taken aback. He didn’t realize ho
w great of a transformation had really taken place within the small woman gazing up at him. She didn’t just have the body of a human and the knowledge of the goddess; she wanted to help him enough that she was willing to overcome her fear.
Granted, he was Death, and she was offering a partnership running the underworld instead of deferring to him in his role in charge of the underworld. In the course of three days, the goddess had almost learned to see him as an equal while her human side no longer in denial about her destiny.
She’d done something today he didn’t expect and uncovered something he and all his dealers had overlooked for months. She was honest about wanting to help him and about how she felt.
Maybe Rhyn was right and the past didn’t matter so much.
Maybe the secret could wait until they had built a better foundation. He’d cave to Andre’s advice and double-check with Darkyn about whether or not his mate owed the Dark One anything – formally or informally. Then, he’d stop throwing up barriers and give this Deidre a chance.
“Gabriel,” she said hesitantly. “Will you kiss me?”
His arms dropped. He wasn’t expecting the question. Building their relationship would mean easing into intimacy once more. He had no idea what she wanted on that front. The goddess had used sex to control him. The human feared a relationship with someone who wouldn’t share more than his body.
The woman before him was completely different than either woman. The reminder revived his uneasiness. What if he fell for this Deidre and she changed once again?
“You sure?” he hedged.
She nodded. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips nervously. Gabriel offered his hand. She took it.
“Gods, you’re freezing,” he said and rested his other hand on top of hers to try to warm her.
Her eyes were on their clasped hands. She tucked her other hand between his to try to warm it, too. Gabriel’s gaze took her in with some concern. She really was going to get sick from the cold and being soaked.
He cupped one of her cold cheeks in his hand, wanting to warm her up in whatever way it took. Gabriel dipped his head and kissed her. Her face was cold but her plump lips were warm, soft, her lips parting for him before he prodded them apart. She tasted slightly sweet, the heat of her mouth contrasting with the chill of her skin, and smelled of lake water. Deidre sank against him, and he wrapped his arms around her trembling body. Lake water seeped through his clothing. He paid it no heed, instead fascinated by the feel of her frame.
Desire spiked through him at the knowledge that his mate was in his arms. She responded to him with raw hunger, no longer timid as she had been when he kissed her the day before. Her hands were soon roaming his body curiously, resting on his jaw and trailing along his neck.
“You always smell good,” she murmured, pulling away.
Her eyes traveled with intent interest over his face and followed the trail of her fingers down his neck. She rested her hands on his chest, but they didn’t stay, instead running over the muscles of his chest and around to his back.
“You’re so strong, Gabriel,” she said in awe. “Have you always been like this?”
He chuckled. Sometimes, he thought there was none of the human left at all, just an incarnated goddess whose fascination with her new world extended to him. He loved that she was curious about his body. His one-night stand last week made him appreciate what it was to have a lover who was as infatuated by his body as he was hers. It was another part that remained of the girl he fell for last week.
He kissed her again. Her fingers ran through his short hair. She didn’t move away or object when he allowed his palms to skim her curves, tracing down her sides to her hips then around to her tight bottom. He squeezed lightly then circled his arms around her, pulling her into his body. She yielded, fitting against him in a way that made him more possessive of her petite frame and fiery spirit.
Forced into hiding by the circumstances of the past two weeks, Gabriel’s yearning for his mate emerged stronger than ever at her passionate kisses and touch.
“Deidre,” he whispered, fluttering kisses down the side of her neck.
She groaned.
“Are we ready for this?” He paused and brushed wet hair from her face with one hand, scouring her features.
Gabriel felt a thaw deep within him, one fed by the hope that arguing over her sweaters was the worst they’d face from here on out. The worst case scenario – that she died of a tumor – was no longer possible. He had his mate in his arms. She loved him, wanted to help him.
Maybe Rhyn was right. Gabriel had to let the past go. The changes in his mate were new enough to startle him sometimes, but she was without a doubt his mate. Even his lingering doubt about the real cost of her deals with Darkyn didn’t extend to the question of whether or not he was meant to be with the woman in his arms.
“I’ve waited my entire life for this,” she said.
His resolve lasted until she spoke, and he saw the truth of her words and the expression on her face. The emotion she’d admitted to yesterday – which Andre had told him as well – shimmered in her large blue eyes. She meant it when she said she loved him. Why, then, was he hesitating to claim the woman who clearly wanted to be by his side?
Whatever secret she kept, it couldn’t change this moment or what he felt.
“Are you sure?” he asked again.
“Yes, Gabriel,” she replied without hesitation. “I want you more than anything. I always have. I always will.”
“Then let’s get you out of those wet clothes,” he said huskily.
Chapter Eight