Andre waited.

"I'm going to kill demons and collect souls, until I set things right. Whatever happens with my mate, happens if or when it does."

"I support that. You both need your s.p.a.ce," Andre agreed.

Gabriel frowned. He didn't like the sound of that.

"In other matters," Gabriel started. "I need to talk to you about something important. It has to do with Erik."

"I'm guessing he's no longer missing."

"Parts of him aren't," Gabriel said with a wry smile.

Andre gave him a disapproving look, and Gabriel realized the joke was probably misplaced when talking to the family member of the deceased.

"Rhyn said you didn't find his soul."

"We didn't," Gabriel said. "You may not want to leave the fortress."

"I'm not worried about Darkyn," Andre replied calmly.

"That makes one of us."

"I've yet to meet someone who couldn't be handled, given the right approach."

Gabriel smiled. Men like him and Rhyn didn't know how to be diplomatic like Andre. He began to think more and more that raising Andre was worth breaking the thousands of Immortal Laws it cost.

"It is a shame about Erik," Andre continued. "I don't suppose you will find a need to raise him or Kris as you did me."

"If I need to, I will," Gabriel said. "Right now, I'm wondering what Darkyn wants with his soul."

"Ask him."

"You really want me to see Darkyn, don't you?" Gabriel crossed his arms. "There's still some connection between him and my mate, isn't there?"

"Connection is a strong word."

Great. Gabriel wasn't certain what Andre wanted him to know. He did know, however, that the last time he avoided a deity Fate he ended up f.u.c.king up his world. He didn't think he could do much worse, but the fact the Dark One held the key to something he might need to know was not promising. At all.

"I'll consider it," he said. "As much as I dread it."

"Gabriel, I don't want to turn you against her," Andre continued. "It's a hard line for me to walk. She does love you. She always has. You should remember that."

"It's hard to believe when I feel like she's lying to me."

"I know it is."

Andre didn't deny she was lying to him, which left Gabriel even less certain what to do about his mate. His instinct was to do what he had last week: put up some sort of barrier between them, until he saw she could be trusted. He didn't want to be hurt again. Ever. Or risk that there was something else going on that would drive his mate back to Darkyn for whatever reason.

Then again, putting up that barrier was what drove her to Darkyn after their romantic night on the beach. He didn't give her the rea.s.surance she sought about whether or not they had a real future together, and she brokered a deal with the Dark One in a desperate attempt to ensure she had a chance with Gabriel.

For what it's worth, Gabriel, I've always loved you. These were the words of the G.o.ddess not the human. This much he knew.

Day Three.

Chapter Six.

Past-Death slept fitfully. She'd had what humans called nightmares. They were awful. She was running from someone in the forest and instead of helping her, Gabriel would only watch. Then there were those where Darkyn was stripping off her skin and sucking her blood. She hadn't been able to wake up, and the sensations felt too real.

When she awoke, she was relieved but tired. She stretched and climbed out of bed. The room was chilly, the marble flooring freezing. Deidre hopped from foot to foot before realizing she could put on socks. She didn't have a sock warmer in her room something Cora called a toaster but the socks were better than the floor.

Only when able to tolerate the floor did she cross to the French doors. She'd left them partially open, and the morning air was cold as it swept through her room. She pushed the door closed and stood, shivering, and gazed at the green glow visible even during daylight.

"This is totally f.u.c.ked up," she murmured, shaking her head. Even if she wasn't Death anymore, she could gauge just how bad things were. She c.o.c.ked her head to the side and filtered through her memories.

What she recalled was a pittance of what she had known as a G.o.ddess. She mourned the loss of all she'd ever learned or known. But she remembered everything from the past twenty-six years. Significant events of the human world, deals with deities, Immortal dealings. Was there anything remaining of her memory that might help Gabriel? Make him want to trust her?

She padded around her room for her morning routine, thoughtful. The crushing emotions from yesterday were more tolerable today. All she had to do was find a way to prevent them from crippling her logic for now. She wished with all her heart she could package them back up and put them back wherever they'd been when she was a deity.

She needed to think. She hadn't outsmarted generations of deities and Immortals while laden with emotions, but she had still done it. She just had to get control of herself and be proactive, the way she was a mere three days before. She could help Gabriel and the souls, even if her whole world crashed at the end of the week.

When she was dressed and ready, she left her room and walked through the fortress to the bottom floor. Andre took her to the garden the morning before, and that's where she went this time. Stationed outside her room, Cora trailed her at a distance, silent and darkly dressed, like a shadow.

Deidre paced through the garden, not really interested in the blooming flowers, statuary or neat rows of hedges. Instead, she concentrated on figuring out what knowledge she could about the souls in the lake. How was it possible they were in the mortal realm? Why were they cast out of the underworld?

She stopped in front of a small mural depicting a triangle with a form at each of the points.

Human, Immortal, Deity.

Her eyes rested on the figure of a girl representing the humans. Reluctantly, her thoughts returned to the human she'd left in h.e.l.l.

She'd dreamt of human-Deidre, too. Those dreams were the worst. In them, she had been the human trapped in h.e.l.l being bled and tortured daily by Darkyn. Even if she managed to save the souls and win Gabriel, the truth was going to ruin everything.

Unless she could make the truth ... bearable. Different.

"Cora, can you ask Gabriel if I can go to a ...um, mall today?" she asked, turning.

Cora stepped forward. "Mall? You've got demons after you."

"I need more shoes and I can't call a portal."

Cora shook her head. She let out a sigh and summoned a portal. She disappeared into it. Deidre waited until the portal closed then bolted out of the gardens.

She ran outside the walls of the fortress into the forest. Only when she was panting did she stop and look back to make certain no one from the castle could see her.

"Darkyn," she called. She waited.

He didn't come at first, and she frowned, a.s.suming he was messing with her. The Dark One never missed an opportunity to prey on someone. She turned to leave, suspecting she didn't have much time before Cora returned and raised the alarm about her being gone.

Darkyn stood behind her. Deidre jumped back, gasping.

"G.o.ds, Darkyn!" she belted. "Why must you do that?"

"I take pleasure in knowing you can't sense me anymore, love," he replied with a half-smile.

"You've been there since I summoned you."

He nodded.

Deidre shifted, aware again that she was now defenseless against the creatures that used to either fear her or at least, respect her power. A head taller than her, he was lean and calm, his black eyes missing nothing. It struck her that his way of doing business was strange. His predecessor lulled people into trusting him with charisma and magic.

Darkyn was the opposite: aggressive. He never tried to hide what he was. He sank his teeth into someone and never let go, until they were in h.e.l.l. He was the unpredictable, violent creature she always considered him in battle but not in dealing. Here, he was calm and calculating. Predatory.

"How can I be of service?" he asked.

His polite address terrified her. He was treating her the way he did every other hapless, foolish, unsuspecting human he pulled down to h.e.l.l. Which meant he was likely aware of what it would take to condemn her and was waiting for his opening. With no magic, she had to be more careful when dealing with him.

"I wanted to know if Deidre is still alive," she said.

"How is that your concern?"

"It's not necessarily," she admitted. "I simply want to know."

Darkyn's gaze never left hers. He was a.s.sessing. She willed her mind not to betray her, aware he could read her too easily now that she was human.

"For now," he said.

Deidre wasn't certain if that was good or not. Was it worse to be alive in h.e.l.l at his mercy or slaughtered by the Dark One?

"She's ... okay?"

Darkyn smiled coldly. Deidre swallowed hard, images from her nightmares returning.

"You can ensure she stays alive and relatively okay," he offered. "How important is it to you?"

"No," she said quickly. "No deals."

"So it's not important to you that the woman Gabriel loves stays alive," he said.

Deidre bit her tongue to keep from taking the bait.

"I find it fascinating that you and Wynn profess to care yet aren't willing to deal," Darkyn mused. "Must be some emotional failing."

"Self-preservation, I think," she said. "If I thought you'd give me a fair deal, I'd consider it."

"Maybe you prefer her dead," he continued.

"No," she said before she could stop herself.

"It would remove the obstacle between you and your mate."

"You answered my question. That's all I wanted to know."

"Very well." He turned as if to leave then stopped. "I wonder. How is your deal with her going?"

"How is that your concern?" she asked mockingly.

"I have an interest in the outcome."

"Not until the deal is up," she said.

Darkyn circled her, pretending to consider. She did her best to stay cool and detached, the way she would have if she were still a G.o.ddess.

"You are doing well at ensuring my mate wins," he stated. "I don't think you need my help in that area."

The human side of her hated his tone and the truth of his words more. She was f.u.c.king up without the help of the Dark One that wanted her to lose.

"Then again, I'm known for ensuring I win at all costs," he added. "Would revealing your secret to him make him pity you or drive him away?"

"Whatever you want from me, you won't get it," she snapped. "I'm not making a deal with you. Ever."

"Maybe that tune will change when you lose your soul in four days."

"You also know Gabriel won't kill me even if I do lose. You will have to wait for my soul to come to her." Deidre glared at him. He was pleased with himself.

"What if something happens to you at the end of the deal?"

"Something like you kidnapping me, killing me and claiming my soul?" she challenged.

"It has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?"

"Except your mate would get my soul, not you."

"Because she bears you less ill will than I do?" Darkyn responded. "Because you didn't dump her in h.e.l.l with the most violent demon in h.e.l.l?"

Deidre said nothing. She never realized how easily he read those around him until he was throwing her thoughts into her face. Human Deidre was probably terrified, a b.l.o.o.d.y mess who would do whatever Darkyn told her at the end of the week in exchange for him sparing her more pain.

"I can summon her," she said suddenly. "What makes you think I won't tell Gabe, summon her and he'll claim her?" At least, she could when Gabriel let her access the portals again.