"She could poison your tea."

"G.o.ds, 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 pa.s.s 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?"

"s.h.i.t 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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"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 h.e.l.l."

Rhyn grimaced. Gabriel felt a pang of guilt. He'd been the one to deliver his friend to h.e.l.l 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 h.e.l.l. 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 h.e.l.l 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 s.h.i.t 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 a.s.sessed. "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 compa.s.sion. 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 this 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, G.o.ds. 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 sh.o.r.e.

"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 G.o.ddess 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 h.e.l.l and her world.

He shook his head and pulled out a new sweater. Deidre glared at him.