by Lizzy Ford
Names, faces, histories … they washed over him, hundreds of thousands a second. The souls in the Lake were eager to tell him their stories as well, their tales conveyed through the bond the Lake shared with the water in the bowl. Ever reverent of the souls, he couldn’t help but feel humbled at the secrets they shared, the hopes, dreams and disappointments of each of them.
It was an honor even greater than the one he considered serving Death in the capacity he had before. Trillions of beings were trusting him to keep them safe, and the intensity of such a realization made him want to weep at the incredible realization of what it truly meant to be Death.
Clenching his jaw, Gabriel took it all in, unable to stop the flood of knowledge and unwilling to disrespect the souls he protected by trying. Instead he did what he always did and let the souls speak. The knowledge of eras past raced past his eyelids, the whispered secrets of every age pummeling him.
And then it hit him like a punch in the stomach. With a grunt, he bore the familiar sensation, his astonishment soon replacing discomfort.
It was the feeling of a bond, like that to his mate, being formed between him and the underworld. The missing link, the confirmation of the incredible secret he’d learned in the short time he’d been in the sacred closet.
The underworld had chosen its master and was officially, eagerly welcoming him.
Just like Darkyn said. He didn’t want to guess if the Dark One had purposely told him or guessed right. With knowledge from the time-before-time, there was a chance Darkyn knew.
The only thing he was concerned about: letting the souls speak.
Chapter Fourteen
For someone who never left the dungeon, Karma seemed to know where to lead them. Four times they evaded discovery when the goddess ducked into a room or around a corner suddenly, and twice, Deidre thought they had been discovered, only for the death dealer to walk right by them.
Karma had some sort of magic about her, though Deidre wasn’t able to pinpoint what. It wasn’t pure invisibility, or they’d run straight out. It had to do with the individual death dealers they passed, as if Karma knew how to evade the senses of some but not all.
When the deity stopped in a quiet alcove of a hallway, Deidre released her breath. Her stomach was cramping once more, not enough to cripple her, but bad enough that she wasn’t able to stand straight. Focused on the pain, she gritted her teeth and waited for Karma’s next move.
The pain faded once more. Deidre straightened. “What’re we waiting for?” she asked.
“For you to be ready to fight, if we must,” Karma answered. “This way leads out.” She pointed towards a hallway swarming with death dealers.
“Oh, god.” Deidre’s heart quickened. “That’s a lot of people.”
“We are both in black, and they are incensed already.”
“Is that why the other two didn’t pursue us?”
“Eh.” Karma shrugged. “Karma can hide herself. I reflects emotions and also sometimes the faces of others.”
“Like a chameleon,” Deidre said, impressed.
“Maybe. How many legs does it have?”
“Four, I think.”
“Maybe not like a chameleon,” she said. “You will have to stay close. It takes more effort to hide both of us.”
“If we go with the flow of dealers, we’ll be less likely to have our faces seen,” Deidre said, observing the foot traffic. Most were headed in the same direction while the occasional dealer appeared to be going against the flow. “Are they headed out?”
“I thinks so.”
Deidre glanced at her newfound friend and noticed how pale the deity was. The skin around her eyes was tight. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I derives my strength from balance. There is so little here. I hurts, too,” Karma said softly. “But you derive your power from imbalance. Can you fight?”
Deidre’s heart jolted, her stomach turning at the memory of what she’d done earlier. While scared, she knew she had no choice, if they were to escape. “Yes,” she replied. “I can fight.”
“Claws.”
Deidre released the deity and looked down. This time, her fingernails lengthened and turned black instantly. Her gums itched, and she instinctively breathed deeply, seeking out the faintest hint of blood.
Her hands trembled, as much from physical weakness as fear. The resolve and anger she’d experienced in the bathing chamber returned, and she shook out her shoulders.
Whatever it took, they had to make it out alive.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Pull up your hood.”
Deidre stretched back and reached for the hood, tore it with her claws, then gripped it between her fingers and yanked it up.
Karma took her hand again, this time more carefully, before they started forward at a quick walk. Reaching the intersection, the two of them waited for an opening then plunged into steady stream of death dealers headed outside.
Bombarded by scent, Deidre’s nose wrinkled, and she finally covered it with her hand, not about to sneeze and draw attention to them in the lethal situation they were in.
The corridor spilled out into the dark night, and standing just outside was the redheaded woman Deidre hoped never to see again.
Harmony. The leader of the rebelling death dealers was taking in the face of every assassin trotting out of the palace and assigning them to a direction.
Deidre squeezed Karma’s hand and all but yanked the deity closer. “Use your power for Harmony!”
“For harmony? What else is balancing for, if not to establish universal har-”
“No! I mean the redhead there sorting dealers!”
“Ah. Karma will do so.”
“We can’t be holding hands or she’ll know.”
“But-”
Deidre yanked her hand free. Karma started to turn. Deidre pushed her forward again. The two men separating her from Harmony were soon gone. The underworld night was chilly, a humid breeze smelling of blood, battle and the forest washing over Deidre as she waited anxiously.
The scent of blood made her drool to the point she had to wipe her lips. Disgusted, she tried to breathe through her mouth to keep from smelling anything.
“Palba, I thought you were already assigned,” Harmony said, taking in Karma’s features with a sharp gaze.
“Not yet,” Karma replied.
“Squad A.” Harmony pushed the deity out of the way and focused on Deidre. “Tensur, I know you were assigned.”
Deidre froze, afraid to move, afraid she might say something to Harmony about how fucked she was when Darkyn or Gabriel cornered her. The green-eyed, traitorous beauty was examining her more critically.
“Something’s not right here.” Harmony lifted a lock of pink-tinted hair.
“Run!” Karma hissed.
Deidre bolted.
Harmony snatched her with reflexes too quick to follow. Deidre reacted just as quickly, slashing the death dealer across the face with her fingernails.
Wrenching loose, Deidre held out her hand to the awaiting deity and ran into the night, towards the smells and sounds of battle.
Harmony’s shriek of anger and pain was followed by a flurry of orders directed at finding the two who slipped by her.
Heart pounding in her ears, Deidre ran as hard as she could, clutching the soft hand of the panting deity towards the dark blob she knew to be the scary forest she’d seen from the windows of the palace.
Karma angled them away from the battle. It was too dark to know what was going on for sure, though Deidre caught the flashes of blades in the light of the two moons and saw what looked like an anthill forming in the center of the battle.
Fear shot through her at the idea of Darkyn being at the bottom of that dog pile, beneath dozens of dealers, and she slowed, squinting to see better.
They drew parallel of the mess, and the deity slowed when she noticed the growing mountain in the center of the milling figures.
“What is that?” D
eidre asked.
A shout behind them reminded her of what pursued, and Karma jerked her forward.
“Come … on!” she gasped.
Deidre fled.
They reached the forest when Deidre smelled it: the rich, overwhelming, powerful scent of her mate’s blood.
Her stomach seized, and she dropped, torn from Karma and her senses by the pain twisting her insides.
“Deidre!” Karma sounded panicked.
Vaguely, Deidre heard the sound of flesh meeting flesh as their pursuers reached them. One of them careened into her and tripped, landing on the ground ahead of her.
This ends now, she chanted again. She wasn’t weak, and she wasn’t about to be captured or killed when she was so close to her bloodmate.
A sob escaped her, but Deidre forced herself to her feet. “Karma?” she asked shakily, struggling to determine which of the blurry figures near her was her friend.
“Here!” came the grunt.
Deidre leaned against the tree nearest her heavily, righting her senses and quelling her urge to vomit. She closed her eyes to identify the cold flows marking the sources of power radiating off the death dealers. They were heavy here, the thick ribbons of magic emanating from the writhing mass of the main battle swept through her. She shivered from the combination of night and magic then opened her eyes.
Unable to balance more than one person at a time, Karma was fighting off three dealers with a knife and her hands. She ducked and wove among the trees to keep them from ganging up on her at once. Even so, Deidre guessed the dealers were under orders to bring them in alive – or they’d both be dead.
After another second to ground herself, Deidre pushed away from the tree and lunged at the death dealer nearest her. Her claws tore into the flesh of one of his arms, and she discharged the cold power curling within her.
He dislodged her with a shove, only to drop to the ground immediately after.
Karma gave a muffled cry.
Deidre struggled to her feet, driven by the scent of blood and the cold power within her. A dealer snatched her, and she careened into him, slashing at his throat and yanking back simultaneously. He gave a gurgled shout that alerted the five shapes rushing towards them from the palace.
With a second slash of her claws, she finished the job and spun to face the dealer that had Karma pinned to a tree. Deidre grabbed and pulled him away to give Karma the chance to escape. Karma whirled and snatched him, her hair going straight and eyes glowing eerily as she drained his vitality.
Deidre took a moment to catch her breath, unable to get the scent of blood out of her nose. She pinched it closed and faced the direction of the palace.
The five attackers were at the tree line.
“We have to go!” she shouted and darted forward frantically to grab Karma.
The deity released the bones she held and stumbled after her.
The scent of Darkyn was growing stronger, driving her closer to madness, making her stomach scream out of hunger and blinding her to anything but the need for blood.
Not two steps later, Deidre was yanked backwards, as one of the dealers caught up with Karma. She released the deity and caught her balance before turning. Karma was screaming, but it seemed like the sound and scene came from far, far away and was in slow motion.
Anger, hate, betrayal, revenge … Deidre let the cold power filled her, too physically exhausted to support herself without it.
And then she let go, the same way she had in the bathing chamber when Karma’s life was in danger. The demon side of her stepped up, better equipped to protect her than the human side.
Deidre dived into the melee, shredding every inch of skin that came near her and sending death charges through those she touched for too short a timespan. Magic swirled and gathered around her, through her, and blood rained down on everything like honey falling from the sky.
Lost in the bloodlust, she didn’t stop, until someone snatched her out of the blood-fueled trance.
Jarred back to her senses, Deidre blinked and tried to pull away, looking up into the eyes of the one creature able to stop her.
The Dark One was a head taller than her, lean in the way of a warrior, with eyes that appeared to be sinkholes at night. A low growl emanated from his chest, while his direct stare sank into her mind. His body sucked up the excess magic, freeing her from its hold. His scent, warmth and the nearness of his strong frame brought her back from the blood-infused haze, made her body tremble once more as it recalled how weak she was.
The scent of his sweet blood intoxicated her, the compelling need to taste her bloodmate making her stomach cramp and her heart flutter in her throat. But it was the ferocity of the bloodlust in his eyes, coupled with the way the Dark One was always a little more terrifying during the dark of night, that made Deidre hesitate to touch him or pull away from his tight grip.
“You came for me,” she whispered breathlessly.
“You’re my blood monkey,” he replied.
“That’s it?” she asked, disappointed.
He pulled her roughly into his hard body, his fangs lengthening the way they did when he was preparing to feed. “I surrendered my power at the gates of the underworld, and I haven’t eaten or fucked in three days. What do you think, blood monkey?”
Deidre hid a smile. “I think this just might work out, Darkyn.”
The hunger pangs returned stronger, and she gasped, clutching at his bloodied shirt and pushing her face against his warm chest. The scent of his blood was strong.
“You’re hurt,” she murmured, disturbed.
“I like the pain,” he reminded her.
“Can’t you heal?”
“Hush,” he ordered quietly and pressed a thumb to her lips.
His rich taste was like a drop of heaven. It soothed her in a way nothing else ever had. The world outside of them was forgotten for a split second, and she rested her head on his shoulder, wanting to weep and drink, to lose herself in his blood, scent and body.
“Now drink, love,” he told her.
She wanted to refuse in case he was weaker than he was letting on, but the compelling urge was too much.
Deidre dug her teeth into his neck and sucked down his blood hungrily, not caring who watched her. Slowly, the cramping ceased, and her hunger disappeared, until she was so full, she was almost drowsy.
“You learned to defend yourself,” he whispered, nudging her head.
She dislodged her teeth from his neck and nudged him back, the familiar, subdued display of affection making her eyes water. Any doubt she’d experienced about where she belonged vanished. “Yeah.”
“Did they hurt you?”
Her split second of hesitation was enough to answer his question.
Darkyn lifted her chin. “Did they hurt you?” It was a warning growl this time, the inquisition of a deity, not the inquiry of a lover.
“Yes,” she said in a choked voice. “But I’m okay.” She nuzzled his hand. “I’m okay, Darkyn.”
It didn’t take him stiffening for her to know that no one got away with threatening the bloodmate of the Dark One. Tears spilled down her face, and he caught one on his finger, gazing at it briefly.
“Who the fuck is this?” Rhyn’s question jarred her out of the intimate moment.
Deidre twisted without leaving Darkyn’s arms.
Rhyn’s sword was pointed at a shivering body in the hollow of a tree. The half-demon was bristling, his chest heaving from fighting while his liquid silver eyes glowed. He nudged Karma with his foot.
“Don’t, Rhyn! She’s a friend!” Deidre exclaimed. “She helped me escape the dungeon.”
Rhyn bent down and tripped Karma’s arm, pulling her to her feet.
Deidre’s mouth dropped open, and her gaze flew to the goddess.
Both Karma and Rhyn had gone completely still.
“Oh, no!” she breathed, tugging at the hold Darkyn had on her.
“Let it run its course, love,” he whispered, tightening his gri
p.
She rested back against him, praying Karma remembered she wasn’t supposed to kill anyone who helped them escape.
Karma moved, and Rhyn stepped away, shaking his head as if to clear it.
“Oh, thank god!” Deidre exclaimed.
Karma was eyeing Rhyn, her hair in long, loose curls, her eyes black. Before Deidre could warn the dazed half-demon, Karma drew back and punched him in the nose.
“Careful, little girl,” Rhyn snarled, grabbing her arm. “I’ll break you in half.”
“You had that coming,” she growled in return.
“Okay, let’s just … calm down,” Deidre said. She moved away from Darkyn and paused beside the deity. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Rhyn is almost balanced. The Great Imbalance …” Karma whispered. Her hair darkened and darted around her head like snakes around her head, while blackness had swallowed her eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
“Minor.”
“Take my hand. I can help you, can’t I ?”
Karma hesitated then stretched out to her. With some embarrassment, Deidre realized her own hand was covered in blood. She wiped it on her pants then took Karma’s hand and tugged her out of Rhyn’s grip.
The deity ceased shivering.
“Your allies always amuse me, love,” Darkyn said. “I had begun to wonder where Karma went.”
“Karma?” Rhyn repeated and stepped back. “Not just a scary story Immortals tell their kids to make them behave?”
“She’s not a scary story,” Deidre replied and pulled the woman into her arms.
Almost immediately, Karma’s hair tightened into ringlets again.
Deidre met Darkyn’s gaze and was unable to look away from the demon that traveled to the underworld to save her. Her body churned with both desire and hunger, his blood calling to her in a way that made her want to leave everything and melt into him for good.
“Cute claws,” Rhyn said, assessing her. “Can you use them?”
