by Lizzy Ford
Past-Death hesitated but nodded, sensing how badly injured Andre was. She hobbled with him to a cell several down from the one where she’d found them and maneuvered him inside, gasping as she rested him against the wall. He sank to a sit, and she glanced at the door. If anyone made it down this far, they’d be found for sure. Closing the door would tip off the dealers who knew the cells were supposed to be open when not occupied. After a moment of internal debate, she pulled out a dagger and sat beside Andre, ready to defend them if needed.
“My apologies,” Andre whispered. “If it’s easier, leave me here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied.
He was wheezing, another tip off any death dealer that made it this far wasn’t going to miss. Past-Death resisted the urge to shush him. Her side was wet with his blood. He wasn’t going to last long as it was.
“Darkyn and Deidre,” she said softly. “You don’t know where they are?”
“Fighting ogres. Same as Rhyn.”
“Whose bright idea was it to let the giants out?”
Andre gave a hoarse chuckle and rested his head back against the wall.
She studied the blood covering his upper body in the dim light from the hall. “Can I help you? Somehow?”
“I don’t think so, but thanks,” he replied. “I’m fine with this, really. Been dead-dead once. I know it’s nothing to fear.”
What felt like a bite on her thigh drew a curse from her, and her attention went down to her lap.
The ring was glowing through her jeans. Leaning to the side, past-Death pried it out and stared at it. The light was greater than that of the hallway, the gorgeous shade matching Andre’s eyes.
Andre.
“Hey, you ever want to be a god?” she half-joked.
He shifted his head towards her, peering at her through his eyelashes. “Not especially.”
“How badly do you not want to be one? Because I think maybe someone chose you for a spot.”
Andre lifted his head, quizzical turquoise gaze on her.
“Long story short: I locked someone in the dungeon who then died. Not my intention,” she said and then paused, considering. “Well, it might’ve been. I really can’t recall. Anyway, something’s been haunting me since I returned.”
“A presence. Sometimes there, sometimes not,” he guessed. “Accompanied by … a flash of blue.”
“Exactly. You felt it?”
“Yeah.”
“I think this is why.” She held up the ring for him to see. “I think I’m supposed to give this to you.”
Andre’s eyes settled on the glowing gem. “No part of me wants to ask, but who or what god is it?” By the reservation in his voice, he had the same opinion of the inconsistent deities that she’d started to understand as a human.
A shout came from too close, a sign the death dealers had discovered the empty cell.
She rose. Leaning against the doorframe, she risked a peak out and bit back a curse.
An unarmed Tymkyn and Karma were able to fend off several attackers, but probably not the ten lingering in the corridor.
Her gaze went back to Andre, who was bleeding out quickly.
He wasn’t going to make it long. The others didn’t have a chance of surviving, either, if they decided to challenge the dealers. Discovery was imminent, and Gabriel would be all but alone to take the palace.
What would Gabriel do to save those he cared about? Past-Death thought for a split second. Dread sank into her stomach. “Whatever it took,” she whispered.
“Pardon?” Andre asked, a little too loudly.
“Hush!” Crouching beside Andre, she shoved the ring into his hand. “Take this. Learn to use it fast. Get the others and help Gabriel!” She rose and crossed to the door.
“Deidre, wait!” Andre called in a rough whisper. “What’re you going to do?”
“What I should have long ago. Something I never would’ve done as a goddess.” If ever there was a chance for her to help, it was now. These were the kind of people Gabriel needed with him, if he was going to succeed. She had nothing to offer in the way of Tymkyn’s fighting skill or Karma’s balancing judgments or Andre’s peacemaking efforts. The best she could do: become a distraction. Give the rest of them a chance.
Show Gabriel I can be human, too. Her lover and mate had sacrificed so much for her over the years. She had the chance to even the score, or at least, take the first step in that direction.
With a deep breath, she threw her shoulders back and stepped into the hallway. “Hey. I think you guys are looking for me!”
The death dealers whirled to face her. None of them moved initially, unease on their features, as if they still feared her, even knowing she was no longer a goddess.
“Where are the others?” one demanded, starting towards her.
“In the secret passageways, where idiots like you can’t reach them,” she said in the haughtiest, most goddess like voice she was able to muster, the tone that made Gabriel growl. “I want to see Harmony. Now.”
“That’s good, because Harmony wants to see you.” The death dealer stopped before her.
She craned her neck back to meet his gaze, unafraid. “Then take me to her, slave.”
“You don’t get to control us anymore, bitch.” With a smirk, he grabbed her arm and hauled her down the hallway.
Past-Death held her breath, hoping they didn’t search the cells for the remaining three. When they reached the stairs, she released it. The nine others trailed obediently. Only when they reached the top of the stairs did she start to wonder what the fuck she was going to do next.
Harmony was outside the room where the guards and keys were kept.
Determined to face her fate without flinching, past-Death reminded herself silently that she still had something to prove: that she was worth Gabriel’s love. A thrill raced through her, along with fear. Facing down his greatest enemy was almost as enjoyable as funnel cake, the part of her that relished challenges and mind games intrigued to see what the hell Harmony thought she was doing.
“Not who I was expecting,” Harmony said, gaze sweeping over her. “Now that you have no magic, you’re nothing but a puny doll.”
“And you’re a dealer who doesn’t realize she’s already dead-dead.”
Harmony tensed but didn’t otherwise react. “By now your Gabriel should be almost dead. I doubt he can face down two hundred men on his own.”
“My Gabriel is the rightful master of the underworld. He’s also the greatest warrior Death has ever known, and right now, he’s pissed off,” past-Death replied. “If I were you, I’d send up another two hundred before you set foot on the roof.”
Harmony stared at her, and past-Death sensed she’d rattled the woman. Snatching her hard, Harmony dragged her forward. “Where is it?” she hissed.
“Where is what?” past-Death demanded, refusing to flinch despite the pain.
“His soul! So I can end this and take my place as Death!”
“You?” past-Death arched an eyebrow. “You are one of the least impressive dealers I ever brought on board. In fact, I’m not sure why I did.”
Harmony’s backhand sent her reeling.
Past-Death landed on her stomach, her head ringing. The warm, metallic taste of blood was in her mouth and stars in her vision.
“Where the fuck is it?” Harmony demanded again.
Past-Death laughed. “You will never be Death, Harmony. The underworld chose him, not you.”
“Search her!”
She lay still as one of them searched her roughly. She didn’t have so much as a hair scrunchie in her pockets, and the dealer rose with a shake of his head.
Harmony was glaring at her from across the hallway, arms folded. The scratch marks on her cheek made past-Death wonder if she’d had a run in with a certain demoness. She said nothing and climbed to her feet.
“I’ve got another plan,” Harmony said and gripped her arm too hard once more. She started forward at a quick walk. �
�One more likely to make you suffer the way you deserve.”
Past-Death trotted on tiptoes to keep up with her. Remember. Quick deaths are better. She sought out something to infuriate Harmony even more as they marched through the palace that used to be her home to a central set of stairs leading to the roof.
“You remember the last talk we had?” past-Death asked with what innocence she was able to muster. “The one where my twin and I swore that your soul would go where mine is?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Mine belongs to Hell.”
Harmony missed a step. “You swore!”
“Darkyn’s mate swore. I supplied the location,” she said, referring to the deal Deidre made with Harmony before the death dealer kidnapped them.
“It won’t matter soon. You’re going to tell me where Gabriel’s soul is, and I’m going to destroy it and then destroy you the way someone should have thousands of years ago.”
Past-Death fell quiet. As uncertain as she was about how to be a good human, she was confident about how she had performed as a goddess. The underworld had flourished, and the souls were safe during the entirety of her reign.
Well, until the last few days.
“If you don’t tell me, Gabriel will,” Harmony added. “There is nothing he won’t do for you. I watched him lust over you for years, follow you around like a fairy does flowers. Pitiful. Weak. Human.”
Past-Death winced, fearing his devotion was true at one point but fearing more it wasn’t anymore. There was a time when she thought the same about Gabriel, that his humanity was a vulnerability.
“You’re wrong about him being weak,” she voiced. “He’s the strongest of you all, the only one who didn’t walk away from the souls and lose faith in the underworld the way you did.”
The familiar flash of heartache almost crippled her. She didn’t want to think about how Gabriel was going to react. Though recalling the way he’d looked at her in the sacred closet, how gently he spoke to her about caring for her, how he’d held her …
He’d cooperate, not out of weakness, but because he did still love her. Love isn’t weakness, she realized. It was the opposite: a source of strength, honor and self-sacrifice. Secrets Gabriel had known his whole life that she was finally learning.
They reached the roof, and past-Death took in the situation with astonishment. The bodies of death dealers littered the rooftop while a safe distance away, Gabriel and the demon Jared fought the two dozen remaining. Gale strength winds whipped her hair in front of her face, and she pushed it aside, entranced by Gabriel.
She watched her mate move, awed and aroused by his sheer strength. Gabriel swung the sword as if it was an extension of him, his masterful eye, agility and otherworldly instincts making him an unusually graceful, completely unstoppable killing machine. Thick muscles moved smoothly beneath his dark clothing. His biceps bulged beneath the t-shirt he wore, his roped forearms chiseled and rippling the same way the muscles of his back did.
He’s so beautiful. Had she ever really noticed it? Or did she see it completely anew each time she saw him? Why did it take her losing him and her soul for her to realize a man as honorable and amazing as he was wasn’t going to be manipulated into love?
It was then she noticed how many dealers had already fallen. Past-Death gave a laugh of sheer mockery. “I told you – send two hundred more!”
“I’ll do one better. I’ll send three hundred more.” Harmony tossed her head to one of those following and shoved past-Death forward.
She landed hard on her knees and grimaced, twisting to sit on her backside instead.
The storm approaching from the east drew her gaze, and her breath caught. Past-Death stumbled to her feet and shifted away from the landing of the stairwell crowded by death dealers to get an unobstructed look.
It was devouring everything in its path, chewing a part the underworld and destroying it. She glanced in the direction of the Lake of Souls, whose glow was visible from the palace roof. Panic and fear shot through her at the prospect of what happened to all the innocent souls if they were swept up and crushed by the storm.
Deidre. Past-Death wasn’t certain which direction her twin, Rhyn and even Darkyn had escaped in, but she found herself hoping that at least two of the three hadn’t gone east.
“Fix this, Gabriel,” she whispered, overwhelmed by the sight of the monstrosity headed their direction. “Only you can.”
Harmony snatched her arm once more and turned her to face Gabriel once more. Another forty death dealers had moved onto the roof, and Harmony started forward, taking past-Death with her.
When she was close enough, she stopped and shouted, “Gabriel!”
The wind took her words. She released past-Death and moved closer, into his line of sight.
Past-Death shifted away from the dealers, waiting for a chance to run for it to open up.
Gabriel twisted and met her gaze. After a lingering look, he lowered his sword and straightened from his fighting stance. Harmony waved off those dealers waiting to face him, and past-Death saw Gabriel and Harmony talk for a moment without hearing anything. His dark gaze remained on her, not Harmony.
Past-Death studied him, regret in her gut once more as she realized how bad their situation was. She regretted so much of what she’d done to exacerbate the situation, but there was one thing she began to understand was worth it all: the chance to be with Gabriel.
Harmony strode back to her and wrenched her forward, dagger at her neck. Past-Death leaned back instinctively from the razor sharp blade, not trusting the angered death dealer to keep it steady with the harsh wind.
“One more time. Where the fuck is it?” Harmony growled.
“Harmony!” Gabriel boomed. “If you harm one fucking hair on her –”
“Tell me where it is!” Harmony shouted back.
“I don’t know! No one does.”
“Bullshit.” The woman’s desperation was clear in her gaze. “You will tell me!” She turned her attention to past-Death, digging the knife into her neck.
Past-Death met her gaze. “You know what, Harmony? I do know where it is. But I won’t tell you. Kill me, and you can rot in Hell right beside me.”
“Deidre!” Gabriel called sharply. “Tell her –”
Harmony wrenched past-Death’s head back. “Say hello to Darkyn you bitch.”
Past-Death closed her eyes. In the moment before death, she was certain of one thing.
She’d never, ever betray her Gabriel, not for power or her life. This was what love was: putting someone else above her own interests, something Gabriel had done to her his whole life. I understand now. The realization made her want to sob that it took her death for her to understand what was truly worth living.
Lightning slashed the sky overhead, and a burst of wind knocked her and Harmony to the ground. Stunned not to be dead, Past-Death lay still for a long moment, sucking in deep breaths of air. She started to crawl away on her knees, anxious to reach Gabriel or the safety of the palace.
Harmony snatched her and dragged her back, shoving her onto her back and climbing on top of her.
“This ends now!” the death dealer shouted, knife at past-Death’s throat.
“Holy gods and goddesses.” It wasn’t the infuriated death dealer on top of her or the bite of the blade into her neck that had past-Death’s attention, but the sky overhead.
Harmony glanced up then sat back.
Past-Death stared as the inky black tendrils of the storm snaked across the sky, writhing as if they were real. They were followed by clouds too dark to allow the smallest sliver of light through, a black hole devouring everything. Clouds dropped from the sky, snatching up death dealers and tossing them into the center of the storm, where they were completely swallowed.
The form of the remaining ogre whirled round and round in the sky above the palace until it, too, was sucked into the black hole at its center.
“Get the fuck away from my mate!” Gabriel’s roar split
the air, his sword flying over past-Death’s head to impale a nearby death dealer.
Harmony ducked the dagger he threw and rolled off her, yanking more weapons free as she leapt to her feet.
Past-Death scrambled up, was pushed back by the wind, and clawed her way to her feet once more. The storm was snatching dealers off the rooftop left and right, the screams and chaos blinding her as much as the hair she couldn’t keep out of her face.
“Gabriel!” she screamed.
“Here!”
Past-Death turned in the direction she thought his voice came from, unable to tell for certain with the wind whipping sound around her. Something hot slid through her, and she touched her abdomen absently, cursing hunger pangs.
Harmony stood half a dozen feet from her, straightening from her throw.
Past-Death’s fingers fumbled over the hilt of a knife, and she looked down. The dagger protruding from her upper abdomen didn’t seem real, and she stared at the blood quickly soaking her clothing. The pain took a moment to reach her as well.
“Oh, shit,” she murmured, comprehension filtering through her. Past-Death dropped to her knees and gripped the hilt with both hands, yanking it free.
Hot pain tore through her, and she hunched over, the roar of the wind fading, replaced with the clamoring of her panicked instincts.
“Deidre!” Gabriel dropped beside her. He pulled her back against him, and she leaned into his strong body, relaxing.
“Is it bad?” she asked. The pain was growing tolerable, and black had begun to line the edges of her thoughts, like it was time for a nap. I like naps, she recalled. Another human experience that ranked up there with sex with Gabriel and funnel cakes. “It doesn’t feel bad.”
Gabriel said nothing, instead focused on applying pressure. Blood spurted over his hands, and she looked up at him, admiring the chiseled features of his rugged face.
“You are incredible, Gabriel,” she murmured wistfully. “Why didn’t we just … love each other and be happy?”
His gaze dropped to hers, his dark eyes scouring her face. “Is that really what you want?”
“It’s what I’ve always wanted,” she replied. “I’m sorry I made it so difficult.” She struggled to sit, wanting to talk to him face to face and suddenly confused as to why she was lying on the roof under a storm. Shouldn’t they be inside, talking?
