He reached around her and tugged free his favorite sweater. His hand settled on her back, and their bodies brushed. Deidre stilled suddenly, her breath catching softly. Gabriel glanced at her. She was trying hard to control her expression and the flush moving up her features.
Amused, he dropped the sweater into the bag, grabbed a few more and a pair jeans. He loved touching her and loved even more watching her try to figure out what to do about it. When he was satisfied, he lifted the bag and stepped away.
"Come on," he said and called a portal.
"I have to just leave them?" she asked, gaze on her clothes. "They're so beautiful."
"They'll have more for you at the fortress."
Gabriel waited in front of the yawning portal. Deidre sighed. She kept her distance from him. He motioned her into the portal. With a look of dread, she went ahead of him. He followed.
"You really are locked out," she said, stopping in the middle of the shadow world. The portal to his underworld was grey; only yellow mortal portals and the black one to Hell were visible. "How can that be?"
"Someone didn't leave an instruction manual when she walked out on me," he replied calmly.
"Why would you need one?"
Gabriel stopped and turned, glaring down at her.
"It's not that hard," she murmured as the silence grew.
"Maybe to someone who's been doing it for tens of thousands of millennia," he replied. "When you left, the demons were pouring in, the Lake of Souls was bubbling and everything else was falling apart. Guess who gets to clean up that mess?"
He started walking again and waited for her at the portal to Rhyn's.
"I guess I didn't realize you weren't ready," she said as she joined him.
Gabriel said nothing, but it took effort. She stepped into the portal, and he trailed. They emerged in the chamber she'd been in before. Deidre gazed around her, eyes settling on the green glow, visible through the French doors. It was night on this side of the world, and the otherworldly glow from the lake near Rhyn's house reminded Gabriel that he was no closer to getting those souls home yet.
"Why does that look like souls?" she asked, puzzled.
"Because it is."
Her mouth dropped open.
"You were here yesterday. You don't remember?" he asked.
She seemed to be thinking of how to respond.
"I'm having trouble with memories in general," she admitted. "Maybe because everything was um, mashed together. Almost everything feels new. It's a little unnerving." She glanced around.
There was a vulnerable note in her voice, one that bothered him.