What did he do to those who hadn't taken that final step but probably would soon?
The responsibility of Death weighed heavily on his shoulders. There was no room for traitors in his ranks, not with his critical mission on the human world and his own mate within striking distance. The underworld would open for him, when he'd conquered his challenges here in the human realm. The deity Fate had told him as much, after shutting down Gabriel's access to the underworld.
A mate lying to him and death dealers deserting right and left.
Gabriel reached the end of the assassins and turned to gaze at the lake with its souls. His duty was beyond question the most important there was: protecting the souls of the dead mortals and dead-dead Immortals. There was no room for mistakes or hesitation.
He drew a deep breath then turned to the waiting death-dealers. He walked down the line to the nearest of the five the demons had approached with offers and paused before the Immortal with icy blue eyes. Reading their minds confirmed they were considering the demons' offers.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now," Gabriel said calmly.
The death dealer stared at him. Those around them were silent, still. Instead of responding, the assassin knelt.
"Granted." Gabriel acknowledged the request for a quick death. He placed his hand on the assassin's head. A small pulse of power, and the man dropped.
Gabriel called the soul to him silently and watched the green fog form around his hand before it crystallized into an emerald. Gabriel tossed it into the lake. He moved onto the next death dealer whose loyalty was swaying and paused before the slender woman.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now," he repeated.
She knelt.
Gabriel went down the line. None of the five fought him or made excuses. All obediently requested quick deaths, and he granted them, tossing their souls into the lake instead of crushing them to send them to Hell, which was the usual fate for the souls of traitors.
"Dismissed!" he called to those remaining.
Landon waited for him a short distance away. Gabriel took a moment to breathe deeply, unsettled by how quickly his assassins were falling. He thought them all loyal and supportive when he took over. At the first sign of real trouble, those who weren't had begun to show their true allegiances.
He never expected there to be so many. It was a blow to him, considering he'd worked with many of them for thousands of years. No matter what they thought of his human origins, he was still the deity in charge of the underworld. More importantly, the underworld accepted his appointment. He was starting out doing a shitty job, but he was slowly conquering his challenges here on the human world.