"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 shore.
"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 goddess 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 Hell and her world.