"Ask me what you came to ask me," Fate directed.
"Darkyn wants Deidre."
"And you're running out of time."
"I know." Gabe rubbed the back of his neck. "Wynn told me what he did and about the soul encased in her tumor. If Darkyn wants it, it's gotta be past-Death. I … can't …get to it without killing her." Admitting the truth out loud was worse than he expected.
"Then you're both fucked."
He looked up.
"First things first. Darkyn wins now if you don't figure out this simple truth." Fate shrugged. "Like making love to a woman, Gabriel."
He'd finally found a deity who used an analogy he understood. Thousands of years of experience rendered Gabe intimately familiar with both a woman's body and the Immortal Code. He'd never viewed the Code in this light, as more than his master. He'd obeyed the Code and his predecessor without question, until forced to choose between them and his conscience. He broke with both to save Rhyn and Katie.
That the Code was malleable, flexible, alive … like a woman.
Deidre's bucket list came to mind, distracting him from interpreting Fate's cryptic comparison. He'd enjoyed himself that night, more so than ever before, because he let go of the side of himself that viewed sex as either a test by a dictatorial goddess or a necessary release for pent up frustration.
How the fuck did he translate a night of fun, passion - not to mention the most meaningful connection he'd ever made - into his job? The Code? That night, he'd done more than try to please someone else. He shared his need and pleasure with someone else for the first time in his life.
Fate leaned forward, studying him intently.
"Are you saying …" Gabriel paused. "The Code enslaved me as an everyday Immortal. But as a deity …"
"C'mon, Gabriel. It's gotta click here and now, if you are to create a sustainable chain of events. You understand. I see it."
"The Code is not an absolute for deities but a relationship. One I can determine," he said at last.
"Determine. Influence," Fate said, smiling slowly. "Control, if that's your thing. The handcuffs never hurt, right?"
"Silk ties," Gabriel replied.
"Jealous. She never used silk with me."
"She didn't trust you."
"For good reason," Fate admitted. "Same reason she knew better than to let me tie her. That would not have ended the way anyone thinks."
Gabriel snorted, amused. They both knew past-Death wouldn't let anyone place her in a compromising position. Fate was the single enemy that succeeded in cornering her and only after countless millennia plotting.
"Anyway, for you, those handcuffs will soon be falling away," Fate continued.