"Oh, thank gods!" Harmony exclaimed. "You know how hard it is to track down everyone one-by-one to relay orders?"
"Take a break, Harmony," he told her. "I've gotta go. We'll catch up later."
She nodded and kneaded her temples with her fingertips.
Gabriel left, returning to Deidre's apartment. The dead demons were gone, but someone was waiting for him. Gabriel rubbed his rough jaw. It was sandpapery, covered by two days of stubble. He needed a razor and a trench coat to begin feeling normal again. He didn't see the demon that summoned him and waited a moment before speaking.
"Odd place for a meeting."
"Neither your domain nor mine. We are equals here." Darkyn, the demon lord charged with heading the Dark One's armies of demons, emerged from a dark hallway. His pointed teeth rested on his lower lip, his dark eyes displaying the intelligence of a being that existed from the time-before-time. Lean and youthful, he was unthreatening in appearance but the single most lethal creature Gabriel knew.
"Everyone comes to me," Gabriel reminded him. "Even you."
"Not today."
"I'm not the talker past-Death was. Spit it out, Darkyn," Gabriel ordered.
"You visited Fate but not my master?" Darkyn asked. "It displeased him."
"Your master," Gabe replied. He fell quiet, studying Darkyn. Assuming the role of Death heightened his senses about dealing with Immortals. Darkyn wasn't giving off the same vibe that other demons - who were roughly equivalent to Immortals in the food chain - gave off.
Darkyn's quiet power was more like Fate's.
"When did this transition happen?" Gabriel asked.
"Not long ago. When my master recalled me from exile, we had a talk. I won and took over," Darkyn said. "I prefer to keep under the radar. The demons and Immortals don't need to fear what they don't know."
"So you can operate freely between worlds."
"Much like you. I'm invoking Immortal Code, rule 7,340: secrets between deities ...."
"… remain between deities." Gabriel gritted his teeth. "Fine. What do you want?"
"Your mate owes me a debt."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "What debt?"
"You didn't wonder how past-Deidre learned of the loophole that let her become mortal? With her very own soul?"
"I assume she lost a bet with Fate."
"That was part of it, I hear. In either case, she owes my predecessor for the knowledge he gave her."
Immortal Code, Rule 9: All deals made between deities shall be recorded by the Oracle.
"Assuming this is true, what was the price?" Gabriel asked.
"You mean who was the price?" Darkyn's smile was cunning. "A certain Immortal. Care to guess?"
"Doesn't matter to me. Even if she promised him a soul, I have discretion on when I claim it," Gabe said.