“There’s always hope, Gabe,” Rhyn said. “I’ll find a way to help you. I swear it.”
“I’m beyond help, Rhyn. I’ve always believed you could be all that Kris and Andre and your father were not. Your half-demon nature makes you better prepared than all of them combined. I think that’s your fate, to follow in your father’s footsteps.”
“Kris might disagree. Oh, and probably every other Immortal out there.”
“Katie knows it. I know it. I’m ready for my fate. Do what you were born to do, Rhyn, and don’t think twice about me.”
“I spent years in Hell for a brother who hates me. I’ll do whatever it takes to free my only friend from Death, Gabe,” Rhyn said firmly. He slapped Gabe on the arm. “You need to shave. You look like shit.”
The death-dealer smiled faintly. Rhyn trotted away from him, out of the palace and into the jungle. He suspected freeing Katie from Death would be easier than freeing Gabe from Death. There was more at stake for her if she lost Gabe.
Thunder cracked overhead. Rhyn had ignored the rain, accustomed to being miserable. Hell was either broiling or freezing, and the Alps were just as cold. The underworld’s chilled rain didn’t compare.
He looked up instinctively, sensing something different about this thunder. It didn’t sound like the rumbling thunder he’d heard in the mortal world. It sounded like an explosion in the sky. The jungle canopy blocked his view, so he leapt up to catch the branch of the nearest tree. He scaled the tree quickly, stopping only when he broke through the layers of leaves. More tiny explosions came, and he twisted to see what they were.
A portal had opened overhead, back towards what Gabe had called the Lake of Souls. Demons fell from the sky, some changing into their winged forms while others simply fell. It was too far for them to survive if they fell, and he estimated half of them were likely dead on impact.
The other half numbered in the hundreds. The winged demons hovered around the portal and then took off in separate directions, swooping low above the jungle.
Rhyn scampered down the tree and fell far enough to knock his breath out. Demons flew overhead, unable to see through the canopy. He froze, watching them circle then leave, and stood, catching his breath. Fear penetrated him, colder than the rain. Katie was vulnerable. Gabe was vulnerable.