You can't leave me.

Gabriel's eyes snapped open as the latest soul brushed his fingertips. Deidre's voice was clear and loud compared to the whispers of the other souls. The images that passed were of the underworld ogres, allies of Death from a different era placed in hibernation long ago. Gentle giants, they were nonetheless deadly, if they chose to be. He'd met them several times during his travels, before Death gave the dying breed a permanent home in the underworld in exchange for their periodic protection.

"Something's wrong," Gabriel said and shifted forward. It was difficult for him to sort through the sheer volume of information entering his thoughts, the stories of souls, the images of deities. Somewhere among the voices was the steady stream of the underworld's soft voice, a bond as strong as his was to his mate, yet subtler, quiet.

At his fingertip was the second black soul in the bowl where there had been only one before.

"Really wrong," he whispered and picked up the soul of Darkyn. He stared at it, marveling and horrified simultaneously. "Darkyn fell."

"What?" past-Death crowded him. "What about the others?"

"Someone freed the giants," Gabriel said. "Poor souls aren't smart enough to know what's going on."

"Cupcake!" the muffled shout came from the direction of the bedchamber.

"I think we've got more than one issue," she added, eyes going towards Jared.

Gabriel dropped the soul of the Dark One back into the bowl. "Stay here. I know what I need to do."

Fate was conveniently gone, he noted when he turned. The deity had a knack for disappearing when circumstances went from bad to worse.

"Um, no." She followed him.

"Deidre, you aren't immortal anymore. You'll be safe here," he said, facing her. "I won't risk losing you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, I don't care. I belong at your side, fighting our enemies, not stuffed in a closet." She gave him a look of cold defiance, the kind that made his blood quicken and desire eddy through him.

"I'm serious," Gabriel said.

"So am I." A tortured look crossed her features before she drew a deep breath and threw her shoulders back. "I've been a selfish being my entire life. I need to make amends where I can."

"Your soul belongs to Hell. If something happens …" He wasn't able to finish the thought. It was more complicated with Darkyn gone, especially since the Dark One had been cut off from Hell when he entered the underworld. How succession worked wasn't clear to Gabriel.

"I'm willing to take that risk to help you and the others," she said firmly. "It's not a request, Gabriel. You can take me with you, or I'll follow you anyway."




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