It was an entirely different thing to lose a deal sealed with the Dark One's magic. The chances of past-Death ever leaving the underworld were now gone, if she wanted to stay alive.
"The deal was between the Deidres," he found himself saying. "Hell may own her soul, but you don't, Darkyn."
To his surprise, the Dark One didn't respond with any sort of confirmation that he believed his mate capable of turning over anyone to Hell. Andre risked a glance at the creature and saw his features were pensive.
"It belongs to Hell. This is all that concerns me," Darkyn replied with a shrug.
"A woman clip your wings, demon?" Rhyn taunted.
"She did not clip my wings, half-breed. She makes matters more interesting."
"Wait until there's a hatchling involved." Rhyn grimaced. "That's when things get interesting."
"What else did you dig from past-Death's brain, Immortal?" This was addressed to Andre.
"Empath code," Andre replied calmly.
"Which is what?" Rhyn questioned.
"It's fairly simple. Empaths are forbidden from interfering in the natural course of a person's life without an invitation and must treat secrets like they're sacred," Andre replied.
"So you couldn't tell people Sasha was going to fuck up the world, and that I wasn't a threat. You let everyone believe I betrayed the Council, too."
"I sent you away to protect you from the fucked up world our father created. With respect to the Council, have you seen how your brothers turned out?" Andre explained with mild humor. "Before Katie, there was no one in the universe able to keep you from destroying everything you ran across, outside of Hell."
"You're welcome, half-breed," Darkyn said.
"Fuck off, Darkyn." Rhyn grunted.
"Just because I keep secrets doesn't mean I can't help those who need it," Andre added, as much for Rhyn as Darkyn.
"I wouldn't call it helping," Rhyn replied.
"Hell kept you alive. Sasha went mad within a decade of his time there and was rendered nonlethal relatively quickly. Andre would've known that as well," Darkyn said. "It was a shrewd, strategic move. Hell resolved both of his issues."
"Correct," Andre replied. It was unnerving to agree with the Dark One. It took a great deal of effort for him to turn his back on his brothers, even knowing it was for the greater good. Hearing the Dark One agree with his decision was disconcerting at best.
"That makes you sound cold, Andre," Rhyn observed. "More like something Wynn would do."
"Wynn would've destroyed you, not protected you," Darkyn replied. "He has the backbone Sasha never did."
"What a fucked up family."
"I was sorry to hear about your daughter, Darkyn," Andre added. "I had no way of knowing he'd harm her."