The entire fortress was empty. Rhyn ducked his head into a salon the size of half Kris’s castle. He and Gabe had reached the gleaming marble palace at the center of the underworld just after dawn only to find it unguarded and missing its key occupant.
“This is just weird,” Gabe said again from down the hall. “She’s planning something.”
“A trap for her least favorite demon and assassin?”
“Trust me, if she wasn’t curious about you, you’d be dead-dead. She probably finds all this entertaining.”
Rhyn heard the note of pain in the death-dealer’s voice. In a week’s time, Gabe had gone from quietly confident to troubled to lost. The death-dealer was struggling with himself, a feeling Rhyn knew well.
“If she’s not here, where is she?” he asked.
“Out tormenting others.”
“In the underworld?”
“Yeah.” Gabriel fell quiet for a moment, looking around with a frown. Death’s palace felt much like Hell had to Rhyn. Something about it tugged at his power.
“At the stream … “ Rhyn started, watching Gabe carefully.
The death-dealer grimaced. “That was her. Toying with you. Testing you.”
“Could she be fighting demons?”
“Her guards are gone, which means they’re off tracking demons. Death is unpredictable, but if I were to guess, she’s somewhere in the underworld.”
“Hiding?”
“No. Toying with someone else.”
“Not Katie. She’d have to kill her,” Rhyn said.
“Not us, not Katie, not the demons. That leaves other Immortals. Looks like we’re not the only ones here.”
Rhyn thought of Kiki, suspecting his brother went to Kris. He wondered who Kris sent after him to make sure he didn’t follow through on his threat to confront Death.
“We only have today,” he said. “Let’s find them.”
“You go. I’ll wait here for her. She always comes home,” Gabe said.
“Gabe, it’s not safe for you here.”
“My fate is sealed, Rhyn. I’ve got nothing to lose now. If she comes back, I can distract her, give you until midnight.”
Rhyn looked hard at his friend, sensing what the death-dealer didn’t say. He’d known Gabe was likely going to suffer worse than any of them, once he faced Death’s wrath. There was regret mixed in with Gabriel’s resignation. They’d known each other long enough for Rhyn to suspect Death would finally succeed in what she’d been doing to Gabe all these years: She was about to win the battle to crush his soul.
“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.
Death alone could drive the invaders from her world.
As Darkyn had said, the underworld tempered his Immortal magic, but Rhyn felt the demon power broiling behind the constraints, seeking a way out of him. He was sticking to his plan, though he no longer had time to find Death. He was going to try to make her come to him. She’d know where Katie was, and Rhyn could find her before more demons closed in.
He knelt on the ground and closed his eyes, seeking out the writhing darkness of his demon side. If the demons had the power to transform and fly, he could access his demon powers, too, even if the Immortal side of him was bound by Death’s underworld.
***
“Berries,” Toby commanded the tree before him.
The tree obliged and lowered one of the low hanging branches to Toby’s level. He plucked a few of the red, tart berries and popped them in his mouth.
“How’d you do that?” Ully asked.
Toby hunched his shoulders. He’d wandered far enough away from camp that he’d hoped to get some food before running from Ully, who was still sleeping. The angel memories convinced him that Ully’s strange comments and the trees attempt to combat him indicated Ully really was a demon. Toby turned slowly to face the scientist, whose hands and body had begun to transform back into its demon form. The Ully-demon hadn’t yet realized it.
“Angel memories. This is where old angels go before they die,” Toby said. He huddled deeper into his coat, more than the rain chilling him. The Ully-demon still wore Ully’s face, but the rest of his body had grown bony and taller. Toby couldn’t help wondering when Ully had been swapped for a demon, but it had to have been before they left Hell.
It now made sense how Ully had been able to free them and talk Jared into letting them go. Toby had been too excited to find their escape too easy at the time, but now, he realized it was … weird. He’d failed again. He couldn’t even escape on his own.
“This way,” he said and started towards Death’s palace.
Thunder cracked overhead, and Toby looked up. Ully ran into him as the angel stopped, and they both stared at the sky. He thought he saw something in the sky, but the trees blocked it.
“Let’s keep going,” Ully said.
“I want to see what it is,” Toby said. He approached a tree. “Branch! Up!”
The tree lowered a branch to him, and he wrapped his arms around it. It was warm and writhing, and one small branch wrapped around him to keep him secure as it shifted him upwards. Toby broke through the treetops and gasped.
Demons flew towards him.
“Down, down, down!” he squawked. “Down!”
The branch lowered him so fast, his stomach turned. Toby scampered off the branch and stared upwards, wondering how Death could allow the demons into her domain. He looked around wildly, expecting them to leap from his surroundings.
“What’s wrong?” Ully asked. By his darkened gaze, he knew.
“Tree!” Toby shouted. “Help!”
The Ully-demon launched towards him. The tree snatched Toby and lifted him to safety, and Toby dangled far enough over Ully’s head that the demon couldn’t reach him. As he watched, the Ully-demon transformed into its natural form, a creature of wings, talons, and teeth longer than Toby’s fingers.
“Throw me!” Toby whispered, clawing at the tree as the demon shook out his wings. “Now!”
The tree obeyed. Toby bit back a yell as he was launched over the treetops into the sky, in the direction of the Lake of Souls. Another tree branch caught him, and he struggled to orient himself. He heard the sounds of pursuit but was stuck upside down. A blur of wings and darkness caught his attention.
“Throw me!” he cried again.
He flew through the air, drawing the attention of nearby demons in midflight. He saw them shift directions and dart towards him just before he dipped beneath the jungle canopy again.
“Don’t let them through!”
The branches flung upwards, snatching the legs and wings of the demons. Toby heard a demon shriek as its wings were torn from its body. The tree lowered Toby to the ground. He looked up once more, turned and ran through the jungle, leaving the trees to fight off the demons.
Katie was close. Toby could sense her. He ignored the branches whipping his face and the brambles tripping him. Instead, he just ran, the screams of demons in his ears.
***
Even the thunder of the underworld sounded weird. Katie glanced towards the sky, silently cursing the rain. She made her way over a fallen log and waited for Deidre before continuing.
“I hope we’re going the right way still,” she said. “I’m not good at directions.”
“The jungle looks the same everywhere,” Deidre agreed. “But I think this is right. It’s still easterly. I think.”
More thunder boomed. Katie wondered what other kinds of storms the underworld might have. Would it rain something other than black water? With her luck, it’d rain bugs, like the beetle nest she skirted.
“Watch out. These things will probably take a leg off,” she said, pointing to the nest.
Deidre paused beside the bubbling nest of beetles the size of her hand. Katie watched as she picked up one, peered at it and then flung it. Deidre giggled.
“We call those beetle bombs where I’m from,” she admitted. “I guess that’s the kind of thing you do when you’re bored.”
Katie smiled, amused despite the rain, thunder and bugs. The woman was as unique as she’d claimed to be, at once easily entertained and melancholy. Katie couldn’t quite keep up with Deidre’s odd mixture of emotions, but she pitied the woman, who seemed more lost in her own world than anything.
The sound of something screaming wiped the smile from Deidre’s face. Katie turned to face the direction from which the sound came. It wasn’t a bird, and it wasn’t human. The single voice was joined by several, and Katie grabbed Deidre’s hand.
“We have to keep going,” she said, hurrying forward. “I don’t know what that is, but it’s close.”
“Demons,” Deidre whispered.
“Don’t let all my talk scare you. Let’s just um, run for awhile!” Katie said and took off.
Deidre was close on her heels. They navigated the jungle as fast as they could, catching themselves against trees as they slid through slippery piles of leaves and over fallen branches. Katie ran until she was breathless. Deidre kept on running, and Katie pushed her body forward.
Suddenly, someone launched from the trees. Deidre stopped. Katie smashed into her and knocked them both to the ground. Katie rolled and pushed herself up, missing the look exchanged between Deidre and the newcomer.
“Toby!” Katie exclaimed. “What’re you doing here?”
The young angel’s face was streaked with blood from where branches had struck him. He was pale and terrified – and staring in shock at Deidre.
“Toby,” Katie said again, stepping forward. Her eyes went to his hands. He didn’t have demon hands. “It’s okay. She’s a friend.”
“Mama,” he managed and flung himself into her arms. Katie grunted and caught him, hugging him to her.
“Toby, what’re you doing here?”
“Mama, there are demons everywhere. They opened a portal in the sky and are just flying and flying, hundreds of them!” Toby’s voice rose in panic.
“How did you get here?” she demanded.
“I wanted to protect you. Rhyn and Gabe came to find you, but I knew I could find you faster, so I came with a shapeshifter.”
Katie bit back the words she wanted to say. Toby was too small to protect anyone, and she couldn’t help feeling panic stir again at the thought that now he – and Deidre – were now as vulnerable as she was to the demons. The thought of Rhyn being close made her body warm from the inside out. Maybe, if she could find him …the cry of a demon overhead drew her attention.
“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “I thought Death wouldn’t let the demons into this place.”
“Something’s wrong,” Toby said. “Darkyn did something. He replaced Gabe and Ully and Hannah with demons.”
“Hannah? Is she okay, Toby?”
“Yeah. She’s in Hell. She’s fine.”
“Jesus. Hannah’s in Hell,” Katie mused, doubting her sister was remotely fine. “Explains why Gabe went crazy on me. You said Rhyn and Gabe are here, too?”
“Somewhere. They were coming to find you and make Death give you back to Rhyn.”
The trees overhead rustled, and Toby yanked away, staring. Katie saw shadows but nothing else. Even so, she doubted these were the freaky underworld birds.
“C’mon,” she said, snatching Toby’s hand. “We have to get somewhere safe.”
“Death’s palace. Follow me,” Toby said. He cast another puzzled look at Deidre and ran forward.
Katie followed, trailed closely by Deidre. The sounds of their escape were nothing compared to the sounds of what followed. Katie cast a look over her shoulder and saw several demons had dropped into the jungle and transformed into panther-like forms. She stopped and reached into the pouch slung across her chest.
“What are you doing?” Deidre demanded.
“Go! Run with Toby!” Katie said and pushed her. “I’m going to feed the trees.”
She pulled two food cubes free and flung one towards the demons then dropped one where she stood. Turning, she grabbed Deidre’s arm and ran hard. As before, nothing happened at first then the earth roared as it split apart. The ground trembled, throwing both of them down.
Toby hauled Katie up and tugged her forward. Katie pulled free and grabbed Deidre just as the earth beneath her collapsed. Katie slammed to the ground, holding Deidre as tightly as she could.
“Toby!” she shouted. “Stay back!”
The angel ignored her and dropped beside her, wringing his hands helplessly. The blond woman dangled over the widening chasm, clutching Katie’s hand. She braced her feet against the side of the chasm and walked upward, until Toby could grab her belt. The angel pulled hard, and Katie pushed Deidre on top of the angel, who yelped.
“We must run!” Katie said, rising. The ground still rumbled, the trees surrounding both food cubes expanding fast and tearing up the ground in several directions as they did. She looked around, irritated to find she’d caused a chasm to form between them and the direction they’d been running.
Deidre and Toby stood. Katie started forward, only for the rumbling ground to drive her to her knees. Horrified, she saw the chasm form a rough circle around them, trapping them on a small island surrounded by football field wide trees and chasms too wide to jump.
Deidre landed on her back beside her, and Katie pulled Toby against her. They huddled on the ground, waiting for the trees to crush them or the demons to snatch them. The ground continued to rumble. Slowly, the sounds died down then fell silent. Katie peered apprehensively out at the world.
Their small island was untouched. The trees and jungle beyond were decimated by chasms and fallen trees.
“So that’s what happens when you feed the trees,” Toby said in part wonder, part horror. “I’m glad I didn’t try it.”
“Shit,” Katie muttered and stood, walking to the edge of the island. “Demons are gone, but we’re fucked when they come back.”
“Wow,” Deidre breathed. “I haven’t felt a rush like that in eons.”
“You should be grateful Katie didn’t let your slow ass fall,” Toby said.
“Toby!” Katie chided him. “You are in so much trouble for being here.”
“I’m your angel. I’m supposed to help you, but all I do is screw up,” Toby said in frustration. “I’m the worst angel in the history of the world.”
“You’re young. I’m sure your time will come,” Deidre said.
“Exactly. In the meantime, you’re grounded,” Katie said. “No marshmallows or video games or whatever it is kids like. Why are you wearing a pink coat?”
Toby rolled his eyes in response and crossed his arms. Katie shook her head. The angel was visibly upset and completely disheveled. She softened, sensing his distress.
“It’s ok, Toby. You’re doing better than I am,” she offered. “You always knew I was the worst mother in the world.”
“Yeah. But I’m the worst angel in the world.”
“Then we’re meant for each other,” she told him. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here.” She held out her hand. Toby smiled grudgingly and took it. Katie led them around the island, trying to find some part of the chasm that was narrow enough to jump or a log they could roll across the gaping ravine.
“Why don’t we just ask the trees?” Toby complained at last.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, ask the trees.” Toby sighed loudly and stepped away from her. “Tree! Lift us over the ravine!”
Katie stared at him, suspecting he’d lost his mind. To her surprise, a branch wrapped around her body. She yelped, shoving at it then went still as it plucked her from the ground and moved her across the ravine, dropping her off in the jungle again.
The tree deposited Deidre and Toby in a heap, and Toby sprung up, pleased with himself. Katie looked at the tree in uneasy mistrust. The trees of her world were alive, but this was something else.
“This way,” Toby said and started into the jungle.
“Determined little guy, isn’t he?” Deidre said, amused again. “He cares about you deeply if he came here by choice.”
“He’s bat-shit crazy, which is where I’ll be soon if we don’t find a way out of here,” Katie replied. “You ok?”
“Fine. You?”
“Good enough. This place is making me dizzy, though.” Katie rubbed her forehead. She needed sleep and real food. Her hand went instinctively to her stomach, and she couldn’t help wondering if the food and water cubes were good for the baby. “We need to find Rhyn. I think this place is doing bad things to me.”
“Because you’re not dead!” Toby called over his shoulder. “Mortals can’t come here unless they’re dead. Or, it’ll kill you.”
“Let me guess. That happens tonight, if I don’t get to wherever it is Gabe was taking me.”
Toby was wrestling with a bush and didn’t respond. Katie breathed deeply and pushed forward, wanting very much to stop and sleep but suspecting she’d never awaken if she did. She didn’t have enough food cubes to drive off more than one more demon attack. They’d have to find Rhyn and Gabe fast.
Rhyn had come for her. The thought thrilled her. She didn’t doubt he would try, and she hoped he hadn’t done something like violate the obscure Immortal Codes he tried to follow just to get to her.