The Underworld (Rhyn Eternal) (13 page)

But never weakness. Inaction and fear were never part of who he was, even when facing down two demons strong enough to crush him.

“Does winning the Toughest Demon Award somehow transport you out of here?” he asked calmly of the two bristling demons.

Rhyn’s jaw ticked, a sign he’d heard, while Darkyn remained motionless.

“You’re right. This is a much better use of your time than rescuing Darkyn’s mate or preventing the world from collapsing when Harmony succeeds in her mission.”

That did it. His casual tone drew both of their hostile gazes.

Andre smiled gently, ignoring the anger he sensed directed now at him. Just as their emotions had an effect on him, his had the same effect on those around him. Another reason to always remain calm and open.

“Are you ready to do what we’re here for?”

Neither responded.

“The trees want us to go west. If they have a west in the underworld.” He glanced at the suns that had been frozen in the sky for a few hours before starting forward. “I’ll be at the palace, whenever you all care to join me.”

Stepping by them, he started into the forest, confident they’d follow.

“No offense, Andre, but you can be a real dick.” Rhyn was the first to trail him. “You know I’d chop off your head to claim the Toughest Demon Award, don’t you?”

“I know there’s no love lost between you and any of your brothers, Rhyn,” Andre replied. “But also that you are duty bound and will honor our shared blood even if you dislike me for who I am.”

“A weakness I do not share,” Darkyn growled. His voice was close enough to assure Andre he, too, followed. “The Toughest Demon Award doesn’t exist. If it did, it’d go to the Dark One by default.”

“I am so fucking ready to take off your head after what you tried to do to my Katie!” Rhyn snarled.

“Focus, Rhyn. And Darkyn, you’re weakening quickly,” Andre said carefully, aware of how little he wanted a long lasting grudge from the Dark One when they left the underworld. “Your strength is better spent not fighting my shit head of a brother.”

“Shit head? Really?” Rhyn grumbled. “I think Andre just called you a pussy, Darkyn.”

“Hush, Rhyn,” Andre chided. “We have more important issues to deal with.”

“Harmony, death dealers, and two powerful deities about to lose their shit.”

“There’s something else here, too. Something I can’t figure out.”

“What can
you
sense, demon hunter?” Darkyn demanded.

“He can track your ass even in Hell,” Rhyn replied, bristling once more.

“Be calm, Rhyn.” Andre shook his head. “Darkyn knows one of my gifts but perhaps not the other.”

“What is this gift?” Darkyn asked.

“Andre can suck up your emotions then crack your head open with them,” Rhyn summarized. “He can read minds sometimes, too.”

“Empath,” Darkyn supplied.

“Exactly,” Andre said.

“You knew about Sasha.”

Another thing that always surprised Andre about demons: their candidness was never curbed by diplomacy or politeness or proper timing, the way his was. Andre and Rhyn both stopped and faced the Dark One, who ceased surveying their surroundings to return their looks warily.

“If he knew, he would’ve stopped him, before he almost destroyed the human world!” Rhyn snapped.

The name of the betrayer from the Council stirred up memories – and regret. Andre had known what his half-brother was long before Sasha openly declared his allegiance to the Dark One.

It didn’t help that Sasha had had Andre rendered dead-dead several months before. Andre hadn’t yet reconciled his emotions about that incident, despite the knowledge his half-brother paid the price with a painful death.

Darkyn was gazing at him, and Andre reminded himself that the Dark One was not just another demon. Darkyn had been around longer than even Wynn, the father of the Councilmembers.

Darkyn was from the time-before-time. For him to be one of the only remaining survivors from that era indicated he was far more cunning and dangerous than Andre was able to assess from their very few interactions. Which meant Andre had to always err on the side of caution: not giving the demon lord a reason to track him down later.

“I did know, Rhyn,” Andre said softly. “I knew the secrets of everyone around me. It’s the nature of who I am.”

Rhyn frowned at him.

“You follow the empath code,” Darkyn said with a cold smile. “I like that.”

Andre smiled politely and turned to begin walking once more. He didn’t particularly like the way Darkyn said it, but he wasn’t about to engage the demon more than necessary. Aside from their purpose there, he firmly believed in not giving power to ideas and motivations that did not benefit him.

The walked in relative quiet for a while, and Andre took in the grey underworld. He found himself missing the sun from the human realm and hoping he saw it again and had a chance to help his brothers.

Rather, had a chance to figure out what their father was doing, before he fucked up everyone again. The brothers still bore the scars of the twisted psychopath that raised them. Andre had originally sent Rhyn away when he was a child as much to save him from the Immortal world as to subdue the powers he couldn’t control. He’d done what he could to help the rest of his brothers.

He hadn’t done enough to save Sasha or Kris. Their fates and deaths weighed heavily on him despite the wisdom of knowing they chose their own paths. He hoped he had another chance to save the rest of his brothers or at least, to do what he could to help them this time around. Being dead-dead gave him time to think while resurrection provided him a second chance to act differently than he had before.

“Time’s up. Hell has a new soul,” Darkyn’s low, quiet voice tugged Andre from his thoughts.

That doesn’t sound good.
Andre exchanged a look with Rhyn, not wanting to humor the demon lord. He willed his half-brother not to ask.

“Just one new soul?” Rhyn asked.

Rhyn was always Rhyn. Andre listened, not eager to hear the exchange.

“The soul of a former deity.”

“Past-Death?”

“Yes.”

“Will fit in well with your Army of Souls.”

Darkyn didn’t reply, and Andre frowned. He’d known about the deal the two Deidres made from diving into the mind of past-Death a few days before. It was one thing to lose a deal with a demon.

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.”

“I have plans for Sasha’s soul, when I find it,” Darkyn replied. “I have plans for you, too, empath.”

Andre let the quiet threat slide over him. He had more important issues today. Whatever came tomorrow, he’d handle when it did. If anything, he was grateful that both demons seemed to be responding to his attempts to calm them down.

It gave him a chance to redirect their restless energy towards the people following them.

“Can either of you use your demon senses here?” he asked.

“Not fully,” Darkyn replied.

“Mostly no,” Rhyn echoed.

“Then I suggest you get ready to fight.” He stopped walking and closed his eyes, using his empath radar to pick up the emotions of everything around him. “There are five at least.”

“Where?” Rhyn drew his sword in response. “I can’t smell them.”

“That way. About twenty meters.” Andre pointed. “I’ll wait here.”

The two turned to face the direction he indicated.

“First one there gets the Toughest Demon Award,” Rhyn said and pushed the smaller Dark One out of his way.

“No half-breed can take what belongs to me,” Darkyn snapped.

Never should’ve mentioned the Toughest Demon Award.
Andre thought ruefully. He’d forgotten another trait of demons: they were territorial predators. Hopefully, they stayed focused on competing rather than defeating one another.

The demons melted into the forest, leaving behind a few waving bushes.

Andre waited until certain they were gone before facing the direction they’d been headed. “I know you’re there,” he said quietly into the forest.

Nothing but the natural sounds of the forest filled the air. Whatever stalked them didn’t seem … solid. It was more like an echo of a person, a reflection perhaps, conveying parts of someone without the depth he was accustomed to feeling from someone else’s presence.

“Whoever you are, I will not hurt you.” He tilted his head to listen and focus his senses. Whatever it was, it was slippery, rendering it hard for him to track consistently. “My name is Andre. If you can hear me, give me some kind of sign.”

The presence fled, but not before he caught a strange flash of blue-green light.

“That’s a sign, too,” he murmured, blue eyes taking in his surroundings.

Unable to explain the odd encounter, he oriented himself and began walking towards the palace. Time was running out. He was able to track the demons down if the forest decided not to lead them to him when they were done.

The ghostlike presence returned, fled, and came back once more to stalk him, each time accompanied by a spark of turquoise light. He didn’t address it this time, instead cueing in his gift to study it.

Occupied in isolating what it was, he didn’t heed his instincts until he was almost upon the ring of death dealers acting as scouts.

He froze, focused on his surroundings once more. He’d barely stopped in time and took a moment to assess them.

Chances were, he wasn’t going to slip by them, and he knew better than to take on fifty death dealers without the help of the demons.

Andre retreated a short distance and chose a place to meditate, settling onto a rock to await Rhyn and Darkyn.

The presence had vanished once more.

What are you, and what do you want from me?
He asked silently.

Deidre wished she’d been anywhere else, where she was able to enjoy the hot spring bath in the chamber adjacent to past-Death’s bedchamber. There were three round, deep, hot tub type baths, and steam rose from each. As it was, she bathed with such speed and worry, she dropped two bottles of oil into the springs before wrestling the third open and pouring soap into her palm.

If not for the blood caking her, she would’ve skipped a bath.

I’m glad I can’t remember.
She shuddered, breathing in the steam deeply. It calmed her, and the hot water soothed her achy body. Karma had healed her, though her muscles remained sore from the trauma of her body breaking and healing itself. Scrubbing blood off her, she dunked her head into the water quickly before climbing out and hurrying to the thick towels stacked in a wardrobe by the door.