Rhyn's Redemption Read online

  “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.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kris and Kiki both looked towards the sky when the thunder began. They’d both given their jackets to Hannah, whose step was growing slower the farther they went into the jungle. Kiki muttered but didn’t openly bitch, probably knowing Kris had no patience for anyone insulting his mate.

  “How far was the place you saw?” Kris addressed Kiki with a worried look towards Hannah.

  “It didn’t seem far. I would’ve thought we’d be there by now.”

  “Can you check again?”

  Kiki gave him a fiery look but moved to the nearest tree. Kris watched him scale the large tree and disappear beyond the canopy of leaves.

  “I hope it’s close,” Hannah said. She sagged against a tree.

  Kris sat beside her. Hannah’s skin had gone from pale to gray, and her features looked gaunt. He couldn’t help thinking Katie wouldn’t survive a week down here if Hannah was suffering so badly after a day. He touched Hannah’s hair, revolted when a handful came off in his hand.

  Hannah looked down at it then at him. Her blue eyes had turned dark, and Kris shook the hair off his hands. He tried to smile reassuringly.

  “It’s just the underworld. When we’re home, it’ll grow back
. Don’t worry, love.”

  She didn’t look convinced. Kris moved away her, his anxiety and concern growing. They’d come there to rescue one human and might just lose two. He paced and gazed up the tree, unable to see Kiki. He heard Hannah stir and glanced towards her. She rose from her seat.

  “Kris, I think I – “ She was cut off by a shout.

  Kris looked up in time to see Kiki crash through the canopy and plummet towards the ground. Kris gasped and sprung forward. A streak of black crossed his vision as a flying demon snatched Kiki out of the air.

  “Kiki!” he bellowed. Instinctively, he reached for his power, only to find it bound by the magic of the underworld. He was as helpless as a stupid human. “Hannah, wait here. I’ll – “

  Hannah was gone. Kris spun in time to see her disappear around a large tree, deeper into the jungle. Kris looked between the two before taking off after Hannah.

  “Hannah!” he shouted. “Hannah, stop! We’ll leave here together – don’t worry about your body!”

  “Kris!” Kiki’s yell was pain-filled.

  Kris stopped, torn.

  Duty before all else. It had been Andre’s mantra, and Kris had always done what he thought Andre would’ve wanted. He’d lost Lilith when Rhyn killed her and their son. He’d given up Jade, the man who held his soul, to take Katie as a mate, only to have Rhyn interfere again. Paralyzed by indecision, Kris struggled to determine which Andre would’ve wanted him to do: save his brother or his mate. Of the two, Hannah was weaker, but Kiki was his brother.

  “I can’t lose her,” he said, sweating with fear. Kris started forward again, pursuing Hannah. He ran as fast as he could through the unfriendly forest, cursing Death for stripping his power.

  Hannah’s blond hair flashed through the trees. As fast as Kris ran, he couldn’t catch her. He grew more baffled when she seemed to pull ahead of him without any sign of the exhaustion she’d showed when they stopped. Desperation could motivate, and so could fear for her sister. He pushed himself harder to catch her.

  Thunder boomed overhead. Forms he assumed were demons swooped above the canopy, casting shadows. He caught glimpses of fur and wings through leaves and ran until his chest was heaving. Hannah remained ahead of him, though he realized he was beginning to gain on her. He had to reach her before the demons did and swept her away, as they had Kiki.

  Suddenly, Hannah stopped. Kris barreled towards her. He glimpsed movement before he burst into the small clearing. It wasn’t until he leapt over the final hurdle – a massive fallen tree – did he see what stopped her. One moment she stood with her back to him. The next, she was on the ground, Rhyn’s dagger dripping with blood.

  A similar scene flashed before Kris. One from long ago, when another blond woman had fallen to the devil that was his brother.

  “No!” His scream was inhuman even to his ears.

  Rhyn looked up, and Kris charged him. He knocked Rhyn to the ground, wrestling the dagger free, and lashed out. Instinct and fury blinded him. He felt the dagger sink into flesh and struck again, only to find himself flying backwards through the air. Rhyn shouted something at him, but Kris couldn’t hear him, not with the memory of both Lilith and Hannah dying.

  “I should’ve done this years ago!” he shouted at the half-demon. “You never should’ve been born, Rhyn! You should’ve been strangled the moment you hatched!”

  “What the fuck, Kris! It’s not – “

  Kris launched at him again. Rhyn spun and flung him away again. Kris charged, and they toppled to the ground. Pain filtered through his frenzy, but he refused to stop, channeling all his fury towards the creature that earned it the day it was born.

  Magic shot through him, burning like fire. Kris gasped. Another blast, and he fell to the ground. His body roiled with the demon magic, convulsing until the blow faded. He felt himself hauled up by his neck and thrust onto the ground again. His vision blurry, Kris could only see Hannah’s beautiful blond hair. Sorrow replaced anger, and he reached out, touching the soft wheat curls.

  He’d lost them all. Lilith, Jade, Hannah. Even Andre. He’d not only failed every Immortal that ever lived, he’d failed the only people he’d ever cared for. He lay on the ground, gasping as he tangled his fingers in Hannah’s hair.

  Rhyn snatched him again and shoved Hannah onto her back. Fury built in Kris again at the disregard for his mate, until he saw her face.

  He stared. It was not Hannah lying beside him but a demon with blond hair. Kris pulled his legs beneath him to sit, and Rhyn released him.

  “As I was trying to tell you, it’s not Hannah,” Rhyn said and kicked the dead demon. “Hannah’s alive. I’ve seen her.”

  “What the fuck is this?” Kris managed at last.

  “Shapeshifter demons. Darkyn replaced Hannah and Gabe with them,” Rhyn said and squatted. “You’re welcome, you fucking idiot.”

  Kris looked at him, anger building. The muscular half-demon was bleeding from a wound in his chest. His dark eyes glowed like a demon’s, though his face was still that of an Immortal.

  “I think you helped me,” Rhyn said. “I couldn’t get to my demon powers until you almost killed me.”

  “Rhyn … “ Kris said, gaze on the nasty wound.

  “I only need to live ‘til the end of the day,” Rhyn said with an unconcerned glance on the wound. “You came instead of sending someone to stop me?”

  It took Kris a moment to regain himself. “We came. Hannah, Kiki and me.”

  “Where’s Kiki?”

  “Demons grabbed him.” Another thought struck Kris. He couldn’t tell Rhyn he’d chosen to save Hannah instead of Kiki, only to discover a shapeshifter demon in Hannah’s place.

  Rhyn’s jaw clenched, and he looked up at the sky. He stood and hauled Kris to his feet, indicating the forest.

  “You said Hannah is safe?” Kris asked.

  “Relatively safe.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “She’s in Hell.”

  “What?”

  “She’s with Ully and Toby. They’re fine.”

  “How do you incorporate Hell and fine in the same sentence?” Kris demanded.

  “With all your ruckus, you’ve probably drawn the attention of the demons. We need to move.”

  “Rhyn,” Kris grabbed his arm. “You got us into this mess. We’re leaving, before anyone else gets hurt.”

  “Do whatever you want, Kris,” Rhyn replied, yanking his arm away. “But I’m not leaving without Katie and Kiki.”

  “We can do more good by engaging Death from some place other than where she has absolute power. She has no reason to negotiate with us.”

  “Or, we can do things my way for once.”

  Kris watched him stalk away, unable to shake a sense of guilt. If he’d gone after Kiki, he wouldn’t have put his half-brother at even greater risk. His judgment had failed him. As he stood alone in the jungle, Kris couldn’t help feeling as though he’d failed some test, one Rhyn wouldn’t fail.

  “Wait, Rhyn. I’m coming with you,” he said and trotted after the half-demon. “Do you have a plan?”

  “What is it with you and Kiki and your plans?” Rhyn growled.

  “We know you’re the brawn, not the brains.”

  “Apparently, you’re neither.”

  “You are totally justified saying that. I almost killed you.”

  “No, Kris, you deserved that for letting our brother get taken by demons.”

  Kris slowed, hearing Andre’s message in Rhyn’s voice.

  “What do you care, demon?” he snapped. “You spent your life in Hell after fucking up mine. And now, you’re going to do the stupidest thing any Immortal has ever done, and condemn everyone.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe this will work.”

  “Negotiating with Death? Even Andre couldn’t manage that.”

  “Have you met her?”

  “Of course,” Kris said. “Before we left, she talked to me about some dream I didn’t have then started to talk about
philosophy.”

  “Sounds about right. Everyone’s got a weakness that can be leveraged, Kris.”

  “What is hers?”

  “I’m still working on that, but I think it’s Gabe.”

  “Dammit, Rhyn, I’m serious. What if you bring down both worlds just by forcing us all to come here?”

  “You chose to be here, Kris,” Rhyn said. “You chose to leave Kiki. You chose to let Jade go and turn a blind eye to him being a traitor. You chose not to see Hannah was a shapeshifter.”

  “I put my duty first.” Even as he said the words, Kris couldn’t ignore the part of him that pointed out where he’d failed. “I can’t say your choices have been any better.”

  “We both tried and fucked up. At least I have the backbone to admit it.”

  Kris said nothing. Rhyn’s assurances that Hannah was safe in Hell didn’t sit well with him. Kris followed the half-demon without knowing where they might be headed, instead thinking of just how bad of a situation he’d left Kiki in.

  Death was right. Kris didn’t have what it took to keep the Council together. He may have just lost one of his brothers, because he lost focus of what he should’ve done. Maybe he should’ve known Jade was a traitor or Hannah was a demon. He hadn’t known of Andre’s danger or been able to bring the Council together to fight the demons that threatened them all. He hadn’t been able to keep Hannah safe or Toby or Katie.

  His eyes went to Rhyn’s back as his half-brother hacked through a few branches in their way. The sense that the exiled half-demon could do what he couldn’t returned. Kris touched his collarbone, the one Jade had broken. If not for Rhyn, Jade might’ve killed him a few days ago.

  He didn’t believe Rhyn would’ve made the right decisions all along, but he couldn’t deny that the half-demon wasn’t the creature he remembered Andre sending to Hell.

  None of it mattered now, however. Kris had responsibilities, and he had to find a way to fulfill them the best he could.

  Rhyn stopped and knelt, placing his hands to the ground. Kris crossed his arms. A blast of energized air swept over him. Rhyn sat back.