"Don't bother, Gabriel."
The death dealer chuckled Rhyn stretched physically and metaphysically, testing the bounds of Hell. They were much older, much stronger than he. He sagged against the wall, exhausted.
"Are there any girls down here?"
Very little surprised him, but the death dealer's question did.
"Or…women, I guess," Gabriel clarified.
"You need a woman that bad?"
"No, no. Just thought I'd check."
Rhyn stared hard into Gabriel's dark corner and shook his head. He didn't know why the death dealer was distant this visit, and he didn't care. The only thing that concerned him now was killing Kris. And escaping.
Escape first then kill Kris.
"You wouldn't happen to have a key to my cell, would you?" he asked.
"I'm not allowed to break any more Immortal Codes," Gabriel said with some distaste. "Or I'll end up in the cell beside you."
"Better company than I have now."
"Not my thing."
"So you give me my power back but don't free me. This does shit for me here," Rhyn grumbled.
"I'm restricted by --"
"I know, Gabe."
The death dealer shifted but didn't leave, and Rhyn looked again at the corner.
"I need a favor."
Rhyn never expected to hear these words from the death dealer, who needed nothing from anyone.
"Whatever it is, I'll do it," he said without hesitation. "You've done more for me than anyone else."
"There's going to be someone you'll meet soon. I can't break Immortal Code to protect her."
"But I can," Rhyn finished. "Immortal? Demon? If you tell me it's one of my brothers, I --"
"Human."
"Human?"
"One of the immortals wrote a book about caring for humans," Gabriel said with some reticence.
Rhyn heard him place the book on the ground beside him.
"You could've asked me for anything in the universe, and you ask me to babysit a human."
He reached for the book, convinced Gabriel had finally gone crazy after all his years serving Death. The book was an immortal's, clasped in a flexible leather-like cover with thin, transparent pages. He was distracted by the feel of both after so long with nothing but stone walls beneath his fingertips.
"Where is this human?" he asked. "How do I find it when I'm stuck here?"
"I haven't figured that out yet," Gabriel admitted. "I'll let you know."