"I think that's my job now."
"Oh, no. I'll always take care of you," she replied archly.
He'd spent his life feeling the emotion that was displayed on her face. She wasn't the woman he fell in love with. She was becoming the woman he'd wished she'd been.
"But yours wasn't here," she added and returned her attention to the souls.
"Harmony has it."
"No." At the odd note in her voice, he waited. "I almost think … Deidre has it. I told her where it was, and she was taken away." She drifted off. "They returned her to the dungeon, to the cells at the back, and she escaped with … someone. I didn't see her again after she left our cell to ask her about your soul."
"If you didn't see her, how do you know this?" he asked.
She hesitated. "It's hard to explain. I was able to dreamwalk. No one could see me, but I could go anywhere and even get the keys to our cell."
"You were always good at being a ghost in your realm and spying on your dealers. Maybe you retained the ability."
"I was spying on you to make sure there was no one else."
"That's not creepy," he replied wryly. "There never was. Only you."
She ducked her head to hide a smile, face growing pink. "I know."
"About Deidre …" he started and then stopped.
She tensed. "They did something horrible to her, before she escaped."
"Horrible?"
"There was blood everywhere."
Gabriel's stomach filled with the weight of dread, but he didn't let himself dwell long on it. If he hadn't restricted the Dark One's magic in the underworld, there would be no underworld left when Darkyn found out.
"She's okay?" he asked.
"She seemed to be."
"Darkyn won't flip out then."
Past-Death stared at him. "I can't believe you brought that thing into my underworld."
"My underworld," he corrected. "He wouldn't let me access the portal through Hell otherwise."
"I hope you have a plan with how to deal with him!"
"I do. Trust me."
It took longer for her to say the words this time. "Okay. I do."
Maybe she's serious. "You said she escaped with someone from the dungeon? Fate went down to look for other occupants. Any idea who he wants to find?"
Past-Death shook her head. "I can't recall. There were two. One is dead, the other a female deity I felt the need to lock up for some reason. I hope Fate finds her and gets his ass kicked."
"And you don't know where Deidre is?"
"No. The demon wanted to find her, too, but we don't know where to start looking here."