The Underworld (Rhyn Eternal) by Lizzy Ford Read Free Book Online

Darkyn replaced his daggers and paced. Rhyn trotted towards them.
    “Good news and bad news,” the half-demon said cheerfully. “Good news: we’ve got allies here. Not many, but they might help.”
    “Good,” Gabriel said, pleased to know he had some loyal dealers left. “Bad news?”
    “There are about three hundred dealers in the palace.” Rhyn swatted at a branch that got too close. “More in the barracks and scattered in the forest.”
    “I’m ready.” Darkyn started towards the trees.
    Gabriel shared a glance with Rhyn. “Darkyn, we need a better plan than taking on three hundred trained death dealers.”
    The Dark One ignored him. The trees separated for him, creating a path in the direction of the palace.
    “Guess we’re doing this the demon way,” Rhyn said with a wink. “We got this, Gabe. Easy.”
    Gabriel said nothing, unable to shake the sense he needed to figure out something more about the Lake, like how to help it. He was missing the key to unlocking his power. Was it here?
    “We need to return here once we’ve got things under control,” he said, walking with Rhyn towards the path.
    “Darkyn’s not gonna last too much longer without going crazy,” Rhyn said softly, eyes on the demon ahead of them.
    “I know.” Gabriel’s hands twitched with the instinct to grab his sword. “He’ll probably explode and take everyone with him.”
    “That’d be my guess.”
    “We’ll be ready. As long as his mate is –” Gabriel smashed into a sudden wall of foliage and stopped, staring up at it.
    “What the fuck?” Rhyn asked from the other side. “You there?”
    Gabriel cursed and wiped his face. “Go with Darkyn,” he snapped. “Apparently, the Lake has some business with me.”
    “Hmmm.”
    Gabriel didn’t need to see his best friend’s face to know Rhyn was likely plotting a few different ways to take out Darkyn. The two had a brittle relationship, mainly because Darkyn had tried for months to kidnap Rhyn’s mate and steal their unborn daughter.
    “Play nice,” Gabriel called. “For my sake. When this is over, you can go back to trying to kill each other.”
    “All right.” Rhyn didn’t sound pleased. “Find us when the trees let you.”
    Gabriel glared at the foliage. The sounds of Rhyn moving away faded, and Gabriel retreated back to the lake, furious.
    “Tell me what the fuck you want,” he ordered the Lake. “You know we don’t have time for this shit!”
    The moment the words escaped, he recalled what Darkyn had said.
    There were days when he wanted to talk to past-Death like this, but he never would. He didn’t quite feel calm enough to take a gentler approach.
    Gabriel tried to leave by a different direction only for the wall to pop up again.
    Reining in his anger, he went back to the Lake and sat beside it. It took a few minutes for his frustration to subside, and he shook his shoulders free.
    “I’m here and I’m listening,” he said with difficulty. “Right now, my friends are in danger. I need you to talk to me. Somehow.”
    He waited.
    The Lake said nothing.
    Gabriel sat back against a boulder. Every part of his being screamed at him to leave, to help Rhyn and his mate and Deidre.
    But he stayed. Darkyn’s wise words circulated through his emotions, assuring him that his domain was trying to work with him, not make his life worse. The underworld wanted to show him something, and he was going to figure out what.
    Hopefully without losing those I care about.
     

     
    “There’s over a ninety nine percent chance that you’ll need a succession plan before this is over.”
    Darkyn ignored the deity Fate, intent on getting as close as possible to the palace to assess what it’d take to conquer Harmony’s forces. He had nothing but cold dispassion for the living forest and its lost master. With a healthy respect for Gabriel as Death’s top assassin, Darkyn was waiting for the newly turned god to realize his power and end the disorder of his domain.
    A