“There are factors at play I cannot share with you,” Death said. “You would risk destroying this world and every human in it?”
Rhyn smiled.
“Of course. You’re a half-demon. It is not in your nature to care for anything beyond you,” she said, frown deepening.
“You took everything I cared about,” he growled. “If I can destroy everything to spite you, I will.”
“I am not your enemy!”
“I don’t care.” His anger growing at the petite woman who’d taken Andre, Katie and Gabe from him, Rhyn stalked towards the door.
“Then I will grant you a favor.”
He stopped at her words, surprised.
“One favor from a deity of unimaginable power,” she said. “In exchange for four days.”
“Katie,” he said instantly.
“Done,” she replied just as fast.
Rhyn turned to face her. “Alive, not her body or pieces of her or anything twisted.”
“She will be as she was before she walked into the ocean.”
Speechless, Rhyn’s heart flip-flopped at the prospect of seeing his mate again.
“Do we have a deal?” Death asked.
“Yes,” he forced himself to say. “But if you trick me, if the fourth day comes and Katie isn’t alive, I’ll wipe out everything and hunt you down.”
“Agreed.”
Part of him rejoiced while another part of him thought the boon was too easily won from the creature before him. There had to be a catch. Death wouldn’t agree to anything so easily. He found himself wishing for the advice of Andre or Kris, men smart where he was brash. She said nothing else and Rhyn turned away, striding out of the chamber.
Sensing demons in the upcoming halls, he replaced his hood and stepped from the stairwell leading to the basement into the hall on the main floor. Half a dozen demons paced the corridor, three dressed as scouts like he was. Rhyn made his way through his half-brethren, once again getting an idea of how many were there. He wasn’t about to believe Death until he saw Katie for himself. A minute after midnight on the fourth day, if Katie wasn’t standing beside him, he’d need the knowledge of where to set off the atomic bomb within him.
He ascended two floors to the hallway where Kris’s supplies had been stocked. He recalled how hard it could be taking care of a helpless creature like Katie or Toby. He strode to the chamber that had served as a department store full of clothing to Kris’s Immortals. Not surprised to find the chamber ransacked, he sifted through the remaining clothing on the floor. He guessed Toby’s size and stuffed a bag with a few items before going to the food supplies. Demons didn’t eat human food, and the storage area was virtually untouched. Rhyn grabbed several cans and packages of foodstuffs then left.