Landon was right. Morale was low, and many had lost faith in Gabriel. He wasn't certain how to prove to them he was their leader, aside from doing his job. In the meantime, killing dealers he used to consider colleagues or allies weighed heavily on his emotions at a time when he needed to think clearly.
Eight traitors in the week he'd been shut out of the underworld. If what Tymkyn learned was true, the underworld itself was at war.
He had to get back soon.
"Find Andre," he said to Landon. "Send him my way."
"Got it."
Gabriel summoned a portal and returned to Deidre's room. She was seated on the bed, folding and stacking the clothes he'd packed for her. He watched her for a minute. Without the senses of a deity, she was unaware of him. Her concentration was on the clothes, and he tried not to smile as she spent a minute petting a sweater.
He hadn't thought about how different the world would be for her. Human-Deidre was enamored by the world; it was one of the traits that drew him. She found beauty in everything. This Deidre shared that trait. She was just as entranced, just as easily pleased by the world.
He liked that. No, he loved that. The goddess never appreciated anything around her, or anyone. To appreciate, one had to feel, and those born deities were somehow numbed to the world. He needed the reminder of the good in the world, because he saw none of it from the shadows where he spent his life. The human-Deidre was able to do that. If their souls were smashed together as Deidre said, he was glad this part of the human remained.
"Deidre, I need to ask you a couple of questions," he said.
She jumped and faced him. The raised eyebrow expressed her disapproval of his sudden appearance in a way that made him want to touch her and remind her that he did what he wanted now.
He moved to sit on the trunk at the end of the bed, close enough to see the details of her features without being too tempted to take her in his arms.
"Long story short, there's a rebellion brewing in the underworld. My expulsion hasn't gone over well," he said. "The dealers stuck below are flipping out. They're tearing apart our home, trying to find something they think can remove me from my position."
Her mouth was agape again, as it had been when he told her he was expelled. She shook her head, clamped her mouth shut then opened it to speak. Gabriel held up his hand.