"Who the fuck is this?" Rhyn's question jarred her out of the intimate moment.
Deidre twisted without leaving Darkyn's arms.
Rhyn's sword was pointed at a shivering body in the hollow of a tree. The half-demon was bristling, his chest heaving from fighting while his liquid silver eyes glowed. He nudged Karma with his foot.
"Don't, Rhyn! She's a friend!" Deidre exclaimed. "She helped me escape the dungeon."
Rhyn bent down and gripped Karma's arm, pulling her to her feet.
Deidre's mouth dropped open, and her gaze flew to the goddess.
Both Karma and Rhyn had gone completely still.
"Oh, no!" she breathed, tugging at the hold Darkyn had on her.
"Let it run its course, love," he whispered, tightening his grip.
She rested back against him, praying Karma remembered she wasn't supposed to kill anyone who helped them escape.
Karma moved, and Rhyn stepped away, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"Oh, thank god!" Deidre exclaimed.
Karma was eyeing Rhyn, her hair in long, loose curls, her eyes black. Before Deidre could warn the dazed half-demon, Karma drew back and punched him in the nose.
"Careful, little girl," Rhyn snarled, grabbing her arm. "I'll break you in half."
"You had that coming," she growled in return.
"Okay, let's just … calm down," Deidre said. She moved away from Darkyn and paused beside the deity. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Rhyn is almost balanced. The Great Imbalance …" Karma whispered. Her hair darkened and darted around her head like snakes around her head, while blackness had swallowed her eyes.
"Are you hurt?"
"Minor."
"Take my hand. I can help you, can't I ?"
Karma hesitated then stretched out to her. With some embarrassment, Deidre realized her own hand was covered in blood. She wiped it on her pants then took Karma's hand and tugged her out of Rhyn's grip.
The deity ceased shivering.
"Your allies always amuse me, love," Darkyn said. "I had begun to wonder where Karma went."
"Karma?" Rhyn repeated and stepped back. "Not just a scary story Immortals tell their kids to make them behave?"
"She's not a scary story," Deidre replied and pulled the woman into her arms.
Almost immediately, Karma's hair tightened into ringlets again.
Deidre met Darkyn's gaze and was unable to look away from the demon that traveled to the underworld to save her. Her body churned with both desire and hunger, his blood calling to her in a way that made her want to leave everything and melt into him for good.
"Cute claws," Rhyn said, assessing her. "Can you use them?"
"She did." Darkyn nodded his head to the side to indicate the dead.