"First, do you have weapons up here?"
She started to answer then stopped and looked around. She didn't - but Gabriel had kept a small arsenal in a wardrobe. "Actually, there might be. Gabe kept some of that ungodly shit there." She pointed then started to make her way towards the wardrobe.
In her path, Jared appeared to be transfixed on something. He didn't move when she approached or respond to her answer. Impatiently, she drew abreast of him and pushed at him, not wanting to venture from the narrow path through the rubble and debris that remained of her trip.
He wasn't moving.
Past-Death climbed over a few chunks of petrified wood to pass him before she, too, stopped to stare at what had his attention.
From this angle, she was able to see the bodies in the bathing chamber and how the hot springs now bubbled red. It wasn't the bloodied corpse closest to the door that caught her attention but the collection of skeletons littering the bathing chamber and even her bedchamber, near the door.
Puzzled, she walked over to the skeleton in front of the entrance and knelt beside it. The man had been reduced to bone and clothing. "I should know what did this," she said, mentally battering at the blockade in her mind that kept her memories from her. "But it's been more than twenty six years ago. I'm not surprised, though, demon."
"What?"
She twisted, glaring at Jared. "What is wrong with you? Help me figure out what this is or go get weapons or something."
He was smiling. "You don't see it."
"The bones?"
"No." He indicated the bathing chamber by tilting his chin towards it. "You know what tears out a man's throat like that?"
She rose and moved to get a better look. One of the death dealers had his throat ripped out, and the deep scratches on his face and arms were visible. "Ugh. Looks like the work of one of you sick demons."
"Only two demons in the palace," he said, satisfied.
"You and …who?"
"Deidre."
"Oh, no. She's way too …" Past-Death patted the air, seeking the right word. "Soft. I'd believe me capable of that before I'd consider her."
Jared strode forward, pausing by the wardrobe containing clothing. He fished something off the ground and lifted it.
Past-Death frowned. It was Deidre's Hell dress.
"She's a demon, the mate of the Dark One. I think she's learning her power," Jared said, far too satisfied by the discovery for past-Death's comfort. "Surprised?"
It was hard to deny the idea, especially with Deidre's dress in her bedchamber. Past-Death was pensive for a moment, unable to shake the sense of guilt in her. Her actions had turned Deidre into a demon. Was there any part of the sweet, innocent human that would survive Hell?