Free Rhyn's Redemption by Lizzy Ford

turned to face shelves of antique books.
    Toby.  The angel needed him. Rhyn focused hard on the demon lord then on putting one foot, then the other, beneath his shaking body. He rose despite his whirling equilibrium.
    “So I made it,” he said. “You have to let Toby go.”
    “I said I’d let him live, not let him go.”
    “Fucking Kiki.” Rhyn grabbed the arm where his brother had shot him. It throbbed still. “What do you want, Darkyn?”
    “I happened to overhear your little talk with Death in the sacred chamber.”
    Rhyn eyed him.
    “I know you spent most of your life in the same place I did, Hell. Which makes me think you don’t know that what she promised you cannot be.”
    “She swore it.”
    “And you trust her?” the demon-lord challenged.
    Rhyn said nothing, aware the creature before him couldn’t be trusted anymore than Death.
    “If Death frees a mortal from the underworld, she violates a code even older than she is. I don’t know what the consequences will be,” Darkyn explained. “But I know her well enough to know she won’t make a deal that breaks bad for her.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “She set you up.  She bought herself the time she needed. She won’t need to break the Immortal Codes and return your mate to you, because in the next three days, you’ll be out of her hair.”
    “She’s counting on you to wipe me out,” Rhyn said, his stomach sinking.  He’d suspected Death’s promise was made too easily, but it had seemed too clear to be anything but what she’d said. Yet Darkyn’s words made too much sense.  Gabe had told Rhyn enough about Death’s double-talk for him to know the deity always seemed to shape things to benefit her.
    “I imagine she has a few options.  Kris isn’t your biggest fan, either.  You have fewer allies than I, half-breed.”
    “All I want is Katie back,” Rhyn said.
    “Go get her.”
    “As if it’s that easy.”
    “Why isn’t it?  You’ve been to Hell.  You can go to the underworld.  You can find Death and force her to give you what you want,” Darkyn said. “You have the power.”
    “Power I can’t control.”
    “You’re on your feet right now and the walls are still standing.”
    Rhyn glanced around, not noticing his head had cleared and his magic was contained until Darkyn pointed it out.  Anger at Death – not power – made his blood boil. 
    “You are half-demon. Death can only contain your Immortal powers in her domain, just like I can only contain your demon powers in Hell.”
    “What do you gain by having me go to the underworld?” Rhyn asked, ignoring the bait.
    “How much do you want your mate back?” Darkyn countered. “There’s only one way to do it. You can stay here as my prisoner until Death gets what she wants and one of us kills you. Or, you can find her and make her give you back your mate. Only Death knows where Katie’s soul is. Make a choice.”
    “Obviously, I’ll find my mate.”
    “Good. Then go.”
    “Just like that?” Rhyn asked skeptically.
    “Just like that.”
    “I’m taking Kiki.”
    “I won’t stop you.”
    Rhyn couldn’t help feeling as if Darkyn was playing him as Death had. Yet Darkyn asked for nothing in exchange for freeing him.
    Save Toby. The words were faint but firm in the same tone Katie had taken with him in the dreamland. Rhyn ignored them, instead fixating on how to track Death in the underworld.  He stumbled with his first step but was soon running hard through the castle, his mind on finding Death to regain Katie. He found himself outside the door where Kiki was being kept prisoner. For the first time since leaving Darkyn, Rhyn realized no one had tried to stop him yet.  No demons stood in front of Kiki’s door and Darkyn hadn’t ordered the castle after him.
    Darkyn was serious about letting them go.  Wrenching open the door, Rhyn strode into the chamber. Kiki sprang up from his seat in the corner.
    “Toby’s in Hell. You need to go save him,” Rhyn