Rhyn's Redemption (Book III, Rhyn Trilogy)

Chapter Nine

Kris glanced up, expecting Kiki to enter his tent; however, it was one of his Immortal messengers who approached. The messenger held out a small thumb drive with what Kris hoped contained a report identifying the two shapeshifter demons.  He left, and Kris plugged the thumb drive into his small PDA.  A single file was on the drive, and he opened it.

It was blank. Puzzled, he pulled the drive free of his PDA and reinserted it.  The single file within was still empty.  Kris tossed it on a table.

“You’re a difficult creature to find.”

He lowered the PDA at the voice. The temperature of his tent seemed to drop by ten degrees. Rather than feel privileged by her visit, he felt his sense of foreboding grew stronger. The petite woman who materialized out of the shadows wasn’t what he expected.  Her flawless features were unremarkable, her large eyes turning colors faster than his. She wore white and smiled, more like a nursemaid than the woman whose job was to collect souls.

“It’s a pleasure, my lady,” he said, at once thrilled and uneasy that she’d finally acknowledged the leader of the Council That Was Seven.

“You’re getting ready to raid my underworld,” Death said, her glance falling to the rucksack beside his feet.

“Raid is a bit of an overstatement.”

“Trespass?”

He wasn’t sure what to say.  Andre had never spoken well of Death, but the woman in his tent seemed harmless. It was enough that she came to see him.

“It’s not a good idea,” she chided him. “Though lately, I’m surrounded by fools with bad ideas.”

“Is that why you’re here?” he asked. “To talk about my potential trespass?”

“As troubling as I find the latest trend of people entering my domain uninvited, I feel able to handle it. What I came to discuss with you was a dream you had.”

Kris drew a sharp breath, unaware that the deity could enter his dreams.

“The one where you died,” she added.

“I haven’t had that dream,” he said.

“Maybe you don’t remember it.”

“I would remember a dream where I died.”

“Humor me, Kris. Let’s pretend you had a dream where you died,” Death said. “It was a noble death for a good cause.”

The eerily familiar words – the same he’d spoken to Rhyn before sending him on the suicide mission – sapped Kris’s enthusiasm at Death’s visit.

“You will go down as legend among your people,” she continued. “That would please you, wouldn’t it?  Your legacy has been of concern to you.”

“No one wants a bad one,” he said carefully. “My reputation is important.”

“Which is why you hope to keep the Council together.”

“I hope to keep the Council together because it will do the most good.”

“Of course. It has nothing to do with living in Andre’s shadow your whole life and now having the chance to prove yourself,” she said with a faint smile. “Only you can’t do what Andre did, what Rhyn can do.”

“I’ve done it so far.” He bristled at the mention of Rhyn in the same sentence as Andre.  One half-brother had been noble, courageous, honorable, willing to sacrifice himself for their cause.  Rhyn was the opposite.

“Andre has only been dead-dead for what? A few weeks? And the Council has broken up at least once.”

“What are you saying?” Kris crossed his arms, looking hard at the deity.