Wynn waited for Gabriel to appear after the summons before rising from his desk and circling it. His study was his safe place, a library he’d curated over thousands of years. It held more secrets encoded between the pages of books than any Immortal or deity could possibly know.
Secrets like the one Gabriel was trying hard to hide. A collector of information, Wynn had the ability to read the secrets and fears of others and regularly used them to manipulate. With deities, it was harder, but he had learned how to do it, which was one of his keys of staying in power. Everyone had something to hide.
Except for Karma, he thought. He didn’t have to read hers; she kept none. She was exactly who and what she said and seemed to be. The idea anyone could be that true to themselves fascinated Wynn.
“You want to trade your final favor?” Gabriel asked, standing in the center of the study.
Wynn refocused. “I have a question.” He hadn’t thought to peer into Death’s mind when he visited the other night, and had been too occupied with Karma to search Gabriel’s mind the day before.
But Wynn looked now and smiled.
Death waited.
“Fate’s in the Underworld, isn’t he?” Wynn asked. “You don’t want any other deity, such as the Dark One, to know.”
Gabriel’s jaw clenched.
“It would explain why you showed up to stop Karma from murdering more deities,” Wynn said. “As well as the reason behind why you came to me rather than sending a death dealer. At first, I thought it was personal, but it made more sense that your actions were on behalf of someone else.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I already know the truth, Gabriel.”
Gabriel wiped his mouth.
“I can’t imagine how that happened, though I suspect it has something to do with the sudden disappearance of Chaos.”
“That’s Darkyn’s business, not mine.”
Wynn didn’t need the confirmation. Chaos wasn’t going to let her daughter’s mate rot in Hell. The goddess had had a mate of her own long ago who had been murdered by none other than Fate’s father. Wynn assumed Darkyn extorted as many favors as possible out of deities who wanted revenge against Fate then traded his life for that of Chaos.
It was a terrible, terrible move on her part, one Wynn would’ve advised against vehemently and then ensured never happened. It was too late to dwell on the approach he would’ve taken. As it was, his daughter’s mother was in Hell and her mate was in the Underworld.
“Why haven’t you told Karma?” he asked Gabriel.
“Because everyone is better off not knowing, especially someone as crazy as she is. He’s had over ten hits out on him, including yours. Karma murdered one of those with a contract on him. While I wait for his successor to step up, I must try to dissuade the other deities from lifting theirs. It’s a fucking full-time job. The moment Fate sets foot outside the Underworld, he’s toast. I don’t want to see Rhyn’s sister hurt, and I owe Fate for helping me not break the universe when I ascended to my position.”
“I appreciate your consideration.” Wynn crossed his arms, absorbing the information, as well as making a note of Gabriel’s weakness for the Immortals he cared about. “You know Karma and Stephanie both are plotting how to get back into Hell.”
“I can’t do anything about it for now. If word gets out I’m harboring the most wanted deity in existence, we’re all fucked.”
Wynn loved secrets, and this one was juicy. But using it recklessly could hurt two people he didn’t want to.
“Speaking of contracts, are you willing to call yours off?” Gabriel asked, sharp eyes on Wynn’s face.
Wynn had arranged to send Fate to Hell out of revenge for his murder but also because he didn’t want his only daughter involved with such a manipulative, dangerous, selfish being. After Wynn’s second night with his mate, however, he was beginning to understand how much more pain Stephanie was in without her mate than she was likely to experience with him.
Fucking Karma was becoming an addiction, not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Already Wynn felt like he was in withdrawal. He didn’t even need to fuck her; just smelling her would be like a waterfall in a desert. Although he would never trust Fate, and they’d likely always remain enemies, he began to believe he could trust the shady deity to care for his daughter.
His goal had never been to kill Fate out of respect for the three bonds. Wynn had wanted Fate to stay away – or to extort a favor from the god.
In that moment, he could think of one thing more important than a favor.
“You don’t do refunds, I imagine,” he said slowly. “I’ll cancel it, if you let Stephanie visit him.”
Death was quiet, surprised.
“One night,” Wynn clarified. A night would never be enough. It was more important Stephanie had some small sliver of hope – and stayed out of Hell, where Wynn couldn’t help her. “She’s not human. There aren’t as many complications or rules being broken, if you allow her temporarily into the Underworld.”
“She has no soul,” Gabriel replied.
“It’s your decision,” Wynn stated.
Gabriel snorted, amused. “Everyone but my mate knows that.” He paused, thoughtful. As the deity Death, he inherited most of the knowledge passed down from deity to deity who ruled the Underworld. “The rules are a bit hazy about this one. I’ll chance it. In exchange, you’ll keep my secret.”
“I will,” Wynn said. “But not for long. Karma deserves to know where her brother is, before she does something incredibly foolish.”
“You handled her well yesterday.”
“Even I have my limits. I have no misconceptions about her potential to wind up in a mess I can’t get her out of.”
“The mighty, infallible Wynn has limits,” Gabriel said. “Learn something new every day.”
“Stephanie’s in her chamber. Tell her guardians there’s a new threat and to meet me in the war chamber. I’ll distract them.”
Gabriel summoned a portal and then paused. “When you stop fighting it, you’ll find there are no limits. You’ll both work together.”
As if suspecting Wynn wouldn’t know how to take the friendly advice, Gabriel strode into the portal.
Wynn remained where he was, considering the assurance without believing it. He’d experienced Karma’s power first hand and knew her impulsive nature. She was his opposite, and he doubted they’d ever see eye to eye when it came to some things.
Except when he realized he couldn’t get her out of his mind let alone hope to live without her. He didn’t yet know the extent of what accepting his place at her side would mean for either of them, or his plan, but he understood the two of them needed to talk. They weren’t in the same library and needed to be on the same page.
Wynn turned his attention to his diaries, the volumes of secrets he’d recorded through two lifetimes. Some deities had only one or two weaknesses, deep fears or trinkets of knowledge they didn’t want known. Others had a full volume. He’d meticulously recorded everything his ability allowed him to learn.
The volume he sought wasn’t present. Leaving his study, he walked through the castle and down to the catacombs. He continued past the chamber where he’d been enshrined, the dungeon and to the oldest part of the castle perched over the original breach between the human world and Hell.
As always, he touched the walls. The castle’s cool, healing magic fused with his own and relaxed him from the inside out. It was far weaker than it had ever been but remained strong enough to keep demons out as well as prevent his sons from portaling out of the catacombs. Reminiscing about his old power left Wynn rejuvenated and reignited the memories of what it had been like when he was the most ruthless and powerful of the Immortals.
That day had passed, he knew, but he retained enough power this time around – and all the secrets and influence – he’d built up over his first life. Along with his sharp mind, it was enough to sustain his place at the top of the pyramid.
His hand dropped, and he continued. Two guards stood outside the office he’d created to cage an Immortal or deity.
“She came by twice, like you said,” one of the guards reported. “She wouldn’t enter the office.”
Wynn nodded once to show he’d heard. He’d expected Karma to have learned the lesson about setting foot in the cage he’d trapped her in before.
He motioned for the guards to leave and entered the office. Wynn leaned over the desk and removed the volume of his diaries that Karma had intended to steal.
He sat in the chair nearest him and rested the book on his knee, gazing at the slender tome. The name on the spine and on the first page was the same. Written in characters only the most ancient deities might remember, and masked by a spell he traded a favor for long ago, was a single word.
Wynn
He was the oldest living Immortal, the man responsible for uniting all the Immortals under one society, for sealing two breaches to Hell, and creating an army to defend humans against demons.
The book didn’t contain his secrets – he wasn’t foolish enough to write them down – but it contained his history, which could have been damning in and of itself. Deities and Immortals alike had speculated about his origins, his lineage, and whether he was a deity in disguise or born a half-breed deity. He was content with the confusion and mystery regarding his origins. The unknown frightened people and made them uncomfortable. He wanted them to be this way around him, to never know exactly who they dealt with or what he was capable of. It gave him space to maneuver and the ability to remain untouched by anything or anyone.
Initially, he hadn’t even known his family history, when he was born, or what his childhood had been like. He had awoken as an Immortal at the age he was now – and no memory of what had happened prior to that.
He closed the book, unable to shake the unwelcome idea forming that the strategy he’d relied on for two lifetimes was suddenly … dissatisfying.
Peace had told him he pushed people away, and Deidre insisted he did so because something was missing. The truth was a little simpler. He had no hole in his heart at all and had never suffered any great tragedy. Proximity and compassion caused pain, which he’d figured out early in his first Immortal life when he started out as a healer. To be independent, to be free, to make impartial and rational decisions for the greater good of the Immortals and human world required that he possessed no vulnerabilities or weaknesses, which meant he could love no one and be loved by no one. He’d chosen to sacrifice his emotions and concern for others and insulated himself against everything.
It worked, or had, until this moment, when he considered the idea he’d met someone with whom he wanted to share his history. Karma hadn’t known what the book contained when she tried to steal it. If he gave it to her, and lifted the spells for her to read it, would she?
She’d witnessed some of what was in his soul. If she read his story, what would she do? What would she think?
What would she feel?
He’d never asked himself this last question before, because he’d never had a reason to consider someone else’s feelings. He’d operated without his own and ignored anyone else’s that could have interfered with what he needed to do, first to build the Immortal world and then to protect it. He didn’t care that he was a shitty father, or that he’d never taken any interest in his children’s lives, except to force them into the duty he’d spent a lifetime creating. His legacy was the society he created and the lives he’d saved.
Wynn leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He was disturbed, if not distressed, by the changes he experienced the past few days. Two nights, and he was ready to share his private story with someone. Worse, he believed he wanted to share that part of himself. But didn’t doing this make him vulnerable? Disable his ability to operate without emotions clouding his judgment?
She fled from him whenever he wanted to talk to her, and he was ready to wrap his heart, history, and future in a bow to hand over.
It made no sense – but he couldn’t deny this was what he felt. The cracks around his heart were quickly becoming fissures.
He tapped the diary against his knee. Someone had figured out he had written a partial autobiography, which meant, someone believed there was significant information within it that might shed light on his master plan.
A mate was a potential weakness. Wynn had exploited many mates in his past, and he possessed too many secrets for him to begin narrowing down who was using Karma.
Because someone was manipulating her. He wanted to view this in the light of politics as usual, but whenever he thought about anyone taking advantage not only of his mate, but of her love for her brother, he wanted to dump all the secrets he collected into the world and watch the deities destroy one another.
It wasn’t the right answer, and it wasn’t a course of action he’d ever pursue, no matter how tempting.
Karma’s power was incredible; but he alone could protect her from people like him, who had spent an eternity studying his enemies. Karma was pure and hid nothing. She wouldn’t last in a world of ulterior motives and hidden agendas, where deities and Immortals alike used secrets and lies to amass power.
Wynn wanted to think he and Karma could learn to work together, as Gabriel had said, even after his plan came to fruition. He’d spent too long crafting it to walk away, and it was becoming clearer by the day he had no choice about having a mate.
Whatever he felt for Karma, he wasn’t going to choose between her and his plan. Either she went along with him or …
He glanced around. He’d have to protect her, which probably meant caging her in this room. She’d hate him – but she’d be safe, and that was more important than what he felt for her.
Just like the rest of his family.
I want her beside me. The thought was as strong as the ferocious possessiveness it evoked. Wynn didn’t want to be alone anymore. He wanted his mate with primal need.
If he followed through with his plan, wouldn’t he lose her?
After a moment of deep thought, where he reached no satisfactory conclusion about anything troubling him, Wynn stood, diary in hand, and left the office for his chamber.
He hid the diary in the nightstand beside his bed and paused, breathing in the scent of sex and Karma. Anticipation raced along his blood as memories of their second night together replayed in his mind. He wanted another, and another and another. Every night from now until he died-dead a third time.
His mind wasn’t made up about anything when he left his chamber, except that he was beginning to think he needed to put some distance between himself and his mate, or he’d fall prey to the mating bond and wouldn’t be able to follow through with his plan if it meant losing her in the process.
He couldn’t let her weaken him further.
He left his chamber and went to the war chamber, expecting to find an irate Trayern and irritated Mithra awaiting him.