Darkyn's Mate (#3, Rhyn Eternal) (9 page)

“Did you say Darkyn is the Dark One?” Kiki
asked.

“Looks that way,” Rhyn replied. “No one else
can turn a human into a demon, and only demons blood bind.”

“He is,” Deidre confirmed.

“I thought you were in Atlanta.”

“It’s a long story,” she replied. “One
Gabriel doesn’t know and probably shouldn’t for another few
days.”

“We match.” Rhyn bared his teeth to display
canines similar to Darkyn’s that would lengthen when he was
hungry.

“Mine don’t retract,” she said with a
grimace.

“The teeth of a demoness don’t. You left
Gabe’s human mate and came back a demon bound to Darkyn. He wasted
no time in turning you and blood-binding you.” Rhyn studied her for
a moment. “What the fuck happened?”

Uncertain how to respond, Deidre laughed
uncomfortably at the amount of bewilderment his question
contained.

“Rhyn, care to share?” Kiki asked.

The half-demon looked over her head at the
group behind her. He frowned. Deidre tried to figure out what it
was she was supposed to say. She wanted to ask after Gabriel but
didn’t. She also wanted to step outside and see the forest. She
missed nature in the time she’d been in Hell.

“We need to talk in private,” Rhyn said for
her ears only. “There’s another issue you haven’t figured out
yet.”

She frowned. Rhyn took her arm and started
away.

“I’ll let you know, Kiki,” he called to his
half-brother. “We’re going to talk about demon shit.”

“What? Rhyn, you can’t –” Kiki objected.

“Later, Kiki.”

Deidre didn’t resist, uncertain why he
looked grim suddenly. They didn’t go far. He led her into a large
study with a huge, brown leather couch near a dead hearth. She
brightened at the sight of the comfortable seating. Rhyn released
her and locked the door behind him then paced, rubbing his jaw.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned by his
actions.

“You shitting me?” he returned. “You come
back a demon and want to know what’s wrong?”

She flushed.

“A demon of human origin. It’s like Gabe
being turned Immortal. You reek of Darkyn’s power.”

Deidre tucked her knees to her chest and
wrapped her arms around them, watching him pace.

“First. What are you doing here?” he
demanded.

“I don’t know. Darkyn sent me. He said he
had a message, and that I’m the message,” she said. “If you don’t
know, then I’m not sure.”

“Oh, I get the fucking messages.”

“What are they?” she asked, puzzled.

“One, he’s letting me know
he’s the Dark One. I’m assuming the transition happened recently.
We didn’t know. Two, this is a personal fuck-you, addressed to me
from the Dark One. Three,” he paused, studying her. “You. His mate.
His
human,
blood
bound mate.”

“Why is that important to you?”

“No demon can waltz into
the middle of my stronghold without being chopped to pieces. If you
were a demon and his mate, you’d be missing your head. You’re
a
human
mate, or
were originally, which means I can’t hurt you. I’m the only
Immortal who can walk into Hell. The last time I did it, I robbed
him of a few prisoners he didn’t want to lose. He’s showing me he
can do the same,” Rhyn said. “There’s no fucking chance of bringing
you back, even if somehow you were to escape the mating
bond.”

“I know that,” she replied. “He didn’t
hesitate to claim me once the marking appeared.”

“Are you okay?” Rhyn’s voice carried genuine
concern.

“Sort of,” she said. “He didn’t hurt me, if
that’s what you’re asking.”

Rhyn didn’t look convinced.

“I’m, uh …” she swallowed, tears blurring
her vision. “Scared. Horrified. A demon.”

“Yeah, there’s no reversing that.”

“Really?”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I guess I know that,” she whispered. “He’s
determined to keep me.”

“I see that. The good thing is that he can’t
hurt you now. The blood bond between demons is to ensure one of
them doesn’t get too hungry and bleed the other dry.”

“Good to know,” she mumbled. “He hasn’t hurt
me yet. But he doesn’t lose, does he?”

Rhyn shook his head. “For someone like him …
he never even bowed down to the Dark One. The bond creates more
than dependency; it gives you a helluva lot of influence over
him.”

“I don’t see it,” she said with a snort.

“Trust me. The mating bond alone makes it
easy for a woman to control her mate. Add a blood bond to it? You
become the only person in the universe that can influence him. The
other deities can’t even do that.”

She frowned. She didn’t see that happening.
Darkyn was always too far ahead of her, twisting her into knots to
keep her in place.

“Talk,” Rhyn ordered. He threw himself down
in the seat across from her.

“Well…” Deidre sighed, sorting through her
thoughts. She met his gaze, uncertain what to tell him.

“Gabriel doesn’t know,” he guessed and sat
back.

“Not yet. At least, I don’t think he does.
There’s a deal on the table,” she explained, mind on Past-Death.
“I’ll start from the beginning. I, uh, made a deal with Darkyn a
few days ago for him to remove my brain tumor. It seemed simple
enough. He saves my life. In exchange, he keeps the tumor.”

“But that didn’t make you his mate.”

“Indirectly it did. The tumor in my head had
a soul in it. Past-Death’s soul,” Deidre continued. Her throat
tightened as she spoke. “I guess she made a deal with Darkyn. He
brought her back, and she gave him me.”

Rhyn growled low in his chest.

“I made her a deal that expires in four
days, thinking I could reverse the bond. I gave her a week to make
Gabriel fall in love with her, or I get her soul. I thought if she
was gone, the bond would reverse, return me to Gabriel,” she said.
“Darkyn calls the blood bond his insurance for when I win. I can’t
go back to Gabriel, even if I do win.”

Rhyn was quiet, his gaze intense.

“There’s more, but …” She shook her head,
hands trembling. “Darkyn never loses.”

“I wouldn’t say he won. He had to sacrifice
his freedom to keep you,” Rhyn said. “It’ll give you an advantage
in deals with him.”

She almost groaned. She’d signed away that
advantage already. Another thought occurred to her as she thought
about Katie, the half-demon’s mate she met when last at the
fortress.

“Rhyn, is any of what you feel when you
become a mate real?” she asked. “The bond I shared with Gabriel. I
mean, as soon as Darkyn’s name was on my back, it shifted, like
none of the emotions I felt for Gabriel were real … and now with
the blood bond…”

“Gods. I’m the last person to ask this
touchy-feely stuff,” Rhyn said and rubbed his jaw again. “The bond
brings you together. You still have to … make a relationship. One
is physical, the other mental. They’re both real.”

“Gabriel and I didn’t get that far. He kept
pushing me away,” she said. “Darkyn’s been relentless in pursuing
me.”

“There’s another reason for that,” Rhyn said
slowly. “Deidre, you can’t be around normal mortals or Immortals
for long or even really demons outside of Hell.”

“Why?” she asked, fear spiraling through
her. “Does something happen to me?”

“How do I say this…” he sighed. “My mother
was a sex-demon. It’s a sub-class of demons. You are, too.”

“Meaning …”

“Meaning you might be one of them. Every man
you cross will do what it takes to try to fuck you.”

She gasped. “What? Why?”

“Why?” he echoed. “Because you’re a
sex-demon.”

She stared at him. Rhyn rose and motioned
her up. He crossed to a mirror and pulled her in front of him. She
saw the same woman here as she did in Hell: sultry and sweet,
beautiful of face with a body enhanced by the dark dress.

“You don’t see it?” he asked.

“No.”

“I’m dealing with enough shit,” he muttered.
“Trust me. You’ve got that vibe. Darkyn is relentless because of
the fucked up double bond and whatever subclass of demon he decided
to turn you into, which I’m guessing was a sex-demon. It’s good for
you. Might give you an advantage with him if you’re willing to play
the seduction game.”

Deidre shook her head, not seeing this
either. There were no advantages with Darkyn and she was the last
person on the planet who would try to seduce anyone, especially a
demon. Darkyn had to know this. Was this some sort of twisted sense
of humor on his part?

They returned to the seating area. Rhyn
grabbed an iPad off the desk. He considered her.

“I have to show you something,” he started.
“It’s bad. But since he sent you, I want you to see it.” He paused
to pull up photographs on the screen. “Before a few months ago, the
Immortals and demons had an understanding that the normal humans
are off limits. Things have gone to shit fast, partly because I
can’t get the fucking Council to agree on anything.” Rhyn snorted.
“Darkyn recently decided to send his demons after human kids.
They’ve been attacking schools all over the world. We’re getting
better at tracking them, but haven’t been able to stop them.” He
handed the device to her.

Deidre almost dropped it at the pictures
displayed. Horrified, she wasn’t able to look away. The children
were all elementary age, their dismembered bodies nothing but
carnage. There were dozens of them.

This
was what she was bound to for eternity, the monster behind
all the evil in the world. Rhyn snatched the iPad as it slid from
her fingers. She stared at the floor. Fate said she was a balance
for the out-of-control demon, but how could she live with something
like him?

“If you have any influence over him …” Rhyn
prodded. “I’ll make you a deal to stop this. Just let me know your
terms.”

“I can’t make deals,” she whispered. “Rhyn,
I …” The images in her head were brutal. “I was terrified of
Gabriel, knowing he was Death. This is something so far beyond what
he was.” She stood and paced anxiously, hugging herself.

“You’re his mate, his representative. As
much as I hate to do this, I need for you to help me fix this,”
Rhyn said. “It’s been going on for two weeks, and it’s getting
worse. Redirect the violence at the Immortals. Human children are
off-limits.”

Deidre was silent, grappling with the issue
and her emotions. Her chest was too tight for her to breathe
deeply. What power did she have to do what Rhyn wanted?

She caught sight of her gaze in the mirror
again and stared. Distraught, she was also clearly the mate of the
Dark One. The only person who might influence him, based on what
Fate and Rhyn believed.

She was beyond terrified of the power Darkyn
held. What he was in their insulated world in the bedchamber was
far removed from what he was outside. She’d accepted her place in
his bed. How did she accept her destiny as his mate?

What part of her was able to live with not
trying to help spare innocent children?

Claustrophobic, she started to panic.

“I, uh, I need to go,” she said.

“Alright. If you need anything … I have no
fucking clue if I can help, but ask.” There was concern on Rhyn’s
face.

Deidre nodded, focused on calling a portal.
It yawned open for her. She left, stopping in the shadow world to
try to calm herself. She wasn’t able to make an official deal with
Darkyn to save the kids, and she had nothing to offer him. What the
fuck did she do?

The portal to Hell glowed darkly. Deidre
moved towards it, recalling the last time she’d crossed through it.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she forced herself to do it.

It left her on the covered landing where
Darkyn first brought her. It was where he told her she’d never
leave Hell, where he’d first drawn her blood. The landing
overlooked the parched desert surrounding the black fortress. The
dual sub orbs were dim, casting a sickly light over Hell. She
leaned against the waist-high wall.

This was her eternity. The only innocent
soul in Hell. There had to be a greater purpose to all of this, a
reason why she was trapped. A reason why she was the only light in
a very dark place. Was it to help the innocent? To blunt the
bloodlust of the Dark One? Was this her silver lining? If she
didn’t find one, she’d spend eternity weeping.

Her heart slammed into her chest at the
thought of confronting the devil. With a deep breath, Deidre
summoned him.

“Darkyn.”

As before, he appeared instantly. She turned
away from the desert and crossed her arms. He stood a few meters
away, hands clasped behind his back. His black eyes scoured her
features and lingered on her lips.

“Rhyn … showed me what the demons are doing
to human kids,” she started uncertainly.

“And?”

“They’re just children!”

“The Dark One is not known for mercy or
kindness,” he said, amused. “The source of my magic is from the
forbidden, the depraved. The death of innocents, the weakness of a
man’s honor, heart or soul.”

“
You’ve shown me mercy,”
she said, approaching him until they stood toe-to-toe. “What will
it take to stop this now?”

“How strongly do you feel?”

“I’ll play your game,” she said firmly.

“The first lesson in making deals: make the
terms yourself. Don’t let anyone else determine them,” he said.
“For example. I’ll do as you ask, if you can make it to our
bedchamber by the count of five.”

“I don’t even know where it is from here!”
she exclaimed.

“Then you lose before you begin.”

Deidre stared at him. He stepped aside, out
of the way to the corridor leading into the fortress.

“This is it? This is all you’ll give me?”
she asked, torn between fury and sorrow at the impossible
challenge.

“Second lesson: you will do whatever it
takes to win the deal.”