Deidre's Death (#2, Rhyn Eternal) (18 page)

He started towards her, senses trained to
catch any movement from Darkyn before the demon attacked him.
Darkyn did nothing. Deidre skirted away, placing the recliner
between them. He stopped and searched her face.

“I just want to see the mating marks. That’s
it,” he said.

She hesitated but nodded.

“You okay?” Gabriel asked in a hushed voice.
His jaw was clenching and unclenching. He was tense enough to feel
claustrophobic.

Another nod.

Gabriel stretched towards
her slowly, afraid of spooking her. He had no idea what she’d been
through the past few days at the hands of Darkyn. While she
looked
healthy, she bore
blood on her neck that made him feel ill at the thought that Darkyn
was bleeding her dry.

Deidre didn’t move. He took her arm with one
of the hands that had explored every part of her body – or the body
he thought was hers - not even a few hours before. He tugged her
out from behind the chair then turned her gently. He pushed her
hair over one shoulder, and his hands dropped.

“Gods, Darkyn,” he muttered, astonished.

She wore two mating markings: the Immortal
tattoo and the mark of a blood-bound demon.

Deidre looked at the demon lord, and Gabriel
followed her gaze. Darkyn’s eyes were on Gabriel. The sense of
satisfaction was there again, along with the faint smile that made
Gabriel furious.

“I win this round,” Darkyn said.

“Double bond. You weren’t about to take a
chance that you lose her,” Gabriel said, grappling with the
reasoning behind the demon lord’s actions. From what he knew of
demon blood bonds, they were restrictive on the two bound together
to the point that they could never have another mate. What made
Darkyn blood-bond Deidre?

Gabriel turned her to face him again. Deidre
looked up at him, trembling. Gabriel didn’t know what to say for a
long minute. He was a fucking fool for trusting the goddess, even
in her human form. Her secret now revealed, Gabriel understood why
she’d refused to tell him.

What the fuck did he do now that he
knew?

His attention fell again to the bloody neck
of Darkyn’s mate.

“Tell me Darkyn did that to you, and I’ll
fucking destroy him,” he said.

Deidre shook her head, a smile slipping
free. It lit up her features, and he saw the tiny fangs she was
trying to hide.

“One of your death dealers attacked me,” she
said.

“What?” Gabriel growled.

“I came here to … visit,” she said with a
quick glance at Darkyn that said she probably ventured out of Hell
without telling her new mate. “They found me.”

“Followed her,” Darkyn corrected. “Your
doing, Gabriel?”

“Of course not,” he snapped.

“Harmony was with them,” Deidre added.

“The bitch betrayed me
to
you,
Darkyn.
Which means this could be your doing.”

“The funny thing about traitors,” Darkyn
replied. “You can’t ever really trust them. Harmony was granted
access to use Hell to go to your underworld. I can assure you if
she’s found going through my portals again, she’ll be sent straight
to me.”

Gabriel studied the demon lord. He almost
sounded … protective of his mate. Which made no sense. If Darkyn
told him about the death dealers attacking his mate, Gabriel
would’ve ignored him. Coming from the sweet human before him,
however, the news made Gabriel want to bargain for entry into Hell
just so he could destroy those dealers who thought it was okay to
hurt her.

“How many were here?” he asked Deidre.

“Two,” she replied. “And Harmony.”

“They hurt you,” he said, lifting her chin
to see the blood. No wound was there. Now that she possessed a
fraction of the Dark One’s power, she would heal instantly.

“Yes,” she said. “Darkyn rescued me from
them. He has the two I think.”

Gabriel faced the demon lord. Darkyn stepped
out of the corner where he stood.

“There were two who attacked my mate,” the
demon lord said. “I’m taking the dealer who hurt her.”

Gabriel waited, sensing the Dark One wasn’t
finished.

“My … spies report that you can’t keep
dealers and have no idea what’s going on in the underworld. The
other dealer you can have.”

“This sounds like a favor,” Gabriel said
with a frown.

“It is.”

“What do you want in return?”

“Harmony. When you find her.”

The instinct that Darkyn was protective of a
mate rose again. Gabriel considered. Darkyn had gone through the
process to blood bind Deidre; he wasn’t going to let his only
source of food go. Ever. He also wasn’t going to let anyone else
threaten his blood monkey.

Deidre glanced at Darkyn in puzzlement, and
Gabriel realized she didn’t yet understand the depth of the Dark
One’s obligation to her.

“By letting them attack you, Harmony made a
personal affront to the Dark One,” Gabriel explained. “I can’t
imagine that will go well for her.”

“What does that mean?” Deidre asked
uncertainly.

“I imagine an eternity of punishment as only
the Dark One can devise. Same for the dealer who hurt you
today.”

“But I’m okay. He didn’t hurt me,” she said,
looking at Darkyn. “An eternity? For one mistake?”

“Even I won’t go to bat for him,” Gabriel
said. “Either of them. Mates are sacred.”

“But it’s my fault,” she said. “Darkyn, I
never should’ve come here. I don’t want him paying for something I
did.”

“He will pay for drawing your blood,” the
demon lord growled in a tone that made her jump. “Anyone who raises
a hand to my mate also raises a hand to me and will be dealt with
accordingly.”

“For once, I agree with Darkyn,” Gabriel
said, staring at the Dark One with no small amount of surprise.

Deidre was quiet, her features troubled.

Deal?
Darkyn asked Gabriel mentally.
No
other terms.

What you did to Deidre
cannot be undone,
Gabriel
replied.

What I did to
both
Deidres cannot be
undone
was the unsettling
response.

Gabriel was quiet for a long moment. His
eyes went back to the girl who had been human just a few days ago.
Her gaze was on Darkyn.

“Has he hurt you?” he asked, unable to
fathom how she survived Hell so far.

“No,” she replied. She was agitated to the
point of distraught. The Dark One lifted his chin in subtle
command.

Deidre crossed to him, unafraid of the
creature whose appearance often made grown Immortals quake and
grovel. She leaned into his side, and Darkyn rested a hand on her
hip. The Dark One’s touch calmed her air instantly.

What the fuck had Darkyn managed to do in
four days that Gabriel hadn’t been able to in the week he spent
with her? Removed her tumor, immortalized her and now, could
comfort her with a single touch. Gabriel had never felt inadequate
in his life until that moment.

“Agreed,” he said. “Harmony for the dealer
you have.”

“I’ll have him brought to the shadow world
and summon you,” Darkyn said.

Deidre was watching him, her gaze troubled.
Gabriel wanted to say something to her, to apologize, to
rationalize what happened … He felt like he was on the verge of
snapping, unable to settle the turmoil of his emotions.

“You don’t deserve to
spend your life in Hell,” he said, pacing. “Gods, if I could
send
her
home
with that demon in your place, I -”

“Gabriel!” Deidre exclaimed.

“Would you consider a trade, Darkyn?”
Gabriel asked with a bitter laugh.

“She did what she did because she loves you,
Gabriel,” Deidre said. She moved away from Darkyn to stand in front
of Gabriel, searching his gaze.

“After all she did to you, how can you say
this?” he demanded, glaring down at her. “She’ll be lucky if I let
her survive the day.”

“I was angry at her,” Deidre admitted.
“Maybe I still am. But you can’t kill her! She deserves a
chance.”

“To
what?
Turn on me again? To make my
life hell?” Gabriel shook his head.

“To have a second chance with you,” Deidre
answered softly.

“I knew something was wrong. Her story just
didn’t make sense.” He looked away, towards the window, hands on
his hips.

“When you thought I was dying, you weren’t
willing to take a chance,” Deidre added sadly.

“Deidre, I –“

“No, wait. You weren’t, Gabriel. You did
exactly what she did. You hurt me to protect yourself,” Deidre said
with emotion that made her face flush. “I had to make a choice
without knowing what would happen or even if you would be there for
me in the morning.”

He was quiet, unaware of the depths of her
hurt until now. Everything he did was to help her, or so he
thought. Did he ever tell her that? Or did he simply push her away,
leaving her to interpret his rejection in the worst way
possible?

“I don’t want you to apologize, Gabriel,”
she said with a sigh. “I want you to see what I do. You both made
selfish choices. You both have a chance to make it right.”

“And leave you in Hell
with
him?
”

“I made a choice, too. I chose to live, no
matter what the consequences. That path lies in a direction I never
would’ve expected. But I accept that, Gabriel. There’s a greater
purpose than myself. You and she never understood that, when it
came to caring for someone else. You have that chance now.”

He studied her.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” she
drifted off.

“You’re breaking up with me,” he said,
smiling faintly.

“Oh, god,” she mumbled with a look at
Darkyn. “Deidre gave up everything to be with you. You weren’t
willing to do that for me. Maybe you can set aside your pride for
her.”

“You’re too nice to be involved with any of
us.”

“The only innocent soul in Hell, I’ve
heard,” she said and rolled her eyes.

“If Darkyn ever,
ever
hurts you, you have
a place to go.”

“Thank you, Gabriel.”

“We’re done here,” the Dark One said
smoothly. “Send my regards to your mate.”

Gabriel didn’t trust himself to respond. He
called a portal and left, needing to escape then realizing the
emotions he didn’t want to feel went with him.

He went to the lake near Rhyn’s. Unable to
function from shock, he sat down on a rock overlooking the lake.
His death dealers were around, ever-wary for signs of demons.

The morning sun felt hot, and Gabriel was
soon sweating. He suspected it was the feeling that he was about to
explode and not the cool morning. He stripped off his shirt and
flung it then tossed all his weapons in a pile at his feet before
seating himself once more.

It didn’t help. His head was still reeling
to the point he was fevered. It was worse than the morning after he
slept with human-Deidre and awoke to discover whom he spent the
night with.

What exactly happened? Why did Darkyn choose
to keep the human over the deity? What other deals were in place
that Gabriel didn’t fully know about?

“How’s life?” Fate’s tone was casual.

“You are the last person who should be
around me right now,” Gabriel snarled.

“Peace, friend,” Fate said, approaching. He
stopped a safe distance away, his multi-hued eyes on Gabriel. As
usual, he appeared the least affected by anything that was going
on. He was dressed as if he’d just come from some club, all in
leather with his blond hair in a braid.

“Peace,” Gabriel snorted. “You knew.”

“I even told you.”

Gabriel thought back. At one point, Fate had
told him a story about how he tricked the goddess into a series of
agreements that landed her out of a job. He did it by pushing the
only button that seemed to work on the deity. He told her that she
was destined to be the mate of the Dark One. In desperation, the
goddess made a series of deals with the former Dark One, Fate,
Darkyn and others to alter the series of events that might see her
with anyone but Gabriel.

At the time, Gabriel had laughed at Fate’s
manipulative story, not realizing that Fate’s alleged lie held more
truth than not.

“I’m beginning to see why she hates you,”
Gabriel muttered.

“It’s for a good cause.”

He stared at the nonchalant Fate.

“What is one life in the bigger
picture?”

“Everything,” Gabriel said.

“Believe it or not, I’m less a fan of Darkyn
than I am of your goddess,” Fate said. “The good news: now that the
Deidres are in their right places, you may find life a little
easier.”

“I refuse to believe this is the way things
were meant to be. Why fucking give her to me then take her
away?”

“You’re taking it personally. Don’t.”

Gabriel glared at him. “Have you ever been
human?”

“Of course not,” Fate said quickly.

“Have you ever known what it was to love
someone?”

“Does it matter?”

“Answer the fucking question.”

“Relax, Gabe,” Fate said with a smile. “Not
that it matters but no.”

“Then you have no idea how personal it
gets,” Gabriel snapped.

Fate simply gazed at him. Gabriel was
reminded of the many times he’d expressed something human to the
goddess he’d loved for thousands of years. Before she became a
human, she never understood him or what he felt and thought.

“I am not incapable of emotion,” Fate said,
as if reading his mind. “I am not like your predecessor.”

“Every last one of you is a sociopath.”

“I have emotions,” Fate said more clearly.
“I’ve checked on your little human almost every day to ensure what
I planned for her was not altered by Darkyn’s bloodlust.”