Deidre's Death (#2, Rhyn Eternal Series)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Deidre?” He faced her fully. “You’re alive.”

She nodded.

Stunned, he was speechless for a long moment. His eyes swept over her. Her hair was still pink and in a loose bun on the top of her head. She wore the clothing of the women of Hell: a black, silky, backless dress that reached the tip of her sandaled feet. The faded signs of massive scarring were on one side of her neck while there was blood on the other, as if someone had just hurt her. Her eyes were red-rimmed, too, and his gaze rested on the tiny fangs resting on her plump lower lip.

“What the fuck is going on?” he demanded.

She jumped at the harsh words. She glanced at Darkyn, who was still. Silent. Watching. Gabriel couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who had been his mate, for however brief a time.

“I, um, made a deal with Darkyn. I went to Hell and …” Deidre drifted off. She crossed her arms, the range of emotions crossing her face too fast for him to decipher.

Suddenly, Andre’s cryptic warning made sense.

“…had the tumor removed which happened to be past-Death’s soul. Darkyn brought past-Death back, fulfilling their mystery-deal, and you were at the mercy of Darkyn,” Gabriel finished.

She nodded. “As his mate.”

“His mate.” This was almost beyond Gabriel’s ability to believe. He began to think this was a shape-shifter demon, like he originally thought about past-Death when she suddenly appeared.

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.