Darkyn's Mate

"What's wrong with her?" she asked.

Wynn took up position in a seat near the bed. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his face was drawn.

"Sasha, one of my sons hurt her. He was on the Council until shortly after I died-dead, after which he betrayed the Immortals to work for the Dark One, Darkyn's predecessor. Darkyn cracked down on him, and Sasha hurt his daughter."

"If he fixed me, why can't he fix her?" Deidre frowned, disturbed by the idea of some psycho hurting the girl. Darkyn's daughter appeared frail and gaunt, her skin a shade or two darker than the white pillow beneath her head. The damage done to half her face caused horrible scarring that left her features lopsided and her skin knotted. The other side of her face displayed facial features that were heavy rather than feminine, resembling her father's.

"I'm assuming it was because a deal went bad. I guess the time this all happened was when Darkyn took on the Dark One. He wouldn't say much else, other than she cannot be fixed with the magic of Hell," Wynn explained. "She's in a stasis right now, caught between life and death. I've been charged with curing her. Or I'll never leave Hell."

Deidre felt no pity for him, despite the circumstances. After what he'd done to her, she wasn't able to. Wynn's eyes fell to her fangs again then drifted down her body.

"He changed you," he murmured. "You won't be leaving here after your deal is up with Past-Death."

"How do you know about that?"

"I was waiting in the portal room with her when Darkyn came to tell me I wasn't leaving," Wynn said with mild amusement. "He stripped her deity powers, said she had to earn Gabriel the same way you did."

Darkyn did two things that she almost agreed with. Deidre didn't think it was a good sign that she cheered on the Dark One. Did it make her bad, too?

"Lesson learned. Don't screw over his mate," Wynn finished.

"It wasn't for my sake," she assured him.

"He knew exactly what he was doing."

"Darkyn doesn't lose. As I learned, my deals hold the same power of enforcement as his. He was making certain I win," she said. "I'm assuming he kept you because you're the best surgeon there is. Even if you did use your skills to try to kill me."

"I'm not the mate of the Dark One. Those skills give me a small chance of leaving," he reminded her.

"I was destined for this," she returned. "Past-Death told me how she made me in her image to trick the laws into making me Gabriel's mate." Deidre hugged herself, disturbed. "She said she made me, used me and was done with me. She traded me to him, Wynn, like I'm nothing. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm glad Darkyn stripped her power. Maybe she'll learn a thing or two about being human."