Darkyn's Mate

Deidre nodded.

"That is the solution." He raised his eyes at the vial. "Not enough for him to duplicate, but enough for you to make a deal."

"What is it?" she asked.

"My mate's blood."

She met his gaze, surprised.

"She has an anomaly that makes her immune to young and old Immortal magic, all the way back to the Ancients. Whatever my half-brother did to her, that should fix it," he explained. "Consider it a thank you. Use it how you will. If you need the negotiation tool, use it. If you want to use it elsewhere, do so. No one will know but you and me."

"Wow," she breathed. "Thank you, Rhyn. But really, he humored me for his own reasons. What if it starts up again tomorrow?"

"It won't."

"You know this how?"

"His game isn't the one you think he's playing. I'll leave it at that. Just promise me one thing," he added. "Don't give that vial to Wynn. He'll bargain a way home and swallow it on his way out. If you use it for his daughter, dump it in her mouth yourself. If you keep it, hide it somewhere safe until you need to make a deal. Darkyn will know what it is the minute he sees it."

"I promise. I know better than to trust Wynn," she said with a sigh.

"You did what no one else has ever done and convinced the Dark One to stop slaughtering innocents. Be proud of that," he said. "Now, get your ass back to hell before your mate hunts me down."

She gave him another smile and turned away, retreating through the black portal. She emerged on the landing and stopped to study the vial. He was right. It'd make a good bargaining tool for a deal. Her thoughts returned to the sight of the girl in the bed.

How many days, months, years had she prayed for a miracle like the one in her hand? Diagnosed with a brain tumor as a child, she was pronounced terminal over three years before. The pain, the surgeries, the rollercoaster of hope and despair. Was the girl in pain?

Should it matter that she was Darkyn's daughter? Deidre wasn't certain what to feel in that regard. The daughter of her mate for eternity, who terrified her and ordered the slaughter of innocents.

Who'd stopped because she asked him and showed some sign of yielding to their bond, if not to her.

In either case, Deidre never put a stupid deal over the life of another suffering as she had. She'd be helping Wynn out of Hell as well. The idea he got out causing all her suffering made her frown. Deidre wasn't vindictive, but she still didn't fathom the amount of evil in one's heart it took to kill them slowly while smiling and saying they'd get better.