Darkyn's Mate

Darkyn stood beside the hearth. Deidre swallowed hard. The sense she was falling ill grew stronger. Her skin was clammy, her forehead hot.

Her eyes were riveted to his frame in a way that warned her the bond she'd felt with Gabriel was now with this creature. Just under six feet tall, wide-shouldered and lean, Darkyn's youthful appearance was framed by short, dark hair. His eyes were blacker than Gabriel's, and his plain features deceptive. He didn't look like the threat she knew him to be.

"As my mate, you have the ability to draw off my power. Anything you ask of Hell, it will do," he said.

She wasn't expecting the information.

"Try to summon human food," he directed.

Not at all certain what he meant, she was hungry enough to test his claim. She willed a cheeseburger to appear. One did on the mantle above the fire. Deidre stared at it.

An odd sense entered her mind, dulling her senses. The cheeseburger was quickly forgotten. She shook her head. She almost felt as if she was … drugged? Her thoughts weren't entirely hers.

Darkyn extended his hand, drawing her from the thoughts before it was able to form fully. A small hourglass with black sand was in his palm. Sand had already begun to trickle into the bottom.

Deidre approached him with trepidation, stopping only close enough to reach out and take the hourglass.

"What is it?" she asked.

"When the sand runs out, your deal with Past-Death is finished."

Her eyes flew up in shock that he knew about her plan to get Gabriel back. She clenched the hourglass, waiting for him to explode.

"It was a clever deal," Darkyn said, approving.

She searched his face, uncertain how to take his response.

"I'm counting on you winning," he added. "The deal of my mate is sealed with my magic. It would not be seeming for the first deal of my mate to be a loss."

Fear fluttered through her. If Darkyn wanted her to win, what had she forgotten to add to the terms, so she won? Not Past-Death, not Darkyn. She wanted to win, so she could return to Gabriel. She was missing something.

Or he was already a step ahead. Zamon's conversation with her about Darkyn tricking his predecessor left her feeling like she walked into a trap when she made the deal with Past-Death.

"Come here."

The parting words of Fate's short visit the day before were all that kept her from flipping out. He'd said she had a chance not only to leave, but also to help save Gabriel's life, if she did exactly as Darkyn said.