Deidre's Death

"Your demons and my dealers know your status. Is it no longer a matter of discretion?" Gabriel asked.

"It is not," he confirmed. "Recent events forced my hand. Hell is aware I have ascended to the position of the Dark One."

"Recent events? Such as …"

"What do you really want from me?" Darkyn focused his dark, soulless gaze on him for the first time since arriving. "I cannot undo what I've done to your mate."

"I don't want you to," Gabriel replied firmly.

"You are satisfied with her."

"My mate is my concern, not yours." Uneasiness grew within Gabriel. Darkyn did have an interest in Deidre. There was more to the story of their deals. "One such as you is not capable of understanding how …complex that relationship is."

"One such as me would view that relationship - and my mate - as a battle to be won."

"A battle," Gabriel said with a snort. "You've never been able to control yourself. You would bleed her dry the first night."

"You would hesitate to claim her as you should." The demon lord was bristling. "In fact, you did - and do - refuse to claim your mate. You're here because you doubt her and want me to tell you what she would not."

"No rush. We have eternity," Gabriel replied. He didn't know what nerve he hit, but he'd hit something. As irritated as he was with Darkyn's words, he was also fascinated by the idea the demon lord who prided himself on preying on the vulnerabilities of others was capable of being offended.

"Would you say the same about your underworld? You are happy to wait for the rebellion there to settle down?" Darkyn challenged. "The longer you let both deny you, the harder it becomes to win."

"Relationship advice from the Dark One," Gabriel said dryly.

For a moment, the demon lord looked ready to snap. Gabriel rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, waiting for it. Darkyn shrugged at last and relaxed.

"I won my battles, without being kicked out of my domain," the demon growled. "If you wish to return to yours, you know how to summon me."

"Would you be willing to let one of my dealers verify the route exists?"

"For free?"

"Verify not traverse."

Darkyn considered. "Very well. Summon him."

Landon.

A second demon appeared behind Darkyn. Landon arrived a moment later.

"Go with him to Hell. Verify there is a portal through Hell to our underworld," Gabriel instructed Landon.

The death-dealer stepped forward without hesitation. Darkyn's demon opened a portal, and the two disappeared.

Death and the Dark One stared at each other, assessing one another. Gabriel was never one for small talk. Instead, he reviewed what little he'd learned from Darkyn about the deals Deidre made and the issue of his death-dealers.