Deidre's Death

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.

What the fuck did he do now that he knew?

His attention fell again to the bloody neck of Darkyn's mate.

"Tell me Darkyn did that to you, and I'll fucking destroy him," he said.

Deidre shook her head, a smile slipping free. It lit up her features, and he saw the tiny fangs she was trying to hide.

"One of your death dealers attacked me," she said.

"What?" Gabriel growled.

"I came here to … visit," she said with a quick glance at Darkyn that said she probably ventured out of Hell without telling her new mate. "They found me."

"Followed her," Darkyn corrected. "Your doing, Gabriel?"

"Of course not," he snapped.

"Harmony was with them," Deidre added.

"The bitch betrayed me to you, Darkyn. Which means this could be your doing."

"The funny thing about traitors," Darkyn replied. "You can't ever really trust them. Harmony was granted access to use Hell to go to your underworld. I can assure you if she's found going through my portals again, she'll be sent straight to me."

Gabriel studied the demon lord. He almost sounded … protective of his mate. Which made no sense. If Darkyn told him about the death dealers attacking his mate, Gabriel would've ignored him. Coming from the sweet human before him, however, the news made Gabriel want to bargain for entry into Hell just so he could destroy those dealers who thought it was okay to hurt her.

"How many were here?" he asked Deidre.

"Two," she replied. "And Harmony."

"They hurt you," he said, lifting her chin to see the blood. No wound was there. Now that she possessed a fraction of the Dark One's power, she would heal instantly.

"Yes," she said. "Darkyn rescued me from them. He has the two I think."