Deidre's Death

"Of course you do. You're male. Me? Not so much!" she retorted in a silky voice. She hesitated then sat beside him. "This is where we met."

The sadness in her voice chased away his mirth.

"I'm surprised he let you come," he said, eyes returning to the sea.

"He says the mate of the Dark One can do whatever she wants. Apparently, evil is equal opportunity."

"Not sure seeing an ex-mate is included."

Deidre glanced at him. Gabriel kept his eyes on the ocean.

"Are you really okay?" he asked.

"I think so."

As hard as it was to believe, she looked great. Gabriel took in her body and face again. He saw the massive scarring that could come from no other than the Dark One, probably when he turned her. Otherwise, she appeared healthy. Not at all like Darkyn was bleeding her dry or torturing her.

"He, um, has been very assertive and direct," she added.

"You mean violent and aggressive."

"Not violent. Not with me, at least. He leaves no room for failure or my hope that certain things will change," she said.

"You don't think you'll ever leave Hell."

"I can come and go. But he will always be my … mate." She said the word in a hushed voice that sounded husky and sexy with her newfound status as a seductress.

Gabriel didn't know what to think. The immortal mating rules from the time-before-time couldn't be broken. Yet, his mate had found a way to reset them. He didn't think it was possible for that to happen twice, but if it were …

Would it matter? Human-Deidre was now a demon, blood-bound to the Dark One. Nothing - not even Darkyn - could change that, even if the Immortal mating script changed again. She was effectively trapped in Hell with the devil for eternity.

"I'm serious about taking you to the underworld, if he hurts you," he reasserted. "Immortal Laws be damned. If I'd had the balls to …" he stopped.

She rested her temple on one knee, eyes on him. Her smile was gentle.

"It's scary to be with him," she admitted. "But … he doesn't mistreat me and there's potential for me to do good from Hell. I helped Rhyn already. We stopped Darkyn's demons from massacring the kids."

"He told me it was over," Gabriel said, surprised. "How did you convince Darkyn to stop?"

"I asked him."

Gabriel snorted. "You make it sound easy."

"Well, it was," she admitted. "I don't understand his motivation."

"You were right yesterday about saying I wouldn't take a chance," he started. "I want to clear the air, though. There's more to the story than what you know."