"There is one catch."
"Oh." Her heart tumbled. "In that case, I'll just go home."
"Aren't you curious?" he asked. "There's no obligation in knowing what it is. I never offer deals without revealing the terms."
She hesitated, growing uncomfortable in the clammy in-between place with the scary stranger. Maybe Gabriel's option was best. If it didn't work, she'd die while under.
Death wasn't what she wanted.
Deidre considered how long it took for her to accept her impending death. Did she ever? She'd faced the reality but held out some hope it wasn't inevitable. In a matter of a couple of days, she not only accepted there was a chance to live, but she'd decided to pursue whatever she had to in order to guarantee it.
Gabriel was right. She wasn't ready to give up. The logical side of her understood that Darkyn's offer of fixing her was a better option than dying on the operating table. Her instincts, however, were telling her to run.
Feeling trapped before hearing his terms, her eyes grew misty. Suddenly, she was afraid she'd be tempted to pay whatever price he demanded, no matter how high. He didn't have the pointed teeth of a demon, which she hoped was indication enough she wasn't about to make a deal with the devil.
"Yes, I want to know the terms," she whispered and braced herself for disappointment.
"To save you, I need to remove the tumor Wynn caused to expand in your head."
She flinched at the painful reminder. Darkyn appeared amused.
"The deal is simple. Your life in exchange for keeping the tumor I remove."
"That's it?" she asked, surprised. "I won't be turned into a vegetable or an animal or anything else weird?"
"You will be as you are now. The only difference is that you will not have a tumor killing you. You will have an eternity with your mate."
Her chest tightened at the thought. There was no guarantee Gabriel wanted her, but she'd have a chance. After all, he promised that he'd try and let her rewrite the awful terms of their relationship, if she survived.
There was a soul in her tumor. Thus far, no one seemed interested in it, aside from Darkyn. Unable to shake the memory of her interaction with the soul from the lake, she felt protective of the one in her head. She wished she had a moment to talk to Gabriel, the deity charged with protecting the dead, to make sure she wasn't doing something wrong.
"What will you do to the soul inside?" she ventured. "You won't hurt it?"
"Absolutely not. I plan on restoring its life as well."