Gabriel's Hope

He smiled. "No, I don't. From the first moment I met you, I knew you were meant for something different. I think that special path is what you encountered this weekend."

"How could you not handle the politics of the job?" she exclaimed. "I told you the most fantastic tale, and you shrug it off like it's natural."

"I didn't say I couldn't handle the politics, just that I didn't like them," he replied.

She snorted. "These could be hallucinations, couldn't they?"

"They weren't hallucinations. Of this, I am fairly certain."

"Why?" she eyed him.

He lifted his eyebrows towards the glass in front of her. "I asked you thrice to share what happened over the weekend. After all we've been through together the past few years, you should've been an open book."

She looked at the wine, realizing she hadn't touched it.

"You didn't drink it, because you have an emotional connection to the person who asked you not to. This wouldn't be true with a purely psychological phenomenon like a hallucination." He sipped his wine, eyes on her. "You denied me, despite what I'd call a fairly strong relationship. Which means, what happened between you and this Gabriel was more than a one night stand."

Her face flamed. She cleared her throat, staring into the wine glass.

"Am I right?" he prodded at her silence.

"I don't know," she said finally. "They said …I'm his preordained mate, a bond that can't be broken. I just met the guy, Wynn. It makes no sense!"

"By our rules, no. By their rules, yes."

"Exactly. I mean, look at this," she twisted so he could see Gabriel's name across her shoulders. "To them, it's permanent like this tattoo."

"And to you?"

She hesitated. "He said the obligation was one way. He had a duty to me but I didn't have to choose him. He said it's my decision if I want to be … to be with him."

"A noble response," Wynn said. "By their rules, he doesn't have to give you the choice, does he?"

She faced him and slumped. "No."

"You have flirted with Death for three years now. He comes to claim you and becomes enamored instead. What a beautiful story," Wynn summarized.

Deidre laughed. "When you put it that way, it is!"

He was at ease with the bizarre discussion. She wasn't sure if she should be grateful or alarmed that he was playing along with her.

"What will you do?" he asked.

"I don't know. I mean, he killed Logan, Wynn."

"I didn't like Logan anyway."

"He didn't deserve to die," she said, troubled. "It's my fault he was killed. I never wanted that for him."