Darkyn's Mate (#3, Rhyn Eternal) (10 page)

“Like blood binding yourself for insurance,”
she said in frustration. “Or stripping Past-Death’s power.”

“Exactly.”

She had to focus. There had to be a way.
He’d told her she wasn’t able to travel via portal when she was
human. Yet she drew off his magic now. She was able to kill and
call a portal from the human world.

“One.”

Her gaze flew to him.

“Two.”

Deidre bolted, silently willing a portal to
appear as she sprinted into the fortress.

“Three.”

A black cave yawned open before her. It was
different than the other portals; there were no doors visible
through this one, just a hole in the world. She flung herself
through it, not caring what waited for her on the other side.

Deidre emerged in her room, a full second
before Darkyn did. It took a moment for her to register the
truth.

“Omigod! I did it!” she breathed. She
hurried to him. “You lose. You have to stop hurting them.” Praying
she hadn’t missed some term of the deal, she waited for his
reaction. For a long moment, Darkyn was quiet. Deidre’s despair
began to form anew, along with tears. She started to shake, unable
to bear the idea of more children dying or living with the creature
behind it.

His cold smile scared her, until he spoke.
“Done.”

“Is this your insurance plan where you don’t
follow through because it’s not binding?”

“I always execute my terms,” he replied.
“There will be no more attacks on human schools.”

She waited another few seconds for a catch
before letting herself believe him. Relief made the tears she’d
been holding begin to fall. Deidre reached up to him and fluttered
kisses across his face and neck. She nuzzled him there, smelling
the blood so close to the surface. It made her hungry to taste
him.

“Lesson three. If you win or lose, let it be
on purpose,” he said.

“You let me win?”

He chuckled as she nibbled timidly at his
neck. “You don’t need an invitation to drink, love.”

At the amusement in his voice, she flushed.
She nudged his chin aside but wasn’t certain about biting him. His
fangs were lengthening, and he lowered his head, nudging her back.
Darkyn rested his hands on her hips and drew her into his body.

“I beat you,” she whispered into the shared
space between them. “Even if you let me. I’ll take it.” She pushed
his chin aside with more force and kissed his neck before closing
her eyes and letting her fangs sink into him.

He growled in response. Deidre drank until
she grew sleepy. She released him at his nudge.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Since you are demon now,
there is pleasure in it for you. If you are pleased enough about
your victory, you will grant me leave to show you.”

She hesitated. “Just once?” she
ventured.

He locked one arm around her in response,
the other holding her head. His canines were four times the length
of hers. Before she could tell him she’d changed her mind, sharp
pain penetrated her neck. Deidre clutched at the material of his
shirt. After the initial shock, she felt the pleasure, warm and
hot, burning and mixing with the pain. It raced through her body,
lulling her into a strange trance of heightened senses while he
drank.

When he withdrew, she rested against him.
She still didn’t quite trust he’d keep his word, but she prayed
with every ounce of her soul that he did.

“Why did you let me win?” she asked.

“Because it pleased me to do so.”

“Seriously?”

“The humans mean more to you than they do to
me. It was an extremely easy victory for me.” He bit her hard. “You
are happy enough I no longer need to dull the pain.”

She shuddered at the pleasure-pain.

“I said once, didn’t I?” she murmured.

“You only have to agree once.”

Damn unwritten
terms.
She didn’t think she’d ever win
with him, but she was thrilled knowing she’d done something right.
For once.

In Hell. In a deal with her mate, who just
happened to be the devil.

With the hum of their bonds and the
satiation of the blood exchange, she ventured a look at him. His
head was bowed near hers, eyes closed, as if he was…pleased to
share the moment with her. Deidre touched her cheek to his and
reached up with one hand to his other cheek. She was perplexed by
this creature. He was yielding now, as he’d been last night. As if
sensing she’d noticed, he straightened and moved away, breaking
contact to stand a few feet away. The intimate moment was gone,
replaced by the tension that always filled the space between
them.

“Did the half-breed receive my message?” he
asked.

“All of them,” she replied. “He also said I
need to be careful in the human world. Is there something wrong
with me?”

The cunning look on Darkyn’s face did
nothing to reassure her.

“Lesson four. Deals made while the
negotiator is distracted or emotional are easier to win,” he said.
“I only enhanced what appeal you already had. It’ll make it easier
for you to deal with others, and it’s no sacrifice for me to want
to fuck you every time we meet.”

“Why did you have to do
that?” She flushed, humiliated. “I take it the
distraction
won’t work on you in our
private deals.”

He flicked a fingernail against his thumb in
response, commanding her complete attention. Deidre groaned as the
hunger returned.

“Does it work on you?” Agitated, she bit her
thumb.

“I can control the hunger.” He smiled and
waited.

Deidre paced for a moment before caving. She
needed contact with him as much as the blood. Leaning into him, she
sighed when he placed his thumb at her lips. The calm spread
through her again. He licked her finger free of blood.

“You are already a distraction for me,” he
said gruffly.

Triumph fluttered through her at the
admission. Maybe Rhyn was right; maybe she had more power than she
knew.

“You should’ve thought of
that before you blood bound me and turned me into a sex-demon,” she
retorted softly. “I guess that’s
my
insurance, isn’t it?”

“I find it entertaining that you were
willing to do whatever it took for humans you never knew, but those
who knew you weren’t willing to do the same,” he said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I offered Wynn and Past-Death deals for
your safety. Neither was willing to bargain with me for your life.”
He sounded pleased once more.

Disturbed, Deidre withdrew from his embrace.
She scoured his features.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked,
her upbeat mood fading.

“Why do you think?”

“I don’t know. I don’t expect them or anyone
else to make deals with you for me,” she said, hurt as much by his
words as the thought that there was no one outside of Hell who
wished her well. She stared into the hearth.

“You are true to your nature. I can assess
that you would make deals for them.”

“Why did you have to ruin this, Darkyn? I
did something good. Why couldn’t you let me have my victory?” she
whispered.

“I’m closing the doors around you, until
there’s only one that’s open.”

Deidre looked up at him.

“When you accept that, you can celebrate
what victories you have. Your victory today hasn’t gone anywhere,”
he added. “I always keep my terms.”

He took her arm. She pushed him away, upset.
The demon lord gripped her more tightly and wrapped her in his
arms. Deidre strained then sighed, letting her head drop back
against his shoulder. His cool magic calmed her thoughts. He nudged
her head aside, and she yielded, albeit unhappily.

“Fight me, love. You want to. I feel it,” he
said.

“You people have the lowest standards when
it comes to quality of life.”

“The spirit of a human and the bloodlust of
a demon.”

“Bloodlust? No. I mean, I only want your
blood. I think,” she said, puzzled. “Don’t I? Oh, god. I’m not
going to want to drink the blood of others am I?”

“Only mine. Such is the nature of a blood
bond.”

“You hurt my feelings, Darkyn.”

“Good. You are too trusting. What I do will
help you survive.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d heard such a
thing, but it sounded far worse coming from the devil than it had
Wynn.

“I’m being summoned. You can fight me
later,” he said and released her. He strode towards a waiting
portal.

Deidre watched him. It really did hurt to
think that Darkyn outright tested others and they failed when it
came to her. Of course, he chose two of the most selfish people she
knew. She wanted to think that Gabriel wouldn’t turn his back on
her so quickly.

In hindsight, she really didn’t know any of
them. She wasn’t an Immortal or deity. She held no sway in what
happened or played no larger part in their twisted doings.

In spite of that, hope flickered through
her. She’d helped Rhyn stop Darkyn’s demons. Darkyn himself had
shown some signs of being affected by her, perhaps not as much as
she liked, but more than she ever expected.

Maybe she could make a silver lining here,
protecting the innocent.

Breakfast was on the magic obsidian tray
next to the bed. She wolfed it down, satisfied she was still able
to eat real food in addition to drinking from Darkyn.

The next morning, Deidre found herself at
the wall overlooking the red deserts of Hell. The air was hot and
dry, the two suns too dim to shed much light into the black
fortress. Any thought she had of trying to make it here faded
whenever she saw the desert or thought about how Darkyn manipulated
her.

She was scared again. The pictures Rhyn
showed her wouldn’t leave her thoughts, even if Darkyn had agreed
to stop the slaughter. He would do it again. It’s what he was.

She started to panic.

Deidre drew a deep breath. She missed
nature. Real nature, not the barren landscape of Hell. She glanced
around her, wondering what would happen if she just … left. Even
for a short time to try to relax. Darkyn would find her no matter
what, but she had the urge to see trees. Water. Grass. Anything
familiar. . She absently reached for the hourglass and realized
she’d left it on her nightstand.

She tried not to get her hopes up that a
portal out of Hell would appear. Stilling her mind, she calmed
herself. The portals didn’t answer her at all when she was
upset.

It opened at her request. Deidre was
startled. She expected Darkyn to have severed her ability to leave.
Glancing down at herself, she decided there was only one logical
place for her to start.

Deidre stepped into the shadow world and
paused. No one stopped her. Darkyn didn’t appear to force her to
return. She crossed the shadow world to the glowing portal that
would take her where she wanted to go.

The mate of the Dark One
does whatever the fuck she pleases,
Darkyn
had claimed. She was almost surprised to see he was
serious.

She stepped into her own apartment and
stopped. It smelled horrible, probably because of the blood-soaked
second bedroom. Otherwise, it looked the way she left it, except
that the air conditioning was off.

Deidre looked around, struck by how
different the place she lived for two years felt. The pile of mail
she left on her desk was still there, the living room neat and
quiet. With the rest of her life in disarray, she didn’t expect her
apartment to look … normal. Like it was just waiting for her and
her boyfriend to come home.

One choice. She’d made one choice, and she’d
never come home to this place again. She crossed to her desk, where
a red journal sat. In it was her bucket list, a list of things she
hoped to do before she died from the terminal brain tumor she no
longer possessed.

Now, she had an eternity to fulfill the
list. An eternity in Hell at the side of the Dark One.

Deidre set down the journal, needing to
distract her thoughts before she started to panic again. She sat
down on her couch, recalling the nights she spent watching
television after work. This world had been all she knew three weeks
ago. Now, she felt out of place, like she was sitting in a display
at a furniture store. Nothing in the living room was hers.

She went to her bedroom and pushed the door
open. It was as she left it. She’d packed her favorite clothes to
take with her to Wynn’s a few days before she ended up in Hell. She
had a ton left and began sifting through her drawers for jeans. She
couldn’t walk down the streets of Atlanta in her Hell gown. She was
going to draw enough attention as it was being a sex-demon.

Demon.

Deidre still couldn’t fathom that she’d been
turned into some sort of supernatural creature. She paused to look
in the mirror. Yes, she looked different. But she didn’t have horns
or a tail or anything. Just her little fangs and the odd presence
she found subtle but which apparently had a staggering affect on
men.