Gabriel's Hope (#1, Rhyn Eternal) (21 page)

Hurrying through the brightest doorway, she recognized the massive bedchamber where she’d left Katie and Toby. They sat on the bed, playing a card game. Katie looked up as Deidre appeared. Her smile faded as she saw Wynn.

“I know. I should’ve asked.” Deidre cringed. “But he’s in danger. This is my friend, Wynn. Wynn, Katie and Toby.”

Toby’s mouth was agape, Katie’s face blanching. Uncertain what to think of their reactions, Deidre turned to Wynn. She released his hand.

“You can open your eyes now,” she said. “Don’t freak out.”

Wynn opened his eyes. No emotion crossed his features as his gaze settled on the two people on the bed.

“You okay?” Deidre asked at his silence.

“Deidre,” Katie managed. “What the hell did you do?”

“I was worried about him getting caught up by demons,” Deidre replied. “If I’m safe here, isn’t he?”

Toby was too shocked to move, while Katie scrambled to her feet. Both were alarmed. A familiar sense returned, the one that made Deidre think Wynn wasn’t a normal human.

His attention turned to her. “My sweet Deidre. I expected you to take me to a Sanctuary, not here.”

Chapter Ten

Wynn was an Immortal. As she watched, the black eye and bruised cheek healed themselves.

“How do you … oh, god,” she whispered.

“Dead-dead,” Toby managed.

“I fucked something up, didn’t I?”

“This was inevitable. I’m sorry I tricked you into bring me here,” Wynn replied. He approached Katie. “The half-demon’s mate. My first grandchild, I take it?”

Deidre saw Katie swallow hard before she nodded. Katie didn’t move as Wynn placed a hand on her stomach.

“Girl,” he said. “Healthy and happy. Very good.” He dropped his hand, and Katie eased away.

“Why aren’t you dead-dead?” Toby exclaimed.

“Before she crossed over, past-Deidre brought me back.”

“Wynn, please tell me you’re …” Deidre started, horrified at the latest revelation of what she’d done in her past life. “I don’t know. Tell me something. Anything.” Her voice trembled.

“I am the same friend you’ve had the past few years. I happen to be an Immortal rather than a human,” he said gently. There was warmth in his gaze. He touched her cheek. “You have to trust me.”

“Not any Immortal,” Toby said. “The first Ancient.”

“Rather than continue to distress you all, why don’t you take me to Rhyn, angel?” Wynn asked.

Toby stood slowly and moved towards the door.

“We’ll talk later,” Wynn promised Deidre, squeezing her arm. “A pleasure, Katie.”

“Yeah, sure,” Katie replied.

Deidre watched Toby lead Wynn to the door and out.

“What just happened?” Deidre asked.

“I’m not sure. The last time I saw him, he was in a tomb. This can’t be good,” Katie said.

“Who is he?”

“The father of the Council. Rhyn’s father.” Katie appeared as confused as Deidre felt. “I’ve never heard a good story about him, but he seemed … nice.”

Deidre laughed, not caring about the note of hysteria in her voice. She’d just discovered her best friend was some sort of dead Immortal, one she’d raised from the grave after she fucked over Death to the point he hated the only mate he’d get the billions of years he was alive.

“Katie, Deidre.” Gabriel’s quiet voice came from the doorway. “You okay?”

“I told you so.” Katie grinned.

“Not the normal greeting for Death.”

“Congrats, Gabe. I’m going to give you a piece of advice you gave me a few months ago.” Katie paused for effect. “You’re fucked. Deal with it.”

“I’m always right, aren’t I?”

Deidre faced the door, not at all prepared to see Gabriel. Dressed in black, he was an imposing figure, even in the cavernous room. She felt his pull from the distance. There was a flicker of warmth in his gaze as he teased Katie, and he almost seemed approachable without the bulky trench coat lined with weapons. Not that he wasn’t armed; he wore a few sheaths strapped to his body. He was dressed as he had been the night before.

She couldn’t remember seeing his chiseled features in full light without being drunk or terrified. With a low brow and piercing gaze, gravelly voice, a perfectly sculpted body and rugged features, Gabriel was the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now,” Katie said.

“Out, woman.”

“Fine. I’m two doors down, Deidre. Come find me later.”

Gabriel held the door open for Katie, who took the hint and walked out. Deidre’s gaze fell to his shapely shoulder, thick bicep and roped forearm as he extended one arm high enough for Katie to walk under. His hands were large, his palms flat. She crossed her arms, too aware of how close to the bed she stood. He regarded her for a long moment, as if assessing if she was going to run or cry, then closed the door.

“You’re in one piece,” he said after a tense silence.

“That’s something, I guess,” she replied.

“Rough day?”

“You could say that. Yours?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He lifted his chin towards the other side of the bedroom.

Gazing at the muscular man who freely admitted to killing for a living, Deidre couldn’t help thinking she never wanted to see something he couldn’t handle.

She turned where he indicated, noticing the double French doors for the first time. They led onto a balcony, but it was the eerie green glow beyond that caught her attention. Curious, Deidre crossed to the doors. She didn’t notice Gabriel follow and jumped as he leaned around her to open the door. His scent stirred her blood.

Stepping quickly onto the patio, she was able to make out the shapes of tall pine trees. The air was crisp and fresh, the night sky clear.

“What is it?” she asked, eyes on the green glow.

“Lost souls.”

Deidre gasped. “Are you serious?”

He nodded once.

“Did I do that, too?” she whispered, dismayed.

“Not directly.” Gabriel met her gaze. She felt the shift in him. He was guarded again.

“Never mind,” she replied, looking away fast.

“Who told you what exactly?”

“It scares me when you do that, Gabriel.”

There was a pause. He wiped his face and sat facing her on the edge of the balcony’s railing, arms folded across his chest and legs crossed at the ankle. He made an effort to relax.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded and moved forward to stand beside him, leaning her hips against the railing. It was too chilly for her to want to keep her distance from the incredibly attractive man. Immortal. Deity. She didn’t know what he was.

“Katie and Toby told me what they knew,” she replied. “That I was Death for a zillion years and that I fucked you over bad then ran off and became a human.”

“Sounds about right.”

“And that you hate me pretty bad,” she added. She was afraid to ask if it was true what they’d said about him always loving her despite what past-Deidre did.

“Hate is a strong word,” he said.

“You have a good reason to use it.”

“I don’t hate you, Deidre.”

“You don’t hate me, and I’m dying soon,” she said ruefully. “Well then, we’re on our way to happiness ever after.”

“It’s definitely complicated.”

Deidre laughed despite herself. His dark, dry humor left her entertained – and baffled. He was studying her.

“Thank you for not killing Wynn. Though in hindsight, I have no idea if that was good or not,” she said. “Did you know?”

“When I left you last night, I went to see him. Figured it was no coincidence that a mysterious man named after a dead-dead Immortal just happened to fall into the life of a former deity,” Gabriel replied.

“He’s helped me through a lot over the past few years.”

“He’s dangerous, Deidre.”

“You aren’t?”

“Not to you.”

“You kill people for a living and only get one mate for eternity that just happens to be someone who screwed you over for thousands of years who you can say with a straight face that at least you don’t hate her,” she summarized, aware of the hysteria creeping into her voice. “But you’re not a threat.”

Gabriel chuckled. “You want to know why I came by tonight?”

“Oh, god. Dare I ask?”

“You remember the two rules I gave you?”

“Yeah.”

“And the choice?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not walking away from me anymore than I will from you,” he said firmly.

“Katie said you’d figure that out,” Deidre murmured. “You really want to spend eternity with someone you resent?”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel. You’re my mate. I’m obligated by divine law to protect you.”

No reassurance he’d be able to get past their history, no expression of wanting to be with her. She wasn’t sure why she expected either from him, except that she still held half a hope that she might live beyond three months. She wasn’t spending an eternity miserable.

“That’s not good enough for me,” she heard herself saying.

“It will have to be,” he replied. “I won’t make the mistake I made with you before.”

She met his gaze, dreading his words.

“I’ll never let myself feel anything for you,” he said.

How did a proclamation from a virtual stranger hurt her more than anything anyone else had ever said? If he spoke with anger or frustration or anything other than the quiet, impassioned tone, she would’ve been able to handle the news better.

“I guess we’re both lucky I’ll be dead soon,” she returned.

“You won’t be. I will find a way to stop it, now that Wynn told me what’s wrong. In the meantime, I know how to slow the inevitable.”

“Because spending
eternity
with someone who hates me is better than leaping off a building how?” she snapped.

“Does it matter?” he returned, irritated. “You’ll find it hard to kill yourself when I’m the one who determines who lives and dies.”

“You’ve made your point, Gabriel.” She didn’t believe for one minute he was going to find a way to prevent her from dying in three months. But if she challenged him on this point, she saw him making it impossible for her to die on her own terms.

“My offer is good whether you expire in three months or an eternity. You can have everything I own, Deidre,” he said. “I won’t deny you my protection, assistance or my bed. It’s a better deal than you gave me the first time around.”

“I’ll take your word on that, since I don’t remember,” she said. “What do you expect from me?”

“Everything,” he said. “I want all of you. Mind, body, heart and soul.”

“And I get what? Your body? A fourth of you? That’s not the way a functional relationship works,” she said, anger building.

“It’s the way ours will.”

He was so calm, as if they were negotiating over a car and not eternity together. Deidre sought some flicker of warmth in his dark gaze and saw none. He was wearing his poker face. No part of her thought he was bluffing beneath it. He was accepting his obligation to her while shutting off everything but the physical side of him.

On the surface, what he offered her wasn’t bad. But she didn’t want to be in a loveless, emotionless relationship with anyone, especially one where she had no partner. With the bond between them all but shoving her into his arms, was it possible to deny their fates together for long?

After a week of knowing him, she already had to concentrate hard to resist leaning into him whenever he was around. She ached to feel his warm embrace, to sink into his dark spices and let him take her where he would. Their one night together made her feel alive, and his dark gaze alone was enough to make her body hot from the inside out.

If he felt the same, he gave no indication. He
wanted
her to surrender, because past-Deidre forced him to do the same. Eternity in such an unequal partnership wasn’t even worth considering.

“You and I have different takes on relationships,” she said at last. “I’m not interested in an
arrangement
with you.”

“Neither of us has a choice about being together. I’m simply choosing the terms.”

Deidre bit her tongue to keep from saying what she wanted to, mainly that a relationship consisted of two people, and she was not about to be one of them.

As if sensing her thought, Gabriel reached out to her. He cupped the back of her neck with one large hand, brushing his thumb along her cheek. His gaze dropped to her lips, and his thumb followed, grazing the sensitive skin.

Deidre’s body betrayed her, giving a full-form shudder at the rush of heat and energy. Her breath caught. She heard it and knew he did, too. It was so easy to agree and sink into his strength, let the scent of dark chocolate work its way into her skin as his hands moved over her. The idea of waking up to him each morning reminded her of how centered, energized and at peace she’d been after their first night together. She’d woken cradled in his arms. She could have that every night and morning. As long as she was willing to accept that was the only part of him she’d ever have.

No, easy was not something she was willing to accept, even if it meant caving to someone she craved, whose looks drove her crazy and whose touch made her feel more at home than she did in the mortal and Immortal worlds.