"I know that," she replied. "He didn't hesitate to claim me once the marking appeared."
"Are you okay?" Rhyn's voice carried genuine concern.
"Sort of," she said. "He didn't hurt me, if that's what you're asking."
Rhyn didn't look convinced.
"I'm, uh …" she swallowed, tears blurring her vision. "Scared. Horrified. A demon."
"Yeah, there's no reversing that."
"Really?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"I guess I know that," she whispered. "He's determined to keep me."
"I see that. The good thing is that he can't hurt you now. The blood bond between demons is to ensure one of them doesn't get too hungry and bleed the other dry."
"Good to know," she mumbled. "He hasn't hurt me yet. But he doesn't lose, does he?"
Rhyn shook his head. "For someone like him … he never even bowed down to the Dark One. The bond creates more than dependency; it gives you a helluva lot of influence over him."
"I don't see it," she said with a snort.
"Trust me. The mating bond alone makes it easy for a woman to control her mate. Add a blood bond to it? You become the only person in the universe that can influence him. The other deities can't even do that."
She frowned. She didn't see that happening. Darkyn was always too far ahead of her, twisting her into knots to keep her in place.
"Talk," Rhyn ordered. He threw himself down in the seat across from her.
"Well…" Deidre sighed, sorting through her thoughts. She met his gaze, uncertain what to tell him.
"Gabriel doesn't know," he guessed and sat back.
"Not yet. At least, I don't think he does. There's a deal on the table," she explained, mind on Past-Death. "I'll start from the beginning. I, uh, made a deal with Darkyn a few days ago for him to remove my brain tumor. It seemed simple enough. He saves my life. In exchange, he keeps the tumor."
"But that didn't make you his mate."
"Indirectly it did. The tumor in my head had a soul in it. Past-Death's soul," Deidre continued. Her throat tightened as she spoke. "I guess she made a deal with Darkyn. He brought her back, and she gave him me."
Rhyn growled low in his chest.
"I made her a deal that expires in four days, thinking I could reverse the bond. I gave her a week to make Gabriel fall in love with her, or I get her soul. I thought if she was gone, the bond would reverse, return me to Gabriel," she said. "Darkyn calls the blood bond his insurance for when I win. I can't go back to Gabriel, even if I do win."