"Something like you kidnapping me, killing me and claiming my soul?" she challenged.
"It has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?"
"Except your mate would get my soul, not you."
"Because she bears you less ill will than I do?" Darkyn responded. "Because you didn't dump her in Hell with the most violent demon in Hell?"
Deidre said nothing. She never realized how easily he read those around him until he was throwing her thoughts into her face. Human Deidre was probably terrified, a bloody mess who would do whatever Darkyn told her at the end of the week in exchange for him sparing her more pain.
"I can summon her," she said suddenly. "What makes you think I won't tell Gabe, summon her and he'll claim her?" At least, she could when Gabriel let her access the portals again.
"Insurance."
Deidre frowned, confused. Darkyn wasn't afraid of anything she might do. She didn't understand exactly why, except that Gabe was locked out of the underworld. Even if they got human-Deidre away from Darkyn, Darkyn could find and reclaim her anywhere she was hidden, outside of Death's underworld.
"By the end of the week, she won't want Gabriel anyway. You'll be stuck with your mess and no soul," he said.
Her eyes widened. "That I'd almost make a deal about. Unless you're using magic on her, there's no way any woman - Immortal, deity or human - would ever choose to stay with you."
The demon lord bristled visibly for a split second, long enough to tell her she hit a nerve.
"We'll see, won't we?" he asked, relaxing. "Fortunately, I'm not the one with my soul on the line."
Deidre studied him, unable to determine what was going on with him and the human he'd kept in Hell. Human-Deidre was alive, if nothing else. Darkyn spoke as if he intended for her to remain that way, at least through the end of the deal.
What condition Darkyn's mate was in was not something past-Death wanted to think about. It made her feel ill.
"A visit to Gabriel seems to be in order," Darkyn said. "You're fucking up fine, but … sometimes it pays to be doubly sure."
"No, don't," she said, gritting her teeth. "You think I won't tell him. You're wrong."
"Am I?"
She was quiet for a moment, grappling with emotions that kept clouding her judgment. It was dangerous to deal with Darkyn when emotional.
"You will do the opposite of what the human you created would," Darkyn said. "Perhaps you belong in Hell, not her."
She flushed.
"When you want to deal, summon me. Otherwise, don't waste my time." The demon lord strode into a portal, leaving her angry and no closer to alleviating her remorse.