“I was expecting you sooner.”
Gabe emerged into the garden next to a southern style mansion. He was getting tired of surprises and men he didn’t want to see popping up to meet him. Wynn lounged in his seat at the garden table, an empty wine glass before him.
“You haven’t aged, Gabe,” Wynn added.
“You look pretty good for being dead-dead,” Gabe replied.
Wynn motioned to the chair across from him. A full wine glass sat in front of the seat. Gabe knew Deidre had been there; her scent lingered. He should’ve taken some satisfaction at the full glass of wine. The knowing look on Wynn’s face, however, made him realize the long dead-dead Immortal had figured things out.
“She’s charming this time around, isn’t she?” Wynn asked.
Gabe sat. She’d truly thought he was going to kill Wynn. Whatever step towards him she seemed to take this day, she’d leapt back about twenty. He’d drooled over her offer, after wrapping himself around her warm body.
“She is,” he replied. “She raised you before she crossed over?”
“Yes. Didn’t say why. Didn’t say anything at all, except welcome back,” Wynn said. “I figured it out when I rediscovered her in the human world a few years ago. I assume she knew she’d need something from me, except she had no idea who I was when we met again.”
“You can thank Fate for that one. Pretty sure he’s the only one among us who was able to out-manipulate her.”
“I like this Deidre. Sweet, gentle, trusting.”
Gabe bristled, aware of the quiet lethality of the Immortal before him. Wynn hadn’t been much better than Darkyn in his pursuit for power. The disaster that remained of the Immortal society and its Council was evidence.
“You always were a good pair.”
“Your involvement with her?” Gabe asked.
“Friendship.”
“Men like you don’t have friends.”
Wynn shrugged. “We don’t put all our cards on the table at once, either.”
Gabe assessed him. The same gleam was in Wynn’s eye that he remembered. The Immortal was planning something and intended to use Deidre to get it. Otherwise, he would’ve killed her after stumbling upon her years ago.
“It’s to your benefit to stay away from her,” Gabe said.
“I’m not the one you have to worry about. Of the two of us, she trusts me.”
“She also thinks I came to kill you.”
“We wouldn’t be talking, if my name was on your list,” Wynn said. “Very honorable of you to give her a choice of being with you after how she treated you all those years.”
Gabe was silent, emotionless. He’d been baited by many Immortals in his time and understood Wynn wanted to push his buttons. Deidre trusted Wynn enough to tell him everything. She’d likely never speak to Gabe again after this night. It burned him, but he had to put her safety over whatever he felt. The high road was his curse.
“But, she’s not the same person,” Wynn said when the attempt to provoke him failed. “Fate is not the only one you can thank for that. She’s learned to appreciate life and those around her, following a diagnosis of a terminal illness.”
“Is she really sick?”
“She wasn’t when I met her.” Wynn’s smile was cold. “Vengeance upon someone who has no idea what she’s done isn’t nearly as satisfactory, but it soothes the burn a little. As sweet as she is, I almost wish I’d given her something a little less lethal. How is that for her having the last laugh?”
Furious at the idea, Gabe began to wonder how the reincarnated Deidre made it this far without being slaughtered by one of her many enemies. Even Rhyn had a reason to hate the deity. That the skin around Wynn’s eyes relaxed in genuine warmth made Gabe realize she’d survived partially because she really was different. Innocent.
“What did you do to her?” Gabe asked in a level voice.
Wynn studied him for a moment then shrugged. “It’s irreparable. A mix of advanced medicine and magic. I intended for it to kill her over the course of a lifetime. I didn’t expect her to be …so different. Instead of a slow, fifty year death, it’ll be three years. I connected the tumor – which was completely operable – with magic to her emotions. Happiness causes her pain, the tumor to grow and eventually, death. I thought it fitting, given the amount of misery she caused men like us.”
“It’s irreparable, even with magic?”
“Completely. Remember that, the next time you make love to her. Pleasure kills, Gabriel.”
Despite the bitter words, there was regret on Wynn’s face. Wynn never cared for anyone. He killed his wives in cold blood after they gave birth to his sons, until he tangled with the demoness that was Rhyn’s mother. She’d slaughtered him. Deidre affected even this cold bastard, which made Gabe a little less resentful of how she made him feel.
“I’d like to see how … Death handles her,” Wynn continued.
“The same way I handle everything,” Gabe replied.
“It’s not that easy, as I discovered. If you want her tumor to slow its growth, you’ll ensure she’s unhappy,” Wynn advised. “I gave her three months, but it’s probably generous, given her sunny nature.”
“You’re a real piece of work, preying on someone like her,” Gabriel said. He wanted to snap the Ancient’s neck. “I know how you operate, Wynn. Whatever the rest of your plan is with her, it won’t work.”
“I know how devoted to the precious Code and your honor you are, Gabriel. I’m counting on it.”
Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do. The knowledge left him calmer than when he arrived. Wynn had missed the events of the past few thousand years, which meant the changes Gabe went through the past few months were mysteries to the Immortal.
“The Immortals haven’t discovered you,” Gabriel guessed.
“Not yet. I’ve been taking a breather from that life. I’ll show myself soon,” Wynn said, unconcerned. “What news do you have of my sons?”
“Dangerous question.”
Wynn leaned forward, interest on his face. “Do they hold the Council together?”
“Barely. Three of your sons are dead-dead,” Gabe said. “Andre, Kris and Sasha.”
“My Andre?” Wynn frowned, not expecting the news.
“Rhyn leads the Council.”
“The half-breed? I intended to have him killed, before his mother acted against me. Did he kill the others to take over the Council?”
“No. Sasha defected to the Dark One then killed Andre and was himself killed by a traitor. Past-Death took Kris,” Gabe summarized. “Rhyn is all that holds the Immortals together.”
Rare emotion went through the gaze of the Immortal before him. Gabe waited. Wynn was silent, pensive and troubled. For a moment, Gabe almost thought he cared for his sons.
“Yet she brought me back,” Wynn mused. “You know why, don’t you?”
“I’m not obligated to tell you.”
“Will you bargain? Your secret for mine? This is a game your predecessor played very well.”
“I have no need for your secrets,” Gabe replied.
“You will, when you realize what it is you don’t know yet.”
“I don’t play games, Wynn. I never have.”
“You know where to find me,” Wynn said, holding out his arms. He folded them behind his head. “Probably with your Deidre. Something tells me she’ll be back here soon.”
Summoning a portal, Gabriel stood and left.
He agreed silently with Wynn’s parting words but wasn’t certain what to do about it. If he admitted not to killing Wynn, she’d return immediately. If she believed Wynn dead, Gabe had time. Though he could track her easily, he wasn’t certain how to prevent her from using the portals. She was untraceable in the shadow world, until she emerged somewhere else. All it took was a few seconds for her to fall under Wynn’s influence. The Immortal knew as much as Gabe about the portals and how to evade those who followed.
One thing was certain: he had to ta
lk to Rhyn fast. It wasn’t Death’s duty to track a rogue Immortal like Wynn, but he had a need to ensure the right person did.
In the meantime, he had to come up with a plan to make Deidre miserable. Gabriel’s step through the shadow world slowed. It was getting more difficult to keep his distance from his mate, and he hated knowing he’d have to hurt her emotionally to prevent the tumor from growing too fast. If what Wynn said was true, Gabriel needed as much time as he could find to figure out how to save her.
Because he wanted her to live. Gabriel dwelled on the idea with the same irony that made Wynn regret his vengeance. Urgency filled him at the thought of finding a way to save the woman he might’ve killed a few days ago. Reconciling past-Deidre and human Deidre was enough to give him a headache. How was it possible they looked exactly alike, yet were so different? Would the Deidre that was his mate snap one day and turn into the goddess he remembered?
It didn’t matter, if she died in a few weeks. Stymieing her sunny nature now was a small sacrifice compared to seeing it snuffed forever. He had to figure out a way to do it in a way he was able to recover from, if she survived.