Darkyn's Mate (#3, Rhyn Eternal) Read Online Free Page B

Darkyn was no
doubt a fever dream, one that caused distant alarm despite her
illness.
    Exhausted, her eyes fluttered closed. Deidre
stopped fighting her body’s cry for sleep and fell into a deep,
dark slumber.
     
     
     
     

Day Two

Chapter Two

     
    Deidre awoke alone and naked in bed. Her
head hurt, and she felt grimy from the night sweats. The night was
a blur in her mind, a combination of strange, fuzzy dreams about
blood and tossing and turning from the horrible fever. She
remembered touching Darkyn’s chest and feeling aroused by the idea
of his hands on her. From there, the night was a blurry fever
dream. She’d dreamt of sleeping with Darkyn. Just the thought made
her head hurt worse. The dread and guilt at the pit of her stomach
were countered by the confusion of knowing that she’d fallen into
the grip of the Immortal laws first with Gabriel then with
Darkyn.
    Was any of what she felt real?
    Was Darkyn or Fate right about what was
supposed to happen?
    She was so hungry! Distraught, she rolled
over to find the first surprise of the day on the block of stone
that acted as a nightstand: an obsidian tray of fruit and fresh
pastries. The scents made her stomach roar to life.
    Hell had a magic library. Did it have a
magic bakery, too?
    Unable to dwell on how Hell knew what she
liked for breakfast, she wolfed down the pastries and a banana
before crossing to the bathroom for a shower. She scrubbed herself
down, angry at the Immortals as a whole for tolerating a system
that screwed over their mates and eliminated free will. Darkyn’s
assertions about her destiny being with him left her in a foul
mood.
    The Dark One was not capable of a healthy
relationship. Gabriel had been, and she was furious at herself for
not taking him more seriously and for choosing to accept Darkyn’s
deal instead of taking a chance with Gabriel. If Gabriel had killed
her while trying to save her, he’d kill the soul in her head, too,
the one that damned Deidre to Hell. All of this would’ve been
avoided.
    She hadn’t been ready to die, though. Did it
make her a bad person for wanting the best chance at life? She
hadn’t thought so, but then again, she never expected to end up in
Hell.
    Unwritten
terms , Darkyn called them. The ones only
he knew that let him win.
    Maybe Zamon had answers. He might at least
explain what these laws were that condemned her to Darkyn. She
didn’t believe that her bet with Past-Death wouldn’t make a
difference. If Past-Death being dead had rendered Deidre the mate
of Gabriel, why wouldn’t it work again, once Deidre won their
deal?
    “I feel like crap,” she muttered and rested
her forehead against the black stone wall of the shower. The water
was hot and the water pressure brutal. It helped wake her up
without completely lifting the fog of a fever that had been present
since yesterday.
    Darkyn’s amusement at the deal made her
shudder. She had to figure out what she was missing fast and how
permanent it was to be an Immortal mate.
    Deidre turned off the shower, some semblance
of a plan comforting her. She dressed then went through the motions
of brushing her teeth and dressing without the aid of a mirror,
irritated that the only mirror in the bedroom was in the inside
door of the wardrobe. She wiped the last of the toothpaste from her
mouth and glanced down. Blood bubbled from the cut on her index
finger. She stuck it in her mouth and cut it again. The wounds
healed almost instantly.
    Puzzled, she studied her finger, not
understanding what was cutting it. She had no old wounds she was
reopening. She ran her tongue across her gums again and froze.
    Deidre whipped the door open, ignoring the
sting of her wet hair against her shoulders. The dress shifted
around her as she hurried to the wardrobe. She pushed open the door
with the mirror and stared. Petite, white, pointed fangs extended
from her upper gums to rest on her plump lower lip.
    “No, no, no,” she whispered and pushed at
the teeth with a