My baby? My magick? Bastien? Everything?
Gorrath shook his head. Hands raised in the air. Mouth full, he said, “I didn’t. I swear, I didn’t.” Desperate, he turned to Damien. “Tell her I didn’t know.”
“He didn’t know,” Damien affirmed. “These are my rules for immortality.”
Gorrath swallowed down his large chunk of meat, eyes locked with mine. “There’s gotta be another way.” Then he snapped his fingers. “Could she trade immortality for her mortal life back?”
My breath was caged in my chest. Yes. I would tradeanything, anything to have my life back. Immortality was nothing if I couldn’t have him.
Damien tapped his lip in thought. “That is a possibility,” he finally said. “Yes, I think I could make that work. A trade then. Her gift of immortality in exchange for her mortal life.”
I rose and extended my hand. “Agreed. Take my immortality and give me my life back.”
Damien arched a dark brow. “So quick to give up forever just for some magick and a mate? If you went back as a vampire, you’d feel just as passionately about someone else.”
He might be a god, but he knew nothing about love. “Respectfully, no I wouldn’t.”
Damien stood as well and shook my hand. “Then we have a deal.”
A sense of relief washed over me once again. I wouldn’t be immortal. But I would have one life with Bastien. One good life. Until, of course, I was reborn, and we’d be able to find each other again. This time, Bastien wouldn’t hesitate to search for me once his bloodstone indicated I’d been born.
“Should we drink, then?” Damien asked, nodding to the goblet placed before me. “To your good health.”
I lifted my glass to theirs and then took a sip. It was the most delicious wine I’d ever tasted. I savored the flavor, then set the glass back down. Anxious excitement to return to Bastien was collecting in my chest.
“There’s someone who asked to see you before you leave,” Gorrath said. He waved, and a set of doors opened. For a moment I didn’t understand what I was looking at. Then all at once, I did.
Devlinn.
He was whole and well. Not a speck of rot to be seen. I opened my mouth to scream, to sob, to say his name, but nothing came out. My body moved before my mind couldcatch up. I crossed the black marble floor in a blur and collided with him, my arms locking around his shoulders as if he might disappear.
“It’s good to see you too, Claire,” he said with his familiar dry humor.
“I’m sorry,” I choked. “I’m so sorry.”
He pulled back just enough to look at me. “Sorry for what?”
“For everything,” I said. “For Mellie. For pushing her. For not stopping it. For not being fast enough?—”
“Claire.” His hand came up to cup my cheek, steadying me. “Don’t you dare be sorry. We all die.” He smiled, and I tried to smile back at him. “Listen, I don’t have much time. But can you tell Tansy something for me?” I nodded. “Tell her that I love her laugh. It’s the thing that made me fall in love with her. And that I don’t want this to be the reason why she stops laughing.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “Of course I’ll tell her that.”
“And don’t butcher my funeral.” A grin pulled on his lips. “I want all the honors. Hero of heroes.”
A broken laugh tore out of me. “I already miss you.”
Carefully, he kissed the top of my head. “Me too. But we’ll see each other again.”
Then he was just gone. One second, I was holding on to him, the next he vanished. The doors closed and I was left with the emotions his absence left behind.
“You should be going too,” Damien said. “If you open that door just over there, I think you’ll find your way back.”
I glanced in the direction he was pointing, and found a golden door was being etched onto the black walls.
“You better hurry before I convince you to stay,” Gorrath quipped. “I know how much you like me.” I pursed my lips and the demon snorted out a laugh, but the humor quickly evaporated. “If you ever need me, you know how to reach me.”
I offered him a real smile. Then I headed for the gold door. Just before I seized the handle, I stopped. There was one thing I wanted to ask Damien. Something that I needed to know. “Whatever happened to your daughters? Where did they go?”
