She pulled back, searching out every feature, and finding no telltale inaccuracy, shook her head. “You were dying. And then Angeline came and offered a bargain for your life if I were to give my own.”
“I know. And I’m royally pissed that you would even think to take such a bargain.”
She stilled, wondering if this was the sign that this was not at all reaclass="underline" He’d given no flicker of pain at the mention of Angeline’s name.
A Paladin never stops grieving for a lost mate.
She pressed out tentatively with her mind. Nothing in the room. Nor the mansion. Besides, wouldn’t she feel if Christos had any control on her still? Even he had difficulty hiding the evil within the lie.
“I don’t understand,” she said carefully, still not convinced this wasn’t some sort of sick joke.
Valin shook his head, making a garbled noise that sounded like a combination of frustration and disbelief. “She was right; you are as much a stubborn fool as I am.”
“What are you—” she started to question, but he cut her off.
“You’re my bond mate, Gabby. Angeline was only my pair mate.”
“Pair mate?”
He nodded. “Compatibility pairing. Friends. Best friends even. And I do miss Angeline, shall always miss her and my unborn child. But you are of my heart. The soul to complete my own. And though I may miss them, it’s you I need.”
Her mind reeled, hope trying to blossom through the thick fog of disbelief. “But the bargain?”
“You’re not the only one who can bargain.”
No shit, but if those in charge had gone with his, then why was he here? Not that she’d argue, but…She narrowed her eyes. “What did you bargain for?”
“I just pointed out that He needs warriors. But I also told him I wouldn’t come back without my mate. Of course, my mate had already stupidly bargained away her own life so there was only one thing to do.”
Her heart hammered. Here it was, the sucker punch. “What’s that?”
He tipped his head, stroking her cheek. “How do you feel, Gabby?”
She thought about it, mentally checking each part of her body. Relatively whole, considering she’d been blasted with His light. In fact, she didn’t even ache much and…she glanced down, gasping at the sight of the white gown that clung to her clean skin. No blood, no wounds; in fact, the only thing to mar its smooth lines was the bulge along one of her thighs.
“How?” Feeling as if she were poking at a scorpion, she gingerly fingered the lump through the thin material—her hand closing around the object she already knew was there.
“This can’t be right.” She lifted her gaze to Valin’s, her heart thumping again at the simple pleasure of seeing the familiar mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Oh it’s right. Welcome to the club, cookie.”
She shook her head, unable to comprehend or believe. How could she know this was real?
“Go ahead, test it out.”
Well, she supposed that was one way.
Taking a deep breath she pulled the knife from the holder on her thigh, lifting the jewel-encrusted weapon before her face. It was a curved blade, symbols etched into the blade itself. And when she blew out a breath, thinking of the serenity that had embraced her after the purging, energy throbbed through the blade, the glow of His light pulsing in rhythm with the one that lay on the floor beside them.
Her gaze flew to Valin’s. His mouth curled up in a broad grin. He leaned close, his words but a warm whisper across the side of her face. “Smile, Gabby. This is a happy moment, don’t you think?”
Her lips curved upward, but stopped partway there. Something was different. Very much so. Practically hyperventilating, she rubbed her tongue over her front teeth. Her hand snapped over her mouth.
“Holy crap,” she said, the exclamation muffled by her hand. She felt her teeth, the evenness of them. “But I’m not…I didn’t actually die, did I?”
He shook his head. “Technically, neither of us did.”
“You didn’t? Because, uh, you seemed pretty dead to me.” No heartbeat. For what? Four? Five minutes?
“I tried to make a bargain, but He didn’t much like it and kept me waiting while He sent Angeline to see if He had a better one…yours, to be precise.”
“But I had nothing to give, nothing but my life.”
“Oh Gabby, you’re so wrong.” He pushed a lock of hair back from her face, his bourbon eyes deepening with emotion as he looked into hers. “Luckily He’s smarter than the both of us combined.”
“So He took my life and made me a warrior?”
“You’re still you, Gabby, warrior or not. But you’d bargained a life for mine. You just didn’t specify which life, so He made an executive decision.”
“Which life?”
“Your Paladin life, your life as a succubus, or your one as a vampire. Guess He picked to get rid of the life that had tainted you with the most darkness.”
As if his words called to it, darkness edged in against the halo of light cast by the blades, memories both new and old tumbling through her mind.
“Oh, baby.” Valin reached for her, his despair flooding her from across their bond. And wow, that was going to take some getting used to. This mate bond thing was far more intense than a simple blood bond.
“I’m sorry those couldn’t be taken from you too,” he said. “Sorry you ever had to go through that.”
She wasn’t. Not when those horrors had led to this moment. To them. She would not let those memories hurt him through their bond though, their mate bond. Ruthlessly she cut the streaming feed of horror off, wrangling them up into one ranging bonfire. But old habits, or in this case nightmares, died hard, and she needed something to smother all that hate and pain, to replace those emotions and shut those memories away for good.
She grabbed his shirt, pulling him close enough to smash her lips against his. He growled, his arms tightening around her back as he, too, sought to get closer. Yes, this is what she needed. His mouth on hers. His hands touching her. His mind caressing hers. And his soul…Light engulfed them, a great sense of peace taking over as their passion burned away the remaining darkness.
When they were both breathless, she pulled away, knowing now that she was going to be okay. No, better—she was finally free. This—a Paladin—was who she’d always been meant to be. And though the journey to now had frankly sucked, both dark and light had been needed to get her to this point.
Her smile faded, her gaze taking in the residual horror of the room. Darkness still lay like a blight here and would for so long as the man responsible lived. “Christos and his followers are still alive.”
“Does it matter?” Valin asked. She could feel his concern and knew that he worried that what Christos had done to her still affected her, that she still might lose sight of the important things in life while searching for her revenge.
“No. Not in the way you mean.” She shook her head, tipping it up to his. “Christos can’t touch me anymore. Not when I’m with you.”
He pushed back a tendril of hair, his dark eyes hot on hers. “You’ll always be with me. Now that I’ve found you, there is no way I’m letting you go.”
She raised her brow, wondering if she should sucker punch him again. “You sound kind of possessive, don’t you?”
“I am possessive. You’re mine, Gabby. My heart, my lover, and my partner.”