Rhyn's Redemption Excerpt #2

Muwahahahaha … er, I mean, I hope you enjoy this excerpt. Same notes as before: excerpt contains profanity and hasn't been edited by the lovely Christine yet, so ignore my abuse of grammar for now. "Rhyn's Redemption" will be available next weekend on BN, Amazon (US and UK), iTunes (all stores), and Smashwords! Those on my mailing list will receive an email as soon as it's out. To sign up for the mailing list, click here.

I've had tons of people leave comments/send emails the past week.  Now that revisions on Redemption are done (and Christine has it!) I'll work on catching up the next couple of days! Sorry for the delay!

Excerpt from "Rhyn's Redemption" (Book III, Rhyn Trilogy)

"Darkyn won this round," Death said.

"What did you do with Katie?" Rhyn demanded. A quick look around the chamber in Death's palace revealed no sign of his mate.

"You led him here, Rhyn, a sin made worse by the fact my own weakness made my domain vulnerable," she continued. "But, I'm going to remedy this."

"I don't give a shit!  Where – "

Death held out two small emeralds – the form souls took when mortals and immortals died-dead. Rhyn's breath left him.  She snapped them back up in her hand and put them in her pocket.

"You swore you'd free her!" he whispered, stricken.

"I can give her back to you," Death said slowly. "But it means this." She held out her hand again.  A hologram-like image appeared in her hand.

Rhyn saw the demons pouring from the skies over major cities in the mortal world. He turned away, not wanting to care about the cost of getting his mate back.

"Look at it!" Death commanded.

His body obeyed her, and he found himself struggling against himself not to turn around.  Death won the fight for his body, and he watched. Demons slaughtered humans and immortals alike, razing the mortal world.

"This happened once before, long ago," Death said and held out her other hand. "Gabe remembers.  This is when I found him."

Rhyn saw the young man he assumed was Gabriel fighting demons appear in the image in her other hand.

"It was stopped by the Dark One, who knew what I'd do if he didn't stop it," she said.  "Darkyn led this assault without the Dark One's permission.  He was banished deep into Hell.  This time, I can do nothing, and they know it.  If you ask me, I will give Katie and your child back to you.  The price will be this." She held up the hand holding the scenes of demons destroying the mortal world.

Protect what's left of good in the world.

Rhyn gripped and released the dagger, struggling between the tiny voice that reminded him of his promise to Katie and the vision before him.  If he took back his mate and child, there would be nowhere safe for them to go.  But he didn't want to live eternity without her.

"Rhyn … " Kris murmured. "You have a duty to protect all mortals, not just one."

"Will you take my soul in exchange for Katie's?" Rhyn asked.

"If she were alive, that might work.  Once I claim a soul, the price climbs.  And in this case, the price is beyond my control," Death answered.

Rhyn stared at the scenes playing out in Death's outstretched hands.  His heart grew heavy as he watched demons kill humans by the hundreds.  The promise he'd made to keep Katie happy made him feel sick, and duty would never fill the hollow part of him that would remain during a lifetime without his mate.

"Choose, demon," Death ordered him. "Your mate or the fate of humanity."

Maybe Katie had known this was how it would end when they'd last met in his dream.  Maybe this was his penance for being what he was.  Rhyn didn't know, but he knew he couldn't choose his own interests over those of humanity.

"Is she safe and happy?" he asked.

"She is," Death answered. "I made certain of that."

"As much as I love her, I can't condemn her kind to the demons."

Available weekend of March 23rd.