"I can't believe this is happening." Deidre rubbed her face.
"Tell me about it." Katie was glaring at Toby, who grinned.
Their nonverbal exchange made Deidre smile. She liked Katie and Toby. The history they related to her, however, left her wanting to cry. No wonder Gabe hated her one day and tried hard to tolerate her the next. He was stuck with her by their laws, a daily reminder of someone who used to hurt him. If he was half the man they believed him to be - and if she was half as bad as these two related to her - he'd resent her for the rest of their lives. Being Immortal, that meant pretty much forever.
She didn't want to live with someone like Logan, who resented her for something she couldn't control. She wasn't going to be some sort of obligation to someone who stuck around because he had to. It left her depressed, when she wanted to be happy the last few months of her life.
The strange Immortal world was so unwelcoming. Her brain tumor never seemed like a blessing before now.
"Are you okay?" Katie asked.
"Not really," Deidre admitted.
"We can give you an angel," Toby relented.
"What is this angel stuff?" she demanded.
"Toby is a guardian angel. They're assigned to human mothers," Katie explained. "He's the one who dragged me into this whole mess with Immortals."
"You mean those little kids are angels? Real live angels?"
"Yes!" Toby beamed. "They're too young to take care of humans yet, so humans have to take care of them. Death … you used to take care of the really old angels, and Gabe visited the little ones all the time. Rhyn is supposed to find the basement angels new homes."
Angels almost made sense. More sense than the idea she was a deity for thousands of years.
"I don't think I can handle a basement angel," she said. "You'd have to find them a new home in a few months anyway, when I die."
"Die?" Katie echoed.
"She has a brain tumor," Toby said. "It's huge."
"You can't die. Gabe won't let you."
"The alternative is that it keeps growing and I turn into a vegetable," Deidre said. "So, yeah, that's not happening."
"Does he know?"
"Yes."
Katie waited for more. Deidre didn't know what else to say. Toby looked thoughtful.
"I guess at least he'll be able to get a new mate in a few months. Then he won't be stuck with someone he hates," Deidre added, comforted by the thought.
"Um, no," Katie said. "Immortals only get one their whole lives, even if they live for a million years."