He regards me thoughtfully. “I would, because I love you, and you are important to me. You love her, and she is important to you. She is your family. Therefore, she is important to me.”
“What do I…” I pause. “How do I tell her… What do I say?”
“Only you can determine that,” he replies. “You know her best. You know what she can handle. What she’ll believe. But you must be prepared to walk away from her.”
“Walk…away?”
He nods somberly. “Our life is unique. We do not operate by the same set of rules as humans do.”
I smirk. “Am I not a human?”
But Gaderel’s face remains serious. “You are a wholly unique creature, Sazahn. I’m not sure there is anyone else like you in existence. A human infused with the blood of a creature borne of Heaven but cast into Hell. The closest species would be a halfling, but even then, that doesn’t fit.”
“What’s a halfling?”
“It’s a person who is half human, half demon,” he says. “But they’re born that way, not made.”
“Vampire?” I tease. “I do drink your blood, after all.”
Now he smiles. “No, you would require a brand-new term. A human who is part demon and angel both.”
“Am I still…mortal?” I ask.
“I believe so,” he says, touching my cheek. “But you now have an arrested aging process. You will likely live well past one hundred. You will look as you do now for many years.”
The idea of possibly growing old while Gaderel remains young is something that has crossed my mind more than a few times, though the vanity of it shames me. But it’s not just about looks; I can’t imagine flying in his arms, trekking across the world, hunting the truly evil with a body that is only getting slower, weaker.
“You’re immortal.”
“I am,” he says. “But not invincible.”
“You can…” I swallow. “You can be killed?”
He smiles at my concern. “Yes, but believe me when I tell you that it won’t be an easy feat. I’ve survived countless millennia, and I’ve angered both Heaven and Hell many, many times. Yet, I’m still standing.”
“Could I become immortal?” I ask quietly. “Can you make me immortal?”
“To be honest, my love, I don’t know for sure, but that goes back to your uniqueness,” he replies. “As far as I know, there’s never been anyone like you before. Most humans can’t withstand our blood—demons’ or angels’. You’ve not only withstood it, but you’ve thrived on it. Yet, you still have human needs. You still need real food, water, sleep. There’s quite a lot to learn about you.”
“I want to spend forever with you figuring it out,” I blurt.
The flames in his eyes flare, and he pulls me down to kiss me gently. “I will do my very best to give you forever, Sazahn. But at the very least, you will have a long, long life with me.”
“A couple hundred years goes by fast,” I say, a bit glum. “Compared to someone who’s been alive for ‘countless millennia.’”
“Let’s focus on the here and now instead of what’s to come. We have plenty of time to figure it out.”
I nod slowly. “I want to do it. Tomorrow night.”
Gaderel smiles. “Tomorrow night it is.”