Page 45 of Once Upon a Demon’s Heart

PLUTO

The dark water in the pools surrounding my throne reflect a story of sorrow and love. A confession of a demon’s sins.

Lounging in my throne, I lean against my fist as I gaze into the pools. A cruel grin lifts the corner of my lips. “Kalel, what a mess you’ve made for yourself.”

I tap my long finger against the stone armrest. If Venus hadn't sent him that wisp to try to stop the attack on Thornhall, her only daughter would’ve died the first time he had slain her in Alzhor.

Venus’ wisp showed him a specific knight to put his rage toward.

I chuckle at her risky move. To show her daughter to a monster like him, a monster I helped create, was a bold move in the least.

Was it luck? Or did the goddess have a fate that prophesied a way to keep her daughter alive? Lovely Venus. Her heart is pure. I fear that her empathy rubbed off on me long ago.

My eyes narrow with a wry grin as I move a chess piece across the game board.

I tried to give the silver godling a clue. Every demigod should know that any being cold to their touch is evidence of a curse they’ve placed on you. Once the curse is lifted, they are warm once more.

Hmm. Although I suppose King Borlin did burn most of their history books. And what with there being so few of them left, how could such a foolish girl know any better? Being assigned as a knight too, she’d never had a chance to learn the way of curses.

Pity.

I tsk . Enamored with their longing for each other, nonetheless. As opposite as they are, their attraction is magnetic. Alluring.

It was by chance that I happened to be watching the night he was slain. An act as terrible as what unfolded that night was enough to garner even Jupiter’s eye.

I connected with the pain that flashed in that boy’s eyes as he was slain for merely existing. A compulsion tugged on my heart to save him.

But unlike the gods in the sky, I require a prayer from one with holy blood to keep a soul from entering the Gates of Mortem.

So, when I watched that young demigod girl weep over his body and cry out to the divine beings who abandoned them, I answered her call.

Once upon a demon’s heart, it was done—only written in gilded blood can it be undone.

The story will continue in book 2:

Once Written in Gilded Blood