Page 15

Chapter 15

Haden

I knew I was being followed, but I wasn’t sure why. Sure enough, when I looked behind me, I saw Kira’s father, Barron, trying to sneak up on me. His burly form stood on the pathway with his two little henchmen. His eyes narrowed on me as if I had done something to offend him. Why was he watching me like that? I hurried to sell my handful of vegetables so I could buy my twin sister, Remy, new boots that would actually fit her.

My face was black and blue from the beating my father gave me last evening, and I knew I looked like shit, but my eyes narrowed on the old prick who was gawking at me. It was nothing new to see me beaten to a pulp. Everyone in the village of Raynor knew my father was abusive, and no one cared.

“What are you looking at?” I glared.

The whole village had been watching me a bit closer these last few weeks. They all stared at me like I was a fucking freak because of a woman I had seen twice. I knew Kira had told the entire village that I was crazy, but she didn’t know the half of it. The old man bought my vegetables for half of what he normally did, but I did not have any power to bargain for more.

Asshole.

When I glanced around the street full of fae, I hoped to see her—the woman with star-like eyes that had smiled so freely at me. The only woman who made me wonder what it would be like to have their attention. But she had disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared. I could feel her close by, though. I didn’t know how I knew it was her, but I did, and I wished she would stop hiding and show me her pretty face again.

As I glanced around, I noticed darkness falling and felt an urgency to get home before something bad happened. Bad things always happened at night. So, I looked at the ground and hurried up the path toward my home, hoping to make it there without any sort of confrontation. My feet slowed when I felt her presence again. Hope coiled inside of my chest, making a tugging sensation more noticeable. Turning around to see if she was watching, I was met with nothing.

“I know you’re there,” I said, hoping she would appear. "Are you ever going to show me your face again?"

Disappointment filled me when she didn’t appear. I started moving up the dirt path again, only to be suddenly cut off by Kira’s father.

He stood with two men, one flanking each side of him, wearing clothing that was worth more than my entire house. I went to walk around him, but he stopped me by grabbing my shoulder. I didn’t like being touched, so I stepped away from him.

“Where’s your father?” Barron asked.

“Did you check the tavern? He practically lives there,” I said.

“It's the first place we checked. Galen has been giving us the runaround.”

“Well, I don’t know where he is.”

I tried to get around him, but he stepped into my path again. Okay, I was getting fucking annoyed. Glaring up at his chubby face, his blue eyes narrowed on me.

“He owes me a lot of money.”

“You and half the village. I don’t know why you’re talking to me about his business.”

The men chuckled humorlessly. Barron grabbed me by the shirt collar, yanking me toward himself, ripping my small pocket open, and taking the money I earned for Remy’s boots.

“This will buy him a few days, but you better tell him I expect a payment.”

“That is my money.”

He shrugged. His red hair swayed with the movement. I could feel my anger bubbling up. Remy needed new boots. Kira’s father was making a very big mistake right now. He didn’t know it, but his next words would determine if he lived or died tonight.

“You're his son; you can help pay it off.”

“The fuck I will. That bastard can pay off his own shit; I will not be responsible for his stupid ideas. Give me my money back now, or you’ll fucking regret it.”

The two men with him looked at me like I was an idiot.

“You can either give us this money, or we will take payment a different way.” The way he said it put me on high alert. What did he mean by that? Before I could ask, he smiled.

“Your sister is pretty. I’m sure we could work out an arrangement.”

Disgust filled me. I guess he was dying tonight.

“Take the money,” I demanded.

“That’s what I thought. But maybe I will offer that deal to your father, since you pissed me off. Gods know, he would probably agree to it.”

“If you even look at Remy, I will rip your eyes out and make you eat them.”

Without warning, Barron punched me in the face, making me fall to the ground. I didn’t fight back. It wasn’t the right time, but soon he would feel my wrath. Barron and the two men with him laughed as they walked around me and headed up the street.

I watched them, imagining all the ways I would hurt them. Lightning scattered across the sky, and instinctively I looked for the woman. My violent storm. It had been a clear day, but this storm had come out of nowhere. I didn’t see her, so I stood and headed home, no longer hurrying. I was late, and now I knew what would be waiting for me when I got there.

When I saw my shitty home, I glanced around, hoping that woman wasn’t watching me from anywhere. I would die of embarrassment if she saw that our house was missing parts of the roof and the wood on the sides was crumbling away. One day, I would build myself a house that felt like a home.

Taking a deep breath, I headed inside only to be instantly met with a sucker punch to the stomach by my father. I fell to my knees and tried to take a breath in, but it was useless. I was on the ground gasping for air when he backhanded me. My head snapped to the side at the impact.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he sneered.

“Barron stopped me and demanded that you pay your debt.”

My mother was in the kitchen, staring out the window. She didn’t do or say anything to help me. She never did.

“Well, you’re old enough to start helping with household bills.”

I clenched my fists. My eyes were changing color as my frost magic desperately tried to explode from me.

“What’s wrong, boy?” My father taunted me. “I can see it in your eyes; you have something to say, so say it.”

I said nothing.

I never did.

“For once since you’ve been born, you’ll be useful for something.” He smiled. His eyes traveled over the frost clinging to my fists. “Disgusting elitist.”

His words didn’t hurt me as much as he had hoped. When you hear the same things your whole life, you start to see the truth of them, and I was under no impression that I was worth anything to anyone but Remy.

“Get out of my face,” he spat at me.

I stood and went to my bedroom, which was basically a closet with a small window. Shutting the door, I moved my dresser in front of it so he couldn’t get in later when he was drunk beyond reason. I began pacing back and forth in the small space. Rage was consuming me, and I tried with everything inside of me to control myself because I knew what would happen.

The village had practically shunned me when I developed my elite magic, but they didn’t know that there was something much more sinister that lived inside of me. Another side of me that was pissed off all the time. The void loved to come out and take care of all of my problems. He would come out tonight and take care of Barron; I knew he would. The words of both Barron and my father were enough to make me lose control. Running my fingers through my hair, I knew I needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret.

Not even Remy knew what happened to me when I became this angry. She would think I was a monster. No one would love a monster like me.

I climbed out of my window and quickly ran to the woods. The shift was quick. I normally felt too much of everything, but when this…other side of my personality took over, I felt… void. It was like another person stepped into my mind and took over, someone more… deadly.

When I was him, I did not think about the consequences of my actions, I did not have a moral compass, and I did not fear anything. I was dangerous. The shiver that ran up my spine every time this void took over was the only indication that I was given of the coming change. And no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t control who I became. Because once he was in control, I was pushed deep in the depths of myself, unaware of what was happening.

It was like he was protecting me from remembering the horrible things he did. I didn't mind because he would share important things with me when needed.

In a flash, I was no longer running scared. My feet slowed, and the emotions that filled me disappeared and drifted away. My gaze lingered on the town and the firelight flickering in the windows as night fell completely. Glancing up at the moon, I smiled; tonight would be a good night to kill a man…or three. With that thought, I headed into town to find Barron and the two men who dared to threaten Remy. Kira’s family owned one of the biggest homes in the village, which made it easy to find. My grin turned wicked as I quickly made my way there.

Barron answered the door at my banging and glared at me. I could see the confusion in his eyes as he looked me over, trying to figure out what was different about me. He wouldn't know until it was too late.

“I have the money my father owes you,” I lied.

“Give it and go,” he snapped.

“I’m not an idiot. I didn’t bring it with me. I have a hiding spot. If you want it, you’ll come get it.”

His blue eyes lingered on my face. I bet his instincts were telling him not to come with me. They were trying to warn him that even though I looked like the innocent, push-over Haden, I was not him right then. I was a monster lurking in plain sight. If he looked into my eyes, he would no longer see stormy blue. Instead, he would see the black void of my soul staring back at him.

“Alright, but if this is a trick, I will gut your sister in front of you.”

The nice side of me would have been paralyzed by fear at this statement, but this evil part didn’t bat an eye. I welcomed him to keep talking. It only made the need to break every bone in his body worse.

“You might want your two friends from earlier to help carry the bags, because I won't.”

He clenched his jaw as he stomped his way up the street. Barron kept looking over his shoulder at me as if he expected me to attack him out there, but I was a patient man. I wanted to hear him begging and pleading for me to show mercy—mercy I would not give him. We stopped at both men’s homes, and they came willingly. One of the men stared at me for a long while, though. As if he knew there was something different about me, too.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

I gave him a smile void of any emotion, which seemed to scare him more.

“Nothing.”

“Your eyes… It's like looking into the night sky.”

I just watched him with a smile until he looked away. My fake smile immediately disappeared. I led them through the woods.

“There is a small shack just ahead of us that I kept the money in to hide it from my father,” I said.

The idiots believed me. It was honestly too easy.

For just a moment, I stopped and glanced around me. My skin prickled, and I knew she was watching me from somewhere. But I was sure that after she saw what I was about to do, she would never show her pretty face to me again. Even as this empty shell of a man, I felt the disappointment of that realization. Did she wait for me all these years, or did she move on? Fuck, I was pissing myself off by thinking like that. My eyes darted around the woods, and I knew I would fucking gut any man that had touched her since me. I had missed those starlight eyes. I smiled to myself. How would my Storm react to seeing how different I was now? The thought made me hesitate, but nothing would deter me from killing these three fucks.

“Where is this damn shack?” Barron turned and glared. I stared him down, not bothering with fake smiles or emotions anymore.

“Oh, shit, I forgot.” I pretended to be remembering something as I leaned down and picked up a small round log that was perfect for beating someone to death with. “I lied.” I smiled as Barron’s tiny brain figured out this was a trick.

“Get him,” he demanded from his stupid little henchmen. The first of the two came at me alone, his long braid trailing behind him. He was running at full speed toward me, but I didn’t move. Instead, I lifted the log, drawing it back and then swinging it forward with all of my might. It cracked across the side of his skull with a wet, smacking sound. He dropped to the ground, eyes rolling back and blood spewing from him. I watched him suffer for a moment before leaning down and wrapping his long braid around his neck. My eyes never left Barron as I strangled the life from his friend.

I shoved his dead body away from me as I stood.

“Well, that was hardly a fight.” I tisked and stood up. “Next.”

The second man didn’t move, but Barron did. He pulled out a knife and swung it at me. I dodged it easily and chuckled when Barron turned quickly. I cocked my head to the side to watch him. He was terrified of me, and I liked seeing it.

“I knew something was wrong with you when you looked at me with those soulless eyes. Are you possessed?”

This made me let out a genuine laugh. Barron was trying to distract me enough that I wouldn’t notice his friend coming up behind me. I let them think they would win this fight.

“No, I’m not possessed.” I glared at him. “Then again, maybe I am.” I shrugged, not knowing for sure.

“What is wrong with you?”

I smiled.

“Let's just say that I have two sides to me. The nice, innocent man that everyone loves to torture, and this version.” I waved my hands down the front of me. “A man no one will overpower; do you know why?”

He shook his head no.

“Because I do not feel anything , Barron. Emotions will not stop me from releasing this wrath I have inside of me. I will not feel guilty about taking your life. In fact, I think I will quite enjoy watching the light drain from your eyes. Although, I do like the thought of ripping them from their sockets and forcing you to swallow them.”

Barron’s face paled. He knew I was not bluffing. He had sealed his fate the moment he thought he could hurt Remy.

His friend made his move, launching himself at my back with his knife in the air. But I turned and grabbed his wrist, twisting the blade in his hand before shoving it into his chest and yanking it up to his throat. His blood drenched my hands. It was warm on this cold, frigid night. Barron’s heavy footsteps alerted me that he was running like a coward. I tossed the dead man to the ground.

“I don’t think so, Barron.” I shot my frost magic at his feet, which instantly froze him to the ground. The sudden stopping made his ankles snap. He wailed out in pain, and it sang to the void monster I was. I took my time getting to him, whistling a little tune on my way.

Barron looked at me, horrified.

I smiled as I said, “You’re a coward, just as I thought you were. You should have never threatened Remy.”

“I’m sorry. You have my word I will never do it again.”

“I believe you, Barron.” I smiled down at him, and he sighed, relieved. “Because you’ll be dead.”

He looked up at me in horror as I held out my palm, and a long icicle formed in my hand. He raised his arms up in defense, but it was no use. I stabbed the ice through his heart, smiling as the light slowly faded from his eyes. When his body sagged against my hand, I jerked it out, making him slump over dead.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Gods, I felt fucking good. I cracked my neck and tried to stifle back my smile. I turned quickly when I heard her soft footsteps.

She smelled like night and heaven—the same. It made my chest ache with longing.

“I know you’re watching me, Storm.” I turned, expecting her not to show herself, but to my surprise, she stood only a few feet away. There was a sadness in her eyes when she stared at me. But then it left and was replaced by curiosity. “Fuck, you’re even prettier than I remember.”

As soon as my void eyes landed on her face, a flood of memories slammed into me. Flash after flash of mental images and the sound of overlapping voices assaulted my brain, and I had to close my eyes briefly. My head pounded as memories of Della and me from a different life assaulted me. I looked at her and had trouble breathing. My heart faltered for a moment. My Storm.

Gods, I had missed her.

Her cheeks flushed. She cocked her head to the side as she watched me. Could she tell I was not the same man she had smiled at in town?

“Haden,” she purred.

She glanced at the dead bodies. My hands were still coated in blood as she looked back at me. I summoned snow to my hands and used it to wash the blood from me. I don’t know what reaction I expected from her, but her smile was not it.

“You know my name, but I do not know yours.” I lied.

“Ardella,” she answered.

She didn’t look like an Ardella.

“Can I call you Della?”

Her pretty eyes shined brightly.

“Yes.”

“You watch me a lot. I don’t always see you, but I can feel you.” She smiled when I took a step toward her. She stepped toward me too, and something about it felt validating. Della should be scared of me, but there was not even a hint of fear from her. She never had been wary of me.

“You’re different than when I first saw you.”

I watched her as she seemed to be studying me. Her gaze drifted over my face before looking over my body. There was a familiarity in her eyes that I longed to see. Did she mean different from town or the life before this one?

“But you are the same, too,” she finally said. “Is this some sort of magic?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“A way to survive,” I answered. “I needed to become a monster to stay alive because the nice part of me would have been killed years ago if I didn’t.”

“So, you have two… personalities inside of you.”

“A good one and an evil one.” I took a step toward her. “Does this side of me scare you?”

Della gave me a big, genuine smile.

“No.”

“It should.” I stepped even closer to her, and she didn’t flinch when I reached out and stroked her face. “Do you like what you see?” Fuck, I needed to rein it in. She couldn’t know that I remembered her and our previous life together when I was like this. Damn it, I could hardly contain myself when she was close to me. My eyes dropped to the ring I slipped on her finger centuries ago, and damn, it made me happy to see.

“If I said yes, would that be too forward?” Her starry eyes stared directly into my void ones. I softly gripped her hair and yanked her head back slightly. She let out the prettiest moan. I was fucked.

“Answer me, Della.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

Her one-word answer made something in my cold heart warm up.

“Why?”

Something about my question made her tense. Oh, she wanted to keep secrets. I smiled when her eyes fell to my mouth. I had never kissed a woman, never had the desire to in this life, but I knew her mouth would fucking ruin any other kiss I ever had. My soul knew that she was the only one worthy of getting me intimately.

“You’re more handsome up close,” she confessed before her cheeks heated. I liked that a lot.

Her whole chest flushes like this when she cums.

“Yeah?” I whispered. Della nodded before she lifted her hand and touched my face. I was beaten to hell, and I’m sure I was covered in blood. I felt something warm pass over me, and the throbbing of my wounds disappeared. My voice softened a bit at her touch. “I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”

Her eyes flashed pure white when they met mine. I had missed her.

“Maybe we knew each other in a past life.” My words made her frown for just a moment. I inched her closer to my mouth, and she didn’t fight me. She was going to let me kiss her, and something about the submission made me feel… possessive over a woman I shouldn’t get involved with again. Della still didn’t know who I really was or that I was her enemy.

She studied me as if I were something precious that she had lost long ago. “I like this side of you,” she whispered.

A noise behind me in the woods made me turn my gaze from her for a split second. But when I turned back, Della was gone. I was confused. Quickly, I turned and looked for her. She was standing in the woods nearby, smiling. How had she left my grip without me feeling it?

“I’ll see you soon.” She promised.

Then she was gone. I could feel the hold of the void letting me go as I smiled. She was going to be mine, and I didn’t think I would ever let her go. The monster inside of me had already claimed her—again.