Chapter 26

Haden

D ella didn’t come back. It had been weeks since she saved me, and I felt… odd, like something was wrong with me. I felt her loss more than I did for my parents. My chest felt as if there were a hole in it where my heart should be. Rem had been shocked but relieved when I told her what had happened. We hadn’t spoken of our parents since.

I lay in my room as Rem left to go meet Mikel somewhere. I had been out in the woods every day and night, trying to get Della to come back, calling for her. But she ignored my begging.

I prayed to the stars, the heavens, the hells, and whatever gods would listen to make her come back to me. What if she never came back? I shook my head. I could not even fathom a life that she was not in. That sounded so terrible that I felt ill at the thought. I rubbed my chest where the insistent tugging wouldn’t stop.

My eyes fluttered shut, but a small noise made me sit up slightly in my bed. A moment later, I felt her. Della was close by, but she was lurking somewhere. She sounded like she was crying. I stood and looked out of the window and was surprised to see her standing in my yard.

Relief filled me, and I hurried outside, hoping I didn’t miss the chance to speak to her. As I stepped out, Della watched me sadly. I started taking a step toward her, but she stepped back.

“Where have you been?” I demanded. “You disappeared.”

My anger confused her.

“I was giving you time.”

“I called for you, and you ignored me.”

This made guilt fill her pretty eyes. She had heard me and still hadn’t come.

“I was busy.”

I took another hesitant step toward her but stopped when she looked like she might disappear again. Her eyes shifted to the spot where I buried my parents.

“Why did you leave?” I asked.

“You thought I was going to hurt you.” She looked away from me. “I couldn’t bear the look you gave me—like I was a monster.”

I’d had time to reflect on that night, and the only thing I could conclude was that I didn’t want her to leave again. She was not a monster. Della had saved me like she had promised, and I was indebted to her for it. Her power and bravery only made my connection to her grow more deeply.

“I wasn’t thinking you were a monster.”

Her eyes stayed on me, but she still looked worried. Something else seemed to be weighing down on her.

“I would never hurt you,” she said softly.

“I was in shock. I didn’t know what was happening.” I felt bad for my reaction. “Can I come closer to you, or are you going to leave again?”

Her gaze looked unsure as I took a few steps toward her. An overwhelming sense of need consumed me the closer I got. When I was near enough, I reached out timidly and brushed her dark hair behind her ear. My finger tilted her face toward me, and I leaned down, pressing my lips to hers gently. Della didn’t move. Her body had gone rigid, so I pulled away, worried I had just fucked up.

I said nothing because her eyes were shining brightly, and I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.

When I opened my mouth to apologize, Della lunged at me. Her mouth crushed against mine as our arms wrapped around each other, and I lifted her off her feet in a passionate embrace. Della let out a soft moan, and it was my undoing. I headed inside with her wrapped around me. I carried her to my room and sat on the edge of the bed with her straddling me. Della’s hands ran through my hair as she kissed me like it was as natural as breathing.

Della pulled away, and I admired her beauty close-up. Her nose had faded freckles sprinkled across it, and her skin was soft and warm. My hands gripped her hips tightly and tugged her against my now-hard length. Her eyes fluttered shut as her mouth fell open. Her noises were driving me wild.

“You’re so pretty, Storm.”

“Haden,” she moaned as she broke my grip on her and stood back up. “We need to talk.” Della kept her face hidden from me, but I could practically feel the worry radiating from her.

“Alright,” I said, trying to sound like I wasn’t fucking terrified of whatever she was about to say. She began pacing around, an unsure look on her pretty face. ?

My eyes flickered over her tattoos, and I traced the glowing silver on her skin with my eyes. I had never seen anything like them. They were beautiful. One in particular caught my attention: snowflakes that swirled over her chest and down her left arm. She was truly breathtaking.

Her normally bright eyes were white, and full of worry. I could tell she was upset.

“Please, say something because I am terrified.” I looked up at her. “Fuck, if you are leaving me, please let me turn void so it doesn’t kill me.”

Her eyes stared at me.?

“Haden, please, I told you I will not leave you.”?

Della took a deep breath and slowly traced her gaze over my face, her hands fiddling with a part of her dress. Her eyes never met mine as she finally started talking.

“You asked me who I was,” she whispered. “I want to tell you, but I don’t want you to act differently. I like that you look at me like I’m normal.”

Finally, she glanced up at me, her tongue wetting her lips as she took another deep breath. My body and mind braced themselves like she was about to tell me something awful.

“My name is Ardella, and I am the Goddess of Life.”

I chuckled because I thought she was kidding. But her face looked confused, then hurt by my reaction.

“A goddess?” I questioned. “You’re telling me that a goddess is interested in me?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” She glared.

“Look around, Della. I live in squalor. How am I supposed to believe that a goddess would show herself to me, let alone be falling in love with me?”

Her star-colored eyes glanced around the dingy room as if she was noticing it for the first time, then they found mine. A silvery haze appeared around her head for a moment, and when it cleared, there was a tall, magnificent tiara sitting on her dark hair. It was black with shimmering jewels that reminded me of the night sky.

“Your soul, it calls to me,” she said quietly. “I do not care about your shitty parents or your living arrangements. All I know is that when you are around, all I can see is you, and you are enough for me.”

Her words shot through my heart. All of the incredible magical feats she had accomplished, they all made sense now. My mind reeled for a moment at the thought of somebody so… amazingly powerful choosing me as their companion. I thought of the life that I had lived and of the life that I was going to live and knew that she did not deserve suffering. Gods, I had just accepted the idea of her being possibly a noble woman that was interested in me, but not a goddess.

“Then you have low standards for yourself.” I stood and shook my head. “I am not even worthy of a woman from a noble bloodline, and you think I am worthy of you?” I scoffed.

All my life I had been told I was not worthy. I was not good enough. I knew that I didn’t have anything to give Della. If she was actually a goddess, then she was really scraping the bottom of the barrel with me. The thought hurt. I wished I was enough for her because she had taken up every thought I had. She consumed me.

“Please. I wanted to be honest with you. How can you say such cruel words about yourself?”

“Because it is the truth,” I hissed. My eyes found hers and saw that they had dimmed to a light glow.

“Do you want me to leave?” She asked with so much hurt in her voice that I frowned. “Please, don’t ask me to leave.”

“I need to process what the fuck is happening.” I stilled. “Oh, my gods, I’ve gone mad, right? This is all in my mind?”?

“No, you haven’t gone mad.” She watched me as a million emotions spiraled out of control inside of me. “I am a goddess, and Mikel is a god.”?

“But—"

“No.” She shook her head with anger. “I’m not leaving because you think you are unworthy. I get to make that choice. It’s mine to make, not yours. You are worthy. Stop thinking like that. Have I ever made you feel that way?”

"No," I said truthfully.

"You do not get to tell me I can’t love you." Her eyes filled with defiance.

She loves me.

Della’s eyes frantically looked around the room as she tried to change my mind. She took a step forward, stopping only inches from me. My heart pounded as she fell to her knees in front of me. Her head bowed to the ground as the points of her crown rested on my leg.

“I cannot lose you,” she whispered. “I just found you. It will kill me.”

A soft sob released from her. Her shoulders shook with her silent cries. When she looked up at me again, I gasped in surprise. The tears that fell from her eyes were glowing like the stars. Something about seeing a goddess crying at my feet twisted my heart. Immediately, I knelt in front of her.

“I'm not leaving. I am a selfish man, Della. I meant it when I said you were mine."

Then I kissed her. Something about our frantic kiss seared something into my chest. Della was branded into me, and I was not willing to give her up. I scooped her up and set her on my bed. I grabbed her crown and slipped it off of her, setting it gently on my side table. Then I slipped her under the covers and held her as she buried her face into my chest.

I felt the insistent demand of the void wanting to come out. He wasn’t taking no for an answer this time. I closed my eyes, and the shiver ran through me, taking deep root in every fiber of my body. I opened my eyes and peered down to see Della sleeping soundly against me.

Gently, I pushed her hair from her face, and she didn’t move. I would recognize that heavy, calm breathing anywhere. She was sleeping, gripping onto me like I would be ripped away from her.

I needed to test something. Slowly, I shifted so I was lying on my side looking at her pretty face. I rested my hand on the side of her cheek and closed my eyes. Show me her future. Flashes of what was coming in the next few days flashed in my mind, but I had seen this a dozen times before. Show me farther into the future. I demanded desperately.

At first, I thought nothing would happen—like always. But just as I was about to open my eyes, I saw a flicker of light in the darkness that clung to her future. I approached it slowly, cautiously.

What. The. Fuck.

Della was now standing in front of a castle I had never seen before. I tried to step forward, but her magic shielded me from reaching her.

“Storm, what are you doing?”

I froze when I saw Remiah’s transparent body floating in front of her. Della looked at me like she was sorry before she lifted a dagger in her hand.

“No!”

Then a flash of Della with black, soulless eyes appeared in front of me, startling me.

I sat up in the bed, gasping for air. What the fuck was happening? I looked at Della, and she was now awake, staring deep into my eyes with a concerned look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

My gaze stared into her pretty, star-colored eyes, and I sighed in relief that they were not pure black, with evil lurking within them.

“Nothing, just a bad dream,” I lied.

She frowned at me as I lay down facing her but scooted closer so she could snuggle back into me. I wrapped my hands around her as Brim’s words swarmed through me.

Will you be able to live with yourself when you completely destroy her?

I had to be. I didn’t have a choice; the fates were already broken. I had already fitted them back together in such a way that Della would not escape the coming destruction. I never said I was a good man. Della just wanted to believe that I was, and that was the start of her downfall.

I closed my eyes, and Della’s black, soulless eyes haunted me like they knew everything I had done. My mating bond burned at the thought of my betrayal that hadn’t even happened yet. But I would not let something silly like a mating bond ruin the plans that had been set in place long before Della ever met me.

We all make sacrifices, and Della would be mine. Because there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she would leave me as soon as she fit the pieces together. She would never forgive me.

But the heavens, stars, and gods needed to be punished.

And their penance was going to be giving up their favorite goddess to me.

This was the only way. This was not only about me. Others were depending on me. I opened my eyes and watched Della sleeping. Maybe she would understand. Maybe she wouldn’t leave me when she understood what the stars and gods did to me—to us. Even if I wanted to stop this, the others would never allow it. They would go after Della if they found out I was mated to her.

And even though I was a heartless prick, I did not want her to be harmed in that way. Damn it. This love for her was turning into a fucking weakness. I rubbed my hand down my face before feeling the other’s lurking close by. Fuck. I slid out of bed as gently as I could so Della did not wake up. I slipped on my clothes and used my magic to take me outside.

They were all standing in the woods outside of my home. All of them slipped their hoods off, and I glared at them.

“What?” I snapped.

Mateo stepped forward and sneered at me, his eyes flashing red.

“We thought we should check in with you, since you haven’t tried to reach out to us. Are we still on track?”

My eyes narrowed on Mateo because he was my least favorite of them.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? You seem to be very cozy with Della—again. Do we need to make a point to you like we did last time?”

I didn’t answer him.

“This time when we kill you, we will make sure that Remiah dies with you. Della will not save her like she did with Holden.”

I stepped forward, pissed beyond reason.

“You had no right to hurt Holden.”

Mateo lifted his hands up in defense.

“I thought it was you. You were twins, after all. It was an honest mistake.”

“You’re a fucking liar.” I hissed at him. “I would think that you can tell who your brother is.”

Mateo rolled his eyes.

“Who gives a shit, Haden? If everything goes to plan, then what is the death of one fae?”

“He is off limits, and so is every one of them in that family,” I warned.

Elra stepped forward.

“They aren’t your family. We are.” She reminded me. “You need to be more worried about us—not that fake family and definitely not that bitch goddess, Ardella.”

Her green eyes gleamed when I clenched my jaw with irritation.

“I am on track. Della has no idea what is happening.”

Elra sighed heavily when I didn’t give her more of a reaction. Her gaze didn’t leave me, though.

“Did you have any more visions of Thea?”

“No, like I told you before, she might not be inherently bad. She may want nothing to do with this.”

“She will want to,” Elra said confidently.

“Did you find Abram?” Daya asked.

“No.” I had hardly tried. “No one has seen him; it is like he disappeared. Besides, the old gods aren’t going to make their whereabouts easy to find.”

“Well, him and his siblings must be punished for what they did to us. We will make their deaths a spectacle.”

“If you can find them, be my guest.”

Elra’s eyes flickered to the house over my shoulder before meeting my gaze again.

“Ardella is a problem.”

“No, she isn’t. She loves me, and she will do whatever I say. She will believe any lie that comes from my mouth.”

Elra nodded slowly before stepping forward.

“You better have control over her when we need her.” She took another step forward. “You better be ready to let her go when she learns what you did. We don’t need you being weak over stupid feelings.”

“I have not lost sight of our end goal. Della is not a problem and will not stop me from doing what I need to.”

My mating bond burned with my betrayal.

“If she does resist, then you will use whatever force is necessary to make her do what she needs to.”

“I’m not an idiot, Elra; I know what I am doing.”

“Everything is about to fall into place.” Mateo smiled, but it brought me no comfort. They said nothing else as they left. Godsdamn it.

I stood in the woods; my breathing was labored as the visions of Della’s future plagued me again. I fell to my knees and grabbed my head as a new image came forward. Pain seared into me as I groaned and fell to the ground. My eyes began fluttering as the landscape around me shifted to the woods I had not been in before.

“ Storm!” I yelled, panicked.

“No need to shout,” she purred from behind me.

She flicked her wrist, slamming the door to the house shut and blocking it so Thea, Cassius, and Ezra could not come to me.

“Storm.”

“Haden.”

I let out a shaky breath as she lifted her hand up. Her fingers traced down my face slowly, appreciating the feel of me. My eyes gazed into hers, and there was a small glint of something in them that made me feel better. They weren’t completely void anymore.

“Please don’t leave again,” I said.

Della smiled as she gripped the back of my neck, yanking me down to her mouth. I hummed as her mouth dominated mine. She yanked me flush against her and shoved her tongue into my mouth. Her hands dragged through my hair as my hands gripped her hips, tugging her to me harder.

I didn’t feel it at first. The sharp, stinging pain that started in my stomach and radiated through me. Pulling away from Della, I looked down to see a small knife sticking out of me. I glanced at Della, and she smiled.

“That was too easy.”

I pulled the knife from my stomach and stared at her. Blood began pouring out of the wound. Fuck, the pain was becoming worse. I stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to me. I held the knife to her throat.

“Go ahead.” She smiled.

“Storm, what the fuck was that for?”

She grinned.

“That is my secret.” Her eyes were gleaming. Gods, she really was a fucking lunatic right now. I closed my eyes as I tried to not find anything about an unhinged Della attractive. When I opened my eyes, she bit her lip as her eyes traveled over my face.

“I wanted you out here when I confronted your father, and he is hiding from me, so I thought if I stabbed you, he would come running.” Her gaze landed on me. “I made sure to stab you where it wouldn’t hit any major organs.”

How damn gracious of her. It still fucking hurt. There was a slight noise letting me know someone else was with us.

“Ardella, you have become quite eccentric with your tactics to summon us here.” The man’s voice was deep and familiar.

“You’ve been ignoring me.” Her hands dropped to her sides. Della’s eyes burned with rage. “You lied to me.”

The vision immediately cut off as I turned to see who the voice belonged to. What the fuck was that? I knew who that voice belonged to. I could never forget it, but I didn’t understand how it was possible that he was involved in this. There was no fucking way that vision was accurate.