Page 17

Haden

I was a desperate man. I was pacing around my room in the Crimson Castle trying to figure out what to do.

Della had not come to see me in three days, and every time I snuck to her home, she wasn’t there.

I knew I needed to tell her who I was and what I was doing.

But Brim's words kept circling around in my mind—Della was never the prey; she was the hunter.

There was no way she knew who I was and said nothing.

My fear was suffocating me. My biggest fear was losing Della. I didn’t want her to hate me when she learned that I had planned to use her. Emotions tightened my chest as I pictured her telling me she didn’t want me. How could a heavenly goddess love an abomination?

“Chanting my name over and over in your mind will summon me.” Della’s voice was soft, void of any emotion, but her eyes were the color of starlight again.

“Storm.” I stepped toward her. “Please, we need to talk.”

“Yes, we do.”

“I’m sorry about what was said; you have to know that wasn’t true.”

She frowned at me but glanced around the room. “That’s not what I want to talk about.”

I stared at her, confused. She watched me in a way that made my chest squeeze with worry. She was going to leave me for good. She was going to rip apart the mating bond and tell me I didn’t deserve her.

“God of Wrath,” she whispered, and with those three words, I suddenly realized it was so much worse.

I opened my mouth to tell her that I was sorry for lying to her, but then I closed it because nothing I said would change the fact that I deceived her.

“To break your curse, you needed me to fall from grace.”

I felt like a poor excuse of a man when she watched my reaction. Her face gave away nothing as she watched me try and compose a single thought. But all I could focus on was losing her.

“Please, I know this looks bad.”

“It looks terrible, yes. But I am more curious if you know what we are.”

My nostrils flared as I saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes. I stepped forward, and she didn’t move away. “We are mates,” I whispered.

She nodded and watched me closely. Her eyes looked at me sadly, like she was going to lose me. It was not something I wanted to see.

“Do you think we are a good match?” she asked.

“I do. I believe I was destined to love you.

You were made of everything I needed, Della.

You are all the missing pieces of me. I would choose you in every life, in every realm.

I would choose five minutes of your attention over saving this godforsaken realm.

I will find you in each of my lives; I will always come back to you.

And if I had other lives before these last two, I would like to think that I spent those lives looking for you because my soul knew something was missing.

“I love you intentionally and purposefully. And if I wasn’t meant to be yours, I would have found a way to break the threads of fate and rewrite them so that I was the only one you could ever choose.

Your storm pulled me in and captivated me from the first glimpse, and I do not want to be saved from it. There cannot be me without you.”

“But you did that, didn’t you? You broke fate and pieced it back together so that I was yours.” She stared at me so intently. "You knew we were mated with others and you chose me instead."

“Yes,” I confessed. “I messed with fate long before I knew that I could break the curse. But if I am honest with you, Della, I would give it all up. I would live an eternity in Hell, where I could only have small moments with you instead of using you to free me.”

Storm watched me closely.

“I am falling from the grace of the heavens, Haden. I have committed treason to have you. I have sins that cannot be erased.”

“Then tell me of your sins, and I will love you anyway. And take my hand, and I will jump with you out of the grace of the heavens. I do not care what the scenery looks like, as long as you do not leave me.”

She reached out and touched my face softly as if she was trying to remember everything about me. Something about this felt wrong. Why was she looking at me like she would never see me again?

"You know that you are not the cause of me falling from grace, right?" she whispered.

"Tell me who is and I will save you," I said softly.

She looked over me closely like she hadn't seen me in a long time—or like she was saying goodbye.

"Please don't leave me. I promise I would have never gone through with using you."

She nodded gently and her fingers pushed my hair from my forehead.

“I know you remember our first life,” she confessed.

“Only when I am void.” I felt the tears falling from my eyes and saw Della watch as the black tears fell from my eyes.

“Knowing everything that has happened, would you still have messed with fate to have me?” she asked. “Do you still think I am worthy of you?”

“I would have changed it sooner so that I could experience your love for longer. If one of us is not worthy, it is me.” I looked at her when she frowned.

“I am a God of Hell, Della. I am under no delusion that I deserve you, but that is why I was not born heavenly.

Because I do not care. I am selfish and greedy when it comes to you.

“Even if you would have wanted a real bond with Holden, I would have found a way to take it from him. You are mine. I’m the man who will make you happy.

I’m the one who will get your smiles and your laughter.

I was willing to destroy a realm for you…

I have saved a realm from my wrath because it means something to you.

And whatever is important to you is precious to me.

I love you with every piece of my tainted soul. ”

“Aren’t you going to ask how I know all of this?” She tilted her head.

“No, I knew you’d figure it out eventually.” I frowned. “I’m assuming Avesh and Brim.”

She nodded.

“I am still all in,” I whispered.

“Me too.” She leaned forward and kissed me. “Will you go away with me for a few days?”

I gave her a look. “Della, I will follow wherever you go.”

“Well, then pack a bag, and I will be back very soon.”

I gripped her arm and stared into her eyes. Something still felt off about this, but maybe that was my own guilt. I was ready to beg and plead for her forgiveness, but she didn’t make me.

“You are coming back, right?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “I promise. I just need to go get my things.”

I leaned down and kissed her. She disappeared a moment later, and I watched where she had been standing.

Why was she not pissed off or upset? Of course I was happy she wasn’t, but she should be.

Della should not forgive me so easily. Maybe it was because she knew the void side of me didn’t say that terrible thing to her.

But my gut told me it was something else. Damn it, what is she hiding from me, and why did she think I wouldn’t notice? I ran my hand through my hair and sighed heavily.

“Well, I thought you’d be happier that your whore forgave you.” I turned to find Mateo standing behind me.

“Call her that again, and I will rip your tongue out and then make you eat it,” I hissed. Mateo smiled at me.

“I was thinking that maybe she wouldn’t want you after she found out what you are. But since she doesn’t care, maybe I should introduce myself and see if she wants a real God of Hell.”

He wanted me to fight him, but I ignored the taunt even though possessiveness ran through my veins. Della would chew him up and spit his ass out. He could never give her what I could. He gave me a look like he had a secret, but I wasn’t even going to ask.

“What do you want?” I glared.

“Just checking on you. I want to make sure you are still on track for getting her to fall from grace.”

“Yes.” I lied.

His eyes ran over me, assessing.

“You are in love with her.” He wasn’t asking. He could see it. “That will make it so much better when I take her from you.”

My eyes flashed red. “You really want to die, don’t you?” I asked.

“You couldn’t possibly satisfy her. You are weak. You have always been the weakest of us.”

I smiled. “I’ll make sure she screams loud enough that you can hear just how well I satisfy her.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Are you jealous that no woman has ever wanted you, Mateo?”

“No,” he lied.

“What do you want?” I asked. He was not here for this. He looked around my room and sighed heavily.

“Would you do anything for her?” he asked, and I instantly became on edge.

“Yes.”

“Even when she falls from the grace of the heavens?” His eyes flickered to me with a grin on his stupid face.

“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes. He knew something that I didn’t.

“You don’t even know her,” Mateo sneered. “How stupid can you be to trust her? She is a heavenly goddess. What if she is getting close to you just so she can kill you and send your ass to Hell for good?”

I didn’t even acknowledge him and his idiotic paranoia. He sighed heavily before glancing at me again. “Fine, but I will laugh in your face when she deceives you.”

“She won’t. Now get the fuck out of here, and run back to Hell.”

“Just one question before I go,” he said. “How did you know about the God of Knowledge?”

I went to answer him but stopped because I wasn’t really sure. “I had a vision of him, I think.”

Mateo nodded slowly, pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes on me. “Did you want to hear something interesting I just learned about the Gods of Hell?”

Fuck, I must have said something wrong.

“I always thought it was odd that you claimed to have magic when none of us did. I mean, we all have our starlight, but nothing else.” He picked up a picture of Della I drew before tossing it down. “I learned that none of us are supposed to have magic.”

He looked at me like I would lose my shit—like I was keeping this secret from him.

“Well, I do, so what?” I shrugged.

His smile made me tense. “Actually, you don’t.” He stopped moving toward me. “It is impossible for you to have visions and whatever else you have as magic. So where did you get it?”

“You have lost your fucking mind.”

“No, I haven’t. It. Is. Impossible. So how do you have it? Your precious little goddess did it for you, didn’t she?”

He was pissed, but I was just simply confused. Why would Della ever do that?

“That makes no sense. I’ve had visions almost my entire existence in Hell. She couldn’t have given it to me.”

“Unless she came to Hell.”

I scoffed, then laughed in Mateo’s face because he had lost it.

“Della would never go to Hell. Besides, she didn’t even know I existed back then.

” Mateo looked completely serious. “You seriously think that the Goddess of Life came down to Hell for some reason and became infatuated with me? Then what? Gave me magic? Seriously, you need to go take a long nap to help you recover from whatever you are suffering from.”

“You shouldn’t have magic, and I asked the right gods about how you could get it. They all said the same thing. A god or goddess had to have given it to you.”

I didn’t say anything to him. “Leave.”

“Fine, but your little bitch is keeping secrets, so figure them out.”

He left before I could punch him in the face.

I looked around the space as if Della would pop out and tell me my brother was crazy.

It was crazy. There was no way that she did that.

Della would never come to Hell for a man she didn’t even know existed.

But something in the back of my mind wondered why Mateo would come tell me.

If he was right about my magic, then someone gave it to me.

I sighed heavily.

There was no way I was going to listen to Mateo. For all I knew, this was part of their fucking scheming. They still hadn’t told me about taking the gods and their mates, but I knew they were behind it. They had to be. They were the ones keeping secrets. Della wasn’t.

I trusted her more than anyone.