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“Isn’t that the truth, Farris? You’d rather go marry a man who looks like fucking sunshine and rainbows than be trapped in this hell with me. What else did you say?” He pretended to be thinking for a moment. “Oh, that’s right, living here with me sounded like a lifetime of torture—a life wasted.”

Fuck.

She had destroyed him.

“You told me if you stayed in my presence I would suffocate you, that I would drain the life out of you.” His chest was heaving with angry breaths now. Damn, I actually felt bad for him—and he’d only ever been a pain in my ass.

“Ezra…” Her voice trailed off. She looked up at him with longing in her eyes. “Do you love her?”

“Yes, more than anything.” He didn’t hesitate.

Her shoulders fell at his confession as she looked away from him. “Then take me back home.”

“I will be back, Della,” he said without looking at me.

As soon as they left, I relaxed. I stood up and filled my drink because I was devastated by that interaction.

My moment of relief ended as I turned to see Ezra fuming from the chair he had been sitting in earlier. Shit, I hadn’t heard him come back.

Hesitantly, I walked around him and sat back down. He didn’t look at me; he just stared off into the distance.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

His eyes flickered to me. “Would you be alright if your mate chose another over you?” he snapped.

“No.” I sighed.

He looked back at me, and I saw the devastation swarming in his eyes. He blinked excessively to hold in the tears he didn’t want me to see.

“I do not understand why the heavens gave me the most perfect mate only for her to not want me back.” He cleared his throat lightly as he closed his eyes.

“I begged her.” He looked up at me with nothing but sadness. “I fell to my knees, and I begged her to stay with me. I begged her to choose me, and she still left to marry another man.” He leaned back against the chair and sighed.

“Why would she do that?” I asked.

“Farris is color and happiness. I am the opposite of it. But still, I told her I would move the whole fucking castle to anywhere she would want. I would bring life and color to these walls if it would make her happy. I would do anything to make her stay.”

I suddenly understood why the castle looked so different than it had the last time I came here. He had changed it for her. I glanced at all of the color he added and couldn’t help but frown.

“When I was created, something did not connect in my brain like it did with you other gods.

I did not care about others' fucking feelings.

I liked pain and suffering. That is until Farris showed up here.

I hated her sadness. I hated it when she cried.

I hated it when she suffered. Farris connected whatever had been disconnected in my brain and made me feel things I never understood.

“But the heavens have a sick sense of humor because they made my mate like me…cold and heartless. She came in like a fucking tidal wave and knocked my life off its axis just to watch the chaos and then leave me. And still, I decided that I would try once more. So, a few weeks later I went to find her. I thought maybe this time I would find the magic words that would make her love me back. Do you know what I found?”

I shook my head when tears filled his red eyes.

“Lord Philip proposing to her, and I watched as she said yes. Her eyes met mine, and for one delusional moment I thought she would drop his hand and come to me. She could have said anything, and I would have taken her back. Farris didn’t do that, though.

She looked away from me and walked past me like she didn’t know me. ”

“But you changed your home for her,” I said, confused. “If you are leaving her alone, then why?”

His eyes met mine, and I saw a new layer of devastation in them. “Because one day Farris will die—after she has lived a happy life with that man. And when that day comes, I will beg the stars and heavens for her back like you did with your mate.”

I froze as Ezra met my gaze. “How did you know that?”

“Brim told me.”

“Brim has a big-ass mouth.” I frowned.

“I will give them anything if they give me Farris back as a mate when she is reborn. But this time I will ask them to make her find me worthy of loving back.”

I stilled at his confession. “That could be hundreds and hundreds of years, Ezra.”

He nodded.

“Why would you want her back?” I asked.

“Because, for a short time, I knew what it was like to have her, to believe that she loved me back. I know what it feels like to have her laughter fill the silence of this empty home. I know what it feels like to wrap my arms around her and feel peace. I know that she smells like the sea and vanilla. She gave me a glimpse at what heaven would feel like. Farris is the closest to heaven I will know, and if she could make me feel that way just pretending to love me, can you imagine a life where she actually loves me back? That is something I would not want with anyone else. Farris is mine, but it will have to be in her next life. So, for now I will get our home ready because I will do everything right the next chance I get.”

Ezra stared at me with determination in his eyes. I felt sad for him. He was hopelessly in love with a woman who didn’t love him back.

“What if she already loves you?”

Ezra's jaw clenched tightly. “She doesn’t. I have accepted that.”

“Have you?” I asked.

Ezra turned his attention to me and gave me a look that let me know he hadn’t, but he would fall apart if he gave it any hope. I downed my drink and stared out of the window at the rain falling relentlessly.

“I have to accept it. But every day I still pray to whoever will hear me that I can just have her now. Maybe a higher power can change her heart so that it beats in rhythm with mine. I dream that she will show up here and tell me that she loves me. And I do not care how weak or pathetic it would be for me to just take her back immediately.”

Tears stung my eyes as I saw Ezra for the first time—truly saw him. I wished I could fix this fate for him. It was clear that Farris cared for him, but I wasn’t going to give him false hope. The man needed a friend.

“You are the last god I thought I would form a friendship with,” I said softly.

Ezra smiled at me. “You want to be my friend, sweets?”

“I think you could use one.”

He nodded and stared at me for a moment. “No one has ever offered to be friends with me before.” His eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to realize that. Damn it, I was feeling worse for him.

“Maybe because you act like a dick. Try being a little nicer, and I’m sure others would enjoy your company.”

Ezra stared at me like he had never thought of that before, and it made me smile at him. He swallowed hard before nodding.

“A promise is a promise,” he sighed. “What is her name?”

“Remiah Vale.”

I stood and walked to Ezra, sticking out my hand. He gave me a sly smirk before shaking my hand.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, friend.”