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Ezra was watching me lose it, pity in his eyes. He turned to Avesh and glanced at the names again.

“Is this what he found that day?” he asked. “Did Della follow you out and erase your memory because you found her name on the list?”

Gods, I wish I knew. But nothing was making any sense to me. Thea was looking at the list of names and frowned.

“Wouldn’t my name be on here too, since I died.”

“You didn’t actually die.” Cassius frowned. “Della didn’t take your soul.”

“Maybe she did something similar to me?” I looked at them.

“She would never have waited 300 years to bring you back if that were the case.” Thea was quick to shoot that down.

“Avesh, sweetheart?” We all stilled and turned to the petite blonde woman standing at the doorway. She smiled at us before stepping toward me. Her eyes glanced over my face oddly. “Here.”

She lifted a small white book. I looked at it for a moment before looking back at her in amazement. Avesh’s mate gave me a small smile as I grabbed the book.

“You had it?” Avesh asked.

“Della told you to put it somewhere safe, and that is our secret spot.” She gave him a look filled with nothing but love.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She didn’t say anything else as she left. I looked at the book before glancing at Avesh. He was staring at it, but so was everyone else. The book was pulsing in my hand, bound by some type of magic. I tried to open it, but it was sealed shut.

“It won’t open.”

“You need the key.” Avesh pointed to the ring on my finger. “Della’s star.”

I slipped it off, and as soon as it was close to the book, it was pulled to it like a magnet, sinking into a small indentation on the cover.

Suddenly, the book slammed open, and wind from nowhere burst over it, flipping the pages.

The flames of the sconces around us flickered, and thunder boomed outside.

We all glanced around, knowing that something powerful had been protecting this book.

I glanced down when the wind stopped flipping through the pages, and my eyes scanned the page in front of me. It had only one name on it. “Abram,” I said out loud. I stared at it, trying to figure out what it meant, before turning it around so they could see it.

“The old god?” Ezra asked.

“Wait,” Cassius said.

I moved toward the Book of the Gods , and my eyes ran over the names again. I smiled as I pointed to it. It was the first name on the list of dead gods.

“There.” I looked at the name. There was no star next to it, meaning they were reborn. “Abram. He’s an old god.”

“They died first,” I said.

“There is nothing about him in the book.” Avesh looked at the name. “I don’t remember that name being there before.”Avesh scratched his head as if he were confused. His eyes met mine, and a flicker of something passed through them that made me watch him very closely.

I looked at the name that Della wrote only once. Why go through protecting this book for a name that was already on a list? I flipped the page, but it was empty. I kept flipping through the book until a small sheet of paper fell out. With shaky hands I opened it.

You are in danger. Do not say another word; go home. I’ll show you what to do once you are there. Do not tell Avesh anything.

- Storm

My stomach twisted as I read her words.

“What does it say?” Ezra asked.

“Nothing, it’s blank. We will go and try to find information about Abram. Let us know if you find anything.” I glanced up at him, and his eyes glided over me oddly. Did Della mean he was dangerous?

“Sounds good.” He smiled.

Thea and Cassius immediately knew something was wrong, but Ezra was oblivious. I used my star mist to take us to my home.

Once we were there, Thea stepped forward. “What did the note say?”

I showed it to her, and she showed Ezra and Cassius. I looked around the space, waiting for Della to somehow show me the way. Suddenly, the book flew from my hand and slammed into the wall, falling on the floor as the pages whipped open.

I stepped forward and looked at the page. Confusion swarmed me. Cassius stood next to me, and together, we both looked up at the ceiling. Thea stepped forward.

“Directly above,” she read out loud and looked up with us. The room directly above us was our bedroom.

“Our room?” I asked. I pictured the layout of the room and knew it was close to my drawing desk.

I ran upstairs, two at a time. All three of them were following me as I burst into our room and immediately went to the desk.

I started ripping all the papers off of it.

Desperately, I looked for whatever she wanted me to find.

I emptied the desk, but there was nothing in it.

Gripping it, I yanked it from the wall and walked around it to see if there was anything hiding behind it.

There was nothing. I closed my eyes and tried to picture what Storm would do.

How could she be confident that I wouldn’t stumble upon something before she meant for me to find it?

Ezra crawled on the ground and smiled at me when I went to question him. He moved under the desk, and a moment later he reached up, pushing up a hidden compartment. An envelope fell out, and he handed it to me. It was not addressed to anyone. I ripped it open.

Haden,

I am sorry I have lied to you for our entire lives. You were never supposed to be mine, but I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you. But you and I were not destined for each other—you as a God of Hell and me as a heavenly god.

Nothing is as it seems, and I do not know how to write everything down, but the important thing right now is understanding that you are in danger.

Avesh is going to tell the stars that your name was never in the Book of Gods, and it is going to set into motion a series of events that are meant to keep us apart.

You need to leave. Take Thea, Cassius, and Ezra to Brim’s home. I wiped some of Brim’s memories; to get them back, you just need to say this phrase exactly: Bring forth the forgotten truth.

Also, please get Penelope, Henry, Holden, and Sara somewhere safe. I have already left Mikel and Remiah clues that he will find and be safe. The stars are about to fall, Haden, and they cannot find you.

I am sorry that I was so greedy that I could not let you go. Even without a mating bond, I knew you were mine. Even the heavens could not craft a love like ours. I will find you when I can. I cannot stress this enough. Do not trust anyone but Brim, Thea, Cassius, and Ezra.

No one.

You were always deserving of a life out of Hell, and I will never regret what I did.

But that does not mean I broke divine laws for you.

The truth is that the heavens agreed to let me have you if I fulfilled my duty.

They no longer expected me to kill you as long as I save the gods from the stars. Brim will tell you the rest of it.

I was always all in on you. From the first vision of you to the life that followed.

I knew how hard this was going to be, but no price would have been high enough if it was you I was fighting for.

I know you don’t remember, but I made a vow to you that I would save us, and I intend to keep every promise I ever made to you.

You need to go now. By the time you read this, Avesh will be calling for a meeting with the stars. Once they see the list of names, they will know someone not only messed with fate but also defied divine laws. They just don’t know who yet. I will be their number one suspect.

I love you. Never doubt that. If everything goes to plan, I will see you soon.

Stay safe.

–Always your Storm

“We need to go now,” I barked at them. They followed me without question. I used my magic to take us to my parents’ home. It was a family dinner night, and I sighed heavily as we entered the house.

My mother rose when she saw me. “Haden?”

They all stopped smiling when they saw whatever emotion was on my face. I didn’t have time to explain everything to them.

“You’re in danger. Della asked me to make sure you guys got somewhere safe,” I said. “You have about a minute before I take you out of here. Is there anything you want to take?”

My parents began running around the house, gathering a few things. Holden stood up and frowned at me.

“Isn’t Della dead?”

“It is a long story. But if she tells me to protect you because something bad is coming, I will listen to her.”

Sara stood up and gripped Holden. They all looked terrified, and I wished I could comfort them, but I had no fucking clue what was happening.

“Are you ready?” I asked when they all stood in front of me. They nodded, and I used my magic to take them to Crimson Castle. When we got there, Cassius immediately brought us to his father to talk about what was happening.

“They need a random home in Crimson City. No one can see them when they go, and everything they need is to be provided.” Cassius looked at his father, who immediately agreed.

“We will take care of everything.” The king looked at me and nodded.

“You guys will not leave the house until I, Della, Thea, Cassius, or Ezra tell you it’s safe.” I looked at them. “I’m sorry this is scaring you, but I do not even know what is happening right now.”

I tugged my mother to me and hugged her when she started crying.

“I am scared for you,” she whispered. “I do not want to lose you again.”

“Remember that I cannot die easily.” I frowned.

“Della knows what she is doing, and I have to believe that she will save us. But we cannot worry that anyone will hurt our family. We need to know you are safe. So please stay at the house and do not go outside of it. Do not even look out of the windows. Stay hidden and out of sight.”

“We promise.” My father stepped forward and pulled me in for a hug before Holden and Sara hugged me too.

“We have to go.” I looked at all of them. “You might see stars fall from the sky; do not go outside to see what it is.”

They looked confused, but before they could ask any more questions, I took the four of us to Brim’s shed.

The woods were silent as we headed inside.

When we walked in, Brim was staring at us oddly from the kitchen.

He was clearly about to eat but set his plate down.

His eyes immediately filled with concern when he saw us.

I doubted that he had visions we would be coming because he looked caught off guard.

He walked out of the kitchen and stopped in front of me.

“Children, what do I owe this surprise visit to?”

I looked Brim in the eyes and sighed. “Bring forth the forgotten truth.”

Brim blinked slowly, once, twice, three—

His eyes widened as if he were seeing something amazing, then they began to glow, and he turned away from us. All of a sudden, he whipped back around and was beaming with emotion. Was it excitement or happiness? It was hard to tell.

Brim looked at all of us. “It is just as I envisioned. All four of you came.”

“Brim, what the fuck is going on?” I asked.

“Gods be saved, it is time.” He smiled. “Della is about to destroy the stars.”