Page 54

Haden

I heard clanking downstairs when I woke up and quickly sat up in bed, glancing over to see Della still sleeping—just as she had been for weeks.

I immediately placed my hand over her heart, and relief flooded me.

Standing up, I slipped on some clothes and went downstairs to see who was being so damn noisy.

My parents stared at me when I came into the kitchen.

“Hi, son,” they said, smiling as they continued to cook, acting like this was a perfectly normal thing to do.

“Good morning,” I said with a smile as Cassius, Thea, and Ezra walked into the kitchen too. Abe showed up a moment later. “Is there a reason you're all here today?”

“Did you not want to see us?” Ezra acted offended but gave me a playful smile.

“I love seeing you guys, but it isn’t usually all of you at once.”

Abe stepped forward and looked me in the eyes. “How is she doing? Can I see her?”

I nodded and led him up the stairs. Della was lying peacefully in the bed still.

“No movement at all?” he asked.

“No.” I frowned.

Tears were stinging my eyes as I looked at her. Why wasn’t she awake yet?

“I’ve been reading to her so she can hear me talking to her,” I confessed. “I speak to her as if she will roll over and answer me. This is torture, Abe.”

His eyes glided over her slowly before he smiled.

“I can feel her power pulsing inside of her. I couldn’t before. That is a great sign.”

I looked at her and smiled softly. Abe sat in the chair next to the bed and held her hand.

“I’ll give you a moment alone.”

I shut the door and heard him start talking to her, telling her about his day, and I smiled softly. When I went downstairs, everyone was eating a ridiculous amount of food my mother made. They had been coming to cook and take care of me while I took care of Della.

“Come eat.” My mother came over and pulled me to the table.

I was starving. When I looked at the food, I felt guilty for eating.

Abe told me that Della’s magic would keep her alive without food or water, but I still worried she would need nourishment of some kind.

I brought her food every day and set it next to her on the bedside table, just in case.

I took a few bites but mostly just zoned out, staring at my plate, thinking about Della. At some point, Abe came downstairs and joined us. I listened to them talk and laugh, but I did not join in much. Della was probably lonely upstairs. Guilt slammed into me.

Ezra watched me from across the table and gave me a soft smile.

“I can tell you want to go back up and see her. We won’t be offended if you do,” he said.

I glanced at everyone who was watching me. They would understand if I stood up and went upstairs to her. So, I stood and thanked them for coming to check on me, but I wanted to be next to Della.

Then I went upstairs and crawled back into bed with her, curling up next to her as I stared at the dark clouds moving over us, knowing it was my own storm coming.

My grief and longing for Della were all-consuming.

I pulled myself into her side, breathing in her scent of heaven and flowers.

My hand gripped hers before I fell into a restless sleep.

?★★★?★★★?

Della was standing in front of me, smiling. I reached for her, but she moved away from me.

“Haden, save me,” she begged. “Bring me back.”

“Please,” I begged as she moved away again.

I started running for her, but I could never catch up to her.

She was crying now; her face had the same terror on it as it did when I gave her soul back.

I leaped forward to grab her, but I fell through her and started free-falling from the cliffside near my old home that I had shared with Remiah.

It was the very cliff I had thrown myself off repeatedly trying to end my life.

She watched from the cliff’s edge as I fell to my death, her pretty eyes locked on mine as I plummeted to the ground.

“Be with me,” her voice called down to me. I would if I could. I closed my eyes.

As soon as my body hit the ground in my dream, I jolted awake. I sat up in bed, sweat dripped from me as if I had been running for hours. I uncovered myself and swung my legs over the side of the bed, running my hands through my hair.

There was something so odd and chilling about the dream.

I couldn’t sleep, so I stood and walked to the desk in our room.

I sat down and worked on the finishing touches of a present for Della.

I did not know what would happen when she woke up, but I wanted her to know that I thought of her every second she was healing.

I swept my hand across the large, leather-bound book I'd made for her.

It had everything about our life in it. I had written down every memory I could recall so she could read it.

I had even drawn pictures of us together.

I wanted her to remember us, all of us—everything that we had been through and how it forged a bond that would never be severed.

I started working on a portrait of her even as my eyes grew heavy again.

After a few hours, I glanced down at the picture of Della I had been drawing and smiled.

When I turned toward the bed, she was still lying unmoving.

Standing up, I went and grabbed the vase of flowers next to her so I could pick some new ones.

I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“I love you.” I smiled down at her before I headed down the stairs. The rain was pouring when I stepped outside. My grief refused to let the storm pass, so I gathered flowers in the rain—mostly orange ones. Smiling, I took them inside, trailing water on the floor but not caring at the moment.

I rearranged her flowers in the vase and set them next to the bed.

She should wake up to something pretty. Turning toward the window, I glanced outside when a movement caught my eye.

But it wasn’t what I saw outside; it was what I didn’t see in the reflection of the window.

My head whipped around to the bed, and I realized that Della was not there.

“Storm?” I called out in a panic. I ran through our room and all the rooms in the house, looking for her.

“Storm!” I yelled again before running outside. Where the fuck did she go? What if she was gone for good, and I didn’t get to say goodbye?

I ran outside in a panic.

“You know that much water for so long should have killed all of these pretty flowers.”

I stilled at the voice.

I knew that voice, but I did not want to turn and realize that my mind was playing tricks on me.

Closing my eyes, I prayed to anything that would listen to me to let it be her.

When I turned, Della stood on the porch where I had just walked from.

I dropped to my knees, and her eyes fell to the ground where I landed.

“Storm,” I choked out. I glanced around for any indication that I was dead or dreaming.

“Haden.” She smiled brightly. She looked…normal. Her bronze skin glowed slightly, and her black hair tumbled in waves over her shoulder. Her pretty starlight eyes were finally open and shining at me. She was still wearing my tunic, and her bare thighs didn’t escape my notice.

My greedy eyes soaked in everything about her. Della didn’t look like she’d been lying in bed, unmoving, for weeks. Gods, she was breathtaking, as if she had not been sleeping at all.

“Please do not wake me from this dream,” I begged.

Della stepped forward slowly as if I would bolt. My senses kicked in, and I rushed to her, gripping her in my arms and hugging her to me. Her familiar scent of flowers and heavens filled my lungs.

“You are really here,” I said in disbelief. “Please tell me you are really here, awake.”

“I am really here.” Her arms wrapped around my neck and held me close to her. I did not let go. My face was buried in her neck, and I cried.

Della pulled back and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I thought I would have to wait hundreds of years for you to wake up, and I was already falling apart,” I confessed.

Her hand came up and brushed the side of my face before pulling me to her and kissing me.

“How do you feel? Do I need to get a healer? Do you need food?” My gaze bounced back and forth between her eyes. “Tell me what you need, Storm, and it will be yours.”

Her eyes softened when she looked at me. Her fingers traced over my cheek before her gaze met mine.

“I do not need anything.” She looked over my face slowly. “It feels like I took a small nap.”

“It’s been weeks,” I whispered. “I was so fucking scared you wouldn’t wake up. But your brother said old gods are nearly impossible to kill for good.”

“Which brother?” Her eyes glanced over my face, looking carefully at my reaction.

“The one who is very upset you made him a small troll.” I chuckled softly, and Della threw her head back and laughed so loudly that it made my heart sing. “He is very upset about that and that you made his name something that you and Mikel call him to be brats.”

“Abram is too serious all the time. Besides, it’s always good to humble him and make sure he stays levelheaded.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You could have told me all of this. That you are an old god—the Goddess of Creation, and Brim was your brother.”

Her hand brushed my hair from my forehead. “No, I couldn’t. We both know you would have intervened, just like you didn’t tell me you were going to die all those years ago. Our emotions and love would have destroyed the realm because we would never allow one another to do what needed to be done.”

“I guess you’re right.” I stared at her.

An overwhelming sense of love filled me.

I would never understand why I got to have her, but I would spend our life making sure she knew I was grateful for it.

Della would want for nothing. Anything she desired, she could have.

I was here to make her happy; that was my only purpose.

She lifted my hand and glanced at the two stars I wore on my finger. “Can I have my star back?”