Chapter 1
Haden 500 years ago
When I came to Elloryon, I always seemed to surface in Akecia—the only kingdom that had snow. I glanced around, my cloak keeping my face away from the fae in the streets, not that they could see me. I was on a mission today to find the God of Knowledge. Avesh had to have the answers I was looking for, and I could not believe that I hadn’t thought of him before. But just as I was about to summon my star mist to leave this place, I stopped. A woman was walking frantically up the pathway.
She seemed to be looking for something in particular. But that wasn’t what stopped me. She was a goddess—a fucking beautiful goddess. Her star-colored eyes glanced at me for a moment before she kept going. Her dark hair fell in waves down her back as she weaved through the fae. I abandoned my goal of going to Avesh for the moment.
I had never seen a god or goddess when I came to the realm—maybe that is why I felt compelled to follow her. She walkedaround the fae, who did not seem to notice her. Just like me, she was invisible. The woman didn’t wear a coat in the frigid temperatures, and I wondered how she could stand the cold.
She turned quickly down an alleyway, and I cautiously followed. The alley was not busy, but the buildings were blocking most of the sunlight, so it was gloomy and difficult to see through the blizzard. The goddess seemed to be very determined to get to wherever she was going. Her steps were deliberate and fast-paced before she suddenly stopped.
She turned to the left, and I saw her shoulders slump at whatever she saw. Slowly, she stepped forward, disappearing behind a small stack of wood. I used this opportunity to move closer to her to see what she was doing. When I glanced around the stack of wood, she was kneeling in the snow, holding the hand of a woman who was bleeding from a wound.
“I don’t want to die,” the woman cried.
“Shhh, you will be alright.” The goddess’ voice was soft—lovely.
She glanced over her shoulder and stared directly at me, letting me know that she could see me when no one else seemed to be able to. Her head tilted to the side for a moment before focusing back on the woman. I knew she couldn’t see anything about me, but would she know I was a God of Hell?
The woman was crying softly as the goddess reached out and brushed her hand against the side of her face to comfort her. The whole interaction was peaceful and, honestly, made me feel uncomfortable.
“It’s time, Fiona. This won’t hurt,” the goddess whispered.
Fiona was hardly breathing as the goddess lifted her hand, and even though I couldn’t see anything, I knew she was helping her transition into death. I watched the woman take one last breath before the goddess stood up and sighed heavily.
She looked at me, but just when I thought she was going to say something, she ran out of the alley. I followed her, jogging to keep up, but she turned a corner and vanished. I couldn’t see her anymore and worried that I had lost her as I rushed to where she had disappeared. I stopped in shock when I rounded the corner myself and found a dead-end alley with no way out. I slowly walked on, looking for anywhere she could have gone, but there were no doors or windows she could have disappeared through, nothing but brick walls all around. When I got to the end of the alley, she suddenly appeared behind me, gripping my arm and tugging me back, before slamming me against the wall of the building by my throat.
“Fuck,” I groaned in shock.
I looked down, my eyes widening when the goddess lifted her hand and summoned what looked like a small ball of lightning to it.Shit.
“Why are you following me, and how can you see me?” she hissed.
I was caught off guard by how pretty she was. Her eyes were the color of the stars, which may convince me to admire their beauty. Her bronze skin was slightly red, whether from the cold or her anger, I couldn’t tell. My gaze traveled over her small nose covered with light freckles before dropping down to her pouty lips. Fucking hell, she was breathtaking.
She moved the lightning closer to my neck, its shape forming instantly to look like a knife.
“I don’t know why I can see you, but I was curious where a woman with no coat in negative temperatures was running off to.”
“Have you ever thought of minding your own damn business?” she snapped.
Gods below, she was pissy, and it made me smile.
“Did you ever think that I wanted to see where the pretty goddess was going to?” I countered back.
She stilled as her pretty eyes traveled over me, but she couldn’t see my face. I lifted my hand and yanked my hood off. It didn’t matter if she saw me and recognized who or what I was; I could scrub her mind. I didn’t dare take my eyes from her face. I was desperate to see her reaction to me, and she didn’t disappoint.
Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated, letting me know that she liked what she saw. Her lips parted, and I barely heard the soft gasp she let out before swallowing hard. I smiled at her, and her cheeks flushed brighter red.
“You like what you see?” I teased.
She scoffed and let me go. “No.”
Ouch. I stared at her, and she lowered her hand to her side. “Lying is a sin.”
Her eyes met mine, and she smirked. “So is being prideful.” She paused for a moment. “I think the heavens will forgive me for lying.” My smile fell. Gods, she was flirting with me. I don’t know why I thought the gods here would be prudes. Her gaze traced over me again like she was trying to burn this moment into her mind. Her eyes burned brightly when she looked into mine.
“So, you do like what you see.”
