“Della, you are dismissed.” He sighed heavily. I nodded and left the room, but I paused for a moment outside of the doors. There was nothing better than some good old-fashioned eavesdropping.
“That fucking bitch,” Diath hissed.
“She agreed to go see Haden with me tonight, so you all have a limited time to figure out where the rest of the old gods are. We need the God of Fates, Goddess of Creation, God of Time, and God of Justice. We know where the rest are. Once we have them, I can start taking their souls and giving them to each of us.”
“Are you sure that will work?” Abarra asked. “You can take souls from the old gods?”
“It can’t be that damn hard,” Malamay scoffed. “We will test it on the weakest one before we take the others. Find the last four before Della catches onto us.”
“You really think she doesn’t know we are up to something? It was stupid to just pretend like we hadn’t planned on takingover the realm. She is smart; she is likely buying time to do something.” Diath was completely right. “She let herself die in Hell, and I do not trust that it was just to seal it. Besides, how did she find out that a god had to sacrifice themselves in Hell with all seven souls of sin to close it?”
Abram told me.
“It had to be Abram, that prick,” Abarra snapped like she personally knew him. “I agree with Diath. Ardella is not here by chance. She wants to be here.”
Damn, she wasn’t as stupid as she looked. No one said anything, and I knew I was pushing my luck by sticking around, so I left quickly to go sit in my room.
?????????
I was pacing back and forth, waiting for Malamay to come get me. There was no way I could calm my racing heart. All day, I just thought of getting to be close to Haden. Even if he did not know it was me, I knew it would soothe this constant ache in my chest.
I did not know what time of day it was for Haden. Time did not work the same for us in the stars. It always looked like nighttime here. Haden had interrupted our day with fourteen more prayers, each one becoming more demanding and persistent.
My door cracked open, and Malamay poked his head inside. When he saw me, he shut the door and locked it.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.” I slipped the hood of the cloak on when he did.
“Behave yourself, Della.”
“I’ll do my best.” I smiled, and I knew him well enough to know he was giving me a warning look.
It only took a few seconds for us to fall through the floor and started plummeting towards Elloryon. My eyes did not leave the lights as we got closer and closer. Fuck, I was so excited to just see Haden. When we landed on the ground, I smiled at the sightof our home in front of us. Haden had been living here since I died.
“Haden, get your ass out here.” Malamay spoke like a disappointed father.
The front door burst open, and my breath left me immediately when I saw Haden. His eyes narrowed on us.
“It’s about fucking time,” he snapped and walked down the stairs toward us. Fuck, how could he look so different but also exactly the same? He had stubble across his jaw, and his hair was messy, like he was running his hands through it constantly. My eyes dragged over him as he stared down Malamay, who slipped his hood off.
There was a rigidness about Haden. His face was now made of harsh lines, and his eyes were full of bitterness. His stormy gaze stared directly at me, and I swallowed hard even though he did not know it was me.
“You have got to fucking stop praying so damn much. You are a damn menace; we can’t get anything done when you are constantly talking.”
Haden gave him a smug smile, and I instinctively took a step toward him but stopped when he turned his glare on me, like he would bite me if I got too close.
“Glad to know my plan is working. I will not stop; if anything, I will pray more tomorrow.”
Malamay closed his eyes and mumbled, “What do you think this is going to accomplish?”
Haden glanced at me before looking at the ground. “Tell me anything about Storm. I am going mad down here.”
“I told you before, I can’t say anything.”
Haden glared at his father. “Then enjoy hearing me every waking moment of your life in the stars.”
I smiled when Malamay looked at me like he knew I was getting amusement from this.
