Elra came at me, and I kicked her in the stomach. It only deterred her for a moment, but I saw the rage in her eyes as I smiled at her.
“It looks like maybe we should start this all over again.” Elra pulled out a knife, the same one they killed me with before. I smiled at her because they didn’t know that Della had marked me as her mate, and with that, I couldn’t die.
“No, we don’t want to start this all over,” Daya said and released me. It was enough that I could push my siblings off, all but Gareth that is. Quickly, I summoned my frost magic, creating an icicle, and stabbed it into Gareth’s leg. The gluttonous bitch fell off of my arm, yelling like a baby.
“Go ahead and stab me, and I will have Della rip that ugly soul from you and send your ass to Hell permanently." I dared her. I was free from the fucking curse; I didn’t need to help them, but they would be a pain in my ass for the rest of our existence.
“No, you won’t, because then you’ll have to tell your little crush who you are, and both of us know that she will rip your soul fromyou. Maybe you should move your sights to another goddess who isn’t the stars’ favorite. You picked the only goddess who can kill us permanently. Go woo the Goddess of Fertility or some shit.” Elra was completely serious.
“Absolutely fucking not,” I sneered. No one but Della was getting near me. It had only ever been her, and it would remain that way. Just the suggestion of another woman made me want to punch my sister again.
“Why?” Her eyes narrowed on me.
Because I love her.
“I’m not pouring more energy into another goddess. Della has already fallen for my shit.”
My mating bond burned at my deception. I knew there was no way that I would ever use Della, but that meant I needed to figure out how to get rid of my siblings for good.
“I’m starting to think that you are falling for her perfectly fake, boring personality.”
The heavens and the hells better get Elra to shut her fucking mouth before I really lost my shit. Della was anything but boring. She was kind and selfless, but she was also stubborn and smart. She was… everything. My siblings would never have been half the goddess she was, and that is why we were banished to Hell.
I was not going to defend Della right then because, one, my siblings would know how much I cared, and two, it would put Della in actual danger.
Elra paused and stared at me. I glanced at the sun as it slowly began to sink below the mountains and smiled.
“It looks like your time is up. Have fun in Hell.”
When they saw the sun, they all came at me, trying to grab me and bring me with them, but the curse ripped them straight from in front of me and sent them back to Hell.
I let out a shaky breath. What the fuck was I supposed to do? It didn't matter that my curse was broken because of Della. My siblings would never leave us alone if I didn't help them escape and I wanted the heavens, stars, and old gods to be punished for what they did to us. We did not deserve to be sent to Hell for the sins of our parents. I couldn't let my siblings know that Della was my mate.
I looked around and realized how much my sister’s words got under my skin. Storm was mine, and there was no way she was crawling into bed with another man. Gods above know that any version of me didn’t give a shit about anyone but Della.
Tonight was going to be a fucking problem; I could already feel it. My jealousy over Sam was going to get out of control. I ran my hand through my hair. Damn it, I knew she wasn’t interested in him. I was her fucking mate. But what if this bond was like hers and Holden’s had been? What if she could feel something else for someone that was not me? I would have to kill them. No man was coming between us.
I was spiraling.
How the fuck had the nice side of me stayed away from her for nine motherfucking years? I was going crazy already. I took a deep breath. Okay, I could play it calmly at dinner. I sighed, knowing that I was lying to myself. How could I pretend like my insides weren’t burning with jealousy. But deep down, I knew she loved me. Keeping that in mind, how hard could this be?
Really fucking hard.
Chapter 4
Della
When I showed up for dinner at Thea and Cassius's home, I felt a jolt of excitement as soon as I saw Haden. He had lost his mind earlier, but I really liked seeing him possessive over me, even if I had no idea why he thought I was flirting with Sam. I wasn’t.
But if he wanted to play this game, then I would make sure he fucking lost at it. Nine years of anger and hurt were bubbling inside of me, and I wanted to use it against Haden. I deserved his indifference, but I didn’t deserve this. His void self could not keep himself in check.
I stared at the pretty woman next to him, not liking the way that he was talking to and smiling at her. Even the way he was looking into her eyes disgusted me. Haden’s focus kept wandering to me, but I did not give him my attention. I knew that he was doing this just to get a reaction out of me. I sat down across from him and smiled at Cassius.
“It’s good to see you, Della,” Cassius said with a smile. His gaze drifted to Haden and gave him a pointed look.
Odd.
“I’m Ally, and this is my wife, Marla.” The woman next to Haden smiled at me. It was the same woman from the last dinner party I spied on.
