Her eyes dimmed with her hurt and rising anger. My heart pounded so hard I could feel my neck throb. Emotions clogged my throat as I tried to hold them in enough to collect my thoughts and tell her to fuck off. Della stared at me, something like regret flashing in her eyes. She looked away from me when I didn’t say anything.
“I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but what was I supposed to do, Haden? Let you die?”
Tears fell from my eyes as she fell apart in front of me.
“Tell me!” she demanded. “Was I supposed to let the man I love die? Would you have let me die if the roles were reversed?”
“Yes,” I snapped.
Her mouth fell open as she stared at my eyes. Tears fell down her face silently.
What the fuck are you doing? Take that back right fucking now.The void was fucking pissed.
Della’s eyes faded so much they looked like a normal fae eyes. Her shoulders fell, and agony rippled off of her in waves. I was so fucking angry that I blocked out the void as he kept screaming at me to take it back.
“You really would have let me die?” she asked so quiet and emotionless that I hesitated. I knew if I told her yes, it would hurt her beyond repair, but I wanted her to hurt. I wanted her to feel what it was like to lose someone she loved. She was a monster. Why did she kill Remiah? Why did she kill us? She ripped us away in one selfish moment. I was mourning the life we were supposed to have. She robbed me of happiness.
“Yes. Maybe you should have died instead of Remiah.” The words fell from my mouth, and I could practically see them stab through her heart. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed so loudly that I didn’t know what to do. I fucking didn’t like seeing her like this. But at the same time, I enjoyed seeing her in pain like I was. She should be broken like I am. Her magic was seeping from her, but instead of pretty starlight surrounding her like usual an inky black substance seemed to bleed from her, which confused me. Her whole body was shaking, and she refused to look at me.
You fucking moron. Tell her you take it back, now. You are hurting her for something that she had no control over!
No control over?I argued back.
She’s our mate; she couldn’t let you die; she had no fucking choice!
Mate?
Our fated mate, you stupid shit. Fix this, right now.
I stared at her as my mind raced with what the void said, but it was too late. Della looked at me, and I saw at that moment that her heart had truly shattered. Her once star-colored eyes were now filled with a black, soulless void. Her crying stopped, and she stared at me like she was not present in her mind anymore.
Is she… void?
What the fuck? You need to fix this right now. What is wrong with her eyes?
But before I could say anything, she stood up silently, pulling her dress on. Her eyes were glazed over as if she wasn’t really seeing me. There was not a trace of anything I recognized in them. Was this what I looked like whenhetook over?
Oh, I fucked up big time.
“Consider me dead to you.” Her voice was soft, too soft, with no emotion attached to it.
Do not let her leave like this. Fix this now.
“Della.” I stood and reached for her, but before I could touch her, her star mist circled around her and took her away.
You fucking piece of shit. How fucking dare you treat her like that?
“You didn’t tell me she was our godsdamn fated mate,” I hissed. “She still killed Remiah.”
Gods cannot let their mates die. They do not have a choice. She had to save you, and you just told her we wished she died. Do you have any idea what harm you just caused to her? I swear to the fucking gods, when I take over, I will fucking cause you pain.
Fear began to trickle into my mind.
You have hurt her for nine years over something she didn’t have a choice in. You broke her. How are we supposed to fix this when you said something so damn terrible?
Della was my mate, my fated mate. I used my magic to go back to Thea and Cassius’s home. I could see the guests were still there, but no logical thoughts formed as I burst through the door. Cassius and Thea immediately stood up, recognizing that something was wrong.
“Ardella is my mate,” I said.
