"Fine," he sighed. "But the heavens will not like that you have fallen in love with the man they told you to use to figure out what his parents and siblings are up to. What will Haden say when he finds out you were supposed to kill him, not fall in love with him? Mikel's vision showed his siblings and him breaking out of Hell. You are supposed to be stopping that, not changing fate."
"He will understand." I frowned up at Abram. "We cannot tell Mikel what I am doing, Abram. He will not understand and willstop me. Besides, Haden and I loving each other will change the fates of the gods."
Abram tensed and looked at me. "You have found a way to change our fate?"
"Yes, and Haden is the key."
I was ripped from the memory suddenly. The other version of me still stood in front of me, smiling like she saw my memories too.
“Haden is a god of Hell.”
“Yes, and you are the reason why he and his siblings will break free. You will be the downfall of the stars themselves.”
Haden isn’t evil and there was nothing shameful about loving him. There was an overwhelming sense of dread filling me. I felt like I was going to pass out. The stars would have stopped me. Then again, maybe they weren’t powerful enough to stop me. A shiver ran up my spine, taking root inside of me and making my eyes shut. When I opened them, I was in front of a mirror. I stepped back when I noticed the black eyes of the void staring back at me. Why was I void?
My reflection in the mirror tilted its head and gave me a sinister look before punching the glass, shattering it and sending it flying into shards toward me. I stumbled backward, falling onto my back. When I went to stand, black starlight wrapped around my wrists and ankles, holding me down. I looked up, and Haden was smiling from above me.
“Haden,” I pleaded softly. “You are a god of hell.”
His stormy eyes flashed red, and I began crying. I didn’t understand what was happening.
“Yes, and you have defied the stars and the heavens to have me.” He frowned.
“You’ve lied to me for as long as I have known you!” I called out, and this made him chuckle.
“Oh, Storm, you are about to see who is the liar between us is.” He moved forward slightly, and I flinched like he would hurt me. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m going to show you how naughty you’ve been.”
His star mist moved over me, and flashes of what I had done began flashing through my mind—so many lies and secrets. I had committed treason against the stars, the gods, and the heavens for lifetimes for Haden. After a moment, they stopped, and Haden looked down at me.My chest was heaving with realization of who the monster was between the two of us. It wasn't Haden who was the liar, it had always been me.
“What have I done?” I cried out. “Haden, what have I done!”
He squatted down and smiled, staring at me for a moment before brushing my hair back from my sweaty forehead.
“And they say the gods of hell are the ones to fear. You’ve been a very busy girl, Storm.”
My breathing was coming out rapidly as the memories of what I had done kept replaying in my mind.
“You’ll always be my good girl, no matter how bad you are.”
“Please…” I don’t know what I needed.
“All these lifetimes of deceit are coming to an end. You don’t have much time left to make sure everything is in place when your secrets are spilled.”
His stormy eyes stared into mine.
“I’m still confused,” I said.
“It will all come together in the next few days. You should get some sleep because you have a lot to do.”
My head pounded, my forehead beaded with sweat as every treason I had ever committed raced through my memory.
“You have been deceiving everyone since the moment you saw me, Della.” He was not angry; he seemed pleased that I would do such things for him. “When we met in Akecia, 500 years ago, it was not an accident. You summoned me there. That is why I wasalways in Akecia when I surfaced from Hell, because you were there watching for me—waiting.”
“No…” Yes.
“But that is not the first time you saw me, is it?”
“No.” I confessed as tears streamed down my face.
