I couldn’t tell Mikel because there was a chance that I could not bring Remiah back. And there was no way in hell that I could tell Haden either. He would try to stop me from bringing her back. If he found out too soon about what I was doing, then he would try to stop me from fulfilling my bargain.
He wouldn’t understand why I was doing this. Malamay turned back to me with a sad smile.
“Are you sure I can do this?” I faked my fear.
“Yes, because you love my son enough to make sure he will not damn himself to Hell.” He swallowed hard. “The heavens picked the best mate for him.”
Diath scoffed and glared at Malamay. I nodded as he flicked his wrist, and his magic circled around me and took me back to Elloryon. As soon as his magic disappeared and I was securely on the ground, I sighed heavily.I think that went well.
I smiled and wiped my fake tears from my face.
It was ridiculous that I could manipulate the stars so fucking easily. Part of me wanted to laugh at how they thought they were tricking me when it was me using and bending everyone around me to get what I wanted.
I could feel Haden tugging on our bond, but I still needed to make sure everything was good to go before I saw him. I needed to make sure Abram would be ready. He would tell Haden what he needed to when I died. Because there was noif I died,I was going to die.
Abram told me it was my fate. I had to die to save everyone and destroy the stars.
My eyes flashed red as I thought about how I was about to make the stars fall from the sky and rip apart the lies of the realm. The gods were about to see what happens when you cross the wrong goddess.
It was almost time to tell Haden I knew his secrets.
It was almost time to die.
Chapter 10
Haden
Iwas a desperate man. I was pacing around my room in the Crimson Castle trying to figure out what to do. Della had not come to see me in three days, and every time I snuck to her home, she wasn’t there. I knew I needed to tell her who I was and what I was doing. But Brim's words kept circling around in my mind—Della was never the prey; she was the hunter. There was no way she knew who I was and said nothing.
My fear was suffocating me. My biggest fear was losing Della. I didn’t want her to hate me when she learned that I had planned to use her. Emotions tightened my chest as I pictured her telling me she didn’t want me. How could a heavenly goddess love an abomination?
“Chanting my name over and over in your mind will summon me.” Della’s voice was soft, void of any emotion, but her eyes were the color of starlight again.
“Storm.” I stepped toward her. “Please, we need to talk.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I’m sorry about what was said; you have to know that wasn’t true.”
She frowned at me but glanced around the room. “That’s not what I want to talk about.”
I stared at her, confused. She watched me in a way that made my chest squeeze with worry. She was going to leave me for good. She was going to rip apart the mating bond and tell me I didn’t deserve her.
“God of Wrath,” she whispered, and with those three words, I suddenly realized it was so much worse. I opened my mouth to tell her that I was sorry for lying to her, but then I closed it because nothing I said would change the fact that I deceived her. “To break your curse, you needed me to fall from grace.”
I felt like a poor excuse of a man when she watched my reaction. Her face gave away nothing as she watched me try and compose a single thought. But all I could focus on was losing her.
“Please, I know this looks bad.”
“It looks terrible, yes. But I am more curious if you know what we are.”
My nostrils flared as I saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes. I stepped forward, and she didn’t move away. “We are mates,” I whispered.
She nodded and watched me closely. Her eyes looked at me sadly, like she was going to lose me. It was not something I wanted to see.
“Do you think we are a good match?” she asked.
“I do. I believe I was destined to love you. You were made of everything I needed, Della. You are all the missing pieces of me. I would choose you in every life, in every realm. I would choose five minutes of your attention over saving this godforsaken realm. I will find you in each of my lives; I will always come back to you. And if I had other lives before these last two, I would liketo think that I spent those lives looking for you because my soul knew something was missing.
