“Break the curse?” I watched Avesh closely as I asked him about it.
He nodded with a dramatic sigh. “Every curse has a key—a way to break it. Curses are not permanent, and there must always be a solution to end them. Even if the stars, heavens, or gods are the ones to cast it.”
“How could they ever break a curse like this, though?”
Avesh smiled, and it made my heart beat faster. He knew how to break it. Behind meeting Ardella, this was becoming the second best thing to happen to me.
“The answer to the curse must be where the cursed can find it. Call it…universal laws. So, the heavens and old gods gave me the answer, knowing that I would never give it to a God of Hell.”
Fuck, I felt bad for him because he was the worst secret keeper I had ever fucking met.
“Smart,” I agreed. “So, what do they have to do?”
His gaze met mine, and I saw the suspicion in his eyes. Don’t make me force you, prick; just tell me. I leaned back and grabbed one of the pastries his cook brought in. I tried to make myself as unassuming as I could, but I felt like I might explode.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Well, honestly, I came here for the king, but I find this story absolutely intriguing. I always thought the tales we heard growing up were meant to scare us, but now you’re saying they are true. I’m curious about what the stars would make them do to break a curse of this magnitude.”
Avesh nodded and leaned back. I knew I had him.
“Well, honestly, it wasn’t just the heavens that decided the punishment; it was the old gods that determined the key to breaking the curse. And they made it practically impossible.”
Well, that didn’t sound very fucking good. He watched me for a moment before sighing.
“The whole argument was that gods are inherently good, but obviously that was not the case with Diath because she was born from a dead star. Diath argued with the stars that nobody was born a particular way and that anyone could become good or bad, to which they disagreed.
“They believed that gods and goddesses that were born from a normal star would never do what she did. They would never trick their mates into creating life in a forbidden way—like from a dead star. They would never disrupt the balance of the realm for selfish reasons. So that is what her children must do.”
Was I stupid because I did not understand what that meant? “Do what?”
“Corrupt a god of good nature.”
How the fuck was I supposed to do that?
“Well, how do they do that if they are stuck in Hell?”
“They can leave Hell for a short time, but they must always return before too long. To leave Hell, they can be temporarily reborn as a fae, which gives them one lifetime to complete their try. However, they are mortal in this form and can die. If that happens, they return to Hell, and their turn is done. Then one of the other siblings could try.”
“How do they get reborn?”
“They must tell the heavens they wish to use their turn.”
Simple.
I nodded and ate my pastry; my mind was racing with this news. There was no way in hell I was telling my siblings about this. They had no idea I was here talking to Avesh today. I couldn’t believe that there was a way to leave Hell for good.
My mind went to Ardella, and I knew that she could be my ticket out. Dare I ask questions about her?
It would be risky, but I wanted to know everything I could. Was there a way to change the fate of this goddess and make her mine? The idea that she would feel something for another man made me feel sick. I wanted to be what made her happy, and I would do a damn good job at it.
“Can I ask a personal question?”
“Sure.” Avesh nodded.
“How do gods know when they meet their mates? I heard the king discussing it, and the whole idea of fated mates is so odd to me.”
Avesh looked surprised by my question. I took a bite of my pastry and watched him.
