“Tomorrow we will tell everyone we know that I am your husband and you are my wife,” he promised.
Guilt stabbed into me, but I did not let it show. I nodded and leaned forward, kissing him hard.
“I am all in,” I promised.
“I love you more.”
Chapter 15
Haden
Irolled over in bed and felt blindly for Della so I could pull her toward me. My eyes shot open when her side of the bed was cold. I sat up and glanced around the room listening for her movements in the house. There was no noise, and I instantly feared the worst. I shook my head and ran my hands down my face. She was probably working or outside, but even as I said it, it didn’t feel right. There was something missing in our home, and it was Della. She would have told me she was leaving if it was for work. I stood and slipped on my trousers before heading downstairs.
“Storm?” I called out.
I headed outside and walked the length of the porch, scanning every inch of our property to see if she was out there. But I could feel that she was not close to me. In fact, I couldn’t feel her presence at all. Panicking, I began walking back inside.
“Storm, please come out,” I called into the empty house.
She must have snuck out while I was sleeping, and something about that seemed strange. I hurried through the house, desperate to find her.
“Storm, come home!” I yelled so that she would come. Standing in the kitchen, I waited for what seemed like an eternity, but she still did not show her face. Something was wrong. I knew it deep in my soul.
“Ardella, please come here, and tell me you are okay.” My chest was tight with panic. I could feel my lungs being squeezed because I fucking knew she had been acting odd. All I could think about was going to Thea and Cassius. I raced up the stairs to get dressed but stopped when I saw it.
On my drawing desk was a vase of orange flowers and a note. I walked to it slowly, as if it would kill me with its words.If she leaves me, I will die. I will not survive her loss.The one word on the envelope made me let out a shaky breath.Husband.
I opened the letter and sat down on the bed. I did not want to collapse if I was about to die of a broken heart.
Haden please forgive me.
There is something I have to do, and I could not tell you. You would've tried to stop me, and this is a fate written by the heavens. This is my destiny, and I could not let you interfere with it. This must be done to right my wrongs and set the realm right again—to break the curse I put on myself to save you.
I will be back as soon as I can, but you must not look for me. Do not come find me. This is one fate I do not want to change. I am not in danger. I am not going to die. I will be alright, but this is something I had to do on my own.
I will return to you as soon as I can. I love you more, husband.
Love your wife.
Storm
Damn it, Storm.
?????????
Weeks later, after another failed search for Della, Cassius and Thea met me in my room one evening. She had been gone for weeks, and I could not find her anywhere. Even Thea had called to her, and she ignored her. Cassius was determined that we would find her too, so he searched all day with me for any leads, but she was gone.
There wasn’t a trace of her anywhere. No one knew where she would go. When I went to tell Mikel, I figured he wouldn’t care, but he immediately began searching for her too. Mikel had been asking around with the gods he knew, but they also had no idea where she was. Della had not talked to anyone that we could find.
“We’ll find her.” Thea frowned when I stood in our home, feeling her loss suffocating me. Every time I left and came back, I expected to see her waiting there. Maybe one of these timesshe would come home and be cooking dinner for us. This was a nightmare, and I hoped I would wake up any minute.
Everywhere I looked in this space was haunted by a memory of her. I rubbed my eyes to keep the tears in check. Why didn’t she trust me enough to tell me what she was doing? I could have helped her. I wouldn’t have interfered. Gods, even as I said it, I knew I would have if it were dangerous.
“How are we supposed to find her? We looked everywhere and asked everyone we could. What if she is gone forever?” I swallowed hard to stop the tears from coming.
“We will circle back to all the places we checked first,” Cassius suggested.
“Her letter said she would be back, Haden. She said she wasn’t in danger.” Thea frowned.
