“Anyway, I visited a lot of witches’ covens, and they all said the same thing: Della came to them asking for a way to bring a soul back, and when they couldn’t help her, she left immediately. There are witch covens that even I do not know exist, though, so, Thea, I thought maybe you had a better idea on where we could find them or who to ask.”
“I’ll ask the blood witches to help by visiting the covens and asking them. I’ll be back.” Thea disappeared before any of us could say a word.
“Thea will make sure every witch coven is combed through.” Cassius looked at me.
I knew she would. But my mind was lost in the thought of Della being so desperate to make things right that she thought she could bring Remiah back from the grave. Did my words to her make her feel like she had to do this? My head pounded with tension. She would come back to me when she realized she couldn’t save Remiah.
A moment later, Thea reappeared.
“The blood witches will visit all of the covens in Elloryon. We will know by the end of the day which covens she has visited and which ones she hasn’t.”
“We’re close to finding her.” Mikel sighed, relieved.
Thank the heavens because I was slowly losing my fucking mind.
“Are you sure this book can’t be used to bring someone back from the dead?” Thea asked Mikel. He gave her an odd look. “When I mentioned it to the coven, they all became quiet. And when I told them why we thought she wanted it, they did not seem to think that was out of the question. In fact, one of thewomen said a witch coven was asked to keep it so that others couldn’t do exactly that—bring someone back from the dead.”
Mikel let out a shaky breath. “You’re saying there is a chance she could bring her back if she has been waiting in the After for me?” There was a hopefulness in his voice that made me hopeful too.
“What would the cost of doing something like that be?” Cassius looked at Mikel. “Surely Della would have to give up something to do this.”
“I have no idea.” Mikel began pacing around the small space. Gods, he was making me anxious. “Abram will probably be pissed off.”
“Abram, the old god?” I asked. “How would he know?”
Mikel stopped pacing around and stared me in the eyes. His eyes were filled with regret as he sighed heavily.
“Ardella talked to you about Abram?”
“I mean, she mentioned him before in passing.” I was not about to confess to Mikel that his sister was mated to a God of Hell.
“Abram is the God of Fate; he will know what she has done. I guess it will work in her favor that he cares for her. So, I doubt he will punish her. That would be my decision anyway as the God of Judgment. But he knows that she has changed fate more than once.”
“Wait, you knew she changed fate?” I asked.
“Not until she told me that you were her mate again. It should not have been possible, but Ardella has always been persistent.” Mikel stared at me oddly.
“Abram cares for Della?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Calm down, I didn’t mean it that way.” Mikel rolled his eyes.
“Aren’t the old gods supposed to be hard to find?” I asked.
“They are only hard to find if you want to harm them—like you and your siblings.” He raised his brow at me. “God of Wrath. Of course, Della would be the one to mate with someone completely off limits.”
“I don’t want to harm the old gods anymore, but they made a shitty decision when they damned us to Hell for the sins of our mother.”
“You mean your motherandfather,” Mikel corrected. I stared at him, confused. “Your mother may have been the mastermind behind defying the heavens, but your father agreed to it.”
“No—”
“Yes.” Mikel cut me off. “He admitted to it. He and your mother defied the natural order of things. They really pissed off the Goddess of Creation because you were all created to be destructive. You should have been born naturally, and the heavens would decide if you got godly powers or not. Your parents created you from their stars, completely bypassing the natural laws of creation and making sure you all had powerful magic.
“You and your siblings were sent to Hell because of how yourparentscreated you to be.” He was sure to emphasize the ‘s’. “They wanted you to be destructive, and the heavens and old gods could not allow the chance for all of you to destroy the realm. That is why your magic was stripped from you.”
Mikel’s words swarmed my mind. Then my stomach fell when I realized Mateo was not lying to me, Della was.
“But I have magic.”
