“She would never give a God of Hell the time of day,” he hissed. “Ardella is too good for you.”
I glared at him and took a step forward, but he let out a startled cry and moved backward. It was actually making me extremely uncomfortable to see him crying.
“I didn’t say she wasn’t. Now tell me.”
“Bonds can’t be broken or transferred. We get one mate, and that is it. She will never belong to you.”
I was instantly pissed off at his snarky-ass comments. My wrath took control as I jumped into his mind and scrubbed awaythe conversation we just had. In fact, I scrubbed the entire day from him.
Once I was convinced that his memory was scrubbed away of any hints that I came and saw him today, I started to pull out of his mind. I moved Avesh to his chair and manipulated him to go to sleep. Before I could leave though, a vision suddenly exploded into my mind causing me to fall to my knees. I closed my eyes as images of Ardella ran rampant through my thoughts.
In the vision, her back was turned toward me, her shoulders rising and falling with angry breaths.
“Storm?” I called out to her. Gods, I felt terrified, but notofher. I felt itforher.
She turned to me, and I lost my ability to breathe when I saw her eyes burning red with wrath. The realm all around her was destroyed. My eyes fell on her forearm. Seven broken stars marked her, one for each of the sins.
When I looked up at her face, she began crying. Her tears no longer glowed like the stars, as with most gods, but were now as black as the depths of Hell.
She had already fallen from the grace of the stars.
“Della?” I stepped toward her with my hands up.
As soon as she saw my face, she stopped crying. Her head tilted as she studied me with red eyes.
When she began to smile, I stopped moving toward her. My heart squeezed at the sight of her, but there was no recognition in those eyes. Only evil lurked in their depths.
“Storm?”
Her gaze traveled over me.
“You should probably keep your distance from me,” she warned, her voice full of nothing but indifference.
I stopped immediately and realized that I was looking at a version of Della that I never wanted to see.
“You won’t hurt me,” I said to her softly.
“Yes, I will.” Her eyes flashed with concern for only a moment before they lost all emotion again. Then she stepped toward me, and everything went black.
Chapter 2
Della present day
Pia came into my room and immediately frowned at the state of dishevelment I was in. I could not remember the last time I left my bed.
“Even goddesses need to eat, Della,” she said, frowning. “When was the last time you changed your clothing?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Leave me alone,” I begged as I covered my face with my blanket. I had not left my bed in weeks, if not months. Thea had broken her curse six months ago, and I had not seen Haden since. His words played in my head.I cannot wait for Thea to break her curse, so you do not have a reason to annoy us with your existence.
I was alone again.
I thought I would be desperate to see Haden, but it turned out that if I slept all day and did not leave my bed, I could push the longing from myself. So, I lay there, rotting in clothes that had not been washed in far too long.
Suddenly, the blankets were ripped off of me. Pia gave me a look that let me know I couldn’t keep living like this. But I did not have anything to look forward to anymore. My right hand instinctively rubbed the five broken stars on my forearm. I had gained a new sin for saving Thea and not taking her soul, but it was worth it.
No one else could see that I was marked, but that didn’t make me feel better. The mark had not changed since I saved Thea, and I was thankful.
“Maybe you should check on him?” Pia suggested, like she did every time she came in to bother me. “I doubt he’s doing fine like you think he is.”
