“What bargain did you make with her?” Mikel asked, “You always make bargains.”
“I didn’t this time.” Ezra glared at Mikel. “Don’t pretend like you know me.”
“Take all of us,” I said.
He nodded as his magic wrapped around us, and when his red star mist disappeared, we were on the Islands of Death. The air was heavy, but something about it was calming. Maybe it was the salty smell that clung to the breeze from the sea.
I paused and admired Ezra’s big, black castle. It was as dark and looming, just as I had imagined it should be for the God of Souls. However, contrasting with the castle was a vast garden with hundreds of colorful flowers within it. Some even vined up the walls, decorating them with colors that popped off the black stone.
Ezra glanced around, confused.
“Why did we not go inside?” Thea asked.
“I don’t know.” Ezra glanced around us as if he expected a monster to pop out of the forest. But it was silent, eerily silent. “Something is wrong. She was sleeping when I left.”
“Storm.” I muttered as I headed for the front door but stopped when I saw that it was wide open.
Ezra’s eyes moved to the ground, and I saw them widen in surprise. I followed his gaze and gasped when I saw bloody footprints.
“Storm!” I immediately ran inside and called for her.
“Haden, maybe we should not yell for her until we know what we are working with here,” Cassius warned.
“I’m sorry, but I am taking Remiah somewhere safe. I will not risk her.” Mikel immediately disappeared. That was probably for the best because there was something unnatural lingering in the air.
I focused on Thea and Cassius. They looked unsure, like we were about to find Della dead. My heart was beating so violently that I could feel it in my ears. She wasn’t dead, but I also couldn’t feel her through the bond. I followed the blood. It was one set of footprints walking around with more droplets following it.
Suddenly, Ezra grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking, and I glanced up to see a large black door.
“These are souls bound for Hell.” Ezra shot a glance at me, and together, we looked down slowly to see that the blood was spilling from under the door.
Fearing what I would find, I pushed the door open slowly, and it made a horrible creaking noise. I couldn’t see anything, though. Thea immediately used her fire magic to illuminate the space.
What the fuck?
Blood was everywhere, splattered across the walls and floors, even dripping from the ceiling. There were two dead bodies on the floor, and they had been ripped apart. Ezra sighed heavily.
“Those were slaves, working off a lifetime of sins.” Ezra surveyed the room around us. “Tainted souls.”
“Where the fuck is my wife, Ezra?” I asked.
We turned around to continue looking for her, and I saw lightning flashing outside even though there was no rain. Relief filled my chest.Storm.
“Never mind, I’m pretty sure I found her.” I sighed in relief as I hurried to find her.
However, when I got outside, the wind hit me like a wall, slamming me into the stone. I was on my hands and knees trying to catch my breath when I saw her silhouette close by, the trees around her burned to cinders.
The wind stopped as her head tilted back, raising her face to the sky. Her back was turned toward us, and her shoulders were rising and falling with angry breaths.
“Storm?” I called out to her as I stood on shaky legs.
When she turned to me, I lost my ability to breathe. I saw her eyes burning red with her wrath. I could not move my gaze from her. Blood soaked her so thoroughly it dripped from herfingertips. My eyes drifted to the seven broken stars on her forearm.
No.
When I looked back up to her face, she began crying. I gasped when I saw that her tears were no longer glowing like the stars but black like the depths of Hell.
My wife had fallen from the grace of the heavens.
