“All right.” I let go of his hand. “You're not ready to forgive. I get that.”
“Not even close.”
Star snorted.
“What's with that?” Sever demanded.
“You. You're angry with Anu. That's so . . . it's so fucking ungrateful.”
“Excuse me?”
The hunters, Ainsley, and Killian went still, everyone focused on the Demon facing off with the Angel.
Star pushed off from the wall and strode over to us. “He gave youher.” He pointed at me. “He didn't just introduce you. He handed her to you on a fucking silver platter. Dished up with a clean slate. No memory of anyone else to stop her from falling in love with you. And when that memory came back and you, you fucking moron, pushed her away, Anu ensured you'd come back to each other by giving you a child!” Star's voice broke on the last word. He swallowed and visibly calmed himself. “You were miserable, so he changed your entire life for you. Moved Heaven and Hell. For you. And you whine about it. You mope. You curse him like a human. Fuck you, Severriel. You don't deserve all you've been given.” Star vanished in a rain of embers.
The room was silent for several seconds.
Then Killian said, “That guy knows how to make an exit.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
We didn't talk about what Star said. We didn't have to. Sever was visibly shaken by the King of Hell's words. I don't know if it was visible, but I was shaken too. It hadn't just been condemnation of Sever's attitude. Star's speech had made it clear to everyone how he felt about me. He might have well have shouted, “Anu gave you everything I want!”
Thank the Gods the others weren't there.
Killian was disturbed, but it wasn't new information for him. He'd suspected, as all my husbands had, that Star had intense feelings for me. I suspected it too. All right, I knew it. But this . . . this was more than I knew.
“Gods damn it,” I growled. “There went my train of thought. What was I talking about before all of that?”
“Pearls of wisdom,” Hunter Mi-cha said as she brought over a coffee pot and filled my empty mug.
“Oh! That's okay, I . . . thank you.” It was too late to stop her.
“We don't like empty cups here.” Hunter Ji-woon grinned at me. Then he looked at our plates. “But we demand empty plates. Come on! Finish your food! What's wrong? Isn't it good?”
We went back to eating, but all of us were distracted. Mostly by Astaroth. Except for me, he took a back seat to me trying to remember where my mind had been headed with the pearls.
The Goddess! That was it. Why would Danu put those pearls in Kumihos but not give them access to the power? And why make them dependent on other lifeforce to survive? It was completely unlike Danu. So there had to be a reason.
“What's with the long faces?” Medea demanded as she strode in with Hunter Do-hun.
“Oh, nothing. The King of Hell just had a hissy fit because he wants my wife,” Killian said.
Medea blinked slowly. “Yeah, that tracks.”
I gaped at her.
“Come on,” she said as she headed for a chair. “As if you didn't know.”
“Oh, she knew.” Killian leveled a stare at me. “We all knew.”
“We just didn't realize everyone else did,” I said.
“We have eyes.” Medea plopped down. “So, he bailed? Is he coming back?”
“I don't know,” I murmured. “Hey, you know the Kumihos.”
“Yeah.” She grinned. “A little. They're doing good, by the way.”
