Hekate smiles and then leans forward. “Truth is more powerful than even fate, and that remembering who I truly am will lead me closer to fulfilling my destiny. The message was not just for me, but for you, too. I believe your memories are tied to that amulet your mother loved. She insisted that you would need it one day to remember your past. She told me the truth would be twisted if you couldn’t remember it for yourself. That fate itself might never recover.” Clasping her hands in her lap, her eyes glow for a moment before fading back to their normal icy blue. “They knew their time here would be cut short, Nora. They knew their fate, and they were not afraid. They believed they had served their purpose. The purpose the gods themselves sent them here to set into motion.”
Nora and Olivia gaze at each other, tears streaming down both of their cheeks. Guilt pulsates off of Nora, but her sister does not blame her for the loss of their parents. All I feel from her is love and understanding. Acceptance. She wishes she could protect Nora, too.
Olivia smiles. “Our parents were the purest and kindest souls I have ever known. Of course they could speak to the gods,” she huffs a laugh, wiping away her tears. “They were brave for putting themselves in the middle of this. I don’t know if I would want to.” She glances at Nora nervously, fear at last swirling behind those dark blue eyes.
She’s scared for Nora. I am, too. I wish my mother would have told me about her being on the Earth Realm before her parents were killed. I could have protected them. Maybe even saved them. I could have fucking done something, though if fate had any say in it, it happened exactly as it was meant to. There is no fighting fate. It’s set in stone. It is irreversible and unbreakable, and not without purpose.
Fate is an unwavering force that cannot be untethered.
I look to Ere and his eyes are wide, still lost in space and refusing to look at even Nora, though he has no problem glaring in my direction. Olivia has her legs tucked underneath her, a fuzzy blanket thrown over her lap and looking drowsy but determined to stay awake and be here for her sister. And Mio… if I could smite him right now I would. His eyes meet mine and then dart to Ere, a question lingering in his eyes that I know too well. Do you want me to kill him now? His eyes ask, and yes… more than ever, yes, I do. But I’ll settle for just ruining his night with the truth.
I stand and reposition my wings, shrugging out of my leather jacket and tossing it on the back of the couch. “I don’t want to keep secrets from you any longer. If you want the whole truth, Nora, then it’s what I’ll give you.” Taking a deep breath, I kneel in front of her, taking one of her hands in mine.
She doesn’t pull away. She doesn’t even flinch. A part of her feels the connection, too, I’m almost certain. “What is it, Kairos? Tell me,” she whispers.
“Hekate was not the only one who knew you back then, Nor. I did, too.” I blink back tears as my heart pounds against my chest, begging for her to recognize the truth. “We are so much more than any of this. More than any mortal connection you might find here.” I glance at Ere and he’s no longer lost in thought, he’s solely focused in on me. Ignoring the burning look of hatred, I smile up at his girlfriend. “We are fated mates. We were created for one another,” I tell her, a lump forming in my throat as I swallow back all the other words I’d love to say.
She stares at me, tilting her head to the side and searching my face for something, for what, I don’t know, but she doesn’t speak. I let her search. I let her feel into her soul and her heart to find the right words while I kneel before her and wait.
Ere laughs beside her, only for a brief moment before yanking me up by my shirt and pulling me to my feet. He says nothing as he releases me and then swings hard with his right fist and slams it into my face. I don’t move or flinch or hiss in pain, not because I want to play it cool or pretend I’m fine, but because a mortal punch truly is barely a hit at all against our bodies. I should laugh. I should swing back. I should fucking rage and tear his heart straight from his chest and shove it down his throat, but I won’t. Not here and not now, not with Nora watching and deciding whether she can trust me.
I close my eyes, I take a deep breath, and I let it fucking go, because if I were him, I’d be pissed, too. I simply smile at him, not a wide, cocky smile, but one that promises that if he touches me again his hand will return to him a little more broken, or possibly not be returned at all.
Nora jumps to her feet and puts herself between the two of us, her palms on his chest as she pushes him back and away from me. “Ere, what the hell? That is not okay!”
Throwing his arms up, he glares at me and then at everyone else in the room before looking down at her. “None of this is okay! He’s fucking lying, and I won’t just sit here and pretend to be okay with it.” He relaxes, cracking his neck and clenching his jaw. “I love you and you know that, Nor, but I won’t listen to this any longer. If you truly believe that bastard is your fated mate after everything you and I have been through together, then what the hell am I even doing here?” He sighs, taking her hands into his and gazing at her with a look of a man scorned a hundred times. “I can’t do this, Nor. I’m sorry, but I just…I can’t.” He shrugs, shaking his head as he lets go of her and slowly backs away.
“Ere, wait. Please, let’s just talk about this…” she follows him to the door and then it slams behind him as he leaves.
No glance back at her. No hesitation. Just gone without as much as a second thought, leaving her crying in the doorway all alone. I clench my fists and resist the urge to drag him down the darkest alley I can find and tear him to pieces with nothing but my teeth like a bloodthirsty hellhound.
Olivia jumps to her feet and rushes across the room, pulling her into her arms. “I’m so sorry, Nor. I’m so fucking sorry.”
The woman I love, my fated mate and future queen, slides to the floor and falls apart before my eyes and I can do nothing. I can watch. I can let my own heart break for her. I can let her pain shatter me to pieces and tear me apart, but I can do nothing to comfort her. I feel guilty. I feel lost. She fucking loves him, and I just tore that love away. I should be glad he’s gone, but as Olivia helps her stand and leads her into her bedroom, the sound of her sobs fading as the door clicks closed behind them leaves me regretting my decision to tell her the truth. She’s hurting because of me and now I’ll have to live with this guilt, and her with this reminder, of how selfish I am until the end of our days.
“Ro, you okay?” Mio comes to my side, squeezing my shoulder once before letting his hand fall away.
“No,” I growl, my fingers twitching at my sides as Noras pain becomes my own, the fated bond fully snapping into place now that both of us are aware of the truth.
Her pain will always be my pain and mine will be hers, and godsdamnit does this pain hurt. The stabbing, twisting knife lodged in her heart, the burning of her lungs as she struggles to catch her breath, and the churning in her stomach as she tries not to vomit on the bathroom floor—I feel every ounce of it. I want to go to her. I want to hold her and tell her it’ll be alright, but I know it’s not what she wants or needs. She needs to be alone. She needs her sister and her best friend, not the stranger who claims to be something she’d never even heard of before today. Not the selfish prick who caused this pain.
“I’ll make sure she’s okay, Kairos,” Hekate stands and gives me a small, pained smile. “You two will be fine. Just remember this is only a mere blip in your long lives together. Try not to let it get to you. She will love you again one day.” She walks past and I meet her gaze and give her a small tip of my head.
A half-ass bow for a lost queen who has risen. It’s the best I can do for the time being.
“I’m going to stay, Mio, but you should head home. I’ll call on you if I need anything.” I open a portal to our realm, to my home and Nora’s home… Mera’s home… and Mio says nothing as he steps through.
He knows I need the silence. The time to think or feel however the hell I need to so I can get over my brooding. Depending on Nora’s mood, this may take a while. Our feelings are so entangled together now that I have no way of knowing when either of us will be okay. I’ll stay for tonight. For however long I need to so I can speak to her again.
I’ll stay until she asks me to leave.
Chapter Seventeen
Watch Her Burn
KAIROS
Hekate watches me without speaking as I run my hands through my hair and pace back and forth in Nora’s kitchen. All I can think about is Nyx and who she will consider the next roadblock in getting what she wants. I’m a big, tattooed, demon slaughtering roadblock, so I know I need to take Nora away soon. Although, I do wish she would come after me. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second in jamming my dagger into her cold, icy heart.
