Page 106 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

Elra sighed heavily when I didn’t give her more of a reaction. Her gaze didn’t leave me, though.

“Did you have any more visions of Thea?”

“No, like I told you before, she might not be inherently bad. She may want nothing to do with this.”

“She will want to,” Elra said confidently.

“Did you find Abram?” Daya asked.

“No.” I had hardly tried. “No one has seen him; it is like he disappeared. Besides, the old gods aren’t going to make their whereabouts easy to find.”

“Well, him and his siblings must be punished for what they did to us. We will make their deaths a spectacle.”

“If you can find them, be my guest.”

Elra’s eyes flickered to the house over my shoulder before meeting my gaze again.

“Ardella is a problem.”

“No, she isn’t. She loves me, and she will do whatever I say. She will believe any lie that comes from my mouth.”

Elra nodded slowly before stepping forward.

“You better have control over her when we need her.” She took another step forward. “You better be ready to let her go when she learns what you did. We don’t need you being weak over stupid feelings.”

“I have not lost sight of our end goal. Della is not a problem and will not stop me from doing what I need to.”

My mating bond burned with my betrayal.

“If she does resist, then you will use whatever force is necessary to make her do what she needs to.”

“I’m not an idiot, Elra; I know what I am doing.”

“Everything is about to fall into place.” Mateo smiled, but it brought me no comfort. They said nothing else as they left. Godsdamn it.

I stood in the woods; my breathing was labored as the visions of Della’s future plagued me again. I fell to my knees and grabbed my head as a new image came forward. Pain seared into me as I groaned and fell to the ground. My eyes began fluttering as the landscape around me shifted to the woods I had not been in before.

“Storm!” I yelled, panicked.

“No need to shout,” she purred from behind me.

She flicked her wrist, slamming the door to the house shut and blocking it so Thea, Cassius, and Ezra could not come to me.

“Storm.”

“Haden.”

I let out a shaky breath as she lifted her hand up. Her fingers traced down my face slowly, appreciating the feel of me. My eyes gazed into hers, and there was a small glint of something in them that made me feel better. They weren’t completely void anymore.

“Please don’t leave again,” I said.

Della smiled as she gripped the back of my neck, yanking me down to her mouth. I hummed as her mouth dominated mine. She yanked me flush against her and shoved her tongue into my mouth. Her hands dragged through my hair as my hands gripped her hips, tugging her to me harder.

I didn’t feel it at first. The sharp, stinging pain that started in my stomach and radiated through me. Pulling away from Della, I looked down to see a small knife sticking out of me. I glanced at Della, and she smiled.

“That was too easy.”

I pulled the knife from my stomach and stared at her. Blood began pouring out of the wound. Fuck, the pain was becoming worse. I stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to me. I held the knife to her throat.

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