Page 58 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

She slapped me, but it was nothing compared to the beating from last night.

“I’m the best you’ll ever get,” she hissed.

Suddenly, Della was directly behind Kira. Her face was unrecognizable as anger took over her features. Her eyes turned pure white, and it called to the void part of me.

There's my girl.The void was proud of this reaction.

“Why is she speaking to you like that?” Della questioned. “I can kill her if you want.”

Yes.

Kira didn’t say anything as the woman’s angelic voice wrapped around me, making me feel something I had never felt or seen before. Della stared at me with expectant eyes. I subtly shook my head, making her frown. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way she was watching Kira made me realize that Della had a dark side to her too.

Kira noticed me staring at an empty spot. “Look, the freak is seeing the woman as we speak.”

“That’s it,” Della sighed. She lifted her hands, and the blue sky filled with dark clouds, with lightning cracking above us. Kira glanced up, and when she did, Della moved closer to her. I saw her whisper something to Kira, who froze.

“Who is that?” she asked, hastily looking around. “You can’t threaten me; do you know who my family is?” Kira screamed into the woods.

Della watched me closely, smiling like a psycho. Fuck, she was breathtaking when she was mad. Then a bolt of lightning struckthe ground at Kira’s feet, melting part of her shoes. She stumbled backward. Her big blue eyes widened as she looked around.

“I’m leaving!” she snapped, but she wasn’t talking to me. “I didn’t want him anyways.” Kira turned and ran away. When I looked back at Della, she gave me a look of worry.

“She is unpleasant,” she said defensively, like I was looking for an answer to her little outburst. “Honestly, you should have just let me kill her.”

She was a bit unhinged, like me.

“Are you possessive, Storm?”

“Only when it comes to you,” she whispered like I wouldn’t hear her. My heart beat rapidly in my chest at her words for some reason. Her pretty eyes widened. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

I smiled as panic filled her eyes.

“I should go,” she said, but I could tell she didn’t want to leave. She turned to walk away, but I grabbed her wrist and turned her back around. Her eyes stared at where we touched before meeting mine. Something somber filled her features when she looked at my face. She looked… haunted. The void did not like to see this look in her eyes. It began pulsing inside of me, but I didn’t let it surface. A sudden noise coming through the woods made us both look away. Remy was walking toward me, and when I looked back at Della, she was gone.

Damn it.

How did she get out of my grip without me noticing?

“Haden, what are you doing out here?” Remiah’s blue eyes, which matched my own perfectly, drifted around us, lingering in the woods for a moment. Her eyes softened as she looked at me.

“Just thinking about how shitty our life has been,” I sighed as I looked around.

I needed more time with Della.

“I see they threw a tomato at you again." She clenched her jaw. “Maybe you should use your magic to get them to leave you alone.”

“And give them another reason to talk more shit about me?”

I shrugged like it didn’t matter. But it did. I had never belonged here, and neither did Remiah. Remy looked at me and frowned before looking up into the sky to admire the sunshine. She sighed with contentment before looking back at me. Her smile disappeared as her eyes traced over the bruises our father left on my face last night.

“Do you think our lives will ever get better?” I asked.

I expected her to scoff or roll her eyes at my question. We never let ourselves dream of a life better than what we had. Our parents were worthless drunks. Their parents before them were the same. I did not know how to change my fate so that I would not end up miserable like my father.

“Yes, it's actually part of the reason why I came out here to find you. I wanted to talk to you about something.” She nibbled her bottom lip nervously.

“Whatever it is, you don’t have to be worried about telling me,” I assured her. Her eyes roamed over my face as she moved forward and hugged me tightly. When she pulled back, I saw worry still clinging to her features.

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