Page 44 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
“Why?”My voice is low. I can’t tear my gaze away from the hatred that grows across Kalel’s expression. What did we do to him? My chest falls, heavy with grief on his behalf.
“Alira, do you really believe a demon,thisdemon, could ever truly love a demigod? Look at what the poor thing has been through. He is a merciless man. One who only knows how to take. Hewillkill you. He was born to kill all half-gods. It’s been written in the stars, and this is your only warning.” Mercury’s words weigh my shoulders down and make my stomach curl with dread.
Kalel can be cruel and untrusting of me, but I’ve seen how devoted he is to his kingdom. I know he’s kind. Sure, maybe we will never love one another, but my heart is already yearning to be closer to his. I can’t deny that I have no longing for his eyes to gaze upon me.
I lift my chin and glare at the god. “That’s not who Kalel is.”
Mercury’s lips curl into a cruel, handsome grin. “Then you do not know Kalel. He was made from the very ashes of the underworld.”
I’d be lying if I said the god’s words didn’t put doubt into my heart.
“What will you do, daughter of Venus? With this warning from the gods, my job is done.” He slips by me and movesbeside the boy. Mercury’s robe fades into a shroud of smoke, announcing his departure.
“Wait! Mercury, please hear my plea. Are the gods responsible for my time loop curse?” I shout. Mercury lets his head fall back as he cackles at me.
“It is a peculiar curse, isn’t it? Powerful. Only a deity can cast one like that, I would think.” He taps his lip mockingly.
I bite back my rage. “What happened to make Kalel like this?” I ask, my tone a little too pleading.
Mercury only winks at me before disappearing altogether.
The vision goes with him, and I’m back in the forest, standing alone against the night itself. Only my labored breaths fill the underbrush.Only a deity.So, I was right, it was a god that placed the curse on me. But why? My brows pinch, and I clutch my hand over my heart.
The ferns rustle loudly and Kalel runs out a second later, flinching when he spots me.
“There you are. What happened?” he asks with a heavy-set frown that makes his scar chisel his cheekbone. I can’t help but stare there, knowing he was so young when he got it. He stops a breath away, too close yet too far away. I want to hug him and console him like I wanted to for his younger self.
My chest caves seeing him after the vision Mercury showed me. How could someone as lovely as Kalel have a bad fate? How could the gods believe that the peace agreement won’t change mine?
Kalel must notice the sorrow in my eyes as my gaze burns into his scar.
He takes one step back, worry flashing across his features.
“What did the wisp show you?” he asks coldly as a guarded look falls over his features.
My fingers curl into the edges of the cloak. I don’t want to lie to him, so I tell him the truth. “You.”
His brows lower, casting shadows over his eyes. “Me? You’ll need to be more specific, little godling.”
I swallow nervously. “I followed you as you ran through the forest and collapsed in a field. You had…” I lift my hand to trace my finger over his scar, but he catches my wrist, and a fractured expression moves over his face.
“You saw what happened?” His voice is darker than his gaze, both making me feel sick to my stomach.
I shake my head. “I only saw you in the field, cursing the demigods for hating the demons.” That seems to put him at ease a little. He lets go and turns, stalking back toward camp without another word, his shoulders slumped.
My mouth opens more than once to ask him what really happened, but I can’t seem to bring myself to ask. An unsettling fog follows close behind us, making me nervous enough not to bring it up again.
Chapter Sixteen
KALEL
Thornhall was a beautiful village,tucked away in a valley between two mountain ranges that never should’ve seen the horrors of war. Yet here we are.
I stare at the desolate buildings and take in the hum of silence that fills the air here.
The attack took place at night, and the village is so small that the demigods didn’t even bother using fire to destroy the homes to draw the villagers out. They just killed everything in them instead. Now it’s an empty land, the gardens unharvested, the livestock and anything that ever lived here are dead.
My feet guide me to a familiar door. I stop and grind my jaw. Her blood still stains the front steps of my childhood home.Mom.
