Page 59 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
I don’t want anyone to look at her except me. I’ve already caught Nikolai watching her in a daze several times.She’s mine.Even if I can’t bear the thought of loving her, she belongs to me.
“Yes, the godling is at my palace.”
He grunts his disapproval. “I can’t believe it’s come to this. Are you sure this is the path you want to take, old friend?” He sets his hand on my shoulder—the weight of it is as heavy as his gaze. I firm my lips and give him a tight nod. “Your sacrifice in marrying that half-god will be rewarded, Kalel.”
It certainly felt like a sacrifice after I realized that the girl who found me in the forest that day was the same one who aided in destroying my childhood village. I knew it was her when we met in the forest two weeks ago. I could never forget such starlit hair, nor her floral eyes.
We were only children when she tried to help me. She couldn’t have known what would happen to my uncles or me, but the hatred that was born in my heart that day can never be completely washed away. It’s who I am now, and nothing can change that.
I can’t get her out of my head. The way she carries her heart on her sleeve. The way the little godling’s eyes go soft when she looks at me like I’m something more than I am. Like I won’t destroy every last spark of hope in her soul.
Guilt is a heavy burden to shoulder, but I can’t change what’s already been done.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ALIRA
My stomach isin knots as Tessa and Nikolai extend their hands to me. We exit the carriage in front of the enormous chapel. The clouds have already blocked out most of the sunset, but the warm sconces lining the exterior of the beige stone building light it up magnificently.
I take in the sharp points of each spire and the lancet windows beneath them. The doors are made from twin ebony wood. Symbols are scrawled on them, but I’m too jittery to focus on them to decipher what they are.
“Loosen up, you’ll pass out if you lock your knees while standing up there,” Nikolai scolds.
“How long does the wedding last for demons?” I ask, darting a look between the two nervously.
Tessa has a smug grin and shrugs. “It’s usually pretty short, but I doubt it’s anything like what the demigods do for marriage.”
“What do you mean?” I hastily ask as we reach the doors. She only winks at me before music spills out of the chapel and the doors swing open.
I inhale like it will be my last breath. Hundreds of demons turn to face us. They’re all standing with solemn faces, as if this were a funeral and not a wedding.
At least we’re all on the same page.I shrink into myself and stare straight ahead. Waiting beneath the altar, made of a clear crystal stone that bounces orange and purple hues, is Kalel.
My eyes widen at the sight of him. His hair has been tamed, and he wears a gilded wreath atop his head—A tradition many mortals use to celebrate the gods and to show their social standing. Gold necklaces drop down Kalel’s chest and cross over the white robe that only covers half of his chest. My eyes linger on his exposed muscles, the sinewy bronze of his skin that dances in the flickering lights of the candles above. His shoulder and forearm leather plates are gilded as well, tying every piece of his attire together perfectly.
He’s the kind of handsome that demands time to slow.
His eyes catch mine. He looks tired and not enthusiastic to see me. Nonetheless, he takes me in, letting his gaze move from my lips to my chest, down to my feet, before forcing his attention toward the altar instead—the muscle in his jaw tenses, and I swallow nervously.
I know we aren’t two souls who are meant to be tethered to one another, but an ache settles in my heart at his reluctance to even look at me. Something from deep within my soul yearns to be with him, even if the gods revolt at our coming together.
“It’s all you from here,” Nikolai murmurs, giving me a little nudge to walk ahead.
I swallow and cast him a worried look. He smiles reassuringly.
I straighten and start walking down the long aisle, startled when a choir begins singing a haunting hymn. Their voices are chilling, some deep and low, and a few with high-pitched voicesthat make your heart twist. The arches in the ceiling rise at least three stories high and carry the sound divinely.
The demons whisper as I pass by them. I try my best not to listen, but their words reach me anyway.
“Dirty half-god.”
“Murderer.”
“She should be hanged along with her kingdom.”
My fingers intertwine over my abdomen, and I try to remain as composed as I can.This is what you chose.I remind myself, desperate to hold onto the hope that my life here won’t be as terrible as I fear it will be.
I stop at the altar and hesitantly look up at Kalel. He’s impassive to my presence. His only acknowledgement of me is the slight tick in his jaw as he grits his teeth.
