Page 18 of Hell's Storm

“Oh, shut up. You were being selfish, and when you did come back, everyone was left hurt—”

“You shut up! You have no idea what I’m going through!”

“You don’t care what I’m going through. I lost them too!” he snaps back at me.

“Fuck you, asshole!”

“You left me! You—”

Rage swirls in my chest, burning hot. “Hell is going to fall under my reign! My family was going to die! I had to leave.”

His eyes widen. “You knew?”

My chest heaves, and I take a moment to calm myself down. “Dad did. I just knew I had to leave, or Hell would fall.”

“Who else knew?”

“The council. I… I was scared. I was eighteen. I had a vision that Hell would fall, and Dad had a different vision when I came back.”

“How do you know?”

I swallow, eyes tearing up. “I feel it.I see the exact vision. I see Jigsaw saving me that night. I see Hazen coming and Inarian cooling my skin. Dad wanted me to find my hellhound protectors. That’s why I was in the academy. He knew he was going to die.”

Khazon looks down. “Your dad… He really didn’t look for you when you left.”

“Not because he didn’t love me. But because he knew I needed to get away. He knew Hell would fall, but he didn’t know he would die before it.”

He stands. “I’m so sorry. I-I—”

“Saveit. You can’t tell anyone yet.”

“Asura, stop hiding things.”

“Me? You stop hiding things! You’re suppressing your Angel of Death. Why?”

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t do this.”

“You keep your mouth fucking shut, and so will I. We don’t need people finding this out.”

Khazon looks at me. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Go control your men. They are getting on my nerves.” He waves me away. I watch him for a moment, wondering if we will ever get back to how we were or if we will just have to deal with it and grow.

Cerberus follows me as we make it back into the house. Unlike my home, the ground is full of healthy grass. When I glance back at the lake, I can see the various statues that start Persephone’s endless garden and her fields. At the castle, I open the doors and see the chaos that my men have brought on. Ledger and Ryker are going at it while Inarian and Jigsaw are.

Hazen meets my eyes, brows pulling together. He’s probably wondering how I came in outside instead of inside the house.

Ozias is sitting on the couch, head tilted back as he listens to the mess around him. I sit next to him, letting Cerberus try to cover my legs. “Explain to me what’s going on.”

He shrugs but says, “Ledger is jealous that you slept with Jigsaw and Ryker while Inarian is pissed Jigsaw gave in to you… You picked amazing men.”

I roll my eyes. “We have far more important things to worry about.”

He nods, pushing his hair back. I think about what Khazon said to me and how I denied Ozias a kiss in the palace because it felt like cheating… but that wasn’t the reason. I kissed Ryker and slept with him after that.

“Can you not think about fucking a guy for one second?” Ledger snaps.

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