Page 69 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

She hesitated before glancing down to the floor.

“Do you think he’s happy?”

She glanced up at me, and I froze at her question because I had expected something else.

“I think so,” I answered. She nodded and frowned. “Sometimes I think he pretends to be.”

Tears filled her eyes as she swallowed hard.

“Thank you for giving him purpose and friendship. He was so sad before, and now I see him smiling, and that’s because of you. I just wanted to thank you for making him smile again.” Della tried to hold her tears in, but they fell silently down her cheeks.

“Della…”

“He hates me, doesn’t he?”

Her eyes looked at me, pleading with me to tell her that he didn’t. There was a small sliver of hope in them, and it gutted me for her.

“Yes,” I said with a frown. “Can you blame him?”

She shook her head and cried out loud, and for some reason, I felt bad for her because she clearly cared for him.

“What would you do to save Thea?” She asked as she met my eyes.

“Anything,” I answered without a thought. “You know that.”

“Including killing someone she cherished? Even if she begged you to save them instead of her, would you have done it?”

“I would never choose anyone over Thea.”

“And I would never choose anyone over Haden. I do not regret taking his sister’s soul instead of his, but I do regret hurting him so deeply.”

I still didn’t understand how Della and Haden came to be acquainted with one another. But it was clear that she loved him, and he didn’t want to love her. Something about her statement made me wonder if she meant they were mates. Haden didn’t say that—unless she kept it a secret.

“When you came and told me about Kace, you told me you made a bargain with your brother for him to leave Thea and I alone. What was the bargain?”

Della’s sad eyes looked at me for a long moment.

“I had to give him something in exchange for him to leave you be.”

I could see on her face that whatever she had given devastated her. I hadn’t realized she had given somethingfor us. But what could have been important enough that Mikel thought it was worthy of leaving me the fuck alone?

“Della, what did you give him?”

She shook her head and frowned. The tears were streaming down her face in a constant stream.

“My star,” she whispered. When I stared at her confused, she continued. “When a god or goddess is brought into existence, we are gifted a piece of the star we come from. It is sacred, and we only get one. We hold onto it until we find..." She trailed off and stared at me with a tortured expression. “Until we find who it belongs to.”

“Your mate.”

She nodded as she swallowed hard.

“He’s your mate.”

She nodded again.

“You didn’t tell him.”

“How could I? I killed his sister because he was meant to die, and I would never choose anyone over him. I would’ve killed my own brother to save Haden, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Telling him that he is my fated mate would make him hate me more. He does not want to love me.”

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