Page 87 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

It had been two days since my meeting with my father, and I hadn’t seen him once. In fact, he was purposely avoiding me. So today I snuck out of the castle in the night and deep into the dark woods. My magic stirred frantically in my chest as if it knew I would be using it today. My body hummed in wild anticipation.

When I was far enough away, I glanced around the small clearing. I’m sure there were monsters out there that wantedto eat me alive. I flicked my wrist, and fire illuminated the space. Alright, now what did I do? Shit, my fire magic had exploded out of me without warning before. Maybe my other magic would too? I stood in the middle of the clearing, waiting for something to happen. “Gods, I feel stupid,” I muttered to myself.

Breaking sticks alerted me that I wasn’t alone. My gaze darted around the dark woods. At first, I couldn’t see anything, but then dozens of creatures burst through the tree line.

“Fuck.”

Their ear-piercing screeches let me know that they were not friendly. Their small bodies were camouflaged into the tall brown weeds of the field, making it impossible to see them. A painful scream tore through me as one jumped on my arm and tore it open. Power like nothing I felt before rippled from me as I fell onto the ground.

Blood gushed from my wound, and I held my hand to it tightly to heal it like I did with Cassius. When I glanced up, I realized the creatures had not attacked me again. Then I realized why. There was some sort of invisible boundary around me that they couldn’t get through.

Had I done that? Wisp’s green flame caught my attention as she floated outside of the boundary. The small creatures seemed to see her as she flickered away from me,taking them with her. When she reappeared a minute later, she was alone and twirling around me. I released my boundary magic and glanced around.

“I’m not sure how to summon magic when I don’t know what kinds I have," I sighed. Wisp continued to float around, but her color switched to purple. What did that mean? My darkness was urging me to be released. At first, I refused to let it out because I wanted to focus on my magic, but she was persistent.

After struggling with my darkness for a few minutes, she refused to be locked up and burst from me. Her inky tendrils swirled around me until she gripped me tightly, seeping into my bones and clawing her way through my body. I was frozen, helpless, as my darkness took over me. Trees swayed at the force of her. She forced my mouth open and made me swallow every drop of her. When she was done, I fell to the forest floor.

My breathing was labored as I looked around, slightly confused. All of a sudden my darkness burst from me again, but this time she forced my magic out of me too. I was not in control of my body as it summoned my fire, making it swarm around me. Cassius’ shadows entwined with it, making the flames burn black. Then a ball of light formed in my hand. My darkness forced me to grab it and stretch it before forcing me through it. When I steppedout, I felt dizzy, but I had moved across the small clearing in a matter of seconds.

My hands raised without my permission, and I felt them pulsing. Suddenly my dagger and other metal objects rose into the air before dropping. My body whipped around and shot frost out, freezing a little creature that was sneaking back toward me. Like Haden’s magic.

My body pulsed violently as my darkness drained all of my energy into showing me the next magic.

I watched as the forest turned into a lake. I glanced around as my magic slowly seeped over every surface, changing it right before my eyes. Illusion magic. Fuck. My darkness tried to show me something else, but I collapsed on the forest floor, drained of energy. Wisp was flashing between dark and light purple.

“Wisp, I don’t know what purple means.”

“It means you’re taking a step in the right direction.” Della appeared next to me. “You’re trying your magic.”

“Well, my darkness didn’t give me much of an option.” I groaned as I stood on weak legs. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Della smiled.

“I was helping Cassius.” Her eyes traced over me. “He said you told him you loved him.”

“I do love him,”I sighed.

“I know you do.” She frowned. It made me feel bad because somehow I knew she was thinking of Haden. I got the sense she wanted to talk about him.

“Not that it matters now, but Haden said you were real.” I glanced at her. She nodded sadly. “He was really angry.”

Della glanced into the stars and sighed heavily. Her mind seemed to be remembering something that was painful for her. Her eyes squeezed tightly before she zoned out on the ground.

“As gods, we wait an eternity to meet our mates. We never know when it will happen, just that it will. I dreamed of my mate for as long as I could remember. I had this idea in my mind about the kind of life we would have. Those thoughts only tripled when I met Haden. He was so much better than I could have dreamed up for myself. Strong, funny, handsome, selfless, and kind. But I managed to ruin it in months. All my dreams went out the window the night Haden told me he hated me, that he wished he never met me.” She swallowed hard. “I have nothing to look forward to anymore. Our existence as gods means nothing until we meet our other half. They give us a new purpose, a reason to want to wake up in the mornings, but now I have absolutely nothing.”

“Della…”

“This is going to sound terrible.” She paused as she turned to meet my face. “A part of me hates you and Cassius.”

Her words should anger me, but I knew what she meant.

“How much you two love each other makes jealousy bloom deep in my chest. He killed you, and you have forgiven him. There have been so many mistakes made between the two of you, but your love has never wavered. Haden did not think I was worthy of forgiveness. He did not love me like I loved him.”

“But maybe he can forgive you in time.” I wanted that to be true. The thought of Della alone for the rest of her existence hurt my soul to think about.

She laughed humorlessly.

“Do you know what he said the last time he saw me?” Her jaw tensed. “He cannot wait until you break your curse so that I do not have to be around anymore. And it made me realize that part of me dreads you breaking your curse because he is right. I will no longer have a reason to be around, let alone near him. You must think I’m awful for thinking like this.”

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