Page 59 of Hell-Bound

Ren steadied herself.

This was it. The moment that could change the trajectory of her life. But what to ask?

Her mind was overloaded—there were just too manyquestions. It was the same reason she hadn’t asked about her surname. Some questions just didn’t occur to her until the subject was broached, and all she found was blackness where a memory should be.

The questions couldn’t be too direct. She’s learned enough about Devils to know that she would not get another chance if she wasted a question. They couldn’t be explicitly related to her life but needed to be broad enough to give her insight.

“Why,” she started cautiously, “wouldsomeonehave wanted to join The Great Fae War?”

Azur sat back, crossing his arms, thinking.

“The Fae Wars were a culmination of centuries of tension between the two Fae courts. The Seelie and Unseelie—

“But—”

He shushed her.

“Ren, do not waste your second question before I can finish the first. I will not warn you again. Historical context is important, darling.”

She glared at being shushed but let him continue.

“The two courts are not so different in many ways, butthe same cannot be said for the ideologies. The Seelie believe in the father of the Fae, Faydir, while the Unseelie believe he abandoned them to famine and destruction.

“The Unseelie, land decimated, have been trying to invade the Seelie for not only these ideological differences but also to seize their resources. While the Seelie also struggle with their own land, their court is near the rivers, making the land fertile enough for their citizens to grow crops. The Seelie have refused, however, to trade with the Unseelie for the last several centuries.

“In recent years, information began to circulate that the Unseelie had given up on their plans for the Seelie and had, instead, set their sights on The Mortal Plane. Your plane.

“The Seelie and the Mortals joined together to defend their lands against the Unseelie invasion and did so successfully.

“Coming to your question. In a war such as this, there are a litany of reasons an individual might join—glory, adventure, riches—just to name a few. And then there are the rare beings who do it because it is right.”

Ren kept her gaze on Azur, searching his face for more details. But as always, he gave nothing away.

She had heard small details of the origins of the war during her time in Vergessen. But many citizens refused to give her any specifics, while others told her to be careful who she talked to lest she upset someone with her perplexing queries about a painful time in their history. Clara—Mom—just pursed her lips and shook her head when Ren had brought it up, dismissing the conversation altogether.

She knew that they called her Defender of The Planes, and that meant something. Not only had she been involved in the war, but she had probably been some type of important figure. It wasn’t surprising—her skills couldn’t have just appeared. They had to be attached to some echo of her former self. Apparently, that self was a female who fought in wars.

Yet this had its own set of complications—wars meantdeath. She recalled the familiar gurgling of the Devil female and the pained noises of Jester from the night before. At how the discordant sounds were so familiar to her ears. Music that she had learned by heart and could play to perfection at any given moment.

This familiar song meant that she had likely killed many Fae during the war as she refused to allow herself to think about prior. It had been easy for her to rationalize up until that point. Defender hadn’t technically meant she was doing any killing. Her gut clenched. But killing that female had been so easy—so quick. Her body reacted, and it felt…right. And that disgusted her.

“I’ve done…bad things.”

“Is that a question?” he arched an eyebrow in warning.

“No! No—just a statement.” She bit her lower lip. “This is my question. Can a person… be redeemed? If they’ve done evil? Even if…they can’t remember it?”

Something changed. A pained expression appeared on his face. He wasn’t hiding this time. He swallowed, throat bobbing.

“I’m sorry, Ren. I do not know. Thus, I cannot answer your question. Question three?”

Her mouth fell open, stunned.

“No, that’s—not fair!”

Her cheeks heated in anger.

The Devil stood, black mist swirling around him, eyes darkening.

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