Chapter Eleven

August

Those desolate woods beyond the City of the Dead were eerie, just as they were a hundred years ago. Only a few things had changed. Derrick’s camp was long gone. There were no signs of the tents or cottages. What was the most bizarre was the grass growing on three of the four graves. Back then, I placed rocks at the top of each grave to label them. But it shouldn’t be possible for grass to grow in the Underworld, and yet, I was staring at some sort of magic. For so long, I refused to come there. Every time Sofia asked to visit their graves, I refused.

I rubbed my fingers over Nova’s rock before standing and materializing a shovel. Her grave was the only one without grass. Maybe if I had visited sooner, I’d realize something was wrong. Why was her grave as barren and lifeless as the Underworld, and the other three were full of magic? Was the grass a good omen for Odin, Finn, and Cloud? Did they find peace? If so, what did that mean for my little star?

No matter how much I pretended to forget, those few days from the past never left me. Nova never left me. She lived in my thoughts. She might as well have cursed me as deeply as the Devil did. Nova had made me a fake in my own skin, playing the part of my curse.

There I stood over her grave, shovel in my hands. I dug the cold, hard dirt out. Just as I buried her and the others all those years ago, I didn’t use my power to dig her up. It would be easier, but I needed to feel the burn in my arms and lungs. Since I was an immortal, that amount of exertion wouldn’t bother me, but I had been rubbing on fumes for weeks. I panted and ached. Nova might be alive. How could I close my eyes and rest? For so long, she’d visited me there, teasing me enough that I’d forget she was gone, and only remember the truth when I woke.

So, I asked myself again. How could I sleep when she might be out there? That she was alive seemed so ludicrous. I refused to believe the possibility at first because it fucking hurt. The idea of hope was too terrifying, but that pesky sensation still found me through my siblings’ marked mates. They were immortal, could survive anything we could. So, Nova could have come back to life that day if she had been my marked mate. There was no ‘if’ about it. Nova was mine. I knew it from the moment I heard her voice and… That meant nothing in the end.

And the word ‘boom’. The cloaked figure in New York City had said the same thing Nova always did when she was about to blow me to bits. Only, if that was my little star, she took thousands of lives that day instead of only mine.

All that knowledge haunted me. Could my fate be so cruel? To think I might have been so close to her and not known. That she could be alive and never thought to tell me? She worked with Harvest of all people! No… Nova was likely shackled like she was in the past. It didn’t change the fact that she had denied me the opportunity to save her so long ago.

She had been a terrible girl. I couldn’t wait to catch her.

My shovel thudded against the coffin, and I froze. The coffin had been something I materialized from the human world. My ears rang as my heart raced. The answer was already there, wasn’t it? There was no way she could have clawed out of that coffin. I let my head slump forward and breathed through my nose. The disappointment was sharp, twisting that pathetic organ around in my chest.

Hope was a terrible, vile thing. It was easy to decide right then. I was ready for death. I’m tired. The last few weeks had been more than I could stomach. I was not living, no matter how much I pretended. Our powers were disappearing, turning us mortal. It wouldn’t be hard to go. But I couldn’t do my family like that. I had to make sure they survived beforehand.

My vision blurred, and I swayed. When was the last time I ate? The shovel couldn’t help me keep my balance. I fell to my knees, and that’s when I saw them. The tiny white chunks of the coffin were in the dirt. The shovel dropped with a clank as I scattered the dirt with my palms.

My eyes widened as my fingers slipped into the coffin. Something had blown apart the entire coffin except for the bottom on which I crouched. The truth was everything. Lips parting in awe, I stared into the empty coffin. Nova had blown it apart. For her, it wouldn’t have been hard to tear through six feet of dirt. But why was it covered back up? Did she do that or something else?

My mouth stretched wide. For a few seconds, I allowed myself the rush of happiness. She’s alive, and I’m going to get her this time. But the smile waned, and I thought of what that meant. She was alive and with Harvest. Willingly or not, the things she might have been through or witnessed. The things she had done herself. She tortured Joy for Harvest.

I allowed myself to dwell on the past again. Without my father, I came into my Reaper powers that day they died. I didn’t know if it was my pain, sadness, or the intensity from how badly I wanted to save them all, but my scythe appeared. When it did, I saw three floating orbs, each above Finn, Cloud, and Odin. I knew what I was witnessing. My mother blessed my siblings and me with the ability to ascend good demons. I sent them to Heaven that day. I had feared the worst for Nova when her soul never appeared. Maybe they had destroyed her soul too when they killed her. I had worried. I should have known she wasn’t dead because of that. If I had been older, would it have made a difference?

I climbed out of the hole and stood. Must find Nova. I needed to see her in the flesh to know. Greed burst to life inside me, renewing me with energy despite the sleep I lacked.

To find her, I needed help, and I believed I knew who to ask.

_____

I faded to Melinda’s coven. The witch likely knew about Nova. The problem was getting her to talk. I loathed witches. They were tricksters, oddly creepy when they didn’t need to be, and loved being cryptic.

Okay. So, my hatred toward them might have been more to it than that. My marked mate was a witch, a fucking proxy. And the reason I’d been a miserable bastard for over a century. The number of beautiful women I owned was obscene. My harem was no secret in the Underworld. Greed thrived off taking from others and loved boasting about it. The irony was I hadn’t done more than kiss one or two. My cock was like a limp noodle around women. It was one thing to feel dead inside, but another to know my dick was, too. Even around those women I owned, I never felt arousal.

I loved Nova, but she had died. I should have been able to drown myself in something other than whiskey and elixir. No. The few times I attempted to touch a woman; Nova would enter my thoughts, then I’d shove whoever and fade away, feeling guilty.

I remembered something. Nova and that spell she used to protect herself. That had to be my fucking problem. While I’d make the same choice a million times over to protect her, it made me a eunuch. Since my woman was alive, the spell stayed. The spell had to be my problem.

The women talked about my broken cock in my home. I didn’t care what they said to each other as long as they told everyone in the Underworld differently. My greed needed boasting. I needed everyone to see what I had and to want it because it sure as hell didn’t make me happy. Even my family accepted my lie as the truth. My entire family thought I played around with women. No… I collected them like trophies. Maybe if I had enough, it would fill the void the witch left. Of course, it never worked, but without Nova, greed became an insatiable chasm.

When Sebastian brought Isabella to Grim’s woods, speaking of how she helped his curse… I thought I finally got rid of my curse. Maybe if my curse was subdued, I wouldn’t be so empty, always searching for everything, knowing nothing was going to be enough without Nova. Without my curse, I could be alone, at least. In the end, Isabella only showed us we had marked mates.

Nova was alive and mine. And I was going to find her and end the suffering. We were going to be together. It was always our destiny to be together. For Fuck’s sake, even dead , the witch owned me all those years.

Before I got the chance to knock on the coven door, it creaked open, and a dark-haired witch stood on the other side. She wore an ugly beige dress similar to Melinda’s. So much power, and they still dressed dreadfully. When I got my hands on Nova, I would dress her in the finest human and Underworld shit I could find.

“Melinda’s been expecting you,” the witch said ominously before turning away.

Of course, Isabella’s coven leader knew I was coming. I followed the witch down a long hall before we hit some stairs. Candles floated near the walls as she gestured for me to go upstairs. Melinda waited for me in a room filled with books. The small area reeked of herbs, brews, and other witchy business.

I stopped at the front of a wooden desk. She planted her hands on her hips. “So, you’ve finally come to terms with the fact that Nova’s alive.”

I narrowed my eyes. “If you know that, then you know why I’m here.”

Melinda nodded. “I do.” She turned her hand palm up and a small vial with green liquid appeared in her hand. “You can track her by your essence.”

“You didn’t whip that up for me to drink, did you?” I pointed at the vial. “I ain’t fucking drinking that. It could be poison for all I know.”

She exhaled. “Really, August? How much more do I need to do before you see we’re on the same side? You need to get her away from Harvest. Do you realize how long it’s been? How many—” Melinda stopped and took a deep breath. “If I had known much sooner… Regardless, the real question is, do you want your marked mate or is she too far gone in your eyes to reach?”

“You know the fucking answer to that!” I yelled. “Why do you think I’m here? If I could find her on my own, I would have.”

Melinda stretched out her arm. “Then you must drink it.”

“What is it?”

“A tracking serum, but it’ll track your essence.”

“My essence? How will tracking myself help me?”

“What does every marked mate have in common with their soulmate?” she asked.

I swore, then said, “They share the same essence.”

When I snagged the vial from her, she kept examining my arm. “What is it, witch?”

She frowned as her shoulders drooped. “Tell me, August, how much will you sacrifice to save her?”

“I’ll do anything,” I vowed.

“The cost might be steep. To reach her, you’ll be going up against her. But if you can get her to listen, I can reveal the truth.”

“What truth?”

“I know when it’s my time to intervene, and it’s not now. Get her ready, August, and I’ll help you both.”

“Fucking witches,” I muttered as I turned to leave.

“The tracker only lasts a few hours. Find her by then or you’ll be drinking another. And August… Be careful. You are becoming mortal at random, and she knows it.”

“You know, Joy said something about Nova being angry with me. I don’t understand. If anyone should be angry, it’s me. ”

I had to be the oldest virgin in history!

Nova got herself into trouble. I’d rescue her and see if her getting her ass spanked was one of those things we liked. With that thought, the concoction was much easier to swallow.