AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s a voice I haven’t heard in years. Aedon catches the shift in me. He stands up straight and softens his grip in my hair, but he doesn’t let it go.
“Killian. I’m sorry I missed your grand entrance. I was a little busy.” Aedon’s tone is so demeaning that I might shrink away if he didn’t have such a possessive hold on me.
Killian. The one who told me he loved me the same night I met Aedon. The one who asked me to run away with him. The same man who lied to me and told me he was right behind me. The one who kept secrets and gave me a book that made me a target. Lies. It’s all lies. He isn’t dead but standing before me and addressing my husband.
I get my first glance of him, and I freeze. I almost can’t believe it. Almost. His orange eyes are devoid of the boy I once loved. A different man entirely stands in front of me. The boyishness he once possessed has disappeared. Now his features are sharper. He’s handsome but empty.
The freckles that used to dust his face have been covered with what I assume is makeup. His dark vermilion hair is much shorter, carefully gelled in a sort of faux hawk, and the sides have been shaved and faded. His nose is still a little crooked, just off enough that it reminds you he’s not perfect. He wears a suit that matches his hair color with a black tie. Even his stature is different—poised—not clumsy like he used to be.
“Clearly. Never mind it, I missed yours as well. Also busy,” Killian snorts. His dead eyes slide to my face, and Aedonaeus possessively grips me tighter, sending a searing pain over my scalp. It’s keeping me grounded. Killian starts to open his mouth, to make some shitty comment, I’m sure, but no sound comes out.
I guess wishes do come true. I dreamed of this moment for years. I wished Killian would rise from his grave and find me again by some sort of Magic. I wished he wasn’t gone so many times that I lost count. I pictured us in that stupid house across from the pub hundreds of nights. This is it, and I’m fucking disappointed. There’s no rush of excitement and no nibble of gratitude to the Universe. I’m disturbed.
I lose one just for the other to return. How epically tragic.
What I had always known was that Killian was a keeper of secrets. Turns out he is also a better liar than I originally believed. His body, full of life and standing in front of me, doesn’t shock me in a good way. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. I’m looking directly at one.
“Jo?” His voice is a whisper in the breeze.
“Hello, again, Killy.” The rage, the grief, and the years of torment finally surge to the surface, and time moves forward. “What a surprise to find you here.”
“How…I-Wh-I…How do you know Aedonaeus?” he stammers. His tone is full of betrayal, but I’m not the one who did the double crossing.
“My oh my, what do we have here?” A voice like nails on a chalkboard emerges from behind Killian.
It’s attached to a waspy woman. She’s tall and skinny, sort of like a scarecrow. Her black hair is wispy and thin. Even her skin is made of tissues, blue veins creep underneath. She’s pretty, but in a way that reminds you of the beauty of a gory death. She has a long nose and high cheekbones. Her face is stuck in a permanent sneer.
The woman wears a dress to match Killian’s suit. Dark vermilion with black spiky jewelry. There's altogether too much lace, and it isn’t flattering. No ass, no tits, and a personality that screams whiny bitch. I know who she is. This is Eris, the goddess of strife, and she's chosen to grace us with her presence.
“The prince and his date,” Killian recovers, looking down at the ground. Like he wasn’t just talking shit exactly five seconds ago. Eris hardly acknowledges that he said anything at all.
“Eris, this is my wife, Princess Josephine.” A hurricane rages in Aedon’s eyes, and it’s so chaotic that I almost miss the word he said. The thing he called me. Wife. Fuck yes, I’m his wife. I’m the goddamn princess of the Underworld. Look at me now, Killian.
Killian’s eyes flip between us frantically, and his brow furrows. “Wife?”
“Princess?” Eris clutches her chest and asks dramatically. “Aedonaeus, you’ve been married? You poor soul. I knew your father had spoken of getting you a dutiful wife, but I didn’t know she would be this bland.”
I am fully fucking triggered. Aedon’s hand slides out of my hair and rests on the back of my neck. My skin tingles where he touches me. He manages to separate a strand of hair and wrap it around his finger until I can feel the piercing pain. I try to remember his directions. Don’t engage Eris directly, she just likes to cause problems.
“Eris, I don’t—” Killian begins. With one sharp look from her he shuts his mouth.
Wow. He spent years talking over me, and she gives him one look and he goes silent.
“I would offer my own hand if it wasn’t too late,” she continues, giving me a disgusted look. Aedon can’t stop me.
“Who is she, Aedon? I don’t believe I've ever heard of her?” I ask with full sincerity. “Oh! She sort of looks like a wraith! No one told me this was a costume party.”
The corners of Aedon’s mouth turn up into that sexy smirk. I’ve done well, I think. Killian’s eyes are bulging out of his head, and his face is turning red trying to contain laughter. I wish it was from suffocation.
“A mouth on her, I see. Hopefully it’s good for more than pretty words.” She gives me a snarling grin.
“Watch your words, Erie. I mean Eris. Forgive me, my head is in the clouds. Love will do that to you. I’m sure you understand. Congratulations, by the way,” Aedon admonishes her smoothly.
I almost forgot Eris is engaged. It’s Killian. All this time I’ve been an idiot. I almost want to laugh in exasperation.
“I see you marked the girl like property. I guess you didn’t want to give her another chance to find an appropriately matched mate when you dispose of her,” Eris retorts.
“You will refer to my wife as Princess Josephine or the future queen, there will be no in between,” Aedon smiles. He’s devastatingly handsome. “It’s one of a set. So they know who to bury my body next to when the time comes.”
