Chapter 51
Korithax
Ifollow them through the garden like a ghost.
Daisy walks beside Elyistria and Aran with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, the loose strands of her golden hair catching the late afternoon light like silk. Her bare feet brush against the soft grass, her movements slow and wary. Like every step forward might crack the ground beneath her.
I don’t speak as I follow. I can’t. My thoughts are a storm, and I’m trapped in the eye of it.
The silence between us says more than I could ever voice aloud right now.
She’s my wife. My mate. My Daisy. But now she’s something else too.
Something ancient, something that was forgotten.
She’s something that rewrites everything that I thought I knew about this world.
I took her to Noxthrallia to become immortal, and she’s returned as someone else entirely.
She chooses the far edge of the gardens, near the blood blossom vines and the thorned fruit trees, where the air hums with quiet.
Aran gestures to a nearby bench, but she shakes her head and continues to slowly pace, and I find myself pacing in time with her.
Elyistria gives me a look that warns me to be still, that my confusion, anxiety, and irritation are all shining through too loudly.
But I can’t stay still. Every muscle in me is thrumming with tension, and my jaw aches from how hard it’s clenched.
Finally, Daisy stops walking and speaks without turning to look at us. I stand still, listening to her words. “I saw everything,” She says softly.
The fragility of her voice punches the air from my lungs.
“I saw her. Me. I saw how she died.” Her voice wavers. “I saw the mirror. I saw him.”
She turns then, her eyes glassy with tears as they find mine. “Your father, Korithax. Korran.”
The name hits me like a blade to the gut, my skin crawling at the mere mention of him. “What?”
“He… he killed her,” she whispers. “He burned her for three days in a pit of fire before her body gave out. He wasn’t alone. The Divine Six helped. Then they stood by and watched as she suffered.”
“No,” I breathe. “No, that’s not—he was… He told me…”
My thoughts fracture. I’d heard whispers. I’d heard he had some kind of hand in it. Part of me believed it. But another part of me, deep, deep down, thought it was bullshit. That the man who had sired me couldn’t be such a heartless bastard.
I look to Elyistria. “Tell me she’s wrong.”
But of course, she doesn’t deny it. She steps forward, her eyes dim with grief. “She’s not wrong.”
My hands ball into fists as the information goes from speculation to fact. He truly was a coward. A betrayer. A worthless piece of shit.
“He betrayed her,” Elyistria continues. “He was her second. Her most trusted general. The Divine Six promised him the throne, and he snatched up the opportunity without a second thought. They feared what she was building.”
“What was she building?” I ask.
Elyistria sighs. “Hope. Dasmyrin ruled with a sacred codex. A law that declared all souls must be judged with truth, not fear. Her court was called the Court of Embers. She didn’t rule through terror; she ruled through reckoning.
Through understanding. She offered sanctuary to fallen angels, and sinners were given the chance to change.
She believed in evolution, in rehabilitation. ”
I stare at her like I’ve been struck. I’d heard the rumours of how she had ruled, how Hell once was. My father could never be like that. He loved the fear, the tyranny.
“And that made her dangerous?” I ask.
Elyistria nods slowly. “To those who profited from fear? Yes.”
Daisy crosses her arms tightly across her chest. “I don’t want this. I’m sorry. But I just want to be,” she pauses, looking at me with tears in her eyes. “I just want to be yours.”
Something inside me cracks at the sight of her. I walk to her slowly, closing the space between us until I’m just inches from her.
“You already are mine,” I say, my voice rough. “No matter what else you become—who else you become. You’re mine.”
The tears glisten, one rolling down her cheek. “Are you saying that to me, or to her?”
I ignore the sting from her words and reach for her hand, placing it in mine. “You, Daisy. I’ve felt the pull to you since before we even met. To you. To my little flower. The sunshine who looked the Heir of Hell in the eye and cursed him out for getting smoke on her rug.”
Her lips twitch with the ghost of a smile.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I admit. “The Divine Six. Elyistria. My father—my fucking father—being the one who killed Dasmyrin. I feel like everything I knew has been shattered. But I still know you. That hasn’t changed.”
Her eyes search mine. “Korithax… you said something. When Maelkar finished the ritual, before everything went dark. I heard you say that I… that I was your mate.”
I nod, my throat tight. What if she rejected us being mates? Did she know she could do that? So much for her has changed, and maybe her being my mate is too much for her.
“Yes. You are,” I murmur.
She blinks rapidly. “Mates are real?”
“Yes,” I take her hands gently. “It’s not common. It’s ancient magic, older than I understand. When two souls are created to complete each other, they tether. Sometimes violently, sometimes gently. But when they find each other… It's like breathing for the first time.”
“Are you mated to me, or Dasmyrin?” She asks, fear dancing in her eyes.
I don’t hesitate. “To you, Daisy. I would burn the world for you. Not for who you once were. But for who you are. I knew from the moment your father offered me your soul. I felt the tug, the pull. And when it secured into place when you became immortal, the strength of it dropped me to my knees. You are my beginning and my end, Daisy.”
I cup her face, using my thumb to brush away her tears.
“Do you accept the bond?” I whisper, my voice shaking with fear.
So many things have been taken from her or given to her without choice.
She deserves to know she has a choice in this.
“You can reject it if you don’t want it.
” My heart hammers; the thought of her rejecting our bond makes a pain in my chest pulsate.
She shakes her head, and my heart plummets. I knew she wouldn’t want me as her mate. I knew I wasn’t good enough to be hers in marriage and soul. I lower my head, nodding just once.
“Of course I want it, Korithax. You are the only thing I’m sure of right now. You are the only thing that makes sense.”
I lift my eyes to hers, her ocean blues staring into my soul. The soul that belongs entirely to her. I exhale a long breath and slam my mouth to hers, the force of it nearly knocking her backwards. I wrap an arm around her back to steady her and pull her in tight.
“Thank the fucking gods.” I murmur between kisses.
Aran clears his throat from the pathway, and I break the kiss to turn and look at him.
“I need to speak to someone,” he says carefully. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Place extra guards on duty. I want all of my best soldiers surrounding the kingdom grounds. If the Divine Six show up, I want to hear about it instantly.” I respond.
He nods once and turns to leave without another word.
Silence settles between the three of us, and I watch as Daisy turns to look out over Hell from the edge of the garden.
She looks so broken, and I feel utterly helpless.
I don’t know how to fix this. I’ve pieced her back together after being raped, after trying to take her own life.
But this? I don’t even know where to begin.
“You need to rest, Daisy,” Elyistria says, breaking the silence. “Come, I’ll walk with you back to your chambers.”
We move together through the castle, quiet and exhausted.
A servant escorts Elyistria to her own guarded quarters, and she offers a small smile as a goodbye to us both.
This must be hard on her, too. Her sister, risen again after fifty thousand years, yet entirely different.
But she wasn’t my concern, my little flower was.
Daisy walks beside me, her arm looped through mine, but her steps are still hesitant, her body still tense. When we reach our room, Aran is standing outside the door.
I raise a brow. “Aran, what is it? I swear if there’s another—”
He raises both hands. “Sire, I understand you probably want some alone time right now. But I think it’s important that Daisy be around familiarity. When everything else feels foreign, she needs a constant.”
My eyes narrow. “What have you done?”
He smiles sheepishly and pushes open the door.
“Talia. Ezra?” Daisy gasps.
Her voice breaks on their names, and they run to her, dragging her into a tight three-way hug.
She sobs, clutching them like her lifeline as they all fall to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs.
I glare at Aran, wondering what the fuck he’s thinking, bringing two mortals to Hell after the uproar bringing Daisy here caused.
Talia pulls back first, holding her at arm’s length. “Immortal? Daisy, what the fuck?!”
Ezra laughs through a tearful grin. “So that means you don’t get wrinkles for like hundreds of years? You bitch.”
Talia rises and whirls to me, marching into my space and jabbing a finger at my chest. “I don’t know why she looks so traumatised. But if you’ve hurt her, I’ll find a way to kill you, demon boy.”
“Down, girl.” Daisy laughs through tears. “I have a lot to tell you.”
I step back. Despite wanting to be with her, I know she needs this right now. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be back soon. I’ll have the help bring you food and drinks.”
“Korithax,” she says gently, like she wants me to stay.
“It’s okay,” I murmur. “You need time with your friends.”
She gives me a soft smile and nods. I close the door behind me and walk to the war chamber. I need silence, strategy, a plan. I need something to make fucking sense. I push a hand through my hair as I enter the chamber, but a figure in the room stops me dead in my tracks.