Once Upon a Demon's Heart (Cruel Fates, #1)

by K.M. Moronova

distrustfully. Borderline lustfully. A demigod lusting for a demon—gods, I must’ve fallen into madness.

“If hurting me will soothe the pain that wreaks havoc in you, then hurt me, Kalel. You’ll find there’s not much left inside me that can be broken.”

“You made me a monster. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”

I know our kinds find each other repulsive, but I thought Kalel was the most beautiful creature I’ve laid eyes on.

“I’m doing this to end the war, not for you. I need you in peak health, because my children will have to grow here.”

“My children will know you as their mother, they will feed from your breasts and fall asleep to your songs. I won’t have them believing me to be a monster. I want them to know I am kind. That we ended the horrors and deaths between our kind by creating them.”

That’s right, when I was a young godling, I dreamed of becoming a dressmaker. A silly dream, especially for an orphan who was already being submitted to the knight faction for an apprenticeship. But once upon a time, a demon told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up.

“You don’t know what a handshake is?” he says disbelievingly.

“No.”

“It means: deal. The mortals do this all the time. We picked up on it years ago.”

Please don’t let me die, Kalel.

“I gave you my blood. It healed you

“You don’t remember, do you?”

“What don’t I remember, Kalel?”

“You have my word. It will be by my sword or no one’s, little godling.”

“I can sing any creature to wealth or ruin. It’s my ability. So count your blessings that I like you, Alira.”

“The message is from Jupiter himself, godling. If you marry this demon, there will be no happily ever after for you. Not for anyone.”

“Alira, do you really believe a demon, this demon, could ever truly love a demigod? Look at what the poor thing has been through. He is a merciless man. One who only knows how to take. He will kill you. He was born to kill all half-gods. It’s been written in the stars, and this is your only warning.”

Why do I yearn for her so deeply? Gods help me.

“Are you so relieved that you won’t have a filthy demon’s child yet?”

“I’d like to see you in those dresses you once dreamed of.”

“A godling found me. Hair as silver as yours. Beautiful, I had thought, but I didn’t know how foolish the children of the gods could be.” His eyes hold mine fiercely, making it hard to draw breath. “I thought she was helping me when she guided me back to her kingdom. I thought that because I was accompanied by her… I don’t know what I thought. That the demigods would help a lost demon child? Was that so unfathomable?”

His eyes are empty. “Forgiveness?” He leans forward and kisses me softly before releasing my chin, standing and staring down at me. “Perhaps in another life I could have forgiven you. Perhaps even cared for you. But my heart is dead, little godling, it died the night you found me in that forest.”

My lips press together tightly. The worst of his scars were my fault. Is this why the gods punished me? Why I was slain twenty times at his hands?

“You are the only demigod who could steal a demon’s heart,”

“No hearts will be stolen. Especially not from Kalel.”

“It’s not like he’s the only demon with eyes, Alira.”

“Kingdom of Devicit. I give you your new duchess, Alira Lornhelm.”

“The gods watch you closer than the others. Be careful,”

“I looked for you.” His voice is broken and wavers. His amber eyes search mine. “I came back to Florum because I was looking for you,”

I’m expecting to see Dakre or Collik, but instead, there is only a small demigod girl. Her hair is long and kissed with moonlight. Lavender eyes that seem to glow just as the toadstools in this grim forest do.

I swore to destroy Alzhor, but I needed to find the lovely girl first and save her from the fate I would bring to her kingdom.

“All I ever truly wanted was you… And the guilt of that is ruining me, little godling.”

“You truly are the most ethereal being known to this world,”

“You will fit me, little godling, don’t you worry,”

out, “I wished it wasn’t you, Alira. But I was lying. To myself. To you. I’ve longed for this. To make you mine forever.”

“I truly am a monster, and I will do unspeakable acts for the things I want. I really am sorry, Alira,”

My eyes shift down to her face. I could stare upon her for the rest of time. My little godling. Mine.

She could never love me. Not after she realizes what I’ve done.

If she knew I prayed to Pluto to put a loop curse on her that day in Thornhall—that I cursed the knight who led the attack on my mother’s home—to relive many lives until I was satisfied with killing them repeatedly for punishment, could she forgive me?

I couldn’t let the loop reset again, not after finally finding her. But if she should die now, it would be for good.

“My mercy died long ago,”

“You should know that I die slowly with each tear you shed. I love you, Alira. I’m sorry for what I am.”

“I’m sorry for tricking you.”

If Venus hadn't sent him that wisp to try to stop the attack on Thornhall, her only daughter would’ve died the first time he had slain her in Alzhor. Venus’ wisp showed him a specific knight to put his rage toward. I chuckle at her risky move.

Once upon a demon’s heart, it was done—only written in gilded blood can it be undone.