Page 299 of Sky’s Edge

“I haven’t had a reason to. Yet. Though, after Arnaud and Tatra are tried, they’ll be going there, and I’ll deliver them directly.”

“You can reach the hells.” My voice was flat with shock on this statement.

“Yes.”

“You have direct access to the hells.” Yes. More flat in my tone.

“Yes. Me, and only me. Though, now I have my suspicions you can too.”

“Oh my gods,” I breathed.

“Baby.”

“That’s crazy!” I exclaimed.

“Where do you think the demons came from?” he asked, watching me closely.

“I know where the…” Oh shit. “…lore says we come from.”

Again with the lore not being lore but being real.

This needed to be considered.

Just not right then.

“I’m a direct descendent of the first demon the gods set on the earth,” he told me. “Only one of my blood can truly wear the crown. And I’m sensing only my fated mate can access the blaze of hellfire.”

This was a lot to digest.

Too much.

It took a really long time even to begin digesting it.

Questions surfaced through this haze. “Arnaud tried to get in.”

“He did.”

“Does that mean he’s not of your father’s blood?” I asked. “Because obviously, with all the scorch marks where the arch was, he tried.”

“Sadly, he is my half-brother. What he’s not is the rightful king.”

Well, that was true.

“Do demons have fated mates?” I asked.

“No. But the demon king or queen does.”

Oh no.

No.

My words were careful when I said, “Your mother was your father’s fated mate.”

Melancholy stole through his bright blue gaze. “I didn’t know it before. But I did know it when I became king. The first thing I did was go to the gateway as Mom told me to do. When I got to The Pit, the fires of hell confirmed what I was feeling when I met you. That my fated mate was you.”

“And this was why I was drawn to you,” I mumbled as it all became clear.

He slid my hair off my neck and curled his fingers warm around the skin there. “It’s also one of the reasons I didn’t tell you about us. I wanted you to⁠—”