***Bael’s POV***
Now that Eva is no longer shrouded I can track her anywhere but the Celestial realm. I can only sense if she's there, but she didn't go there. She's drawn to darkness and she went to where a soul's light can find comfort in the darkness. She went to the In-between. The moment that I manifest, I can sense her. I feel as if there is a lasso around me constricting as it pulls me towards her. I hear her thoughts.
Eva thinks, “Real? Vlad just said that he doubted if his feelings were real. Fuck! Does he resent me and the child that we made? I will just close the link because I can't bear to hear anymore. All of this is just too much.”
“He doesn't resent you or your child, but he does resent saying what he did.”
Eva asks, “How do you know?”
“How do you think?” She rolls her eyes as she looks away. I can already tell that I will have my work cut out for me bond or no bond. “Can I sit by you?” Eva sighs but nods. At least that's some progress. I have both known and waited for this for a very long time. But Eva doesn't remember anything from before and I must remember that.
Eva blurts out exasperatedly, “Why? Why are you wanting me now!”
“I will explain but I think that we need a change of scenery.” As I sit beside her, I offer her my hand. She reluctantly takes it.
“Where are we?” she asks as she looks around.
“This is my kingdom in the East of Hell.” There are clear blue skies on a warm sunny day. A calm lake surrounds an island. Along the shore, there are homes scattered throughout. In the center is an elegant castle.
“I don't understand,” she says.
“You thought Hell was all fire and brimstone, didn't you?” I tease.
“Yeah,” she replies as a faint blush coats her cheeks.
“Parts are because that's where true evil is housed and wicked souls are punished.”
Eva shakes her head in disbelief, “This isn't an illusion, is it?”
“Why would it be?”
Eva huffs, “Because you're a demon.”
“Walk with me,” I reply as I take her hand as I show her our kingdom, “I am the first demon, not Lucifer. Hell began here before purgatory was
created. The dead came here for judgment. I was and am still their king. As we acquired more souls, Hell expanded and with that expansion needed more kings. So who better to make kings than fallen angels like Lucifer, Satan, and Leviathan.”
Eva gasps, “Levi!”
“Yes, his kingdom is the West, Lucifer has the North, and Satan the South. There are lesser kings who rule the borders. It's all part of your mother's grad design.”
“Then please explain what she was thinking when she made the mating bonds,” she says.
“It wasn't just her decision.”
Shocked, Eva asks, “What?”
I take her over to the lake and I grab a rock. I toss it so that it skips and then I throw one in as I explain, “Love is like the water. Your mother understood that. It can skip around or make one big splash but sooner or later it ends up exactly where it is meant to be. It's all-consuming and withstands the test of time. Fated love is eternal just as the life that water maintains. We need both water and love to live. Love is life.”
Eva furrows her brow, “If that's true, then why do I have so many? Shouldn't my soul only match with one?”
“For many that is the case. You are different because your mother needed you to be. The balance must be kept and you are the key to that, especially since you are now the only creator left. So your mother, uncle, and father decided that you needed three mates to balance you. Sam is your light, Artemis was to have been your neutrality, and I was to be your darkness. But destiny took a different path than she anticipated. You found Artemis after you had already bonded with both Vincent and Eric. Why you felt a slight pull to Artemis. But when you bonded with both Vincent and Eric it lessened that pull. Then once you met Vlad, it weakened it enough that it broke after you mated with Vlad.”
“Now, explain you,” she commands.
I chuckle, “Vincent and Vlad are warriors. I command legions because I am a Warrior King. I fight alongside my army and not watch idly behind it.” I see her eyes widen so I continue, “
“Yes, much like you. Vincent and Vlad's souls were meant to be mine before Artemis gave them his blood. Since he did that, he broke his neutrality and his claim to you but strengthened mine. Eric's family put him into the slot that Artemis abdicated, however, I know that your mother didn't foresee you finding Eric, Sam, and Vincent at the same time either. And then there's Vlad. He put himself in this not just by becoming a vampire but by trying to sell me souls too. Vlad's choices sealed his fate to become one of your mates.”
“If you knew that we were mates, why didn't you find me sooner?” she asks.
“Your mother's design. We were to find you when the time was right. But I was surprised when I first found you because you were quite preoccupied with Sam, Eric, Vincent, and Vlad.”
“You were the entity that Morgan sensed!”
I grin, “Yes, yes I was.”