CONTENTS

Urgent! Read this first!

Hell Fae Prince: Final Chapters

1. Melek
2. Cami
3. Ajax
4. Melek
5. Cami
Typhos

Deleted Scenes: Hell Fae Prince

1. Ajax
2. Ajax
3. Cami
4. Cami
5. Typhos
6. Cami

Author's Note
About J.R. Thorn
Also by J.R. Thorn
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Hell Fae Prince: Deleted Scenes

Copyright © 2025 Lexi C. Foss & J.R. Thorn

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Cover Art: Covers by Juan

Chapter Header Art: Nathan Hansen Illustration

Ornamental Chapter Art: Ricky Gunawan

 URGENT! READ THIS FIRST!

Included: Chapters 21-26 of Hell Fae Prince

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HELL FAE PRINCE: FINAL CHAPTERS
 CHAPTER 1

MELEK

I PACED MY BEDROOM , the sound of running water taunting my instincts.

Cami’s naked and wet. In. My. Shower.
I could easily envision her standing beneath the various showerheads,
the droplets caressing her exquisite form as they washed away the residuals
left by the Virtuous Fae Realm.
Of course, she still smelled like Vivaxia. Even from here, the aroma of
dead roses had my nose curling.
She’d definitely done something to Camillia. The what remained to be
seen.
Ty, Ajax, and Az were all discussing it now. It was an intriguing
evolution in the conversation they’d been having moments ago—whereby
Ty had informed Ajax that his Warden status had been fully reinstated, no
strings attached.
I couldn’t read Ajax’s mind, but I suspected he’d been shocked.
However, according to Ty’s thoughts, the Warden hadn’t displayed an
ounce of emotion.
Which naturally had earned Ty’s approval.
He liked that Ajax was a strong fae. I did, too.
Now the three of them were discussing next steps with Camillia,
something I only knew because of my link to Ty.
 “We need to talk,” Ty had said about thirty minutes ago, his words for
Ajax.
“The deal,” Ajax had replied.
“Indeed.” Ty and Az had shared a look before Ty had suggested, “Let’s
go for a walk. There are some things I’d like your opinion on.”
“What about Cami?” Ajax had asked, our mate having just wandered off
to take a shower.
“Melek,” Ty had prompted. “Can you look after Camillia?”
His tone had suggested it wasn’t a question so much as a request, but his
mind had gently stroked mine, aware that I was feeling a bit uneasy around
Camillia at the moment.
Still, I’d agreed to stay here. It was where I could be the most useful—if
Camillia allowed me to be, anyway.
As a result, the three of them had wandered off for a stroll through the
palace courtyard.
Ajax might not realize the purpose, but I did—Ty wanted everyone to
see them together. To know that Ajax had been accepted into the inner
circle. That he was more than just a Warden; he was Ty’s confidant. His
friend. A being deserving of respect.
With how much the Hell Fae in our kingdom enjoyed chattering, word
would spread quickly.
And Ajax would soon realize the importance of their stroll.
However, Ty was as productive as ever, using the opportunity to not
only solidify Ajax’s status but also discuss what he felt in Camillia.
“Maybe we should consult Zakkai,” Ajax had just suggested, the words
playing with my king’s mind as he tasted the opportunity. “If anyone can
unwind a spell, it’s him.”
He wasn’t wrong, something I’d been about to whisper back to Ty when
the water shut off in the other room.
I swallowed, my body going rigid.
 When Cami had gone into the shower, all of us had been out here. She
had no idea that I was the only one waiting for her, and I wasn’t sure how
she would react to that.
I eyed the food I’d ordered, the tray having appeared a few minutes ago.
Cami had to be hungry. But I wasn’t sure if she’d like what I’d requested
from the kitchens.
This is ridiculous, I told myself.
Never in my entire existence had I ever felt this insecure about anything
or anyone. This lack of confidence was going to be the end of me. This
uncertainty about Cami was going to drive me mad. And this—
The door opened, distracting me from my inner turmoil, because an
angel had just popped her head out to look around. Droplets of water
lingered in her dirty-blonde hair, their alluring sheen trailing a slick path
down her neck to her collarbone where she held a towel tightly against her
chest.
“Um.” Her lips twisted, her eyes scanning the empty room.
“They went for a walk,” I explained, my voice a little deeper than I’d
intended. I cleared my throat, again hating all this uncertainty. It wasn’t me.
It wasn’t how I worked. It wasn’t who I wanted to be or should be with her.
She’d blocked me from her mind because she didn’t trust me.
Fine.
Enough brooding.
Except I couldn’t seem to stop brooding because it had really fucking
hurt to be cut off from her like that. Then she’d very clearly believed I’d
enchanted her dress, and had continued to assume that even after I denied
my involvement.
Obviously, I’d pushed her too far with the sensual invitations, but that…
That’s who I am, I thought.
And if Cami didn’t want that—didn’t accept me—then I… I didn’t
know how to proceed.
 “Melek?” Cami prompted, drawing my gaze to hers. I’d apparently been
staring at the ornate rug beneath my feet, which was a strange thing to do
with a nearly naked Cami standing in the bathroom doorway.
She’d moved completely into view, her head no longer hanging out to
the side, but upright as she stood there in just a towel.
The plush fabric wrapped around her in a fluffy white dress that ended
well below her knees.
My lips twitched at the sight. She’d chosen the towel Ty typically used
for himself, and he stood well over a foot taller than her five-foot-four
frame. Thus, the material resembled a blanket more than a towel.
When she cleared her throat, my amusement waned. She likely assumed
I’d been checking her out. Which I probably would have done if I were in
any other state of mind.
But I was lost in this cloud of uncertainty that hung over me like a dark
fog.
“I ordered some food for you,” I told her. “I also wasn’t sure what you
would want to wear, or if you would be okay with me going through your
things in the other room, so I… haven’t touched anything yet. If you tell me
what you need, I can grab it. Or you can grab it. Or…”
I trailed off, feeling somewhat like an idiot rambling on about nothing.
This isn’t me.
Then stop overthinking everything and be who you are, Ty growled into
my mind, obviously hearing my flustered thoughts. If she rejects you, then
she isn’t good enough for you.
I don’t think that’s how it works, I told him. Typically one rejects
another for not meeting their standards.
That won’t be the case with her, he replied. If she can’t see how amazing
you are, that’s on her, not you.
The classic “It’s not you, it’s me” saying, hmm? Any other day, I might
have laughed. However, I wasn’t feeling all that humorous at the moment.
 “Melek,” Cami repeated, this time from a few feet away.
I’d dropped my gaze again on impulse. Looking at her hurt. And I really
didn’t want to give her any other reason to question my loyalty to her.
Yes, I’d played games. I’d woven everyone together in this circle,
knowing it was how we would all thrive. If she hated me for that, so be it. I
couldn’t apologize. Because I knew it was right.
She might be Vivaxia’s granddaughter—a reveal I questioned, as I
didn’t trust a single word out of that bitch’s mouth. And she might be a
siphon meant to bring down our realm. But I saw something deep in her
soul that I couldn’t ignore.
It’d been there from the very first moment in the library.
A knowledge I couldn’t quite define.
I just… knew.
She was mine. Ours. The key to uniting the Hell Fae Realm once and
for all.
Camillia De la Croix was a goddess in disguise, a queen destined to
rule. I just had to help her see it. I’d had to help Ty see it, too.
Now he did.
I felt his acceptance deep inside, his intrigue finally piqued.
We’d reached the endgame.
The final move.
The moment that would hopefully unite us all.
But if Cami couldn’t forgive me for the role I’d had to play in all this,
then I would be left on the outside. Partially mated for eternity. Because I
couldn’t force her to take the final step. I wouldn’t bind her to me unless
she wanted it.
And right now, I was pretty sure she wanted nothing to do with it or me.
Which was why I’d dutifully stayed out of her mind.
I also didn’t want to risk feeling her rebuilding that wall; it might break
me.
 Although, I might already be broken, I thought, my mouth curling
downward. I definitely don’t feel like myself at all.
Warmth caressed my skin as Cami pressed her palm to my cheek, her
nearness surprising me. I’d stopped looking at her… again.
“I’m sorry I accused you of bespelling the dress,” she said, her voice
soft. “I should have believed you when you said you didn’t do it.”
My shoulders lifted and fell. “I—”
Her touch moved to my lips. “I’m also sorry for blocking you from my
mind. I didn’t want you to hear our counter deal with Lucifer. I didn’t trust
you not to share it with him since everything you do is for him.”
“That’s—”
“That’s what I’ve believed,” she interjected, the heat of her body
bleeding into me as she moved even closer. “But I’m starting to understand
a little better now.”
I frowned. You are? I wanted to ask. However, her hand was still over
my lips, so I didn’t try.
I am, she replied, surprising me with not only the response but also her
use of our mental bond.
She didn’t block me again, I realized.
No, I didn’t. Her answer shocked me even more.
Because I hadn’t telegraphed that via our link.
I’d said that to myself.
Her fingers moved, both of her palms coming up to cradle my face.
“I’m so sorry, Melek. I’m still learning how these connections work, and,
um, I’ve been sort of hearing all your thoughts since I stepped out here.”
My brow furrowed. “Even my conversation with Ty?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. I could sense you were talking to
him, but couldn’t hear the words. However, I felt your emotions. And, well,
I picked up enough to understand what you might have been talking about.”
I stared at her.
 We’d bonded on the second level, thus marrying our minds, but I hadn’t
realized how open I’d been to her. In my effort not to touch her thoughts at
all, I’d actively tried not to link to her. However, I hadn’t created a barrier
or protected my mind from her. I’d just… fought the temptation to mentally
connect.
“I hadn’t meant to share all of that with you,” I admitted. “I…” I blew
out a breath, my head falling back. “Fuck, Cami. I’m not feeling like
myself.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Which also wasn’t like me at all.
“I know,” she whispered. “But I have an idea on how to help.”
My gaze fell to her mouth before slowly returning to her pretty eyes.
She was so gorgeous it hurt. All I wanted was to wrap her up in my arms
and claim her. To be with her. To let her see and experience how I felt about
her.
She’d said I did everything for Ty.
That was partly true. I’d seen her as a potential mate for him, but I’d
claimed her for myself. Claimed her to protect her. Claimed her because I
wanted her.
She might argue that I barely knew her. But my soul had immediately
recognized her soul. And I’d lived too long to ignore that sort of
connection.
So I’d coaxed her into a mate-bond, knowing it could never be broken.
Knowing that she would forever be tied to my spirit.
It would hurt if she rejected me. Fuck, it already had when she’d
blocked me out.
However, I could live with that pain if it meant she would always be
protected through my immortality.
Cami’s eyes held mine, her gaze searching. “I finally see you, Melek.
The real you beneath the riddles. The man who follows his heart, no matter
the risk. You do everything for Lucifer. He’s the center of your universe.
His wants and needs come first.”
 My lips parted, my eyebrows coming down. Because that wasn’t quite
right. “Cami—”
“Shh,” she hushed me, her fingertip pressing to my mouth once more. “I
also see where I fit now, too. How that same care and consideration applies
to me. You risked his wrath when you claimed me. He’s still the center of
your universe, but at some point, you added me to that circle as well.”
I swallowed. “I think I put you there the moment we met.” It had been
instinctual. I’d recognized her as my soul’s mate. My missing half. Perhaps
as a result of something Vivaxia had done. Or maybe it was just fate.
Regardless of the reason or the purpose, we were here now.
She existed in my orbit.
And her needs now came first, too.
Balancing her and Ty hadn’t been easy, but we were finally on the same
page. Finally at a point of collaboration. Finally ready to embrace whatever
came next.
If Cami would have me, anyway.
“That, right there,” she said, her fingers gliding back into my hair. “That
is what I can fix.”
I stared down at her, my hands hanging at my sides as I tried to discern
what she meant. “What do you want to fix, Camillia?”
“You,” she replied as she went up onto her toes. “I want my bold Melek
back. The one who keeps teasing me with wicked thoughts.” She pulled my
face down, her lips a hairsbreadth from mine. “The one who promised to tie
me up in his ropes.”
Her mouth brushed mine, causing me to go rigid against her.
I was afraid that if I moved, that if I even breathed, I’d devour her.
Because Cami had never kissed me first. It’d always been me sneaking
in an embrace or tricking her into letting me taste her.
But this was all her.
Her fingers in my hair.
 Her breasts pressing against my chest.
Her mouth ghosting across mine.
“The one who sets my soul on fire every time he touches me,” she went
on, her voice a mere whisper. “The one who is impossible to resist.”
Another meeting of mouths, brief… Too brief.
“The one I’ve wanted for far too long but kept denying. The one who
makes me feel things I shouldn’t.” Her eyes held mine, our lips touching
with each word. “The Melek who marks me with his golden essence
because he knows deep down that I secretly like it.”
I shuddered, her words seeming to mend something inside me. Not
completely, but partially. Enough to coax me into moving my hands to her
hips. “It’s ethereal magic,” I corrected her. “It’s yours, too.”
“Brought out by you,” she replied, her arms encircling my neck. “Az
and Ajax are addicted to the flavor of it.”
I swallowed, my tongue craving a taste. “I imagine it’s quite decadent.”
She shrugged. “Why don’t you make me come and find out?”
I stared down at her, both aroused and terrified. “Don’t tease me,
Cami.” She could shatter me right now, destroy the vestiges of my resolve,
and kill me with her rejection. If she—
“I’m not teasing, Melek.” Her lips boldly claimed mine before I could
respond, before I could even think.
Then she released me as quickly as she’d kissed me, causing my heart
to leap into my throat.
But she didn’t step away.
She simply tugged at the towel.
Let it fall to the floor.
Then cocked her head to the side. “Come play with me, Melek. Tie me
up. Fuck me. Claim me. Do whatever you need. I’m ready.”
 CHAPTER 2

CAMI

MY HEART THUDDED RAPIDLY in my chest.

I tried to exude confidence, to tempt Melek into taking me.
However, inside, I was vibrating with nerves.
Not because I didn’t want this, but because I’d just realized how much I
needed this.
Fae, hearing his mind… feeling his emotions… It had undone
something inside me. Something fragile yet utterly impactful.
In the shower, I’d started thinking about him, recalling his reserved
behavior while Lucifer had been discussing his thoughts on my training.
It’d been a brief conversation, one sparked by his comments about turning
me into a queen—which was an entirely different notion that made my heart
race.
But Melek had been quiet throughout most of the discussion.
I’d picked up on the sadness Lucifer had mentioned during our dance,
and I’d started considering it more while standing in the shower.
In doing so, I’d connected to Melek’s thoughts, had heard him second-
guessing every move, trying to determine the perfect meal for me. Debating
clothing options, then disregarding all of them because he didn’t want to
push me away more than he already had.
 Those concerns had reached a crescendo when I’d stepped out of the
bathroom, Melek’s insecurity a bruise I longed to heal.
Because this wasn’t him.
I’d hurt him. Badly, it seemed. I hadn’t meant to. I’d meant what I told
him about not trusting him while discussing the deal, but it all felt trivial
now.
Lucifer had reinstated Ajax as Warden without strings—something I’d
learned through Melek’s thoughts and had confirmed by asking the
Midnight Fae himself.
Do you trust him? I’d whispered to Ajax minutes ago. Because I… I
was beginning to believe Lucifer had all our best interests at heart.
Oh, he’d done horrible things, things I might never forgive him for. But
the more I understood him, the more drawn to him I became.
Just like with Melek.
Only my draw to Melek was that much more impactful due to my
connection to his mind. Because I finally saw him. The real him.
Not the insecure fae worried about losing me.
But the man beneath—the one who cared. The one who wanted a
chance to be with me. To cherish me. To show me what it meant to be his.
I wanted to learn more. To see what he meant when he promised to
worship me. To experience his ropes. To indulge in this connection between
us and see where it went.
I didn’t hide that desire from Ajax and Az. They knew. And while they
both exuded possessive auras, deep down I felt their acceptance.
Melek was already part of me. Already bonded to me on a level that
could never be undone.
Yet he thought I meant to reject him, to block him indefinitely from my
mind, and force him to live with a one-sided link.
He’d been willing to accept that.
 Protecting her is all that matters, some part of him had whispered,
telling me his true feelings. Confiding his intentions. Letting me finally
unravel the riddle that was the Hell Fae Prince.
Yet he simply stared at me now, like he couldn’t decide how to proceed.
And for an instant, I wondered if he would reject my offer.
It was a mere second in time that gave me an immediate glimpse into
how my potential rejection had affected him.
I didn’t like the way it made me feel, the insecurity it inspired inside
me, the sensation of confusion that swirled around my soul.
Melek and I were already tied together.
Our only path was forward.
I’d thought he’d bonded me for some nefarious reason, or simply as a
means to protect Lucifer. But Melek’s reasoning went so much deeper. It
was rooted in his own version of righteousness. His own version of loyalty.
And saturated in his unrestrained need.
Melek was a fae who fought for what he wanted but never let anyone
see that fight. Instead, he used games to sway his opponent to his side.
I’d played.
Some might say I’d lost.
But as he took a step toward me, his multicolored eyes glittering with
sinful intent, I knew that I’d actually won.
He clasped my nape, his palm a brand against my skin as he yanked me
into his hard body. The silk of his suit felt decadent against my heated flesh,
his kiss a benediction I felt all the way to my soul.
Finally, some part of him breathed, the thought one that rivaled my
own.
I’d fought this attraction since the first time we’d met. The male exuded
sex, his erotic appeal one I’d struggled to deny. But I no longer had to fight
this.
He was mine.
 I was his.
And I wanted him to show me what that meant.
His hands slid to my hips, his touch hot and possessive as he started
walking me blindly around his room. When the back of my knees met his
mattress, I smiled with relief.
But then he took a step back to evaluate me with careful consideration.
“I can’t tie you up yet, Cami.”
I blinked at him. “Oh.” I swallowed. “Right. Yeah. Of course not. I…” I
started looking for the towel I’d lost, my skin suddenly on fire.
However, he caught me by the hip before I could move, his opposite
hand going to my chin.
“I can’t tie you up until you trust me,” he clarified, his beautiful gaze
holding mine captive.
My lashes fluttered again, confusion lancing my heart. “I do trust you.”
“Not completely,” he replied, wounding me more. “I’m not saying that
to hurt you, love. I’m saying it so you know I’ll always put your safety over
my own desires. I’ll always protect you, and I’ll never hurt you.”
“I know,” I told him. “I told you—I see you now. I know you.”
“Which means we’re on the right path,” he whispered, his forehead
touching mine. “I want to stay on that path, Cami. I want to feel you
beneath my silk, make you writhe. But first, I have to show you what it
means to be mine. To properly earn your faith. Then, one day, when you’re
ready, we’ll play.”
He kissed me again, this time with intention. Sensuality. The sweetest
hint of seduction. By the time he finished, I was panting and praying that he
planned to do more.
Because I wanted his mouth on other places.
His hands roaming my bare skin.
To feel the strength of his thrusts between my thighs.
 “I want to finish the bond,” I told him. “I want to be yours.” Yet I had
no idea what that required.
However, a part of me hoped sex was involved.
His lips curled like he could hear me. And he probably had. I wasn’t
masking my emotions or my thoughts from him or any of my mates.
I was just being me.
Trusting my fae to respect my mind and honor my desires.
Az and Ajax had already proved more than capable of doing both.
And Melek… Well, it was like he’d said—we were wandering down the
right path.
Renewed respect and understanding blossomed in my mind as I started
to comprehend his comments on trust and how we weren’t fully there yet.
He was right.
But I wanted to be there.
And the first step toward that fate was to acknowledge our bond. To
complete it. To officially become mates.
“I would ask if you’re sure, but I can hear the resolution in your mind,”
Melek breathed, his gaze seeming to memorize my features.
His thoughts told me he couldn’t believe this was happening. Mere
moments ago, he’d thought I intended to reject him entirely.
Now, I was asking him to claim me for eternity.
“Tell me what to do,” I said.
“Oh, the ways I could interpret that statement.” He kissed me again, his
tongue weaving dark promises against mine. He didn’t pull away again until
I was panting, my brain solely focused on him. His nearness. His decadent
scent. Like sin, I thought. Pure, unadulterated sin.
His eyes smiled, the multicolored irises gleaming with wicked
intentions.
Wicked intentions I longed to experience.
Because I was done fighting this attraction. Done denying how I felt.
 Maybe everything that had happened had jarred my brain, forced me
into a mode of compliance. Or maybe it’d made me want to live.
I chose to believe it was the latter.
I’d been fighting for freedom my entire life, desiring my independence
and a normal existence. Something that didn’t involve random camping
trips or being left in the middle of a forest fire. But I was never meant to be
normal.
I was me.
Part Virtuous Fae, part Hell Fae.
A siphon, apparently.
Well, fuck that part. I wouldn’t do what Vivaxia claimed I was born to
do. I’d rebel instead. I’d make my own choices.
Like mating Melek.
That was all me. My decision. My fate.
“How do we finish our bond?” I asked him. He knew that was what I’d
meant when I’d asked him to tell me what to do. But he’d distracted me
with his mouth. Now I wouldn’t let him interpret my words in any other
way.
No games.
No riddles.
Just us.
Just this.
He moved backward, his hands on the lapels of his jacket as he guided
the fabric away from his shoulders and down his arms. “If we’re doing this,
it’s only fair that I’m naked, too.” He folded the expensive-looking coat on
a nearby chair, then loosened his tie to pull it over his head.
I swallowed as he took off his cuff links, then started on the buttons of
his dark dress shirt. All black. A contrast to the gold-and-white feathers that
I’d seen last week.
 The feathers I’d remembered while lost in the mirage of the Virtuous
Fae Realm.
Melek had been a big part of why Vivaxia’s mind manipulations hadn’t
worked. My memories of him had kept pushing forward, helping me to see
through the charade and remember who I was and who my mates were.
Az had also been integral to grounding me, his story about Vivaxia so
powerful and profound that I’d been able to realize the woman’s true nature.
Recall her history. To know her claims about Lucifer were lies.
Then there had been Ajax, our link an anchor that had held me captive
in reality.
But it’d been Melek’s feathers I’d recalled first. Then the statue of
Lucifer that Melek had shown me.
He was meant to be mine, my heart and soul knowing him in a time of
intrinsic need.
I hadn’t meant to hurt him or lead him to feel rejected.
However, I fully meant to heal him now. To bring back the playful
Melek, the one who exuded confidence in all ways.
Some of that confidence showed through as he lost his shirt, his
sculpted form a pleasure to observe. He knew he was beautiful. But I
confirmed it anyway by saying it aloud.
I specifically enjoyed his tattoos, the symbols ethereal and otherworldly
in nature. They were practically glowing gold right now as well, suggesting
they were tied to his Virtuous Fae heritage, and not necessarily art he’d
imprinted on his body.
I would have to ask him more about those markings later.
Because right now, all I could focus on was his belt—and his hands
unfastening said belt.
“Not as beautiful as you, little angel,” he murmured, replying to my
comment regarding his beauty. His gaze ran over me with unrestrained
interest as he undid the button of his pants and drew down the zipper.
 I wasn’t surprised at all that he was bare beneath. It just seemed
appropriate that Melek would forgo undergarments. Though, he would look
really nice in a pair of silky black boxers.
“Next time,” he murmured, kicking off his shoes and bending to finish
disrobing.
I assumed the “next time” referred to the silky black boxers I was
currently fantasizing about.
But as he straightened to reveal himself in all his naked glory, I
wondered if boxers would be uncomfortable. Because wow, Melek was…
impressive. In every way.
Information I did not need to hear about Melek, Ajax grumbled into my
mind.
Sorry, I said back to him, once again struggling to control the mental
links within my head. Seeing Melek like this had broken my brain.
You’re making me jealous, little warrior, Az murmured. Do I need to
ash over there and remind you what I can do?
I shivered, my insides turning to liquid fire at the very intimate
knowledge of what Az was capable of doing to me. As much as I love your
cock, I need to let Melek have his moment right now. It was purposely
worded in a way I knew Az would like.
His responding growl proved me right, his approval warming our bond.
I’m going to make you show me how much you love my cock later while I
fuck your mouth.
I swallowed. I’ll scream it for you, I promised.
Good girl, he replied. Now go show Melek what Ajax and I have taught
you.
Ajax released a sound of noncommittal agreement, his possession
wrapping around me in a warm mental kiss before he released me to
Melek’s touch.
 “Tell them I’m going to make you glow,” Melek said against my mouth,
his hands on my hips. “And maybe I’ll let them help me lick you clean
afterward.”
He ensnared me in a kiss before I could react to the vivid mental picture
his words had just painted in my mind, his embrace all-consuming and
overpowering.
It felt like the last few months of knowing one another had been a
prolonged game of foreplay, like we’d been dancing around the inevitable
for eternity.
His tongue parted my lips, his hands lifting me onto the bed.
And suddenly I was sprawled out beneath him, his wings stretching out
over us in a cloud of white and gold.
I stared up at him in wonder, his glorious form both regal and godly.
Gorgeous and sinful. A fallen angel sent here to corrupt my soul.
But my soul was already partly his.
Soon to be fully his.
“Mate me,” I whispered.
He smiled. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear you say that.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I’ve craved you since that first day in the
library, Camillia De la Croix. It was so hard being a gentleman when all I
really wanted to do was strip you bare and take you against the shelves.”
My insides burned at the thought. Would I have let him? Maybe.
Probably. Because I’d been just as taken with him that day. Scared, too. But
the attraction had definitely existed between us from our very first meeting.
Melek rolled to the side and propped himself up on an elbow, his wings
disappearing in a flourish. “The final level of mating requires a blood
exchange from the same hands we cut before. And the ancient incantation
must be voiced in unison as well.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “Anything else?”
 He shook his head. “It’s a fairly simple process in our physical forms.
It’s our souls that have to do all the work.”
I considered that for a moment. “Why does that sound like another one
of your riddles?”
“Because it’s a mystery even to me,” he replied. “We’ll mate in
corporeal form, but for the bond to truly thrive, our souls have to mate, too.
Neither of us can control that outcome. Either our spirits will accept our
intertwined fates, or the bond will shatter for good.”
My eyebrows lifted. “You’re saying our souls could reject each other?”
He nodded. “That’s how Virtuous Fae bonds work—it’s about our
ethereal energy matching another’s ethereal energy. In theory, not all souls
desire the mate-bond.”
“So we might not be mates?” I asked, suddenly panicking. Because that
seemed like a pretty fucking big deal.
Yet all Melek did was grin. “We’re mates, Cami. I’m sure of it.”
“I’m glad you’re so sure,” I muttered.
A dagger appeared in his hand, the same bejeweled one that had
magically manifested itself when we’d engaged in the second mating level.
“Faith, little angel, is the key to everything.” Another knife materialized
beside the first, and he held them out to me. “Pick one and we’ll begin.”
 CHAPTER 3

AJAX

T HIS IS SO FUCKING SURREAL , I thought, glancing around the Hell Fae

Realm. It wasn’t being here that aroused that sensation so much as being
here beside Lucifer.
He was walking and talking to me like an equal, something he’d done a
bit before, but never quite like this.
And definitely not since the incident with Cami in that fucking chain-
link dress.
What the hell are we even doing? I wondered, glancing around the fiery
courtyard that surrounded the Hell Fae Kingdom Palace.
Lucifer is making a statement, Az replied, clearly having overheard my
thoughts.
What kind of statement? I asked, wary. Because most of Lucifer’s
“statements” involved punishments, and I really wasn’t in the mood for one
of his infamous lessons.
The kind that’s meant as an apology, Az told me.
I nearly snorted. Right. Typhos Lucifer did not apologize. That would
require him to admit fault.
Oh, he might have told me that I no longer had to mate him—though the
offer, he said, was still there should I desire it. But that didn’t mean I
believed him or the explanation that had accompanied his declaration.
 “I realize now that demanding a mating under those circumstances was
wrong. A fae should want to mate me, not do it out of obligation,” he’d said
a bit ago. “But make no mistake, Ajax, I still want you in my circle.
However, I realize I need to demonstrate that desire rather than force it.”
Kuro ruffled his feathers on my shoulder, drawing me back to the
present. He’d arrived shortly after Lucifer’s proclamation, no doubt
responding to my internal stress.
Because it was all too good to be true.
And just because he’d changed his terms didn’t mean he wasn’t
planning to punish me in some way. I’d defied him. Chosen Cami over him.
Left him.
He wouldn’t let that go unanswered.
He couldn’t.
Az sighed into my mind. However, he said nothing more. His ties to
Lucifer clouded his judgment. Or that was my opinion, anyway.
Az disagreed, muttering something about how he’d put me first, but
didn’t otherwise press the issue. Instead, his mind shifted to thoughts of
Cami.
And Melek.
My hands curled into fists.
I might not be in the room with them, but I knew what they were doing.
Was I jealous? Yes.
But it went so much deeper than jealousy. I didn’t fucking trust Melek.
However, whatever he’d said and done had made Cami feel differently.
I could hear her mind processing Melek’s intentions, could feel her
arousal as she looked at him, could sense her interest in more.
It had my teeth grinding together. Az’s, too.
Though, if it bothered Lucifer, he didn’t show it. He simply sauntered
along the courtyard, head held high, and nodded at Hell Fae as they passed.
 “Is there anything you’d like that I haven’t covered?” Lucifer asked,
drawing me out of my thoughts and back to the deal he’d told me no longer
applied. Instead, he was listing one-sided terms for me to accept.
Except, he hadn’t called them “terms” or referred to this as a “deal.”
Just a way to comfortably restore my status, with no strings attached.
I’d believe that when it came to fruition.
Still, I pondered his question as we exited the courtyard and turned onto
the main street that ran through the center of his kingdom.
The skyline glowed with Hellfire, the sight making me feel at home
despite its differences from the Midnight Fae Realm. Fortunately, Kuro
didn’t seem to mind. He simply relaxed on my shoulder like he was settling
in for the long term.
I sort of hoped he was.
I’d missed the little guy. And I was forever thankful to Shade for
keeping an eye on him when I’d disappeared.
Typhos thinks you’re goading him with your silence, Az warned me.
I’m not.
I know, he replied. Just sharing his mood.
As a warning? I guessed.
No, as a way of demonstrating good faith, he told me. Typhos doesn’t
like being goaded, yet he’s exuding the utmost patience right now while
your mind wanders. It’s a sign that he cares about your well-being, Ajax.
He’s not trying to force you to answer him; he’s waiting for you to come to
him. I imagine that’s why he’s left the mating open-ended, too. He wants
you, but he won’t force you.
I nearly snorted at that. Typhos Lucifer gave orders. I obeyed them.
That was how our relationship had always worked.
But rather than release the sardonic sound, I focused on Lucifer’s
question again. What else do I want?
 “Honestly, I just don’t want Cami to be hurt,” I told him by way of a
reply. He’d offered me my old job back and then some. “And I want to be
able to see her whenever I want, even when she’s in your bedroom.”
A new suite. Amenities. Additional staff. Even a new weapon’s
collection.
That was what he’d offered me thus far, in addition to my title.
But those bribe-like offers meant nothing to me.
Cami and Az were all I cared about. I wanted access to both of them,
even if they were in Lucifer’s personal territory. They were my mates.
Mine.
“I’ll never keep you from Camillia or Azazel,” Lucifer told me. “I
respect mate-bonds.”
The as should you was definitely attached to that statement, probably
because he’d picked up on my frustrations around Melek and Cami mating.
Or maybe he’d caught the uncertainty through Az’s thoughts.
Regardless, I nodded. Because on that term, we could absolutely agree.
I might not like Melek mating Cami, but I trusted her to make her own
choices. I’d also vowed to never force her hand again—after that incident in
Lucifer’s nightclub.
A nightclub that was slowly coming into view now.
Fuck.
I hadn’t realized where we were going until now, my mind too
consumed by Lucifer’s comments and Cami’s arousal.
We were no doubt headed here for whatever act of humiliation Lucifer
had in store for me.
Fine, I thought. Fucking fine.
He’s not planning anything nefarious, Az promised me.
I nearly shot back a snide remark about not trusting him either—
especially after what he’d done to me the last time we were here. However,
I bit my tongue.
 I’d leashed Az with that spell. He’d leashed me with his mind. Our
crimes might have varied, but the results were similar.
And bringing all that up now would put us at odds with one another.
We couldn’t live in the past any longer. We needed to move together
into the future. As mates.
His palm ghosted along my lower back, like he’d heard my inner
turmoil and agreed. Flames, he probably had. Because he leaned in to kiss
my neck just as we stepped up to the nightclub entrance.
If Lucifer noticed the fleeting expression of appreciation, he didn’t
show it. Instead, he held open the door and waved for us to enter.
The moment I stepped inside, I vividly remembered exactly why I
didn’t trust Lucifer at my back.
Hellfire burned in winding red and blue pyres that lined the walls,
surrounding the stage where Cami had been on display. A stage I’d been
forced to stand guard beside, while paralyzed, thanks to Az’s suffocating
power.
So what’s your next move, Hell Fae King? I wondered, glancing back at
him. Going to force me to parade around naked on that stage? Show off
how aroused I am by what your prince is doing to Cami right now?
Lucifer ignored me, though I suspected he no doubt felt my irritation.
We didn’t have to be bonded for him to sense my ire. I wasn’t masking my
facial features at all. Because I no longer cared to hide.
He’d pissed me off.
Now he wanted to play nice by giving me everything I desired—and
more—without anything in return?
Yeah. Like I believed that.
“Your Majesty,” a Hell Fae greeted, the male wearing leather pants and
a long red tie over a bare chest. Then he glanced at Az and bowed again,
only to pause when he saw me. The note of surprise in his eyes wasn’t
unexpected. I rarely spent time like this with the Hell Fae King.
 And the last time I was here, he’d made a fool of me in front of his
kingdom.
“Benedict,” Lucifer said, causing the Hell Fae to snap his attention
away from me and focus on the king before him. “A bottle of Hellfire
whiskey with three glasses, please.”
The male flinched, then bowed low enough for his dark hair to fall over
his face. “Y-yes, right away,” he said and scurried off.
Lucifer turned and moved through the crowd, his mere presence causing
everyone to step out of his way as he approached his usual booth.
Sometimes, he chose the throne on the stage. But apparently today
wasn’t one of those days.
That night with Cami hadn’t been one of those nights, either. A special
cage had been brought out for her instead.
I idly wondered if another would appear for me soon.
Kuro nibbled my ear, likely sensing my growing agitation.
An agitation that reached a boiling point as Lucifer said, “I brought you
here for a reason.”
No shit, I thought.
Az nudged me into the booth as Lucifer took over the bench across from
us, the Hell Fae King’s large form appearing even more pronounced than
usual.
“Whatever punishment you have in mind, I’ll accept so long as Cami is
unharmed,” I told him, my voice unwavering.
Two females—illusions crafted by the nightclub’s magic—appeared
with our drinks before Lucifer could reply. The glasses were garnished with
red flames, the fires making Kuro bristle on my shoulder.
When the illusion set the glass down, he nipped at her translucent form.
I smirked. “You never did like figments. I suppose it makes sense that
you wouldn’t like this magic, either.”
Kuro huffed.
 “I think he’s just mirroring your mood,” Lucifer said, humor in his
voice. “That’s what familiars often do, yes?”
I grunted, not at all surprised that he understood Midnight Fae bonds
with their familiars. But I opted not to give much away anyway. Because I
didn’t trust him. Not one bit.
“And what mood do you think that is?” I asked him, my tone holding an
edge to it.
The Hell Fae King hadn’t responded to my punishment statement,
which only confirmed that was his exact intent for bringing me here. So of
course I was in a testy mood.
And so was my owl.
“You’re angry,” Lucifer said. “And rightly so.”
I arched a brow. “Oh?”
He gave me a look before knocking back his drink. One of the figment-
like waitresses appeared again with a refill, but he ignored her as she set it
down before him.
“Look, I said I brought you here for a reason, and yes, it’s punishment
related.” He leaned forward, his blue eyes flickering with fiery intensity.
“But it’s not your punishment that I seek.”
I frowned at him. “Then whose?” In the next moment, my heart stopped
and I instantly connected to Cami’s mind, needing to know that she was
safe.
But all I caught were consuming thoughts of Melek and ropes and
bonds.
“I’m punishing myself,” Lucifer said, his words shocking the hell out of
me. “I brought you here so I could face my wrongdoings and apologize for
them. I took your punishment—and Camillia’s—too far. I understand that. I
own it. And I apologize for it.”
“Because you give a shit now?” I blurted out, not following this turn of
events at all.
 Az made a sound and shot me a look that said he was about to tackle
me.
But I ignored him.
Because this was between me and Lucifer.
“Actually, yes, I very much give a shit now,” Lucifer said. “Melek’s my
prince. And he’s about to mate Camillia for eternity.”
“He initiated that bond almost two months ago,” I pointed out. “And
you certainly didn’t care then.”
“Oh, I cared.” He knocked back his drink again, then waved off the
incoming refill. “But I also thought she was a threat. Now I realize I was
wrong. She’s a pawn in a game that started well before her creation. A
pawn that was literally crafted to hurt me. And, well, I have a penchant for
saving the fae Vivaxia sends my way.”
He looked pointedly at Az.
Then glanced around his nightclub.
“My realm is filled with Vivaxia’s former playthings. Now Camillia is
one of them, and both of my mates appear to be quite taken with her. So,
yes, I officially give a shit.”
I stared at him, still uneasy. “And how do you feel about her?”
He smiled. “To be determined, Ajax. To be determined.”
I arched a brow. “That doesn’t make me feel all that confident in your
intentions, Lucifer.”
“No, I imagine it doesn’t. But all I can promise now is that I want to
save her, empower her, and turn her into a queen. Whether or not she
becomes my queen, well, that remains to be seen, yes?”
I was about to question that further when a screen flickered in the air
before him, drawing his attention away from mine. He frowned. “Hades is
calling. I need to take this.”
I blinked, surprised he’d told me who was calling. And also surprised to
hear that particular Mythos Fae—the God of the Netherworld—was ringing
Lucifer.
Any idea what that’s about? I wondered at Az.
He shook his head. Things have been going on while we’ve been gone. I
haven’t received the full rundown yet.
Oh. My jaw clenched as I finally took a drink. Unlike with Lucifer, the
figments didn’t immediately return to fill my glass.
Not surprising.
I wasn’t even a real Hell Fae. Not to them.
“What’s your take on his comments regarding Cami?” I asked Az out
loud.
“I believe him when he says he won’t hurt her.”
“And do you think he intends to mate her?” I pressed.
Az considered me. “Would it bother you?”
“Yes,” I replied immediately.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because he’s not worthy of her.”
Az’s eyebrows flew upward. “Not worthy?”
“He’s keeping her alive for you and Melek, not because he wants her
alive,” I said, my teeth grinding together.
Az looked ready to speak, but I wasn’t done.
“Lucifer’s motives revolve around his kingdom and his mates. Until he
can see Cami for who she is and wants her for her, then no, he’s not fucking
worthy.” I picked up my drink again, intending to finish it, and found it
already empty. “Fuck. I need more to drink.”
A Hell Fae male turned nearby, no doubt having heard my comment and
taken it the wrong way. I’d sounded ungrateful. That hadn’t been my intent.
But as he stormed toward us, I realized he’d absolutely read my hostility
wrong. And now we were about to have a problem.
Kuro launched from my shoulder before I could stop him, his beak
going straight for the Hell Fae’s eye.
 I called him back to me before he could truly strike, but the Hell Fae
shrieked in alarm anyway and tried to swat at my owl.
“Kuro,” I commanded when he righted himself in a position to strike
again.
Fortunately, my familiar obeyed me and puffed out of existence just to
reappear on my shoulder again with an indignant squawk.
“Little asshat beast!” the Hell Fae roared.
“He—”
“Take that thing back to the Midnight Fae Realm!” he shouted, cutting
me off before I could utter more than a word. “And why the fuck are you
even here, ex-Warden? You’re not a real Hell Fae. You’re nothing to us.
And you sure as fuck don’t deserve a seat at His Majesty’s booth.”
My jaw ticked, his words ones I’d definitely heard before. Well, maybe
not the booth part, but I’d definitely dealt with other Hell Fae telling me I
didn’t belong here and saying I shouldn’t have the title of Warden.
Usually, I demonstrated my power through a sparring lesson.
Today, I just stared him down.
Because I had nothing to say back to him. While my position as Warden
had been officially reinstated, there hadn’t been any sort of official
announcement yet. At least, not one that I’d heard, anyway.
And I probably shouldn’t be in this booth, either.
“He’s right,” another Hell Fae chimed in from a nearby seat. “You don’t
belong here, Midnight Fae.”
“I disagree,” a voice boomed from the other end of the room as Lucifer
appeared, a screen in front of him.
I frowned, assuming he was arguing with Hades.
Instead, he said, “I’m going to have to call you back,” to the Mythos
Fae before disconnecting.
Did he just hang up on Hades? I asked Az, somewhat shocked by that
move. I highly doubted the godlike entity was used to being disconnected in
that manner.
It seems so, Az said, sounding more amused than irritated.
“Perhaps Ajax’s presence at my side today hasn’t been noted by
everyone in this room,” Lucifer said, his voice carrying throughout his
nightclub. “But let me be clear. Ajax is my Warden. He’s also officially a
Hell Fae now, as he’s mated to my Commander.”
Several Hell Fae exchanged looks, then glanced back at us with wide-
eyed expressions.
“And for those of you who really need a lesson in respect, let me remind
you that Azazel is one of my mates.” The words echoed on the screen,
suggesting he was now broadcasting these words to the entire Hell Fae
Kingdom. “Which means Ajax is now linked directly to me.”
He locked eyes with the Hell Fae who had snapped at me over Kuro.
Then looked at the other fae who had echoed his opinion of me not
belonging here.
“I strongly encourage you to remember these mate-bonds and their
importance to me as your Hell Fae King. Because the next time you choose
to insult my Warden, I won’t be kind in return.”
Both Hell Fae looked pale, the pair of them mumbling apologies before
quickly heading toward the nightclub exit.
I gaped at them, then at Lucifer.
He’d just… claimed me.
Not in an unbinding mating, but in his own way as king. And he’d
ensured the entire kingdom knew I belonged to him.
Which meant Cami belonged to him, too.
Or she would, anyway, as soon as she finished mating Melek.
“Now have I made my intentions clear?” Lucifer asked as he returned to
our table. “Or do you still have questions?”
I stared at him.
Did I still have questions? Yes. Thousands.
 But I couldn’t organize them all in a coherent train of thought, so I
just… shook my head.
He smiled. “Good. Then let’s move forward, Warden. I’ll earn your
forgiveness in time, prove my worth to you as a potential mate—not just to
you, but possibly to Camillia, too—and maybe one day, we’ll complete this
circle. Until then, I could use some insight on this Vivaxia situation.”
Shit. He must have overheard my comments about him not being
worthy enough for Camillia.
Or perhaps he’d read them through Az’s thoughts.
Regardless, Lucifer didn’t appear to be angry so much as invigorated.
He’d also stated that the onus fell on him to prove his worth—an interesting
way of phrasing it.
“What kind of insight?” Az asked, focusing on the last part of what
Lucifer had said. “Do you have an idea of what Vivaxia might have done to
Cami?”
My jaw clenched, the reminder of what Az could sense inside Cami
suddenly the most important topic in my mind. We all knew that Virtuous
Fae had done something to her. The question was what?
That’d been one of the only reasons I’d been okay with leaving her in
Melek’s care. If anyone could solve this riddle, it was another Virtuous Fae.
But naturally, he was choosing to play with our mate instead.
Maybe finishing their bond would help protect her.
Or maybe it would make things worse.
“Perhaps I should talk with Zenaida,” I said, voicing the thought out
loud before I fully considered it. Yet it seemed like a good place to start. If
anyone could provide us with information on the future, it was her.
Of course, it would be uttered in the form of a riddle.
But I’d grown up with Shade. I understood riddles well, thanks to his
many teachings.
 Melek also might be able to help, I realized, his mating Cami suddenly
having a bit more of an appeal. Because the riddle master himself would
finally be on our side.
Lucifer studied me for a moment and nodded. “Zen might offer some
interesting insight. We should also consider asking Zakkai to come by for a
visit.”
My brow lifted. “Zakkai?”
“Yes. He’s the Midnight Fae Source Architect. He might be able to
help.”
I knew what and who Zakkai was; I was just surprised Lucifer wanted
to invite him down for a visit. “I can talk to him, too.”
Lucifer gave another dip of his chin. “Meanwhile, I have some texts to
review.”
“What would you like me to do?” Az asked him.
“Can you accompany Ajax?” Lucifer phrased it as a request, not a
command. “I’d prefer to be able to maintain communication, should
something happen. And I don’t have that sort of link to Ajax… yet.”
My eyes almost narrowed as I repeated that final word in my thoughts.
Yet.
“I can do that,” Az said, his arm stretching out behind me on the booth.
“But I’ll want regular updates, too.”
“Of course,” Lucifer replied. “I’ll be starting with Vita, then working
from there.”
Az reached for his untouched drink and downed the contents. “Then
let’s get started.”
Take us to Zenaida first, he added in my head. We can pick up some
cookies for Cami. I suspect she’s going to be famished by the time Melek
finishes with her…
 CHAPTER 4

MELEK

C AMI STARED at the blade she’d selected, her brow furrowed. Doubts played
through her mind, concerned that doing this might dismantle our bond.
A few weeks ago, she might have been okay with that.
However, something had changed between us, something profound.
I wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she finally understood our
potential as mates.
The attraction had always existed between us. I assumed it was because
our souls recognized one another. Cami hadn’t reached that level of
certainty, though. She was still trying to wrap her head around the risk of
failure.
“If our bond doesn’t take, then we were never meant to be together,” I
told her. “As disappointing as that would be, there’s nothing we can do to
change it.”
I caught her chin and guided her gaze away from the knife and up to my
eyes.
“I didn’t tell you this to worry you. I was trying to explain why the
ritual seems easy. It’s because our souls will be doing most of the work,
which should result in another energy exchange.” I smiled. “You enjoyed
that before, which means you’re going to love it this time.”
“If it works,” she whispered.
 “Ah, little angel, I’m both pained and pleased by your worry.” I leaned
down to kiss her softly. “Pained because I don’t enjoy your predicament,
but pleased because you’re concerned about losing me.”
I palmed her cheek, noting the fear lurking in her pretty sea-gray eyes.
“I wouldn’t do this if I thought it would be the end, Camillia. I only
want forever with you. So I need you to take a leap of faith, love. Please.
For our souls.”
Sitting up, I took my blade and drew it across my palm—the same one
that had just been on her face.
Then I waited for her to join me.
Cami pursed her lips but otherwise didn’t move.
“Where’s my confident, gorgeous angel?” I asked, my voice low. “The
one who faced a Manticore with nothing but a book. The one who saw
through the trial mirages. The one who stood up to me at every turn. The
one who lets Az and Ajax share her, knowing full well they could destroy
her in an instant.”
She glared at me. “They wouldn’t destroy me.”
“Because you’re miraculous and perfect and a goddess to be
worshipped. But I want to know where my Cami went, the glorious fae with
a smart mouth and a penchant for danger.”
“Now you’re just using words against me,” she muttered, sitting up. I
was very pleased that she hadn’t tried to hide her body from me, especially
now as her bare breasts swayed a little.
She was so fucking sexy like this—exposed, vulnerable, and in my bed.
“I said I wanted my Melek back, and now you’re saying you want your
Cami back,” she went on. “Not very clever, Hell Fae Prince.”
I cut my palm again, aware that the wound had already closed. “It made
you move, didn’t it?”
Those pretty eyes of hers narrowed even more. “If we do this and it
breaks our bond, I’m going to be pissed.”
 I arched a brow. “Oh?”
“Wait.” Her expression changed from heated annoyance to confusion.
“Lucifer wants to mate Ajax. Does that mean…?”
“He suspects his soul is compatible with our Warden’s?” I finished for
her. “Yes.”
“But what if he’s wrong? Will that negate the deal?”
“There is no more deal,” I told her. “Ty already reinstated Ajax’s role as
Warden, and he’s in the process of confirming his place as a Hell Fae.”
Along with a few other details—like ensuring everyone knew Ajax was part
of his inner circle now.
She blinked. “When did that happen?”
“While you were showering,” I replied. “Well, technically, he made the
decision after catching you in the sky. Or maybe even before that. But—”
“He caught me in the sky?”
I hummed in confirmation. “And then he put you in our bed.”
Her eyes widened. Then she shook her head. “We’ll come back to that.”
She cleared her throat. “If he knew this third phase might not work, then he
had a loophole set into his own agreement. What would have happened if
Ajax and Lucifer couldn’t mate?”
I considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “Knowing Ty, he would
have written in a clause that stated Ajax had to claim him as a Midnight Fae
mate. But it’s a moot point now—there’s no deal.”
“So he wouldn’t have reneged on the offer?” she pressed.
“Are you worried he had that as a backdoor escape to show
unfaithfulness on Ajax’s part?” I wondered aloud, my brow furrowing.
“Because Ty may write deals in his favor, but he’s not Vivaxia.” She would
have written such a loophole into her own agreement, and often did.
“No, I…” She frowned again. “So Ajax would have had to claim him
with his Midnight Fae power—because he could still do that.”
 “Yes, but I doubt it would be necessary. Their souls are as compatible as
ours.” Well, perhaps not as compatible, but definitely complementary.
“So if this fails…” she went on, ignoring me, her expression clearing as
her eyes radiated stark resolve. “If this fails, then I’m going to figure out
how Hell Fae claim mates, and force you to be mine.”
The conviction in her tone and her words made my dick throb.
Because yes fucking please.
“I think I like where this is headed,” I admitted. “Will you tie me down
and have your way with me, too?”
She growled, the sound reminding me of the night we’d first met. She’d
growled at me then, too, infuriated by me not helping her.
Little did she know how much I was assisting her that night.
And always.
I would never have let anything happen to her. But I did want her to
realize how much she could accomplish on her own. I’d sensed her strength
and spirit, her power a beacon to my senses.
That night—and all the days since—had showcased her talents in a
myriad of ways.
I’d done what I could to protect her. And now, I would provide her with
the ultimate form of protection—by marrying my soul to hers. Indefinitely.
If the impossible happened and our spirits didn’t mate, it would hurt. A
lot. It’d be the equivalent of feeling her death.
I kept that part to myself, though, as only I would experience that pain.
Not her.
Besides, I was certain our souls would accept each other. There was no
alternative. Camillia De la Croix was meant to be mine.
And one day soon, she would become my Hell Fae Queen.
Her jaw ticked as she glowered at me.
Then she took her dagger and sliced her palm.
 I cut mine for a third time, ensuring the wound was still open, and
grabbed her hand before she could pull away.
“Now we say the words together,” I reminded her. “Ready?” She
nodded, so I counted down from three, and after I reached one, we both
said, “Nadeehar Laki Nafsi.”
Warmth flooded through me as ethereal energy flowed around us.
Cami gasped, her hand clutching mine. “Melek.”
I yanked her into my lap, my wings flaring from my back to wrap us in
a cocoon of feathers. But the magic was too powerful, the essence bleeding
into every inch of our beings as our souls connected for eternity.
I told you we were soul mates, I breathed into her mind.
She clung to me, her legs straddling my hips as gold flares flickered
around us. This is amazing.
This is just the beginning, I replied, my lips seeking hers as warmth
blossomed inside my chest. Searing warmth. Exciting warmth.
Because our bond was complete. Our souls fully joined. Our powers
mingling.
My wings stretched again, my feathers ruffling as our energy created a
long golden ribbon of silky vitality. It wound around our joined hands,
sealing our bond in a symbol of unity.
Cami sighed, her skin glittering with the evidence of our connection. “I
feel so alive.” Her voice held a wistful note to it. “Like I’m flying.”
“Mmm, I’ll happily take you to the stars, little angel.” I tugged on our
bound hands, my opposite palm going to her hip. But before I could kiss
her, she glanced down.
“Another rope.” She stared at the item in question. “Is this why you
always talk about ribbons? Because of the bond magic creating them?”
I grinned. “The bond didn’t create them, love. My power did. It’s a
symbol of our mating—a gold strand that can never be broken despite how
soft and delicate it may appear.”
 She studied the pretty fabric. “It’s unending.”
“Indeed.” The ribbon might appear neatly bound now, but there were no
ends to the fabric. When unraveled, it would go on and on for as long or as
little as we desired. “It represents us.”
Cami pulled on the bond, the silk easily falling into her hand as she
slowly unwound it from our joined palms. “I want to understand you better,
Melek. I want to trust you.”
I admired her profile, my mind helping me to understand what she was
really saying. “You want me to tie you up.”
She gazed up at me through her thick lashes. “I want to learn.”
Hmm. If I recalled correctly, she’d asked Az for a similar lesson—
something I’d overheard in her head last week. Except that lesson had been
about his need to release his excess power.
This was about my preference for rope play.
My desire to bind her.
To dress her in silk and tease her until she begged me to fuck her.
Or begged for Ty…
Alas, we weren’t ready yet for what I truly desired. But I could slowly
introduce her to my games.
“All right,” I said, my energy swirling around our bound hands to finish
unbinding the silk. Then I wove it through my fingertips as I indulged in the
soft texture. “Sit in the center of the bed.”
It would require her to slip off of my lap—an act that didn’t appeal to
my dick. But the delayed gratification would be worth it.
Cami moved to where I directed her.
“Go up on your knees, then sit back on your heels and place your palms
on your thighs.”
She did as I commanded.
And fuck if that wasn’t a stunning sight.
“Now close your eyes,” I told her.
 A flush stole over her cheeks, her tongue licking her lips, then her
lashes fluttered as her eyelids shut.
I waited a beat, purposely drawing out the moment.
“Rope play is about teasing your senses,” I said softly. “It’s about
anticipation and blocking out the rest of the world.” I shifted to kneel
behind her. “But trust is the heart of the experience.”
I leaned down to kiss her shoulder.
“I’m not going to bind your arms or your hands, Camillia.” I drew my
teeth along her skin and up her neck to her ear. “Not today, anyway. But
some day, I’ll enslave you with my ribbons.”
Then leave her for Ty to unwrap while I watched.
That was a fantasy I couldn’t wait to play out.
But tonight was about me and Camillia. About me worshipping her.
Cherishing her. Loving her. And showing her who we would be together.
No games. No puzzles. No teasing truths or riddle-like statements.
Simply Melek and Cami.
I kissed her thundering pulse as I gently touched her arm with the silky
fabric. She jumped, just like I knew she would. It was part expectation, part
fear of what was to come.
Which was precisely why a gradual introduction was needed.
“Shh,” I hushed her. “Relax and let me take care of you.” I drew the
material up and down in slow caresses, giving her time to adjust. “Rope
play is an art form, one that requires patience. But the end result is quite
beautiful.”
“So you… you have a lot of experience doing this? To Lucifer?”
I chuckled, the rope closer to her shoulder now. “Ty has indulged me
once or twice, but he’s not a being who allows others to bind him.”
“So he ties you up?” she guessed as I lowered my touch to her
collarbone.
 “He has before, yes,” I told her. “It’s important for a master to
experience the rope for himself, to understand the intricacies and
sensations. It makes rope play even more sensual and safe, because it
allows the dominant of the pair to properly respect the submissive’s limits.”
She shivered. “You’re the dominant?”
“Between us? I think so, yes. But I can switch.” I kissed her pulse again.
“And for you, I would be anything and anyone.”
My preference would be to lead. However, I’d kneel if Cami desired it.
I’d do anything she asked.
I sent my touch downward toward her chest, drawing a gasp from her as
the silk nearly reached her nipples. “So how do you know how to do this?”
she asked, her neck arching as she swallowed. “If Lucifer doesn’t let you tie
him up… and he’s only tied you up a few times…?”
I pressed another kiss to her neck, my gaze on the ribbon between her
breasts. “Ty usually watches me tie up others,” I explained.
She stilled. “He doesn’t mind you playing with someone else?”
I chuckled. “Ty and I have always been very open with each other. He
chooses monogamy. I… I choose loyalty. But just because I’ve used my
ropes on others doesn’t mean I fucked them. I usually wrap them up as a
gift for someone else. Then watch the scene play out while Ty indulges
me.”
It wasn’t a traditional relationship. But then again, nothing in my world
could ever be considered traditional anyway.
Cami said nothing for a long moment, her breathing heightening as my
touch reached her belly button. “Will you… still play with others?”
My hand paused, my mind finally understanding the point of her
questions.
She hadn’t been interested in my experience from a trust perspective—
I’d assumed she just wanted to ensure that I knew what I was doing. No,
she’d been asking from a relationship perspective.
 “You want to know how I feel about monogamy,” I translated out loud.
“What it means now that we’ve mated.”
“I…” She didn’t finish her statement, just snapped her jaws closed as an
adorable flush stole across her features.
My lips curled. “Mmm, my little angel is feeling possessive.”
“You’re my mate.”
“I’m also Ty’s mate.”
“That’s different,” she muttered.
“How so?” I wondered aloud, resuming my path with the ribbon against
her flesh.
“He’s Lucifer,” she said, like that explained everything.
“So you’re okay with me fucking him and him fucking me?”
That flush continued down to her breasts. “Y-yes.”
“You want to watch?” I guessed.
“I…” She trailed off again, then cleared her throat. “That’s not what I
mean. I… He’s already yours, and I understand that. But the others…?”
“Hmm,” I hummed, moving to her side so I could properly take hold of
her chin and bring her eyes to mine. “First, there are no others, Camillia.” I
allowed the rope to unravel a bit, part of it pooling over her thighs.
“Second, I need you to hold your arms out.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Melek.”
“Arms, Camillia,” I repeated.
With a cute little growl, she complied, but her eyes told me she wasn’t
pleased. “You’ve tied up other people. That means, by definition, there are
others.”
“I’ve played in a club setting where other fae have asked me to tie up
their mates,” I clarified, my focus going to her abdomen as I wrapped the
rope around her once.
Then I met her gaze again, wanting to finish this conversation so we
could properly begin.
 “I enjoyed playing with their mates because it provided a sense of
calmness for me. There’s a certain level of give-and-take that comes with
tying up another person. It’s all about trust and patience. The responsibility
for pleasure falls on the dominant, and the submissive is actually the one in
charge. It’s a power dynamic that I find freeing.”
Her expression told me that while she heard what I was saying, she was
still wrapped up in thoughts of me with other women.
And men, I realized, hearing it in her mind.
She knew I obviously indulged in both. Ty made sense to her. Everyone
else… did not.
“Do you want to know why Ty has always respected my need to play?”
I asked her.
Her teeth gritted at my choice of words, her mind changing play to
cheat. Normally, I would have some qualms about that phrasing and quickly
correct her. But I knew this was the fresh mating bond talking more than
Camillia.
She was experiencing a new wave of possessiveness and desperately
trying to fight it.
Rather than wait for her to reply, I attempted to put her out of her
misery by answering my own question. “He let me play because he knew I
needed the outlet. He’s known for a very long time that I would eventually
take another mate because he’s aware that he couldn’t give me certain
things. And he wants me to be happy.”
I palmed her cheek, my eyes going to her lips before slowly tracking
back up to her stormy gaze.
“Camillia, you give me the things he can’t. You give me everything I
desire.” The words were like a benediction, one I hoped she understood and
felt as a vow.
Because I meant it.
She was my world now.
 “I’ve been looking for a mate like you for thousands of years, and now
that I have you, there will be no others for me, Camillia. It will only be you
and our mate-circle. Us. That’s what I need. What I want. What I crave.”
I leaned in to press my lips to her ear, her resulting tremble one I felt to
my very soul.
“I’m going to give you more than loyalty, Camillia De la Croix. You
have my heart. My utmost devotion. My faith.”
Releasing her face, I grabbed the ribbon on either side of her abdomen,
the rope tightening beneath my grip.
“And now I’m going to show you what that means. So I need you to
close your eyes again and focus on what you feel. Because you’re my life
now, and I fully intend to tie you up for eternity.”
 CHAPTER 5

CAMI

I CLOSED MY EYES , my mind and heart a mess from Melek’s words.

Loyalty.
Devotion.
Faith.
My possessive instincts had flared when he’d mentioned Lucifer being
okay with him playing with others. Because I’d realized that I… I wasn’t
okay with that.
Melek playing with Lucifer was fine.
Melek indulging others… was not.
The distinction was confounding, and a bit hypocritical given my
relationships with Ajax and Az. None of us had discussed monogamy. It’d
just been an instinctual expectation, but Melek tested the boundaries of my
instincts. He always did things I didn’t anticipate.
Like now with the ribbon.
He was wrapping it around my upper abdomen, his fingers smoothing
the flat silk against my skin as he carefully maneuvered upward to my
breasts.
The sensuous touch had goose bumps pebbling across my chest, my
nipples beading in expectation. It almost distracted me from my thoughts.
From Melek’s words playing through my mind.
 They’d resembled promises I longed to believe in, statements I hoped
were true.
The tiny hint of hesitation inside me—the voice that questioned Melek’s
motives—confirmed what he’d said about trust. The fact that he knew we
were still growing in that area, and respected that growth, spoke volumes
about our impending relationship.
He paid attention to details. Paid attention to me. And honored my
feelings.
It surprised me. I’d assumed Melek simply enjoyed chaos and riddles,
that he liked playing games with me. And he did; that much was true.
But his games possessed layers, all of them built with good intentions.
An intriguing realization to have as he created layers of ropes around
me now, each one seeming to be purposeful.
I held my breath as the silk skimmed my areolas. The next one would
cover my stiff peaks, providing a sense of—
My brow furrowed when the ribbon… did not… go over my nipples.
It… it went above them instead.
I waited, wondering if Melek would go back down to cover the skin he
missed, but he continued upward until the ribbon went right beneath my
armpit.
Maybe he’ll start downward again now?
No, I realized in the next breath. He’s… he’s tying a bow at my back.
I could feel the strands tightening, the ends of the bow feeling complete.
But it was an illusion. I could sense the endless quality of ribbon, how it
would grow and grow and grow with a single command.
Melek played on that now, taking one edge like a leash and pulling it
around to my front.
“You can lower your arms now,” he told me softly. “But don’t open
your eyes yet.”
 The leash he’d created slid around to my front, the edge of it teasing my
upper leg as he released it between my thighs.
I bit my lip when the bed shifted, his weight disappearing behind me.
My ears strained to hear him, curious as to where he’d gone. But he was
silent.
Everything was still.
I swallowed, my nerves ratcheting up with each passing second.
Melek? I whispered via our bond.
He didn’t reply.
I almost peeked, slightly nervous about what he might be doing. But his
demand not to open my eyes held me captive.
This was about trust. And I trusted him not to hurt me.
He was just heightening the moment and drawing out the anticipation.
I focused on my breathing, as well as the strands on my skin. They were
so soft yet firm. He’d left my arms free, but I still felt constrained.
“You look so fucking beautiful, Cami,” Melek said, his voice seeming
to surround my senses and captivate me. “Spread your thighs a little more
for me.”
I shuffled, eager to comply.
“Mmm, yes, just like that.”
I waited for him to do something, to say more, but he fell quiet again.
A shiver rolled through me, followed by a tightening in my lower belly.
I was exposed. On display. A gift wrapped for his pleasure.
Something about that made me feel cherished. I felt so alive. So safe. So
ready.
Because I wanted more. I wanted him. His mouth. His tongue. His
touch. His cock.
I could already feel him between my splayed thighs, imagine him
thrusting in and out of me, feel his claim.
 “You’re getting so wet for me,” Melek murmured. “Fae, I can’t wait to
taste you. In fact…” The ribbon moved against my thigh, confusing my
senses as I hadn’t felt him come back onto the bed. Maybe he was leaning
over the mattress?
I so badly wanted to look at him.
But I refrained.
He wanted my eyes closed for a reason.
I jolted as the silk touched my core, the unexpected movement drawing
a gasp from my mouth.
“You have no idea what I want to do to you, Camillia,” he murmured. “I
want to wrap up your pussy, apply ribbons in just the right place, so that
your clit is stimulated with every thrust.” He ran the material over my clit,
applying the barest hint of pressure. “I’ll slide the rope between your
legs…”
He demonstrated, eliciting a moan from me.
“Up along your ass,” he went on, reaching behind me to pull the rope
upward against my backside. “Then I’ll secure it to your middle.” He
brushed the bow. “And do it again and again until you’re fully bound.” The
strand went taut against my middle, causing my lips to part in pleasure.
“Then I’ll make you fly, little angel.”
The ribbon moved against my core as he tugged it back the way it’d
come, dragging the silk against my damp flesh.
“I’ll suspend you in the air, too,” he whispered, his lips suddenly at my
ear. “And fuck you while you’re hanging over our bed.”
I panted at the image his words painted inside my mind. “Yes…”
He kissed my neck, his touch moving to my sides as he tugged on the
rope in a way that squeezed my nipples.
“When we do this next time, I’ll bind your arms so that every move”—
he tugged again—“will tease your pretty tits.” Another pull, this one
sharper. “You’ll drive yourself crazy, then beg for my mouth. My touch.
Your release.”
He proceeded to demonstrate, his clever fingers working the silk around
me and creating an inferno inside me.
Every move barely touched my aroused peaks. It was just enough to
tease, but not enough to please.
When the ribbon returned to my core, he replicated the sensation there,
dragging the silk against my clit without applying enough pressure.
“Melek,” I whispered.
His mouth touched my throat, his heat suddenly engulfing me from
behind. I wasn’t sure how or when he’d settled on the bed, my mind too
caught up in the sensations he was eliciting with his silk.
When he pressed on my back between my shoulder blades, I bent
forward. “Keep your hands at your sides,” he told me. “Pretend they’re
bound.”
It was hard to do, my instinct to break my fall one that had my fingers
flexing in response.
But I trusted him to catch me.
And oh, I was so glad I did because he used the rope to guide me
downward, the taut strands applying even more pressure to my aching
breasts.
He moved my head at the last moment, tilting my face to the side before
I face-planted into the mattress. Then he used the rope he’d threaded
through my legs to pull my ass up, the pressure from the lift fully on my
clit.
I groaned, the sensation nearly undoing me.
But then his hands were everywhere, mapping my form, memorizing
every inch, and in an instant, the ribbons vanished, leaving me utterly free
and incredibly turned on.
 “When we do this again, it’ll be for much longer,” he promised. “But
we’ve been dancing around our attraction for months. And I can’t go
another moment without being inside you, Cami.”
He spread my thighs, his cock already at my entrance.
I barely had a moment to react before he was filling me, his thrust
powerful and intrusive and utterly flawless.
My hands went to the bed, my fingers digging into the comforter as
Melek fucked me from behind, his movements wholly him. Because he
exuded sensuality. I could feel his urgency, hear his boiling need, yet he
somehow managed to emit his usual sensuous perfection.
I moaned, the sensation of fullness an alluring antidote to all the teasing.
My insides clenched, my stomach twisting with renewed passion.
And suddenly I was on my back with Melek above me, his wings
stretched out as he entered me again.
“You’re so beautiful,” I told him, only belatedly realizing I’d opened my
eyes. But he’d freed me from the ropes, shattering the illusion of being
under his command. My arms had already moved. Looking at him had just
felt… natural.
“Not as beautiful as you, Cami,” he said, capturing my mouth as he
palmed my breast.
I screamed, startled by how sensitive my nipple was beneath his hand.
He responded by rubbing the stiff point, then lowering his lips to kiss
my breast as his pace slowed below.
I writhed beneath him, lost to his tongue, his mouth, his everything.
I hadn’t realized just how much the rope had teased me. Now it felt like
I was bathing in relief, reveling in pleasure, losing myself to him.
I let myself fall. Gave in to his touch, his kiss, his everything.
By the time he kissed me again, I was no longer Cami. I was simply
Melek’s angel. His female. His fae. His mate.
And he worshipped me, just like he’d promised.
 With his hands. His mouth. His tongue. His cock.
Every part of him complemented every part of me, our bodies engaging
in a sensuous dance that was all Melek.
Because he could well and truly lead. I was a slave to his motions,
utterly devoted to his every whim.
He smiled against my mouth. “Are you falling in love with me, Camillia
De la Croix?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Mmm,” he hummed, nipping at my bottom lip. “I’ll accept that. But
you should know, I think I’ve loved you from the moment we met.”
I shook my head. “That was lust.”
“That was our souls knowing each other,” he corrected me with a thrust
I felt through every inch of my body. “My heart beat for you then, and it
sings for you now.”
He captured my mouth before I could reply, not that I knew what to say.
Melek, the fae of riddles, was speaking truths. Confiding his feelings.
And expressing his adoration in a way only he could.
We’d finally reached the last play in this game between us.
And it turned out that we were both winners here.
Both of us chasing the same end goal.
Screaming for each other in unison.
Chanting the other person’s name.
“Melek!”
“Cami!”
I clung to him, my heart racing in my chest as an explosion built inside
me. An explosion borne from months of uncertainty. Months of yearning.
Months of confusion. Months of teasing. Months of need.
“Fly for me,” Melek demanded, his mouth against mine. “Fly for me
and shout my name.”
 I squeezed my thighs against his, my arms wrapped firmly around his
neck.
Then I flew, just like he’d ordered me to.
The sensation of falling overwhelmed me, the airlessness a feeling that
nearly caused me to panic.
But I let go. I let everything go.
And trusted Melek to catch me.
Because he was my Virtuous Fae mate. My soul’s confidant. My future.
His wings surrounded me, his devotion a warmth I sensed in every inch
of my being.
He was there, holding me through his own fall. The two of us soaring
without a care in the world. Simply to land on a bed of feathers, both of us
winded, replete, and finally fully mated…
 TYPHOS

E XPLOSIVE .
The word utterly defined Camillia De la Croix as she detonated in my
bed. I wasn’t there, but I could feel it. Smell it. Taste it.
All through Melek.
And not because he was pushing the sensations through our bond. It just
existed between us, the temptation a sin I was almost considering falling
for. The pain of crashing into the Hell Fae Realm again would be worth the
experience of seeing Camillia detonate.
I ran a hand over my face, then palmed my nape as Melek’s renewed
arousal warmed my blood.
He hadn’t said a word to me, hadn’t invited me to play, hadn’t described
Camillia’s naked form or provided any sort of provocation.
Yet it existed nonetheless.
Swallowing my urges, I focused on Vita. On the words painted out
before me. On the utter uselessness that had been the last hour while I’d
searched and hunted for answers that didn’t seem to exist.
Something has to be in here, I thought, growling to myself.
“What aren’t you showing me?” I asked as I turned Vita’s pages,
hunting for a lost thought from my mind.
 Because I recognized that power inside Camillia. Deep down,
somewhere, I knew what it meant.
Therefore, the details had to be in the book. Yet the truth eluded me.
Why can’t I remember?
Do I not want to remember?
Was it something Vivaxia had done to someone else I cared about?
Something she’d done to me?
My lips curled downward at the thought of Camillia’s grandmother, the
very woman who had destroyed my life.
Thousands of years later, and I was still tired of the ancient games she
and I had once played.
I had vowed never to engage with her again.
And yet, here I am, setting the board with my strategic pieces.
With a new queen.
But I was missing something. A burning sensation deep within my soul
churned with uncertainty, warning me with a sense of urgency that didn’t
make sense.
Camillia was safe.
She was with Melek.
So why do I feel this deep-seated concern for her well-being?
Because Vivaxia had given her back far too easily.
She’d done something to the girl.
But what? I wondered as I studied the magical book that held memories
I could no longer access via my own mind.
One’s memories grew fractured throughout time. Vita had been my way
of protecting my sanity, of storing important knowledge and maintaining
ancient recollections.
There was so much history here. So many lost thoughts.
Yet, instead of answers, I found white spires depicted on Vita’s pages,
the scene garnished with pristine streets and plentiful flowers. Winged
beings drifted in the distance underneath a brilliant golden glow that
seemed to come from everywhere.
Vita rarely showed me the Virtuous Fae Realm, given that I preferred
not to think about that time, but it was a part of my history that couldn’t be
erased.
“Where Camillia went was a forgotten nightmare of that place,” I
informed Vita as I turned the page.
The past was gone. Whatever remained was a ghost that my enemies
should have left behind.
The next image was a familiar woman’s face, and that gave me pause.
Her features were slightly blurred on the pages as if water had stained the
ink. I ran my fingers over the depiction, confused by the stirring of
loneliness and longing the image brought me.
Dark hair.
Vibrant white wings with black-tipped feathers.
Ah, my mother.
The sight of her struck me with sudden certainty as the bitter memory
took hold.
My parents should never have had me.
My conception had cost them their lives.
Why was that, again?
Turning the page once more, I found a young boy with midnight hair
and ocean-blue eyes. Even then, the wingspan was an impressive one, as
was the smile of a youthful innocent who never imagined he’d become the
Hell Fae King.
Me.
A woman—presumably my mother—held the boy, but I couldn’t see
her anymore. The ink around her splotched and blurred, as did the
masculine shadow behind them.
Ah. That’s right.
 I remembered now why I preferred to keep this particular memory
within Vita instead of in my head.
Before I had reached adulthood, I had slowly drained their gifts, taking
their Virtuous magic into myself to build my power that had now become
my Source. I’d had no idea what I had been doing, of course, until it was
too late.
I had been just a child.
But once I’d realized what I’d been doing, I’d altered myself. I’d made
it where I could never again drain another being’s power like that and make
it my own.
But it hadn’t been enough. My parents had died because I was…
My eyes widened when I realized the correlation.
“I was a siphon, just like Camillia,” I murmured to myself as I turned
the pages again.
I’d forgotten about that, because after the death of my parents, my
powers had been altered. Not by Vivaxia, but by me. I’d been a siphon only
very briefly because I had permanently broken that part of myself, changed
it into something different that wouldn’t be as dangerous.
No one knew how my parents had died. I had not been from a royal line,
or any family of notice even when it came to the Virtuous Fae, so my
family had been forgotten. I’d also moved to the central city, seeking to
escape a past I’d longed to forget.
But I remembered the parents I had lost, even if it had only been in
Vita’s pages.
And now my power leaned on an eternal source of energy.
My raw emotion.
I had created an entire realm from my grief. There was power in
emotion, especially such deep-seated pain that manifested into raw energy
when in the hands of an immortal.
 Turning the page again, my heartbeat quickened. I walled myself
against Melek and Azazel so they wouldn’t sense my discomfort.
Because they couldn’t know how Vivaxia had managed to create
Camillia.
Not until I confirmed it.
The next page wasn’t an image, but a script that was a memory of a
discussion I had once had with Melek, long ago.
I didn’t want to remember.
But if I was going to face the future, I first needed to remember the past.

M ANY , MANY , YEARS AGO …

I stared at Melek’s beautiful face.
Gorgeous.
Breathtaking.
And yet, I barely recognized the male I intended to mate. His
multicolored irises exuded a hatred that I’d never witnessed before. A
hatred that had my heart beating rapidly in my chest. That day had been the
only time he had ever looked at me like he hated me.
When I brushed his mind, all I felt was disgust.
But the words he’d just spoken… the bold statement he’d just uttered…
I swallowed.
“You… you slept with her?” I asked, not even sure how I repeated his
claim without screaming.
Or killing someone.
He said he fucked her. Why would he do that?
And yet, I had just found him naked in her bed.
Exclusivity wasn’t always a requirement between us, but sex with
Vivaxia was a betrayal. She was devious, powerful, and had the ability to
rip apart life from the inside out.
I wasn’t mated to Melek; not fully. Although, we had been planning it,
once it was safe to do so.
Melek knew my history. He also knew I would never risk overpowering
him or consuming him like my energy craved to do.
Now, it wouldn’t be possible to attempt, if what he was telling me was
true. If he was compatible with Vivaxia, there was no way a final mate bond
between us would work on an ethereal level.
Because I would never be able to risk being connected to her. Not even
for him.
Melek scoffed as he flicked away hair that had fallen in front of his
face. His wings behind him flared with challenge when they were usually
soft and supple, curling around me with an intimate embrace.
Vivaxia wasn’t even home, as far as I was aware, but I had come early
after reading an urgent note from Azazel saying that he was being sold.
I couldn’t let that happen.
And when I had found her mansion empty except for the scent of
ambrosia, I never expected to find my lover in my rival’s bed.
I should have been tipped off by the utter lack of servants or guests.
Vivaxia was flamboyant with her status and was rarely alone, unless she
was playing a game.
Melek stood, letting the sheets fall from his naked body.
“You’re one to judge,” he said. “I saw the deal, Ty. I know what you’re
planning to do with Vivaxia. How you lied to me about wanting to mate me,
and only me.”
“Melek—” I began, not having a clue what the fuck he was talking
about.
He snarled as he cut me off. “No. You sent me on a fool’s errand to
search for some flaming text.” He grappled for a book on the nightstand and
held up the tome in question. The one my mother had favored. The one I
desired to repurpose as a text-like catacomb for the important notes from
my mind.
Anger flared in my chest when Melek held the book up by the cover, not
the spine or as a whole, just haphazardly dangling the item between us from
his fingertips.
“I was hunting for this all while you were here engaging in another
infamous deal, one meant to tie your soul to hers. Well, now my energy is
tied to hers instead.”
My heart skipped a beat. The mating bond. He’s initiated the mating
bond.
I couldn’t sense it. But I… I had never known Melek to lie.
I shook my head, not wanting to believe any of this was happening.
How life could turn over so damn quickly.
Melek was from one of the noble families and we had fallen in love
despite all my efforts to not let anyone in. I’d promised to mate him.
Yet he’d… he’d seen a deal that had suggested otherwise.
And he’d believed it? After everything we’d been through?
Fuck. We’d been studying my magic for years, learning how it worked
and how I could wield it.
That had led us to crafting deals together.
I ran everything by him. Every caveat. Every clause. Every agreement.
Yet he’d seen something to suggest otherwise. A document that stated I
wanted to mate Vivaxia. “Let me guess,” I said through my teeth. “Vivaxia
showed you this deal?”
“Of course she did,” Melek bit back. “She thought I should know the
truth, which is more than I can say for you.”
I grunted. “Melek—”
“No,” Melek hissed with a vehemence to his tone I had never heard
before. “I’m done, Typhos. Let this be the last memory you have of me.”
 He threw the book on the floor and stormed out, leaving me without a
backward glance.
I’d stood there for hours, unsure of how to proceed or how to fix this.
His lack of faith in me had broken me. His energy mingling with
Vivaxia’s had shattered me. And his easy dismissal had infuriated me.
When Vivaxia waltzed into her bedroom some time later, I was still
there. And I’d been so incredibly vulnerable.
Vulnerable enough to sign the deal that soon led to my fall.
A deal that had changed us all.

I CLOSED V ITA ’ S COVER WITH A THUD AND STARED AT IT AS THE TRUTH

seeped into me. It left me feeling trapped, like the walls were closing in
around me.
That had been the only time Melek had ever lied to me. He’d allowed
me to think he’d slept with Vivaxia because that deal had been the only way
for me to achieve my dreams.
Had I not signed it, had I not fallen, had I not been broken, the Hell Fae
Realm would have never existed.
Melek’s cruelty—his lie—had cost him dearly. It’d nearly broken him,
too.
But in the end, it’d been the right thing to do.
Because the alternative would have hurt so much more. Living in the
Virtuous Fae Realm with no means to protect the innocent would have
driven me mad. With the limitations of my power, I never would have saved
Azazel.
I would have grown spiteful and angry.
I would have pushed Melek away and become destructive.
 My prince had known that. That was why he’d played along with
Vivaxia’s plan. He had even proposed the façade of having slept with her.
She’d been delighted, given that she had only asked him to help convince
me to sign the deal, not break my heart.
But Melek was the only one who knew how my power worked. He
knew it wasn’t just in the language of my deals, but in the emotion storming
in my heart.
That was why he had deceived me.
And he vowed to never do it again. He had completed our mate bond
shortly after, and of course we were compatible. I should never have
doubted him.
But had I seen the truth, we wouldn’t be where we were today. And
that… that I would never change, even if I had the chance to go back and do
it all over again.
I forgive you, my prince.
I didn’t let him hear those words. I had already spoken them to him long
ago, but now I better understood why he had done it.
The only way we could be at peace was starting over. The Hell Fae
Realm was my dream, one he shared.
It had been created in an explosion of grief.
If reversed in the same manner, if everything I had done with good
intentions was instead perverted and undone, it could be destroyed.
That method did not come in the form of a spell, or brute force.
It was in the perfect shape of a female not only designed for me, but
destined for my inner circle.
Camillia De la Croix was meant to be a corruption from the inside.
Vivaxia had finally figured it out, somehow, that I had once been a
siphon, too. I didn’t know how she had learned it, and I didn’t really care.
But if she knew my history, then she knew so much more than simply how
to create a siphon and how to reverse everything I’ve built.
 She’s been watching me, I realized as my jaw flexed.
That’s why she had taken so long to act. She had been observing.
Learning.
And now she’s figured out how to destroy me and everything I care
about.
She might have lost our battle long ago, but now she knew how to win
the war. She had made sure to prepare for this.
And she’d sent a pretty little Hell Fae bride as a trojan horse.
But it was deeper than that. Vivaxia’s games weren’t one or two plays.
She’s after more.
She didn’t just want my power. She wanted to break my heart.
Again.
My nostrils twitched as the heat of his ash tinged my nose. I’d locked
Melek and Azazel out of my mind, but it seemed I hadn’t done a good
enough job of it with my Commander.
Or perhaps it was my blocking him that coaxed him to visit.
Because I’d promised to keep our communications open, which I had.
They’d just been a bit… throttled.
“Why does your mind feel like stone?” Azazel asked as he lingered
behind me. “What have you discovered, Typhos?”
I didn’t turn around to face him. Everything felt too raw after Vita had
forced the ancient memories back into my mind; memories I had intended
on burying indefinitely.
Alas, now I needed to recall everything.
Every. Dark. Piece.
“I know what Vivaxia did to Camillia,” I said as I brushed my fingers
over Vita’s leather cover. “And if we don’t act fast, it could be the end of us
all.”
DELETED SCENES: HELL FAE PRINCE
 CHAPTER 1

AJAX
AN ALTERNATE BEGINNING TO HELL FAE PRINCE

T HE IRONY WASN ’ T LOST on me that I’d made Melek promise me I’d return
to the Midnight Fae Palace the same night I had left, only to break the
stipulation myself.
I hadn’t been ready to return, not after the bomb that the Hell Fae King
had dropped on me. A night in my old bed only left me more conflicted,
and I still wasn’t ready to face Cami.
Not when I didn’t know what to think.
When I was left frustrated, I usually sparred with Az. That always
ended in sex.
When Az wasn’t available, the next best thing was hunting monsters.
It was a good thing that LethaForest had plenty of those.
Seeking death again, young one?
Wander this forest, if you dare.
Death ye seek? Death ye shall find. In five, four…
The whispers of LethaForest were loud in my mind, even though they
were ones of my own creation. The forest didn’t talk, but I liked to imagine
it did. It felt strangely comforting as I walked a living nightmare that was a
dark part of my home realm.
Given the time of day, it was appropriate. Most Midnight Fae were
sleeping, even though it was still dark.
 It was always dark in the Midnight Fae Realm, as it didn’t have a sun.
And no place was more dangerous than LethaForest where everything is
deadly. Case in point…
Three, two…
One.
I leaned back, having heard the whizz of a dragon’s fly zoom through
the breeze, slicing its way an inch from my throat.
Not a dragonfly, the insect of the human realm that is somehow cute
and ugly at the same time.
A dragon’s fly is a magical beast, one created from a tiny scale plucked
off its parent creature. The magic of the forest impacted such things, having
transformed it into a tiny ravenous beast at some point in its life cycle, but it
had no brain of its own. It was a magical eventuality, given the nature of
dragons. It only knows how to devour—how to kill.
I was probably the first Midnight Fae to have seen one in years. But, the
stranger, rarer creatures seemed to find me when I was wandering.
Like a certain Black Phoenix.
And a gorgeous Halfling.
I kept both of my mates securely on the other side of my mental barrier
while I processed my current mood. The Hell Fae King’s words drowned
out my nightmarish recreations of LethaForest, had it a voice.
The Hell Fae King’s was much louder.
“In order for me to offer you solace, a home, your Warden position,
access to the Hell Fae Source, and your Hell Fae Bride of choice, you’ll
need to become my mate…
“You have one week to decide, Ajax. Choose wisely. It could be the last
decision you ever make.”
I frowned as I ducked, avoiding an explosion over my head of a
sideways burning thwomp that would have blasted my face off while I
followed a magical thread that promised violence and danger.
 There was a beast in this forest that I hadn’t seen before. Not a
Nightmare Fae, but I used the same magic to hunt it.
I didn’t stop to think I was using my Hell Fae gifts to track this beast.
Zakkai’s alterations to my soul primed me as a hunter, which made me
suited for the role as Warden. It hadn’t been the other way around. I hadn’t
been formed to fit that role.
Lucifer had placed me where I belonged, and now he wanted me back.
I should tell him to go fuck himself, but he’d probably enjoy that.
The forest seemed to groan in agreement, inviting me deeper into its
depths. This place suited my frustrations and symbolized a dance with death
that seemed to be my destiny.
Perhaps failing Evelyn forged this punishment, I decided. One where
I’m always doomed to be taunted by death, but to never find its sweet
release.
Because I couldn’t deny Lucifer’s deal, and that bothered me most of
all.
It was our only chance, and yet, it meant I wasn’t going to die. Why did
that somehow disappointment me?
This was all a good thing, wasn’t it? Cami would survive, perhaps even
thrive, in the Hell Fae Kingdom. She was compatible with that magic—that
much was fucking evident.
But to give her that chance, to mend this situation I found myself in
with Az, I had to place myself back at Lucifer’s feet. The last thing I
wanted was to go crawling back to him, to serve him, when he didn’t
deserve it.
But he had treated me like an equal, I reminded myself, earning a
deepening frown on my face. By mating me, it would open a two-way
channel.
Which meant on some level, he trusted me.
He saw me to be worthy.
 But that seemed too good to be true. I’d been kept on the outside and
never let in.
Why would that change now?
What if this was all a game and I was going to wind up losing it all?
A growl rumbled in my chest as my frustration bubbled to the surface. I
moved deeper into the forest, still following an unseen magical strand that
belonged to a dangerous beast, and succumbed to the forest’s call. I moved
through the brush, hoping to fall deeper into its maw until it devoured me
whole.
Because I didn’t know how I was supposed to make a fucking choice
with an ultimatum like this.
So I ran from it instead, doing what I did best.
Dance with death.
It never seemed to find me, though, no matter how badly I wanted it to.
The magical pull took me past a Phoenix’s nest, which only makes my
fingers curl as a vicious male stared at me. It was much smaller than Az’s
Black Phoenix, but still deadly.
Especially guarding its brood. It’s burning eyes warned me not to take a
step closer.
In Phoenix culture, the males watched the nest; they protected the
unborn fledgling while their mate recovered and stayed safe to later raise
their young together.
It’s something Az would certainly do, if his Phoenix got his way. Not sit
on a literal nest, but he would do everything for Cami if she ever chose to
bear his child. He’d protect her with his life.
But that was because he’d finally mated her. He’d stalled before his
Phoenix had finally bit her—bit me.
Didn’t that make him unworthy? The fact that it had taken the push of
his beast to remind him what was really important didn’t sit well with me.
But he was trying, and it was becoming difficult to be mad at him.
 I don’t need any reminders of you, I thought, thinking of Az, but making
sure not to direct my words at him.
I had to process everything Lucifer had told me before I went back to
them. Before I considered forgiving Az, even though now I knew it was in
my best interest to do so.
And after being bitten by his beast, I knew that I would eventually have
to forgive him.
He had reasons I didn’t fully understand to do what he’d done. But I had
felt them. After becoming his mate, I directly experienced his conflict and
his struggle.
It didn’t make it right… but it changed things. After my initial fury
wore off and Az didn’t drag us right back to Lucifer when I freed him from
the taming spell, I had to admit that there might have been more to the story
than I’d initially thought.
Later, I thought. I’ll deal with you after I deal with… this.
I turned from the smaller beast, leaving the hissing Phoenix to his nest
as I followed the darkest shadows I could find.
Parting from the Phoenix only put me in the path of other curious
shadows lurking in the forest. Soon, a prowling beast stalked me on my left
and a magical entity hummed on my right. My fingers itched, ready for
them to strike.
They weren’t the beast I was hunting, but they would make a good
appetizer.
But they both broke away when I stumbled into a clearing, leaving me
stunned when moonlight blazed down from above.
The strand ended here.
There weren’t many breaks in LethaForest this deep in, but I knew I’d
been led here when I spotted an oversized owl on a strong branch. He
flapped his wings in welcome and cooed at me.
“What are you doing here, Kuro?” I asked him.
 The dangerous thread of magic I had felt was… me. Or at least, an echo
of myself. Kuro was my familiar, and therefore radiated similar energies.
The fact that I hadn’t noticed the difference proved how long I’d really
been away, leaving a pang of guilt to add its echo to my hollow chest.
My familiar bounced on either foot as I approached. He twisted his head
upside down, making an unbidden smirk lift on the side of my lips. He
made a clicking sound, one I liked to imagine was an answer that he was
here to talk to me.
Or rather, for me to have someone to talk to.
A friend, I realized. That’s what my familiar knew I needed right now.
“I don’t deserve your friendship,” I told him as I found a flat boulder to
sit on. I didn’t trust the branches, or even the ground. Most creatures in
LethaForest would find such a clearing a weak spot, a place that would
leave them vulnerable to attack.
Which made it the perfect place for me to brood.
So I sat, eagerly waiting for some beast to challenge me and get my
mind off of Lucifer’s deal. There had been multiple strands of dangerous
magic, leaving evidence of other beasts in this area. One would eventually
find me.
In the meantime, I stared at Kuro who twisted his head the other way, as
if to say, Well, tough shit. I’m your friend for life.
And maybe he was, even though I’d been a shit pairing for him.
Familiars were meant to be pieces of one’s soul, protected and valued.
I’d left him, just like I’d left everything else in my old life behind.
He’d been angry about it, but the longer I remained in the Midnight Fae
Kingdom, the more he seemed to be warming up to me again.
He reminded me of Az’s Phoenix. He didn’t have complex reasoning to
consider. I had come back, and that was that.
Sighing, I broke off a small branch and began stabbing at the ground.
Angry vines squirmed underneath the soil in response. Maybe the vibrations
would attract a predator faster.
In the meantime, I spoke aloud, because Kuro couldn’t understand me,
anyway. I might as well get it off my chest since the forest was being
uncharacteristically boring.
“You know what else I don’t deserve, Kuro? Cami,” I said.
Kuro extended his neck as if intrigued, then squished into his chest and
fluffed himself.
I nodded, and even though that wasn’t exactly a response, I continued as
if he’d agreed. “She’s gorgeous, powerful, and she didn’t deserve for her
parents to sell her soul to Lucifer. Maybe it’s fitting that to save her, I have
to sell mine.”
Kuro squinted his eyes, now seeming to grow sleepy the more I talked.
I sighed as I twisted the stick into the vines, tugging on it when the
undergrowth accepted my offering. It pulled against my grasp, but it wasn’t
strong enough to take my stick from me. “I expected Lucifer just to kill the
both of us. Obviously, that’s not what I wanted, but why does this feel like
it’s so much harder? I’m fully mated to Cami, which means if I accept
Lucifer’s offer, he’s going to have one more way to control her. Do I trust
him enough to give him what he wants?”
No, I didn’t fucking trust the Hell Fae King farther than I could throw
one of his Hellhounds. He’d been intent on killing her, but it was Melek that
had talked him down.
And it was Melek who was guiding the chain of events far more than I
had realized.
“The Prince has a stake in this too, you know,” I told Kuro who was
now struggling to keep his eyes open. “He gave me that damn spell to tame
Az’s Phoenix. Yes, yes it was technically Zenaida’s spell, but Melek was
really behind it. And then there was that golden jizz he sprayed all over
Cami like he was claiming what was his. What the fuck was up with that?”
Kuro perked up as if I’d said something interesting.
 “Yeah, you agree with me, right?” I asked, emphasizing my point by
letting the vines have more of my stick. It floundered in the ground and
cracked in protest. “This deal is probably his doing. Melek’s, that is. He
thinks that none of us sees how much he has his hands in everything—how
powerful he really is. I see it, though.”
Kuro chirped.
“Yeah, maybe that’s why Lucifer thinks I’m mate-material now. He
needs an ally in his games with Melek, hmm? Just imagine that. Lucifer and
I on the same team, just so we can keep Melek from manipulating all of us
into his schemes. And even that damn chain dress was Melek’s fault.
Lucifer’s punishment was tailored to Melek’s tastes. That’s what Az said,
anyway. And you know what? I believe him.”
After all that Az had done, I didn’t want to fight him anymore.
I was feeling like he was one of the few allies I had on my side, one I
would need, especially if I accepted Lucifer’s deal.
Because I have to accept this deal, right? What other choice do I really
have?
Kuro screeched and flared his wings, startling me and forcing me to
jump up.
It was just in time, because a massive worm with serrated teeth burst
from the ground.
It hadn’t been vines I’d been toying with… but its larva.
“Gross,” I mumbled as Kuro dove into the nest of little killer worms and
slurped them up. Thanks to my owl’s warning, I had enough time to whip
up my wand and slice the creature with a spell, sending it in two halves
crashing to the forest floor. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for the strange
fin on the beast that whacked my wand out of my hand, sending it spiraling
into the darkness.
Kuro chirped with delight, working on his feast in a series of gulps.
 I chuckled as I searched for my wand. “You were just waiting for that
thing to get out of the way, weren’t you? Manipulative bastard. You weren’t
listening about my deal with Lucifer at all.” He’d just been using me as
worm bait.
For some reason, that made my heart swell with affection for the little
sky rat.
Kuro finished off the last bite with a trill. I liked to think that he was
teasing me.
“If you need someone to talk to, I might suggest someone who doesn’t
eat forest larva,” came a voice.
Rolling my eyes, I turned to find Shade watching me from the shadows
as he twirled my wand.
Of course Shade was here.
And he’d probably heard everything.
 CHAPTER 2

AJAX

“H OW LONG HAVE you been standing there?” I asked, slightly peeved, but
also not surprised. This was Shade, after all.
He shrugged. “Long enough to see that you need to be reminded that
familiar’s don’t talk.” He clicked his tongue. “Neither do the dead… or do
they?” He winked, then vanished in a slithering whirl of smoke.
With my wand.
Growling, I followed him as I shadowed out of the forest and to the
graveyard.
He knew I’d figure out his clue, and stealing my wand was a good way
to get me to follow him when I normally wouldn’t. It was the same way
he’d tricked me into coming here before.
Although, last time he’d brought me to the graveyard to help me blow
off some steam. Now? Who the fuck knew what he had in mind.
He held out my wand and I wrapped my fingers around it, but he didn’t
let go.
“What was the deal Lucifer offered you?” he asked, cutting to the chase.
He’d obviously heard enough of my conversation with Kuro to deduce that
much.
I frowned and tugged on my wand. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
 He surprised me when he let go, sending me leaning backward. “Only if
you want to talk about it, Ajax.”
“You say that as if you’re giving me a choice,” I said in return.
He merely grinned in reply. His cold blue eyes seemed to peer right
through me, as if he already knew everything, but he also knew what I
needed.
Like Kuro, I imagined he was here to be a friend.
And he was my best friend, one I had always shared everything with.
But this? This weighed on my shoulders like a boulder that no one could
carry. Not even a Death Blood abomination like Shade.
I’d left all my friends to protect them as much as to protect myself. The
only reason I was talking to Shade now was because I needed him. If I
really cared about my friends, I would do more than this, and that thought
left another guilty thread to wind my stomach into knots.
Because I had another good friend, too. Seifiek was a Midnight Fae who
had abstained from blood his whole life to transform himself into a Fortune
Fae Alpha. Had I the need, he would have taken me and my fugitive mate
into his home, too. There were certain protections he could afford me from
his Western Territory in the human realm.
But I’d chosen the Midnight Fae Palace for a reason. Zakkai was here,
too. And he was on par with Lucifer’s power, from my observation. Queen
Aflora was no pushover, either.
My move had been strategic. But, also, my heart had been lured here the
moment Lucifer had shown his true colors.
Sighing, I decided I didn’t deserve my friends. I had abandoned them
and the memory of all those I had lost.
They didn’t need to be weighed down by my shit, either. I liked to think
I was a better friend than that, even if it meant letting them go.
“I’ll tell you, but I need to see someone first,” I finally told Shade. He’d
been waiting for me to process my thoughts and he patiently glided by my
side as I wandered through the graveyard—this time, not tracking a beast as
I had in the forest. I wasn’t looking for death, but rather a whisper of a life
that once was.
The entire landscape soared with majestic statues and depictions of
those who had been lost to Constatine’s brutal whims. Queen Aflora’s
heritage from the Earth Fae awarded some exceptional stonework that
likely caused rumblings among the gargoyles.
I ventured through the unmoving crowd, half-expecting so many
familiar faces to notice me and give me welcome.
But they remained frozen in their various states, never to move again.
This place unnerved me as if it was a lost moment of time that put me on
edge. The gentle breeze didn’t match up to the cacophony of voices that I
was somehow expecting.
Shade seemed comfortable here, as if he was accustomed to strange
breaks of time. He brushed his finger through his hair as he thoughtfully
regarded all of the statues. But I noticed the glint of pain in his eyes, only
because I knew him so well.
I wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone. We’d all suffered and
sacrificed that day.
Stopping at Emelyn’s grave, I knelt and gazed up at her statue.
Everyone killed that day had one, but Emelyn’s made her feel particularly
lifelike. I held my breath, waiting for the stone to blink.
It never did.
Instead of touching the stone, I brushed my fingers over the chilled
ground riddled with fiery red tulips—courtesy of Aflora, no doubt. She
made sure that the graveyard was more colorful—and vibrant—than any
garden in the Kingdom.
Emelyn hadn’t been a flower person, but the blooms bursting with
literal flames were appropriate. They reminded me of her inner fire.
I still need to thank Aflora for this.
 But I never seemed to be able to bring it up with her. It was too raw, too
painful. My broken heart had once ached here, but now it twisted for a
different reason. I had failed Emelyn, yes, but now I had something to live
for.
Someone to live for.
“I don’t want this to be Cami’s future,” I lamented, finally breaking the
silence. Although, I wasn’t sure if I was talking to Shade or to myself.
What if my deal with Lucifer went south? What if I locked her into
something worse than a chain dress?
What if a statue was added to this graveyard of a Halfling with eyes that
never blinked?
“It won’t be,” Shade said with such utter certainty that I wondered if he
had used his powers of foresight.
When I looked up at him, his icy blue eyes reflected the moon. It was
hard to tell when he was using his Fortune Fae blood. Unlike a full-blooded
Fortune Fae, Shade’s eyes didn’t usually turn silver when he used his
power. It made it difficult to know when he was peering into the future.
It didn’t make his predictions any less accurate, though.
“What future do you see for her?” I asked.
He blinked down at me, a rare flash of surprise crossing his face before
it vanished. I rarely asked him about the future, mostly because I rarely
cared. “There are many variables,” he finally said.
Which meant that even Shade wasn’t sure what was going to happen
next.
I sat back on my heels. “Would one of those variables be my deal with
Lucifer?”
Shade shrugged. “That depends on the deal. You still haven’t told me,
and I honestly didn’t overhear as much as you seem to think. I wasn’t
eavesdropping. I was trying to figure out why you were trying to kill
yourself.”
 “I wasn’t trying to kill myself,” I said, confused.
“Really?” he countered. “Because you were in the most dangerous
section of the forest. On purpose.”
I shrugged. “I was tracking a beast. I used to be Lucifer’s Warden. Some
of the things I’ve hunted don’t even measure up to LethaForest’s creatures.”
Hunting again was a sign of bad habits I had formed, habits that would be
hard to break. Instead of dealing with my problems, I tended to take it out
on monsters.
Which, was a good trait to have as Hell’s Warden. Not so much as a
guest of the Midnight Fae Palace.
“You say that as if you miss it,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Is
that what Lucifer proposed? To give you your old job back?”
Shade was hedging for the truth even though he could probably figure it
out for himself. He wanted me to talk about it, or give me the option to keep
it to myself for now.
Even if that was the case, it didn’t matter. Shade was my best friend and
this wasn’t something I’d hide from him.
I let out a long breath. “Lucifer will give me everything I could possibly
want, but with one catch. He wants me to become his mate.”
Shade arched a dark eyebrow. “Your mate? That was his deal?” He
stroked his chin. “Well, yes. I’d say that qualifies as a significant variable.
Not many timelines end with you as his mate, but a few are there.”
It didn’t surprise me that Shade couldn’t see many scenarios where this
panned out. Even if the offer existed, only a madman would take it.
“Would you do it?” I asked him, desperate for guidance from someone
who gave a flying fuck about me.
Shade was a trickster and a manipulator, but I could always count on
him when it mattered.
Shade seemed to ponder his answer as he stroked his chin. “You’re
asking me if I would fuck the devil in exchange for anything I wanted?
Sure. Why not.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s more than sex and you know that. I’d be giving
him my soul, and not through just one of his contractual agreements that
could be voided or reneged. This would be a mating for life. Permanently.
I’d be giving him far too much power over me.”
Over Cami.
Shade stretched, as if he’d already run through all of this in his mind.
“Sounds like you need to ask yourself if you can trust him with that kind of
power.”
“I can’t trust him, Shade,” I said as I rose from Emelyn’s grave, ready to
leave it behind.
A part of her would always exist inside of me, but now that was a part
that belonged to Cami. She reformed what was broken and made it new
again. She was how I would honor Emelyn.
More so, Cami was my true mate. I might have loved Emelyn, I might
have even chosen to bite her, but it was Cami who I had always been
destined for. I didn’t have to see the future to know that.
Sighing, I ventured toward my parents’ spots a few rows down, if only
to remind myself what it felt like to fail and lose everything.
Too much was riding on this for me to faila gain.
“Not yet,” Shade agreed in his cryptic way. “Perhaps after all truths are
revealed, you’ll be able to read him like a book.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll never be able to read him, Shade. He’s older than
dirt and he created his own source. When I became his Warden, it was made
very clear that I was to remain at arm’s length. I never expected him to want
to forge a bond like this with me.”
Shade hummed. “Sometimes the strongest bonds form between those
who least expect it.”
“Like you and Kols,” I drawled.
 Shade smirked. “Kolstov and I were destined. Similar to you and
Azazel. I was more thinking about Zeph and Zakkai.”
I grunted in response. “That’s certainly a unique dynamic.”
Shade hummed in agreement. “Poor Aflora is experiencing it right now.
They’re competing on who will impregnated her first.”
I halted midstep, my eyebrows shooting upward. “What?”
Shade shrugged. “We thought about deciding as a group, but Zakkai and
Zeph wanted to battle it out in their own way. Aflora is enjoying that
battle.”
I really didn’t want to know about Shade and his mates’ sex lives, but
the visual hit me full force, causing me to wince. “Is she still alive?”
“Very much so,” Shade mused.
“What about Kols?”
“He’s with Florica.” Shade cast me a sidelong glance. “He was
supposed to join the game, but I told him I needed to see to a friend.”
I didn’t for a second think Shade was visiting me out of the goodness of
his heart. Maybe he meant well, but Shade was particularly skilled at
knocking out multiple birds with a single stone. “So, you’re cock-blocking
him,” I surmised. “While seeing a friend, that is.”
Shade grinned. “Something like that.”
“How are you still alive?” I marveled.
“The same way you are, I suppose,” he said, his eyes twinkling with
delight. “Death just doesn’t seem to fancy you, does it?”
My mood sombered at his statement—one that was very intentional, no
doubt. “I’d argue against that. When I first met Az, he was death incarnate,
and he seems to fancy me just fine.”
Shade hummed in agreement, but didn’t give me more of a response.
I didn’t expand on our conversation, mostly because we’d arrived at a
new set of graves.
 Unlike Emelyn’s resting site, I didn’t kneel. I didn’t have to. This one
boasted two statues representing my parents as they loomed over the
graveyard.
Everything about the pieces matched them perfectly, but the magic that
had forged their faces didn’t leave them quite as lifelike. Instead, they
always seem to give me pitying smiles. Next to them stood Anrika’s statue.
It was fitting that the memorials of Seifiek’s mother and my parents stood
next to one another. She also held the hand of a male I had never met. He
had died long before Constatine’s terror, but if his statue was here, then his
death could be attributed to the beliefs that had fueled him.
My gaze strayed back to the image of my parents, still finding them
looking down on me. “They’d be disappointed in me,” I mourned, although
I hadn’t really intended to say the statement out loud.
Shade wasn’t fazed by my comment. Instead, he hummed and nodded at
Anrika’s statue. “And Anrika would be telling you to stop your moping and
do something about it, eh?”
I chuckled. “She would first put you in your place, then she’d tell us all
to sit for a beer while she unraveled whatever web you’d strung up.”
“Yes, that she would,” he said with a soft grin, but I spotted the grief
tucked away in his eyes. He’d liked Anrika, too. She had run a beloved
tavern that we all sorely missed, and she was one of the few fae who always
seemed to know exactly what Shade was up to.
It hurt to have lost so many close to us. So many among us were
impacted by Constatine’s massacre.
I’d betrayed Lucifer, in part, because he’d hit too close to home,
reminded me of events that had led to the worst tragedy to have ever
happened in my life.
I would not let anyone do that to me again. I would not allow anyone to
hurt Cami like that.
 But is he really like Constatine? I tried to imagine Constatine doing
what Lucifer had just yesterday, listening to reason, treating me like an
equal, and placing me on my own throne. All while he offered me a deal
that would give me as much access to his soul as he would have to mine.
The bitter truth was that Lucifer was nothing like Constatine, and
whatever shadow I’d seen was the horror of my own past rearing its ugly
head.
“I hate coming here,” I murmured. “It always seems to cloud my mind
rather than clear it.”
“I know,” Shade said, giving me a pat on the shoulder. “I’m sure Seif
appreciates that you’re here, though, when he can’t be,” he said, noting my
gaze that had strayed to the previous tavern owner and Seifiek’s mother.
“Ruling the West Coast Territories keeps an Alpha busy.”
I scoffed. “You know he doesn’t come here because his past is almost as
shitty as mine. There’s nothing left for him here.”
Just like I had a special link with Shade, I had one with Seif, too—but I
envied that he’d found his path while I still floundered for mine.
Seif and I were more alike than he cared to admit. Even before tragedy
struck, I’d been a rebel just like him. Except, he had turned his back on the
Midnight Fae even harder than I had, never imbibing blood so that he could
abandon the Dark Source and become a Fortune Fae Alpha.
He’d known what he wanted from the very beginning. I, on the other
hand, only knew how to run.
It was time that I stopped running.
Shade clicked his tongue, then shadowed against my father’s statue and
leaned on him as one would lean against a good friend. “Is that so? Or has
he healed and moved on from the past?”
I frowned. “Is that why you brought me here? To remind me that it’s
possible to heal?”
 “With the right mate-circle to ground you and give you a future to look
forward to, yes,” he said.
And there it was.
“Are you saying I should accept Lucifer’s offer? Is that the right mate-
circle for me?”
What a literal Hell of a mate-circle we’d all make.
Shade’s eyes glittered like they always did when he seemed to know the
punchline of a joke only he could hear. “I’m not saying anything. I’m just
listening. Perhaps you should try listening, too.” He cocked his head as if to
demonstrate a point, only for the ground to shake and a plume of smoke to
billow from the castle. “Hmm, it seems Zeph and Zakkai are about to
decide a winner. I wouldn’t want to miss the explosive conclusion.” His
dimples appeared while he smirked and shadows unfurled around his form.
“And speaking of explosive conclusions… you should really reopen your
connection with Camillia.”
I clawed at him through the inkly blackness. “Don’t you dare leave me
on that cryptic note you—”
My fingers fisted nothing.
Fucking bastard.
But I immediately did as he asked, only for my eyebrows to shoot up.
Her… and Az?
Well, fuck.
 CHAPTER 3

CAMI

A PIERCING JOLT to my chest startled me from an otherwise deep sleep.

Or a coma—one that Az had put me into after… that, I thought, gazing
down at his perfectly naked form.
His purple eyes glowed with sensuality from his position on the
mattress, but he wasn’t looking at me.
I followed his gaze to find Ajax peeling off his shirt as he crossed the
small distance of the room from where he’d shadowed in.
Guilt twisted my heart as I felt the full force of his emotions.
Melek? I shrieked in my head. What did you do?
I planted a seed, as you requested. And it grew into something
fascinating, wouldn’t you agree? Melek easily replied. He never left my
mind now, only remained silent as he watched in the background.
I’d never be rid of him now. A part of me delighted in that forbidden
desire, but I couldn’t indulge, not when Ajax was clearly suffering.
Pain strapped around his chest, squeezing tiny bottles of frustration,
anger, and helplessness that were all near to bursting.
If this was the fruit of my deal with Melek, then I had made a terrible
mistake.
His reprisal at that thought sounded in my mind. On the contrary.
Everything is finally on the right path.
 I frowned at Melek’s delighted certainty. Then why did this feel so
wrong?
What the fuck happened? I thought, not intending to direct the question
at anyone, but Ajax answered in my head anyway.
It’s a long story, he said, his mental voice sounding tired as he dragged a
chair from the sitting area and eased onto it. He crossed his arms, making
his muscles strain as he raised a brow at Az.
Az playfully slipped a hand over my naked hip, indenting my skin with
his fingers.
As if to say mine.
Ours, Ajax’s eyes said in return.
Or maybe I was imagining what I wanted to hear. Because these two
would so not be okay with sharing me after everything that had happened.
… Right?
“Why do you smell like hellhounds and trees?” Az asked, startling me
when he broke the silence.
My nostrils flared as I tried to pick up the clues that he’d noticed. My
senses hadn’t notably changed since Az’s Phoenix had first bit me, but after
last night… I felt different.
Normally I was still tired when I woke up, but now I felt alert and
itching to run. If it weren’t for the two seductive males in my bedroom, I
might have considered it. And I was so not the “jog before a coffee” kind of
person.
And that wasn’t just because of Ajax’s emotions startling me. I felt…
energized, when I really shouldn’t.
Everything looked brighter, too, as if a vibrant filter had been placed
over my eyes. My sense of smell had definitely changed, because Az
smelled way more delicious than usual.
When I focused on Ajax, I noted the hints of warm embers underneath
the overpowering woodsy scent that had overtaken his more typical pine
and minty notes.
It made my jaw hurt, like I wanted to bite and wrap myself around him,
make him smell like me.
Like us.
“Why do you two smell like sex?” Ajax countered without missing a
beat. The question came out playful, though, as if he approved.
Heat burned between my thighs when Az tightened his grip on my hip,
letting me feel his awakening arousal as he pressed against me from behind.
“Because we’ve had sex—a lot of it.”
My face burned, not because I’d fucked Az, but because of the way
Ajax was looking at us.
Like he wanted a repeat while he watched.
“You’re… okay with this?” I ventured, unable to keep the concern to
myself. His chest was knotted with emotions and it made it difficult for me
to even breathe. He’d had our connection securely shut off, but now his soul
was bared to me and he didn’t hold anything in. Or maybe he wasn’t even
aware how jarring it was going from mindblowing sex with Az, then a deep
sleep, to this intense foreboding and conflict.
Something big had happened, and while he had been dealing with it, I
had been off playing with Az. In the moment, so much had changed when I
had learned Az’s history. I felt like I finally understood him, but Ajax
hadn’t been there for any of Az’s revalations. He’d just appeared in this
state, miserable, with the last thing he remembered being Az as Lucifer’s
Commander who had mated us against our will.
And I had spread my legs for that Commander. More than that, I had
opened my heart to him.
It made me feel like I had done something terribly wrong.
“Never apologize for following your heart, Cami,” Ajax said, leaning
forward to cup my face. “I can sense the acceptance in your soul for Az.
Whatever I missed, it doesn’t matter. Your feelings are enough for me.” His
eyes flickered with ceruelean flames as he stroked my cheek with his
thumb. “Although, I would like an explicit recounting of the details. Every.
Single. One.”
The small caress sent electricity jolting through my system, igniting
fresh need inside of me that had my mouth parting on a pant.
What is wrong with me? I wondered as my body reacted as though Ajax
had roughly kissed me instead of merely touched me. My nipples beaded
against the cool air and a throbbing ache bloomed between my thighs.
Our mateship is complete, Az replied, intruding on my thoughts like he
belonged in my head. He was going to be just as bad as Melek. You’ll start
to feel more like a phoenix the more time passes. Your senses will heighten.
Your magic will change. And your body… it’ll require regular release and
expulsions of power just like mine does.
Fae, I thought, rolling my eyes. Like I needed anything else to make my
already overactive libido worse.
If this was how Az felt all the time, no wonder he was perpetually about
to combust.
“I need—” I began.
“A shower,” Az said, cutting me off before pressing a kiss to my
exposed throat. “With all of us while Ajax catches us up on what happened
with Typhos.”
Typhos? Why would anything happen…
My eyes widened when I realized why Ajax might smell like
hellhounds.
The glimmer of cerulean fire in the backs of his eyes wasn’t just my
imagination. He’d been to the Hell Fae Realm.
And he returned in one piece, Melek reminded me in my head.
I blew out a breath in disagreement. I’ll be the judge of that, I replied
before erecting an imaginary wall to keep Melek out.
 I wasn’t sure how pissed off I should be at him yet. It depended what
Ajax had to say.
Both males were looking at me expectantly, because my reaction hadn’t
matched up to Az’s comment. “Melek,” I said by means of explanation,
then swung my legs over the bed and took Ajax’s hand, ready to drag him
to the shower.
To hear what happened, yes, but also to resolve this need throbbing in
my core before I literally exploded.
Like a moth to a flame, I found myself drawn to Ajax and I tested a kiss
on his lips.
Normally, he would devour me when I kissed him like that, but he
didn’t move.
“Melek?” Ajax asked with a raised brow, his hot breath on my mouth
with the question.
I sighed as I leaned back and swiped my free hand over my face. “Yeah,
he’s in my head.”
He froze. “Why?”
I blinked at him. Did he not already know? “I… We… Didn’t you feel
it? When I gave him my blood vow?”
Ajax’s shadows flared around him like he wanted to shadow me away,
but we were already in the safest place possible.
And yet, this was exactly where Melek had mated me on the second
level.
Through a Virtuous Fae bond, I realized as I chewed my lip. It wasn’t
the same as a Midnight Fae Bond, and without Ajax being mated to either
Lucifer or Melek, he possibly couldn’t have even felt it.
Fae, I really have some explaining to do.
“I swear, Ajax, I didn’t mean… Gods. This looks so bad. You’re out for
one night and I’ve gone and mated Melek on the second level of Virutous
Fae bonds while jumping into bed with Az. I feel like such a…”
 I couldn’t say the word out loud, but my brain shouted it.
Ajax grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. “Never call
yourself that,” he said, his words low and deadly.
But not because I’d betrayed him twice.
Because he meant to defend me, even if it was from myself.
His intense grip on me softened. “Virtuous Fae bonds, huh? I’ve never
heard of that. Is that what Melek is?” His tongue flashed out on his lower
lip, as if tasting where I’d kissed him. “It seems I’m not the only one who
has some sharing to do.”
Az’s hands slipped around my hips as his fiery heat pressed against my
spine. His arousal was starkly rigid now, evident by the pressure between
my ass cheeks that made me blush. But he settled himself there, seemingly
quite content as his hands roamed around me and pulled Ajax closer.
Sandwiching me between them.
I watched, fascinated, as Az slipped his fingers through Ajax’s hair,
securing his fist at the back of his scalp. But he didn’t pull him in or act on
the dominating urges sweeping through his chest.
I could feel his desire to take both of us, right here, right now, but he
kept himself restrained. He wanted us to help Ajax heal whatever torment
he suffered.
“First, a shower,” Az said, leaning in to lick a line on Ajax’s lower lip.
“Then sharing.” His violet eyes cut to me, making me work a swallow
down my throat. Then he endured Ajax’s bruising kiss while I watched.
Gods. This so wasn’t going to end well.
I disagree, little angel. Melek’s voice trickled into my mind, despite my
walls that had already crumbled the second I watched Az and Ajax’s kiss.
This is going to end just as I had hoped.
The heat between my thighs had spread now, leaving a throbbing
sensation that echoed with each rapid burst of my heart.
 With you tangled up, Melek clarified. Even if you’ll be tangled in limbs
instead of my silk, it’ll do.
For now.
 CHAPTER 4

CAMI
A FEW DAYS LATER

I HAD PICKED APART the deal Lucifer had offered Ajax down to every single
word. Every single syllable. Down to every little intended meaning and
hidden loophole that could possibly exist.
And I still felt like I had no idea what we were walking into.
The end result was that Ajax couldn’t accept. At least, that was my
conclusion. There were too many unknowns. Too many ambiguities, and
even though I had learned that ambiguity favored the signee, Lucifer was
far too skilled to be outsmarted in his own games.
I toyed with the leather rope that cinched my dress around my waist as
nerves made my skin tingle with unwanted energy. But I liked my dress, at
least. Just because it was a ball didn’t mean I couldn’t have my own style—
and thanks to some Gargoyle magic, I had the perfect outfit that suited me.
Complete with leather belts, ropes, and boots.
And I’d asked him to make it scandalously sexy, which based on the
growls I’d received from my mates the effect was achieved.
I wasn’t too proud to use my assets to potentially distract Lucifer into a
better deal.
My mates, though, were the highest level of distraction.
Lickable, sex-sicles of distraction, I thought as I shamelessly drooled
over Ajax and Az all suited up in luxurious perfection.
 Az’s suit splayed with black feathers, giving it a silky sheen that made
me want to pet him. It flared open on his chest, showing off his tattoo.
After the past week, it became apparent Az was on our side. As my
mate, he was included under royal guest benefits, too.
Ajax prowled by his side, his gaze on me with as much predatory
hunger as Az’s beast. His suit was more traditional, almost human, but it
looked damn good on him. Silver cufflinks with red jewels honored his
Midnight Fae nature, but I felt like it suited Hell Fae tendencies, too.
He still hadn’t told me if he intended to accept Lucifer’s deal. We’d all
put our heads together, working on one I could offer that would exempt
Ajax from having to mate the Hell Fae King.
Melek had been positively useless. In fact, he hadn’t visited me once
since giving me the original deal.
I hoped that meant it was because I was on the right track, and not that
he’d abandoned me. Especially after giving me his upgraded “vow of
protection.”
But I had a sinking feeling that the deal we’d come up with wasn’t
going to be good enough.
I hope this works. It has to.
Ajax approached me first, hooking his fingers through the belted loops
of my dress around my thighs. “If you’re too nervous, we can be
fashionably late while I rip this dress off of you.”
“Not if I bite it off, first,” Az offered. His Phoenix’s energy hummed
around him in prompt agreement.
A smile lifted my lips, but not my heart. Too much was at stake for my
mood to be mended. “As much fun as that sounds, it took hours to put this
thing on,” I said, swatting Ajax away. But then I hooked his tie and brought
him in for a kiss. “But I could settle for watching you two play.”
Az and Ajax were pure fire together. Watching them was almost more
fun than playing myself.
 Almost.
But at least it was a memory I could carry with me, along with the epic
sex we’d had before going to bed.
Because it could have been our last day together. A part of me worried
that all of this was going to crumble down on my head and we’d be buried
alive, never to breathe again.
“Hours?” Az asked skeptically.
I shrugged. “Okay, twenty minutes, but it feels like hours when you’re
strapping a bunch of belts.”
But it was worth it. The dress was dynamite.
I felt like a million bucks as Ajax stepped back to look me over again,
licking his lips like I was something he was about to eat.
If it wasn’t for the singsong voice in my head, I might have let him.
Almost ready for the ball, little angel?
I froze. Since when could Melek talk to me in my head?
That was something only reserved for mates on a permanent, soul-deep
level of…
Fuck me.
I had known it was some sort of mating ceremony Melek had guised as
a “vow of protection,” but I hadn’t fully thought that through.
So that I was mated to Melek, Ajax, and Az.
The three men in Typhos’s circle.
That explains why Typhos wants to mate Ajax, I thought. He’s the
missing link in controlling me.
Which gave me a very dangerous, very stupid idea.
If control is what he wants—
“What’s wrong?” Ajax asked, immediately picking up on the change of
my demenor and interrupting my likely suicidal train of thought.
“Melek is talking in my head,” I said, looking up at him.
 And telling you how beautiful you are. I might have taken a peek while
you were getting dressed. Those belts look like they could have some
interesting placements with a slight adjustment. Maybe when you return to
the Hell Fae Kingdom you’ll let me show you more practical uses for them.
I glowered, but refused to engage with the Hell Fae Prince. Especially
after he just admitted spying on me.
He was likely trying to distract me before making the most important
deal of my life.
I’m not trying to distract you, he offered, having clearly heard my
thoughts. I’m trying to calm your nerves. Confidence will take you a lot
farther than second-guessing. Believe in your instincts and use what you’ve
learned.
I blew out a breath as Ajax swept his fingers over my knuckles. He was
letting me talk to Melek uninterrupted, but heat now wafted from him and
shadows uncurled around his expensive shoes.
He didn’t like this anymore than I did. How much worse would it be if it
was Typhos inside Ajax’s head? He couldn’t agree to that deal.
“Go over the terms again,” Ajax said, his tone hard as steel. “One more
time before we go.”
I recited each line we had carefully crafted.
The deal I would offer was one designed to give Typhos control. I
would agree to a spell to bind my powers, suppress my connection to magic
itself, and weaken me. There was a type of control collar used on the
Midnight Fae—Aflora herself had once been subjected to it. She hadn’t
been thrilled to divulge the technology or the magic involved, but she
wanted to help. So she would do it, if a deal was struck that required it.
It would be painful as fuck, and worst still, it might not even work.
Because I still didn’t know what I was or how my magic worked, or
why the hell I couldn’t seem to let go of Typhos’s source.
 As Melek had promised, I’d suppressed the dreams with his help, but it
was treating a symptom, not the cause.
New nightmares had taken their place, ones similar to where I had
found myself in an ocean drowning in Lucifer’s power.
I must preferred death by orgasm than reliving new Hell Fae trials
where my mother’s voice kept telling me to keep going.
Besides the control collar, I would agree to staying in the Hell Fae
Realm. I limited my word choice to a room in the palace, within his
personal wing, with a bed and amenities, just so he couldn’t throw me into a
dungeon. I knew all the rooms in his wing were nice, and it would give him
some measure of control to have me that close.
But that’s what he’d already tried once before, so we would need more
than to offer an altered version of the past.
So that’s why my final trump card was going to be offering him my vow
not to willingly disobey his orders, upon penalty of a punishment of his
choice, excluding death.
It wasn’t a term I intended to include unless absolutely necessary.
But even with all of that… it still didn’t feel like enough.
I’d made a habit of causing trouble unwillingly causing trouble. It didn’t
feel like much of a trump card.
Which is why I need to think of something else… something that’ll give
him all the control he’s after.
I kept that thought closely guarded. Ajax nor Az couldn’t know what I
was considering, or else they would tie me down and never let me attend
the ball.
As appealing as that sounded, I needed to face my demons.
No, I needed to face the devil.
Come on, I said, opening my mind to Ajax and Az. It’s time to make a
deal.
MY BREATH STOLE FROM MY LUNGS WHEN WE ENTERED THE BALLROOM .
Because it was not what I expected. A massive glass floor reflected a
brilliant moon, the sky completely open as the walls prematurely ended.
The figures swirling on the glass held reflected images that didn’t quite
match them.
A female stood above the glass floor, twirling in a brilliant red dress.
Her image on the glass was red, but that was where the similarities ended.
A gleam of fire danced underneath her feet, ruby eyes glittering with magic
while rosey lips stretched into a smile.
Another male prowled toward her, his grin positively feral. His
reflection matched his expression, at least, displaying a magnificent black
wolf hunting his prey. Brilliant blue eyes gleamed with interest as he
approached her, then the reflections mingled as they began to dance.
I stared, trying to make sense of what the reflections were telling me
while the elements swept in on a cool breeze. Just as a chill sent goose
bumps down my arms, warm magic from the room following it, chasing
away the cold.
Very faelike.
I looked up, finding that the roof was just as interesting as the floor.
Half of the wall stretched over the room in massive arches, disappearing
into craggy spears that I realized were woven treetrunks. They looked more
like marble columns, though, solid and unwavering as they seemed to hold
the palace together. The effect left a sensation of being both trapped and
freed.
Music drifted on the breeze, tingling a haunting melody in my ears.
An animal caged, now free.
We are no longer abominations. We are no longer hidden in the dark.
We dance. We soar. We fly…
 The lyrics to the drifting song brought tears to my eyes.
We paused at the top of a staircase, Ajax seeming to hold us up as we
waited for something. I’d been busy taking in the view, but I realized he’d
been waiting for a gargoyle that now tottered over in a suit that bulged
around his middle.
He opened his mouth, releasing a gravely voice that easily carried
throughout the room. “It is the Queen’s pleasure to announce the arrival of
Camillia De la Croix, accompanied by her mates, Azazel the Black
Phoenix, and Ajax of the Death Bloods.”
I took note that the females were being announced first, followed by
their mates.
When no female was present, the highest ranking male was announced
first, in that case.
The gargoyle charged with announcing guests seemed to take his role
very seriously. He put a tiny horn to his stoney mouth. I stared at him while
Ajax covered my ears—and I realized why a second later when impossibly
loud fanfare blared through the open room.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Ajax as Az held out his arm.
Ajax did the same, so I hooked Az’s arm, then Ajax, and descended the
small staircase onto the glass floor with two deliciously sexy fae at my side.
My leather boot hit the floor, and my eyes widened when I realized it
wasn’t glass at all. My weight bowed against it, taking some getting used to.
A magical barrier.
One that let me see straight through into the ground.
Winding tunnels of roots and open caverns yawned beneath us, making
me feel wobbly as I stared into an endless void.
But I noticed a mixture of elements in the patterns weaving
underground.
Ice mixed with fire.
Earth trickled like water caught on an underground wind.
 Magical energies glowed with various colors, illuminating with sparks
that traveled through the roots like electricity.
Patterns emerged, forming various animals. I spotted a wolf, a bird, and
even objects like a quill and paper. When a deck of cards formed and
vanished, I was intrigued.
“A tribute to the mixture of fae kinds,” Az noted with a tone of
approval. “The Midnight Fae Queen has outdone herself.”
I hummed in agreement, then went silent as my reflection materialized.
I frowned because it was… me.
Nothing special. No fire pixies or wolves. Just me in a smoking leather
dress staring back at myself.
And just when I was about to look away, I caught a glimmer of wings.
Because of Az?
But the wings weren’t behind him. His reflection showed his Black
Phoenix with a fiery collar around his neck—no doubt suggesting Lucifer’s
mate-bond to him.
Ajax’s reflection displayed himself as a mixture of himself with skin on
fire, with an owl perched on his shoulder even thugh his familiar was
nowhere to be found.
The wings were mine… white…
I think.
They were behind me, anyway. I squinted at them, trying to get a better
look, but then they were gone, glittering away on one of the underground
winds.
Maybe that’s my connection with Melek showing up. White feathers
seemed to follow Melek around when he did his vanishing acts.
Unsure of what it all meant, I glanced up to marvel at the spectacle with
Ajax, but his gaze was stuck forward.
My heart jumped into my throat as I looked for the Hell Fae King, but I
couldn’t find his face.
 Which meant he wasn’t here, because one did not overlook Lucifer in a
crowd.
Instead I noted Queen Aflora greeting her guests. She was gorgeous, her
dark hair wound up with flowers and her breasts pushed up in a tight corset.
She was a complete knockout. Zakkai stood by her side while Shade
whispered something in her ear, making her laugh.
Zakkai was looking at Ajax, though, the expression one that told me he
knew what was going down tonight.
“Stay with Az,” Ajax ordered. “I’ll grab you a drink.”
He headed straight for Zakkai, which was the opposite direction of the
drink fountain that splashed with something purple and bubbly, making me
sigh.
Az curled his arm around my hip and tucked me against his side. The
feathers of his suit tickled my neck. “I must say, this is incredible,” he said,
surprising me as he scanned the growing crowd.
The gargoyle announced another couple, making me cover my ears until
the blaring was over.
“Never been to a ball?” I asked, finding that hard to believe. The Hell
Fae Realm was all about partying. Although, it usually had a lot more naked
women and bloodthirsty Hell Fae.
I much preferred this.
He kissed my brow. “So many different fae kind in one place. I’ve been
around a long time, little warrior. And this isn’t something that has
happened very often outside of Lucifer’s Kingdom.”
His eyes sparkled with delight as I examined the crowd.
I took note of a few celebrities I’d been taught about—most of them so-
called “abominations” or fae of otherwise notable power.
Queen Claire of the Elemental Fae Kingdom, being the most prominent.
A swirling of elemental energies wound around her golden hair like a crown
of power. Her reflection was an incredible mix of all five elements writhing
together like a storm.
The massive fae at her side eating an entire loaf whole must have been
Sol, her Earth Fae mate. And she had four more to content with. I spotted
them working their way through the hall, nudging each other and talking to
the other guests.
My gaze went back to Sol, and his reflection made me snort, because it
was a massive cuddly teddy bear. Of all things.
But his mate beamed with happiness, something that felt like a foreign
concept after all I’d been through.
I’d been happy with Ajax—and Az, too, though, these last few days.
But the looming threat hanging over our heads made it hard for the feeling
to last.
There were others like Queen Claire glittering with happiness and
powerful energies, such as King Lark of the Winter Fae, and then the
Fortune Fae mate-circle that had caused quite an upset before I was born.
My father had some tabloids that had detailed the truth of their territory
battles that had spilled into the West Cost of the united states. I had no idea
how humans hadn’t found out about the fae, yet, with as careless as they
could be sometimes.
The mate-circle that attended today, though, was the reason stability had
returned to the Fortune Fae Realm. A blind male seemed to have no trouble
seeing, despite his glassy eyes, and laughed at something another male with
fiery hair said. Two Alphas stood with them, all of them guarding a tall,
lithe thing in the middle with a dress that was even skimpier than my own.
I knew the Omega was named Gina and now she was a protector of
some sort, but given I had no interest in cryptic fortune telling or being
knotted to death by one of their Alphas, I hadn’t investigated their kind
much further.
 The night progressed as fae mingled, drank, and music filtered through
the air—courtesy of a gargoyle band that soon drowned out the haunting
magical music, making the tone more upbeat.
Those little guys really can do anything.
My nerves only seemed to worsen the longer the night stretched on,
despite the air of celebration. When I checked the time, not even thirty
minutes had gone by, but every second felt like an eternity.
Ajax returned and introduced us to other fae. Az remained mostly silent
at my side, but he was on his best behavior.
I hardly noticed who I talked to, though. All I could think about was the
lines of the deal I wanted to propose going over and over in my head.
It’s not enough.
Finally, the inevitable announcement came. A hush fell over the crowd
when they entered, the power of the Hell Fae making the temperature rise in
the room.
“It is the Queen’s… um,” the gargoyle faltered, then cleared his throat
as he corrected his wording, “Queen’s duty to announce the arrival of
Typhos Lucifer, the Hell Fae King, and his mate, Prince Melek.”
My chest constricted when Lucifer’s gaze easily found mine, cutting
through the room as if he was standing right next to me.
His presence seemed even more powerful, if that was possible, and
made me feel small. I couldn’t help but be reminded of when I had been a
new Hell Fae Bride subjected to his speech.
He had appeared to lord over the females, when in reality he sat on a
throne seemingly bored.
Lucifer was anything but bored, now. There was no need for trickery or
illusions.
His deceptions rested tonight in deals.
Cutting through the crowd, Lucifer approached me and I straightened
my spine, hoping I looked stronger than I felt.
 My stomach was made of knives and butterflies had replaced what had
once been my lungs.
I glanced down, curious of his reflection, only to find he didn’t have
one.
That’s strange.
Lucifer smirked at me, his gaze dragging over me in clear appreciation
like I was an object to be owned while Melek whispered encouragements
into my mind, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Because my world buzzed like the air itself was on fire when Lucifer
was this close to me. I’d nearly forgotten how he choked the oxygen out of
the room. After three weeks free of him, it all came crashing back how
small I was in comparison to his power.
Lucifer cut his gaze to Ajax. “Have you made a decision yet, Warden?”
Ajax opened his mouth to reply, but I found my voice before he could
answer. “If I may, your highness, I’d like to discuss a new deal. One you
won’t be able to turn down.”
 CHAPTER 5

TYPHOS

A NEW DEAL .

Now, I had expected to make a deal tonight—but not with Camillia De

la Croix.
Intriguing.
The fact that she had phrased it as a deal I couldn’t turn down only
made me more curious.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that so?”
Her throat worked on a swallow, drawing my gaze down to her ample
display of cleavage. It was ironic that she had seemed so insulted by my
chain dress, but this was what she chose to wear.
It honestly wasn’t that much different. Leather hugged her breasts and
the chill in the air hardened her nipples so that they beaded underneath the
tight fabric. The material tucked down into her athletic waist, disappearing
into a series of belts.
They looped over one another, leaving openings that showed skin in
scandalous places.
I approved of this outfit. Even if it was designed to distract me.
Now this is a Hell Fae Bride, Melek said in my mind.
Hmm, I replied in a noncommittal tone.
 I had yet to decide if she would be considered a Hell Fae Bride. That
was one loophole of many that I would potentially take advantage of, or at
least use as leverage, if Ajax accepted my deal.
Camillia could make one instead, if it interested me. But this would end
with her in my kingdom, under control and tucked away where I could keep
an eye on her without risk of a certain Midnight Fae shadowing her away.
And, tonight would determine her status in my court.
Assuming she had one at all.
I held out my hand, knowing exactly how I intended to discuss the
terms of a new deal with this female. “Then dance with me, Camillia De la
Croix. And tell me about this deal of yours.”
My previous Commander and Warden stiffened at the female’s side.
Both of them stood sentry beside her like they belonged to her and not me.
Maybe they did. For now.
I had lost Ajax, but I would get him back. He would return as my
Warden and his status would be vaulted up to a level I had always intended
for him.
Maybe not as my mate, but that made sense to me now that this female
had wound herself up in my inner circle.
If I was to gain back control of the situation, I needed to tie up any loose
ends.
“She stays with us,” Ajax growled, with Az snarling in agreement, but
Camillia held up her hand.
“I’ll go,” she said.
Both males frowned, but backed off.
She has them trained well. Take notes, Ty, my prince said to me.
His amusement swept through my chest as I suppressed a chuckle.
Careful, my love. Or she’ll train you, too, I said back.
Hmm. You’re not wrong. Especially if she continues to dress like that.
The dress certainly helped.
 But it would not give her an advantage for a deal, assuming that was her
intention.
The attention of the entire ballroom seemed to be on us as Camillia took
my hand and I led her to the center of the dance floor.
We had plenty of space as the crowd thinned out to the edges.
Camillia’s gaze flicked to the crowd and her chest fluttered like a bird’s.
“Nervous, Camillia?” I asked as I looped one hand around her waist,
drawing her close enough so we could drop our voices.
I strangely enjoyed when her hands curled around my neck,
instinctually taking position that I required of her this close.
Maybe it was because she smelled like even more like Melek now,
hinting of a floral ambrosia that was borderline addictive.
Her storm-gray eyes met mine with pure defiance, which was distinctly
different from Melek’s more subtle nature. There’s the Hell Fae Bride I
remember.
“I’m quite used to being the center of attention, thanks to you,” she said,
her tone as sharp as a blade.
“Still mad about the bar?” I asked. “Interesting that you chose a dress in
such a similar style. I thought you were trying to tell me that you secretly
liked it, just as Ajax enjoys secretly pain with his pleasure.” It was a fact I
knew because of my bond with Azazel. It suited their pairing and fit the
dynamic between my Commander and my Warden.
She frowned, not seeming to like that I knew intimate details about her
mate rather than my comment about the dress. “Let’s just get on with the
deal.”
“Let’s,” I agreed, sweeping her in a circle as the music flared with a
new tune.
One of my tastes.
Drums sounded in the distance, thrumming through my chest as the
crowd murmured in response. I hadn’t necessarily intended to impact the
magical music that worked in the background behind the Gargoyle band,
but my power was harder to control outside of my Kingdom.
Hence why I wore my feather necklace underneath my suit. It helped
ground me and channeled my power. It was the only one of my original
feathers that survived my fall and I had normally kept it locked away. When
I left my Kingdom, I kept it out of sight.
I didn’t want it being used against me. There were a few objects that
represented my soul outside of my body.
Vita, being one. The book seemed to have a mind of its own.
As did my source—although that essence was more ethereal in nature.
The feather was the last of the trinity of my fragmented power. I may
never be whole again, but I had learned how to make due.
The Queen of the Midnight Fae watched us, but her magic didn’t
interfere when I accidentally changed the notes to something of a more
primal nature. The whispering melody was one that worked on soul-reading
magic, just like the reflections appearing on the floor. Zakkai no doubt had
helped her with the spell that seemed harmless on the surface, but made it
impossible to hide what I was.
I was able to hide my reflection, but my soul still bled out, even more so
because of Camillia’s presence.
The manifestation transitioned to a new voice singing of a warning,
rather than a message of hope.
We’re free, for tonight.
But there’s work to be done. Deals to make—contracts to uphold.
The world demands a price for freedom.
And a king demands his due.
The melody twisted with new, mournful lyrics spurred by my soul.
There were many in this very room who had contracts with me. Some of
them minor—some of them not.
 What surprised me was the fact that there were a number of parents of
Hell Fae Brides here. But they were my supporters, from what I could see.
Parents of brides who were willingly part of the trials; The daughters were
eager for the power that would be awarded to them when they would be
accepted into my court and forged into something new by my source.
Camillia had butted heads with a few of them, too.
Camillia didn’t understand the honor it was to become a Hell Fae. Her
father had trained her poorly in that regard.
She clung to me as I dipped her, exposing her neck.
I can see why your mates want to bite you, I thought. Camillia was a
beautiful female, a prize for any fae.
But worth the trouble? That was to be determined.
She fell into a dance with me, letting me lead. I knew it was symbolic,
to willingly give me control, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
“You will give Ajax everything you promised, but you won’t mate
him,” she began. “And you’re going to promise you will never harm me
again, or anyone I am mated to.”
I grinned as I cinched her waist closer, bringing a startled gasp from her
parted lips when she felt my arousal. It hadn’t been my intention, so I
quickly shifted her to the other side.
But in all truth, it couldn’t be helped. Not when dancing with a beautiful
female mated to my prince—when she smelled like him—when she was
offering me a deal and catering to my preferences.
Or so I would remind her. “We’re making a deal, not demands. If Ajax
doesn’t become my mate, I will require a different strand with which to tie
your wrists.” I had no desire to hurt her or the men in my inner circle. I had
learned by now that she was not malicious against me in nature. At least
that was benefit of my Commander mating her.
Insight and truth into one’s soul were vital commodities. It showed me
the benefit of mating those bound to Camillia.
 Her intentions were true, and that was something I could nourish in the
right circumstances to bring us eventually on the same side. I wasn’t evil,
even though my reputation suggested otherwise. My methods were harsh,
but grounded in necessity. Too many lost souls depended on me to keep
order and build a foundation where there had only been ash.
Nightmare Fae were dangerous and powerful. They required guidance
and a firm hand.
Just like you, my dear.
Camillia and I would learn to get along. Or, at least, come to a mutual
understanding.
But her intentions didn’t matter because she was being used. That much
was clear, and I would have to protect her from herself, from those trying to
use her against me—or else everyone and everything we both cared about
was in danger. It changed how I dealt with the situation, but not the fact that
Camillia was still a threat that needed to be handled.
I would just handle it differently this time.
She nodded as if she understood my wording. “Control. I know that’s
what you want.”
Hmm, you’re learning, I thought as my lips twitched with a pleased
grin.
The music picked up, the drums beating with our footsteps as I swirled
her away from me, sending the belts of her dress looping around her legs,
displaying skin in all the right places. She swept out her arm as if yearning
for her mates that were watching, before I pulled her back to me again.
This time, I hooked her thigh and forced her to lean into me. She
obeyed, or else she would have fallen.
She wrapped around me so naturally, both with her body and her soul.
She magically yanked on the strands within me, splaying me out as if for all
the world to see. I doubted she even knew she was doing it.
 “You tug on my source, even now, Camillia. I have no choice but to take
the strand you have stolen and tie you up with it.”
Her lips pursed. “You sound like Melek.”
“He wants to tie you up with something else.”
“So he does.”
The music slowed and I dropped her leg, letting her lean against my
shoulder in a subtle sway while the chorus played out.
Everyone was blatantly watching now. It was rare for the Hell Fae King
to attend any festivities in the outside realms, but it wasn’t the first. I’d
attended the Winter Fae King’s Festivus Feast and brought Melek along.
But this was different. I danced with a Hell Fae Bride while
constructing a deal and anyone with a penchant for soul magic would feel
it.
“And how do you propose I take the control required, for the safety of
my kingdom, without mating Ajax? He is the last of my inner circle mated
to you that I do not have power over. He is the last loose strand dangling in
the wind.”
She took advantage of the close position, bringing her lips to my ear as
she stood on her toes.
“You mate me instead, my king.”
 CHAPTER 6

CAMI

T HE H ELL F AE King froze underneath my grip, but only betrayed his

surprise for a moment.
“You would sacrifice yourself for my Warden?” he asked, recovering
from his hesitation by holding me close as the music picked up again.
“He did the same for me.”
“Hmm, that he did,” Lucifer agreed, but he didn’t comment further.
Didn’t say if he saw the benefit of my offer. Mating me gave him
control, which was he wanted, right?
Or had I misunderstood? Was I just a carrot he dangled in front of his
men, and mating me would disturb his plans?
My stomach wound into knots as I wondered if I’d made a mistake.
Maybe I’d made the offer for nothing if he didn’t like the idea—but it
gave him control, which Ajax kept telling me was what he wanted. Mating
me would do that.
What did you just say to him? Ajax asked in my head.
He didn’t know of my new deal. He couldn’t, because he’d storm over
here and ruin everything.
Don’t distract me, please, I shot back.
I could see his furrowing brow from here, but his mind receded from
mine.
 Ajax prowled the perimeter, looking like he was ready to molt into his
Phoenix and fly me away from the dangerous King pulling me to his hip,
even if it meant he had to hook his talons into my bare flesh to do it.
I’m sure he didn’t like the proximity of my body to Lucifer’s. The Hell
Fe King made a point to keep me adjusted from feeling him again, but I was
keenly aware that he seemed to be enjoying this.
It reminded me of my dreams, the ones where I was underneath him
with his eyes blazing with all-consuming lust just before he gave me a soul-
shattering orgasm.
I hadn’t had one of those dreams in a week, but they still haunted me.
When I glanced up at him, my core clenched, because he looked very
much the same as I remembered.
It’s just because I mated Melek, I told myself, but even I wasn’t sure if I
believed that. I’d captured the Hell Fae King’s interest for the first time, and
that frightened me most of all.
Especially because I’d just suggested I become his mate.
“It would be platonic,” I blurted out loud. He had to know that.
“Would it?” he asked, raising a dark brow with a white streak running
through it. The effect made him look devious and enchanting all at the same
time. “I cannot accept that as part of the terms in a deal. A mate-bond is for
eternity, and a lot can change in thousands of years.”
I chewed my lip as my mind scrambled for a reason to include it as a
term—more to protect myself from falling down a very dangerous lust-
filled rabbit hole I feared I wouldn’t survive than anything else—when a
needle pierced me straight through the chest.
“Ow,” I said under my breath as I reached up to find the needle that had
just been stabbed into my flesh.
Except, I couldn’t feel anything but perfectly smooth skin.
I glanced up at Lucifer to see if he was responsible for the strange
attack, but his midnight blue eyes were scanning the crowd now on full
alert.
“What’s going on—” I began, only to be cut off as another needle
stabbed my shoulder. “Ow!” I shrieked, louder this time as I grabbed the
affected area that started to burn.
There wasn’t a mark to be seen, but then screams erupted all around us.
I froze as I tried to figure out what the fuck was happening.
Magic soared up from the ground, wrapping guests like ropes and
dragging them down. The barrier had been solid, but the second the ropes
found a victim, it yanked them down into the depths, muffling their screams
underneath rock and soil.
What the fuck?
“We’re under attack!” Queen Aflora’s melodic voice yelled, sending the
entire room into battlemode. Gargoyles erupted from the ceiling, falling
down with weapons—but no enemies seemed to be facing them. So they
awkwardly snarled while they searched for an adversary. “Check the halls!”
Shade said, so a section of Gargoyles broke off as commanded.
Zakkai lifted his hands, fighting the tendrils of magic being pulled from
the ground. It took me a minute to realize that something was making the
ballroom spell go haywire. Zakkai was managing to bring that portion
under control, but not the darker strands unfurling from the ground.
At least those didn’t seem to be trying to kill anyone.
Lucifer’s grip tightened on my hip and I realized he still hadn’t let me
go. He grunted as needles erupted on the place he was touching me and I
ripped his hand away. “Stop it!” I shrieked.
Lucifer stared at his hand, then back up at me.
He’s not doing this.
Who is, then?
When tendrils of magic swept all around me, I managed to track them
this time, learning what to look for.
 Dark strands erupted all around Lucifer, unraveling from him as if
spinning out of control.
They tremmored, then came for me.
I fell back, managing to avoid most of them, but one found my leg and
sank in, repeating the needle-like sensation.
Burning fire scourged my insides as a result, ripping a scream from my
throat.
Too hot.
Too much.
Stop this!
“Cami!” Ajax shouted, running toward me, but a couple jumped in his
way.
“Do not interrupt,” the male said with a monotone voice, as if all the
emotion had been ripped out of him.
“Judgment has come,” echoed the female.
They both held up little daggers that seemed a pitiful defense against a
powerful fae like Ajax.
But when magic tangled around his chest, he groaned and fell to one
knee. His shadows even seemed to be squelched under a blazing golden
light that momentarily blinded me. He tried to work a spell with his wand,
but whatever attack he formed simply bounced off of an invisible wall.
What is stopping him? I wondered.
I tracked the energies forming the barrier. The more I concentrated, the
more I realized it was similar to the auras I had seen with the Nightmare
Fae.
There were various guests who all had a strange aura, and the magic
they weilded felt wrong.
And it was coming from the small objects in their hands.
Those aren’t daggers, I realized with a sinking sensation. Wands,
maybe? Wait, are those pens?
 Pens didn’t seem all that terrifying, but who knew what was dangerous
and what wasn’t in this crazy realm where Gargoyles guarded knobless
doors and a sun never rose.
Az’s Phoenix rendered a screech through the air that sent magic itself on
fire. Ash rained down, but it wasn’t any good.
The strands kept coming. Needles pierced my side, sending pain jolting
up my hip as a new wave of fire ripped the breath from my lungs.
Thanks to the break in the crowd that had naturally formed around
Lucifer and myself while we danced, there wasn’t anyone to impede my
view. Fights broke out on the perimeter, but I couldn’t see who was fighting
who, or who was fighting what.
I’d been training for three weeks, but none of it had prepared me for an
enemy I couldn’t even see.
The strands ripping free from Lucifer twisted and contorted, then moved
in my direction. He roared as he tried to grab at them.
I realized with a sickening twist of my stomach that they weren’t
necessarily attacking me. If anything, they were trying to twist away.
They were being pulled.
And I was the target.
Because something in me is drawing them like a fucking magnet.
I didn’t know what it was or how it had gotten there, but for the first
time since all this madness again, I felt it.
Maybe it wasn’t an object or a spell, maybe it was just who I was. An
unknown species that siphoned energies.
But that didn’t entirely make sense, because while I had caused a
disturbance to the winding magic, only Lucifer’s dark strands seem drawn
to me.
So I can only siphon his energy?
That didn’t make sense.
Or maybe it did.
 All this time it felt like someone had been playing chess with me being
one of the many pawns.
The world around me worked in slow motion as numerous fae held up
the strange pens. The objects glowed with familiar power—even the words
they chanted sounded familiar, which was impossible. Because I’d never
heard them before.
Ajax and Az kept trying to help me, as were Queen Aflora and her
mates, but they all pinged off of the barrier formed by the guests who had
emerged, forming a circle around the perimeter.
Lucifer’s gaze locked with mine. He wasn’t panicked, but he was alert.
And weakened.
He clutched a hand to his chest as black magic burned out of him,
leaving flames curling across the glassy floor.
I hadn’t been able to see his reflection before, but now I could.
And it took my breath away.
Just like me, he looked almost the same in his reflection. Minus one
detail. Massive white wings unfurled behind him, just like in my dreams.
Whatever Lucifer was… it wasn’t a Hell Fae. That was a construct of
his creation.
He and I were the same. My mystery origins matched his, meaning we
were on the same side.
And I was being used against him
“I reject this,” I whispered to myself.
To the magic lunging at me, drawn by a desire inside my soul that didn’t
match what I really wanted.
The first dark strand finally found me, but it shattered against my skin.
Lucifer roared at the impact, only to gasp for breath when he was able to
suck it back in.
Do that again, I told myself.
 Each time one of this dark strands came for me, I broke it, leaving
Lucifer to pick up the pieces.
“What are you doing?” one of the fae shouted.
So, this was all a setup and I wasn’t playing by their rules.
Too. Fucking. Bad.
“I’m not doing this!” I shouted, punching another of the dark strands as
it ripped at my dress.
And then another.
And another.
Energy hummed around me, cracking against the wrongness of what I
was doing. I wasn’t supposed to reject this.
Reject my… purpose.
I decide my own fate, I snarled inside my head.
As if angered by my defiance, the crackling energy around me turned
my world white. Everything blocked out as a shrieking tone made my ears
bleed.
It was far worse than the Gargoyle’s fanfare. So much so that I found
myself preferring it to whatever banshee screech this was.
“I won’t do it!” I shouted into the whiteness. “I refuse!”
The horrible noise abruptly stopped and my vision went from white to
black.
For a mortifying second, I wondered if I had died, but for the first time
in three weeks, sunlight kissed my skin.
I realized my eyes were closed and I opened them, blinking as I
adjusted to the painfully golden glow of my new surroundings.
Towering, majestic golden columns and the most gorgeous white
flowers I had ever seen would have made me think I had indeed died, and
gone to heaven.
But the woman holding my hand assured me this had to be hell.
“... Mom?”
This is one of many ways that Lexi and I began Hell Fae Prince. For Az’s
original beginning (because of course Az wanted to play too), then Click
Here to read an alternate beginning of Hell Fae Prince from Lexi C. Foss!

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 Author’s Note

Thank you for reading Hell Fae Prince’s deleted scenes! I hope you enjoyed
it!
If you enjoyed this tale, I would suggest reading Elemental Fae
Academy. You can also enjoy M/M bonus scenes through links at the end of
the books. This isn’t the only bonus you’ll find in this world!
If you’re already an Elemental Fae Academy fan, I would suggest
checking out my other work on the next page. Please be sure to read blurbs
and triggers to find the right book for you.
Again, thank you for being a reader and if you’d like to give back, be
sure to leave a review on Hell Fae Prince and let everyone know what you
thought!
XOXO
- Jen (J.R. Thorn)
 Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance - Never Choose.

J.R. Thorn is a Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance Author who loves coffee, stormy weather, and
heated discussions with her inner muse. She can often be found scribing her steamy stories in her
writing cave far away from the prying eyes of her toddler, husband, two vocal cats, and canine pack!

www.AuthorJRThorn.com
 ALSO BY J.R. THORN

All Books are Standalone Series listed by their sequential order of events

Click Here for a regularly updated reading order with clickable links!

Elemental Fae Universe Reading List

Elemental Fae Academy: Books 1-3

Midnight Fae Academy
Fortune Fae Academy
Fortune Fae M/M Steamy Episodes
Candela
Winter Fae Queen
Hell Fae

Standalone
Their Blood Queen
Taste Me

Blood Stone Series Universe Reading List

Recommended Reading Order is Below

Seven Sins (Books 1-3)

Book 1: Succubus Sins
Book 2: Siren Sins
Book 3: Vampire Sins

The Vampire Curse: Royal Covens (Books 1-3)

Book 1: Her Vampire Mentors
 Book 2: Her Vampire Mentors
Book 3: Her Vampire Mentors

Fortune Academy (Part I)

Year One
Year Two
Year Three
Fortune Academy Underworld (Part II)
Book 3.5: Burn in Hell
Book Four
Book 4.5: Burn in Rage
Book Five
Book Six
Book 6.5: Burn in Brilliance
Fortune Academy Underworld (Part III)
Book Seven
Book Eight
Book 8.5: Burn in Ruin
Book 8.666: Burn in Darkness
Book Nine
Book Ten

Crescent Five
(Rejected Mate Wolf Shifter RH)
Book One: Moon Guardian
Book Two: Moon Cursed
Book Three: Moon Queen
Book Four: Moon Kissed

Dark Arts Academy (Vella)

Ongoing serial
 Book One (KU)
Book Two (KU)

Unicorn Shifter Academy

• Book One
• Book Two
• Book Three

Non-RH Books (J.R. Thorn writing as Jennifer Thorn)

Noir Reformatory Universe Reading List

Noir Reformatory: The Beginning (Standalone)

Noir Reformatory: First Offense

Noir Reformatory: Second Offense
**Noir Reformatory Turns RH from this point with the addition of a third mate**
Noir Reformatory: Third Offense

Sins of the Fae King Universe Reading List

(Book 1) Captured by the Fae King

(Book 2) Betrayed by the Fae King

Learn More at www.AuthorJRThorn.com