Page 23 of Hell Fae Captive

I turned to face Az, only to be met with a fist slamming against my jaw. A blow hit my chest next, and I went flying back, his violet irises turning to black with flashes of raw dark power.

“You’re still holding back,” he growled, his voice echoing with the power of his Phoenix. If I didn’t snap out of it soon, he was going to do something he rarely did to me—bleed raw power through my veins. Not in an attempt to injure me, but in an attempt to empower me with his energy.

The unique talent came from his Phoenix side.

And the process fuckinghurt.

I hissed out a breath as he took a step closer, tendrils of black magic searing flames across the ground, the edges of which threatened my bare feet.

“Az,” I warned. If he continued down this path, I would have to call upon my own source of power, something I demonstrated now by allowing a small purple flame to dance around my forearm.

He canted his head to the side in a birdlike motion that betrayed what he really was, his power seeming to still. “There’s something off tonight.” He blinked a few times. “This is more than a distraction. It reminds me of—”

“I’m fine,” I bit out.

“You’ve said that before,” he murmured. “It was a lie.”

“You’re seriously going to bring that up right now?” He only did this when he really wanted to goad me. Which meant either he fancied a dance with my vicious side, or I really was fighting like shit.

He shrugged. “You were weak then. You’re being weak now, too.”

My eyebrows flew upward. “Are you kidding me?” How could he compare a little distraction tothat day?

Fuck.

Magic crawled up my arms, my agitation mounting by the second.

“My Phoenix senses the darkness inside you, that lingering desire that leads to lethal thoughts.” He narrowed his gaze. “Something has provoked it, as it wasn’t there earlier today. What happened to encourage this change?”

Az never minced words. He also wasn’t one for subtleties. He spoke his mind often and frequently, typically without regard to the emotional impact.

Something that didn’t usually bother me.

But he didn’t often bring upthatevent—the day I’d begged him to kill me.

Because of the nightmares.

Because ofEmelyn.

The Elite Blood who should have been mine.

However, we’d never had a chance.

Because death had mated her first.

I shuddered, recalling the horrible moment as though it were happening right in front of me. Right now. Right here.

Emelyn. Cold and alone. Marbleized on a stage for everyone to see. She couldn’t move. But her eyes blazed furiously. All for a show to demonstrate that supporting abominations would not be tolerated.

I’d been held beneath an ancient Midnight Fae’s power—Constantine Nacht—forced to watch Emelyn’s execution while screaming inside.

Just after watching my parents suffer a similar fate.

I should have been strong enough. I should havestoppedit.

Yet I hadn’t been able to move. I hadn’t even been able to cry.

I’d just stood there and watched her body shatter into a thousand pieces before a raving crowd of lunatic Midnight Fae, to join my parents’ corpses below.