Page 33 of Hell Fae Captive

But when I opened my eyes, he was gone.

As was his deep-voiced friend.

I blinked.Did I just imagine all that?

No. Impossible. I could still smell Ajax’s minty aftershave lingering through the bedroom, along with a sharper, starkly masculine scent that had come from his friend.

A bottle of water suddenly appeared on my nightstand with a cupcake beside it. Fiery words appeared above it not a second later.Congratulations on being the first captive to survive past curfew. I don’t recommend tempting fate again. —The Warden

I read the words twice before they fizzled into an ash-like confetti that melted into the cupcake.

“Fuck,” I breathed, blinking at the display of magic. “Fuck. Fuck.Fuck.”

CHAPTEREIGHT

CAMI

I hadn’t slept well,my mind running with the events of my first day—or night, orwhateverit was—in this hellish paradigm.

Fortunately, my schedule for tonight only included meals—all of which I could access in my fully stocked fridge.

“Don’t abuse my hospitality, Camillia. You’ll regret it.”

I suddenly understood what Ajax had meant, or rather, what he’dimplied.

The food and the bedding were his versions of hospitality. As was the cupcake, which I eyed with interest now.

I’d already missed “midnight breakfast.” Mostly because I hadn’t wanted to leave my room and risk running into any of those monsters outside again.

I was too tired to face them in this state.

Maybe I should just eat the cupcake, I thought, my mouth watering in agreement. It smelled good.

Of course, it also might be poisoned.

But if that was the case, then all the food in this place was probably contaminated with something.

And I couldn’t just not eat.

Besides, it really did look delicious.

Shrugging, I took a bite.

The fruity flavors were unexpected. As was the filling impact on my stomach after just a nibble.

I waited a few minutes.

Nothing happened, causing me to frown.

Maybe it’s a weird sort of gift?I thought, puzzled. But that seemed strange, considering he’d all but threatened me not to go out after curfew, and then he’d essentially rewarded me for it.

With another shrug, I pulled the book out from beneath my mattress and started reviewing it while eating the cupcake.

More flavors followed.

All of them sweet and hitting me just right.

Except my lack of sleep was making it really hard to read and eat at the same time. I kept shaking my head in an effort to clear it, but my eyes continued to go cross-eyed as I reviewed the legal text. The words didn’t seem to be auto-translating now, the vowels and nouns blurring together.