Page 9 of Hell Fae Captive

It was then that I realized their feathers weren’t the soft kind, but made of razor-sharp, rocky edges.

“Oh,” I whispered, swallowing. “Right.”

“The grounds are rigged with traps that will kill you just for plotting.” He sounded winded as he whirled the power around us, crafting a protective layer of purple electricity that elicited a round of angry caws from the swarming crows.

“So you captured a bunch of fae just to kill them unceremoniously?” I couldn’t help the note of incredulity in my tone. “Seems like you went through a lot of work to round up your cattle just to off them. Maybe you should just return me and save us both the trouble.”

His lips curled into a cruel grin. “And what would be the fun in that?”

I glanced at the angry swarm of crows. “Fun indeed,” I muttered. “Seems wasteful.”

“Not wasteful. Just a factor of the game. And we have an overabundance of candidates. Six hundred and sixty-six, to be exact.” He shrugged, but the sweat populating his brow suggested this show of power was taking a toll on him.

It made me wonder what those crows would be doing to me right now without his interference.

Would I survive them?

Would I survivethis?

“Lucifer made sure there would be enough to go around. Deaths are an expectation,” he continued. “The Hell Fae Source doesn’t typically accept females, so don’t pretend to believe you’re special.” The way he protected me right now from the angry crows seemed contrary to his words.

Or perhaps he did this for all the recruits.

“Six hundred and sixty-six, huh?” I mused, folding my arms. “Well, I think it’s about to be six hundred and sixty-five.” Because I would be leaving this place. “Sorry to ruin your very unoriginal number.”

His gaze narrowed. “You don’t want to test me, Camillia. And you certainly don’t want to test them.” He allowed a crow to come through his web of magic, the beak made of solid rock.

It went right for my eye.

I swatted at it, then cursed as the razor-tipped edge sliced across my palm.

Facing a swarm of these would be a terrible way to die.

His power wrapped around the bird like a noose, yanking it back to the swarm. “You have two minutes to get your urge to run under control, Camillia,” he said through his teeth. “Otherwise, I’m leaving you to fend for yourself.”

I sighed. “It’s only natural to want to escape.”

“Nothing about this world is natural,” he returned.

“No shit,” I muttered, trying to figure out how to turn off my brain. I’d been raised to analyze every potential exit point and search for weaknesses. Shutting that down would prove… difficult.

The crows picked up their speed before squawking out an earsplitting alarm.

I winced, my palms lifting to cover my ears only to find my wrists caught in the Warden’s grip as he spun to face me. He dropped my hands in the next breath, then caught my chin between his fingers and forced me to meet his blazing irises.

The blue edges burned with promise, and not the good kind. “The sooner you accept that there is no changing the deal, the more likely you are to survive.”

I blinked at him. “Deal?”

“Yes,” he hissed. “The one your father made on behalf of your life. It’s why you’re here, as well as everyone else. Because all these parents made deals at the costs of their daughters’ souls. You want to talk about sexism? Chew on that for a minute,pet.” He released me, his smokelike shield melting into the air and granting the crows entry.

However, all they did was beat their wings furiously around me before drifting back to the sky to black out the moon.

My heart stopped beating, not from the fright of almost being sliced up to death by their wings, but from the Warden’s words. “I’m here because of a deal?” All my thoughts of escape had fled in favor of that single reveal. “Fuck.”

Both of his eyebrows lifted, then he huffed out a laugh. “Fuck indeed,” he agreed, gesturing with his hand. “Shall we continue on our tour?”

“Of all the things that want to kill me?” I countered. “Sure, why not?”