Page 106 of Hell Fae Commander

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find one. Every moment I thought I had him, he ashed out of the way again.

The rays of the moon shifted as we danced, informing me that hours had gone by. Despite my hearty breakfast, lunch must have passed some time ago, and my stomach rumbled in complaint.

But I wasn’t going to stop. Not until I won.

While I had decent stamina, my chest was heaving by the end of it. Sweat made my shirt cling to my skin, and all I wanted to do was scream.

I’d had ample sleep, but it had been plagued by nightmares. Not to mention all I’d been through just the day before.

And the days before that.

I was beaten down, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Exhaustion made my arms and legs feel like weights. I was only growing slower, while the Phoenix looked just as he had this morning. Tired, yes, but his fatigue was more emotional than physical.

And right now, he seemed determined to make meunderstand. Whatever that meant.

He watched me with those dark, pensive eyes. A pristine shirt unbuttoned at the top was somehow free of the ash that drifted through the room. Every time he reappeared, he paced around me, taunting me with his predatory stare, then he vanished again.

He hadn’t even broken a sweat, the bastard.

The Phoenix appeared in front of me a moment later, close enough for me to strike. I tried—by all the Gods, I tried—but my strength was gone. My knuckles brushed his cheek, and I collapsed into his arms.

“You’re an asshole,” I grumbled as I allowed my eyes to shut for a minute. “Just… need to catch my breath. Then I’m going to kick your ass.”

Mm-hmm,Az murmured.

The Phoenix kissed the crown of my head, not appearing to be bothered by the sticky ash that clung to my damp skin.

My Phoenix thinks you need a shower. But I disagree.

“Good. Because I still have some ass kicking to—” I began, but Az cut me off.

You need a bath,Az corrected.And a massage.

“I hate you both,” I murmured, mostly because I had no fight in me to decline.

A bath and a massage sounded fucking fantastic.

The Phoenix effortlessly scooped me into his arms as he ashed again, and this time we reappeared in my room.

Except, Ajax was waiting for us, and he glowered at us with his arms outstretched. “I’ll take over from here. Hand her over.”

“No,” the beast said. The word was quiet but edged with violence.

I knew it wasn’t Az talking. Az didn’t want to let me go any more than his beast did, but his bird finally had me in his arms—fae arms—and he wanted to pet me.

Protect me.

Finish what he’d started.

And right now, Ajax was standing in the way of that.

“Please,” I grumbled against his chest. “No more fighting.” I really didn’t want to be in the middle of one of their quarrels again.

Sometimes it was fun, but at the moment? I suspected it would end in a bloodbath between mates. We had more pressing matters to deal with, like a furious Lucifer, who could find a loophole—at any second—in the deal Az had made with him.

And after meeting Queen Aflora and our other hosts, I really didn’t want Lucifer to melt this place to the ground. Not that Zakkai would let him, but I knew what Lucifer was capable of.

I didn’t want to see how far he would go when he decided to come for me.