Page 19 of Hell Fae Commander

My bird saw it as a simple claim, but I knew better. Nothing about this wassimple. Not to mention the fact that she wouldn’t even accept my claim now anyway.

I’d fucked up.

But I was just doing my job.

I didn’t even know how to begin to explain myself. Not to her, and certainly not to Ajax.

The latter of whom shifted into view as he placed himself between me and the female on the couch, blocking my sight of her. When he didn’t move, it became clear he was doing it on purpose.

“You act like I’m going to hurt her,” I accused. I didn’t hide the sting or the annoyance in my voice.

He cocked an eyebrow in return.Aren’t you?his eyes seemed to say.

Did he not fucking understand what had happened?

“We had orders,” I snarled, ignoring the sensation of my Phoenix clawing at my skin. “No fucking the candidates. That was broken, so the consequences were what happened at the club.” Typhos was a fae of his word. He couldn’t be blamed for punishing us for our sins. It was what the Hell Fae King did.

If he hadn’t followed through, then he wouldn’t have been the steadfast leader the Hell Fae Realms required.

The Nightmare Fae Kingdoms and the Hell Fae were a stone’s throw away from dissolving into disorder without a powerful and predictable king. Typhos was the one who had brought organization and peace where there had only been suffering and despair.

I would know. I was one of his first projects.

I stood and took a step closer to Ajax, my chest brushing his. Breathing seemed almost impossible when his heat bled through my clothes, but I needed to make him understand.

He didn’t back down as his dark eyes burned with deep blue flames of defiance. Instead of engaging with me like he normally would, he remained a solid fucking rock that was not going to bend.

“Typhos also said what would happen if Camillia touched his source again,” I reminded him.

While I hadn’t been there for that exact conversation, Typhos had echoed the words into my mind and Melek’s.

I had carefully listened to every word because Typhos Lucifer worked in deals, which made the terms of each one important.

Despite my resolve to explain the complexities of the situation to Ajax, I desperately wanted to find a loophole in this situation between Cami and Typhos.

It was the only way to achieve any sort of peace without betraying my loyalties.

The alternative was to go against everything I stood for and believed in. Typhos had freed me from a life of posture and servitude. I’d been nothing more than a glorified pet. But ever since I’d become his Commander, my life fucking meant something.

He deserved my eternal and unwavering loyalty.

But somehow, Camillia had changed everything with her mere existence.

Ajax showed his teeth against my attempts at rationalization. My Phoenix responded to the gesture in kind, snarling in my head. A gesture not meant for Ajax but for me.

Because he agreed with the ex-Warden.

This is driving me fucking mad.

“Do you always blindly follow orders?” Ajax finally asked. His words were barely a whisper but lined with deadly knives. He flicked his finger against my head. “Is there a brain somewhere up there? Or is it all made of feathers?”

My hackles flared in response. Ajax and I had never been at odds like this. We’d fought before, but usually it was because my beast had been a little too rough and had physically hurt him. An instance like that was easily soothed by sensual pleasure.

Now, my normal methods of apology clearly weren’t going to cut it.

He stabbed a finger back at the female on the couch. “I told you what Camillia meant to me. I said it once, but apparently, I have to fucking repeat it for you. She’s the first female to make me feel anything more than death in the last decade. I was charged with her protection, and yet she was put on fucking display for all the Hell Fae to see. Then, when she helped us close a destructive portal, the thanks she received was a threat on her life.”

His hand dropped to his side as his fingers curled into a fist.