Page 71 of Hell Fae Commander

Vivaxia.

My vision wavered and clouded over with darkness as my Phoenix took full control of my form once more.

The familiar magic made me nauseous. I had no power over my own body, my spirit, mywill. I was trapped as my animal self.

But my Phoenix wasn’t in control either.

He wastamed. Beaten down.Ownedby an ancient spell.

Owned by Ajax.

I gaped at him, unable to comprehend how he could do this to me. How he’d learned such a cruel enchantment. Totameme in this way…Why?

“Kneel,” he demanded.

My stomach plummeted as an invisible weight slammed on my shoulders. My bird immediately bowed, confirming Ajax’s dominion over us.

Where the hell did he get this damn spell? From Vivaxia?A chill swept through my insides.Oh, fires, is shehere?

Ancient memories taunted my thoughts, Vivaxia’s voice a screeching sound I’d thought I’d permanently erased.Hunt,she’d often said. It was entirely different from how Typhos voiced the word. He offered it to my Phoenix as a reward, a game, a way to take back control. But with Vivaxia, that word had been a command. There had never been a choice. Never an option to refuse or stand up for myself.

She told me to bow and I did.

She told me to hunt and I did.

She told me to kill… and I did.

How could you do this to me?I wanted to ask Ajax.Do you even realize what you’ve done?

“How does it feel to have your will stripped from you?” Ajax asked me in a seething tone, one he typically reserved for misbehaving Nightmare Fae. Only, this was even more sinister in nature.Angrier. Underlined in a palpable fury that had my soul going cold. “Not very fun, is it?”

“What did you do?” Cami asked from the bed, her gaze wide as she looked between us.

Az?Typhos whispered into my mind.I sense… pain.

I swallowed inside, my heart throbbing from the intensity of the spell and the memories it had provoked.Ajax…I trailed off.I…I wasn’t sure how to explain. If I told Typhos what Ajax had done, he would come for me. Come forAjax. He’d kill him. No questions asked.

This enchantment hit too close to home.

“It’s a taming spell,” Ajax said, his focus on me while he responded to Cami. “Shade’s grandmother left it for me, saying I might need it. Now I understand why.”

I blinked.Zenaida gave this to you?

Azazel?Typhos prompted.Ajax what?

I… I found him,I started slowly.I need a minute to focus.

Typhos didn’t reply, his silence telling me he was granting me my request for a moment.

Zenaida gave Ajax the spell,I repeated to myself.Not Viviaxia. But then, where did Zenaida acquire it? How did she know?

She was a Fortune Fae who had a deal with Lucifer regarding the paradigm that housed the Hell Fae Bride Trials. She’d helped create the magical territory in the Barren Lands. Only those who knew where to look could find it, and even then, not everyone could enter.

Why is she meddling in Ajax’s affairs with me?I wondered.Why give him such a hurtful spell?

“What does it do?” Cami asked as she slid off the bed with the sheet still wrapped around her.

Ajax, however, remained stark naked, not at all bothering to hide himself from me or her. Although, he still had his wand pointed at me like he thought I might become a threat.