Page 76 of Hell Fae Commander

He didn’t like this spell.

The weight of the invisible chains.

The need to obey an outside force.

It’d been a long time since someone had done this to us. He hadn’t fully comprehended Ajax’s spell until this moment, and now that he did, he was gazing at the Midnight Fae in astonishment, his betrayal coming out in a low mewling caw of a sound that had my heart breaking in my chest.

How could you do this to us?my Phoenix seemed to be asking.What have I done wrong?

He knew we’d upset them. He knew because he could feel my own remorse. But he’d mistakenly thought coming here would cure everything. That biting his mates would fix the problems I’d created.

My beast didn’t process emotions the way I did. Nor did he understand complex situations.

These are our mates, so I bite them,was his logic.

Consent didn’t matter to him. He was too caught up in his animal instincts to consider the fact that Ajax and Cami might not want this. To my Phoenix, there was no other way forward.

Shit. I’d known how he felt, how close he’d been to taking over and claiming them as his, but I’d been handling the instinct. I’d been handlinghim.

However, Ajax’s spell had bound me to the back of my mind, leaving my bird in charge.

And now…

“Now we’re mates,” Ajax hissed, his gaze narrowing at me. “You’re really blaming this on me?”

I blinked at him from inside.What? No. I’m not blaming anything on you,I wanted to say.How the hell did you even come to that conclusion?

“Because your thoughts are fuckingloud,” he retorted. “My spell locked you out and gave your bird free rein. That’s what you were thinking.”

You can hear my mind?If I could, I would furrow my brow right about now.

Of course he can hear my mind,I thought in the next breath.

We were mates now. And Shifter Fae bonds required anopen mind.

It was different from the Virtuous Fae bonds with Typhos, where we vaguely picked up on strong emotions from one another but otherwise only communicated telepathically when we felt like it.

Shifter Fae bonds were a whole new brand of telepathy.

And it worked both ways.

Which meant I could hear Cami and Ajax, too.

Shit.There had to be a way to wall off our thoughts.Think, Az.My mother had taught me things as a fledgling. Ways to protect my mind, and to protect others as well.

I was too powerful for unfettered access to my thoughts.

One energy explosion could render my mates unconscious.

Cami was saying something, but I ignored her, too focused on closing off our mental connections. I had to limit it to telepathic conversation only. Just like I had with Typhos.

Ajax’s deep tones filled the air, his response probably for Cami.

Or maybe it was for me.

However, I couldn’t hear him. I was too busy searching the ancient history in my memories for the knowledge I craved.

I’d always wanted a mate, but after so many millennia of not finding anyone worthy of my Phoenix, I’d lost touch with that side of my past. Why maintain information that would obviously never apply?