Page 11 of Hell Fae King

“Ty?” Melek’s voice barely reached me, the pounding in my ears making it difficult to hear anything beyond my own racing pulse.

“Don’t eat the food,” I managed to grit out. “Get rid of it.”

The tray had come with this enchanted letter. Brought to me by an unexpected source.

Vivaxia’s message was loud and clear—I can access your inner sanctum. I can reach you. You’re not safe.No one you love is safe.

That was why she’d mentioned the bonds and my heart, her riddle rather straightforward.

But what did she mean about the blood sacrifice not being my fall?

Did I fall on purpose?I wondered for perhaps the first time in my existence.

Vivaxia’s statements played through my mind as more gold text scrawled across the paper.

I’m ready to collect now, Typhos. And I’m going to start with the blood that sets your heart aflame…

My gaze instantly flew to Melek. He stood near Camillia, the table between them empty. “Did you eat anything?” I asked him, unable to mask the urgency in my tone.

“No. I magicked it all away, just like you requested.” He glanced down at the note in my hand, his brow furrowing.

The paper went up in flames, indicating the end of whatever spell Vivaxia had cast on the item.

I swallowed, her final threat echoing in my thoughts.I’m going to start with the blood that sets your heart aflame…

Camillia’s knees buckled on a gasp, her palm flying to her chest as she cried out in sudden pain.

Melek fell with her, but he wasn’t hurt. He was concerned, his mouth saying her name as he grabbed her shoulders. “What is it? What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” he asked, his panic causing my gut to clench.

Does Camillia set my heart aflame?

That… that didn’t… Maybe? She certainly made it beat fucking hard.

I stepped toward her, my mouth suddenly dry. This had to be whatever Vivaxia had put inside her. The dying scent lingering beneath her?—

Fire shot through my heart, ceasing all my movements.

So intense. So unexpected. Sohot.

“Az,” Camillia breathed. “Az!”

An inferno built inside me, my mind and soul registering Camillia’s claim just as my heart went cold.Icecold.

Because the flame inside my heart had just…died.

CHAPTER 3

AZ

A Few Minutes Earlier

Isat across from my brother, his golden eyes flaring with power he couldn’t conceal. I understood that problem—my Phoenix energy always hummed beneath my skin, the vitality threatening everyone around me.

Maliki possessed a different kind of aura, though. His was deadly in nature, his actions precise and his words as sharp as a blade.

“Why are you really here, Azazel?” he asked, his deep voice holding a lazy drawl to it that contradicted the violent air about him.

Many fae had fallen for his charm, only to end up on the wrong end of his blade. But I knew him well. And I could more than feel the dangerous intent defining his every move.