Page 124 of Hell Fae King

Melek had once told me not to touch it, a reminder he’d issued just moments ago.

Well, fuck that.It’dstabbedhim!

I grabbed the twirling weapon and yanked it out of him. Which was probably the wrong thing to do, given the blood gushing from the wound, but surely he’d heal. He… he was immortal.Right?

His eyes captured mine, sheer terror shining in his multicolored depths. It was a look I never thought I’d see on his face, one that had me grasping the quill even tighter as it tried to writhe out of my grip. I didn’t trust it not to stab him again.

Cami,his mind whispered to mine.Vivaxia… touched the… and Vita, Cami… You have to… warn Ty…His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell silent.

“Melek?” I reached for him, noting the blood still pooling from his chest, and winced as the damn quill tried to spin out of my opposite hand. It seemed hell-bent on flying again, but I wasn’t in the mood to let it go.

Only, its golden feathers turned sharp, trying to slice its way free.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I growled at the damn thing, my siphoning ability kicking in as I started absorbing the magic from its metallic edges.

It was such a natural response.

One that had my brow furrowing after a moment because I… Irecognizedthe essence.

Vivaxia, I thought, blinking. Melek had said this was the pen Typhos had used to sign his deal with her.Is that why I sense her?

No. It… it went deeper than that. Her power was embedded in the enchanted item. Almost like she’d wielded it herself…

My eyes widened.Az! Ajax!I screamed their names, needing to ensure our connection still existed.

Nothing.

Fuck!

She was here again, this time choosing to hurt Melek.To play with my emotions,I realized, growling to myself.

That must have been what Melek had been trying to say about warning Typhos.

Except…I frowned.What does that have to do with Vita?

I siphoned the last bit of energy from the quill, causing the golden shine to die in my hands. Then I let the object fall to the ground with a soft thud. It was no longer empowered, the glittering magic inside me instead of the pen.

Rather than expel it, I kept it, knowing I was probably going to need that energy boost to battle whatever enchantment Vivaxia had woven across the Hell Fae Kingdom.

But what about Vita?I wondered again, hearing Melek clearly in my head.

He was unconscious on the ground, his wound still fresh.

Glancing between him and the book, I bit my lip.He’s immortal. He can’t die.

But that had been no ordinary pen.

What if…

No. I could still feel him. Sort of. I couldn’t hear him, but I… I sensed his life strand inside me.Is it weakening, though?I swallowed, trying my best not to lose my mind. To keep calm. Because losing control of my emotions was Vivaxia’s goal.

Is she attacking Az and Ajax, too?

Their life strands were just as alive inside me.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t hurt.

Fuck. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing.Don’t let her mess with your head. Just… just think, Cami.