Page 144 of Hell Fae King

It made sense. We’d all been so focused on ensuring I didn’t feed any power to Vivaxia via that connection that we hadn’t even discussed other potential threats.

If the portals were all a distraction,I thought,then maybe I was a distraction, too.

I wasn’t actually sure the portals had been a distraction; it just… felt right. She hadn’t really accomplished much other than stirring temporary chaos.

Well, and hurting Typhos’s image as a protector,I thought as we walked out of the courtyard and into what looked like another village. Or maybe it was the same village and it just framed the courtyard.

Regardless, the flickering blue flames were dimming ahead, suggesting we were nearing the end of this very long path.

And hopefully entering a tunnel.

“They’re losing faith in him to lead, Az,” Maliki said, his softly spoken words piquing my interest. “The portal incidents haven’t helped.”

“One of which you were responsible for,” Az reminded him with a growl.

“Yes, but that had nothing to do with Vivaxia.”

Az considered him for a long beat. “You’d better hope I never find out otherwise, Mal. Brother or not, I’ll be forced to side with Typhos’s judgment.”

“As you should,” Maliki replied, his voice more serious than I’d heard it before. “However, back to what I was saying—they’re losing faith. That incident at the Den was the final straw for a lot of the Corpse Fae. Being manipulated with that spell…”

“Fucks with you,” Az said when Maliki didn’t finish his statement.

“Yeah.” Maliki’s expression darkened. “Yeah, it does.”

I frowned, wondering if Maliki had lived through an experience similar to Az’s. Except Az had said his brother was born in the Hell Fae Realm, not the Virtuous Fae Realm. So perhaps it was something else he’d experienced.

I would have asked Az if I could link to him, but our mental bonds still seemed to be fractured. I wasn’t sure what had caused it because it didn’t feel like a spell so much as a protectivebarrier. Like our minds were purposely not speaking to each other.

How I knew that, I wasn’t sure. But as Az had said before, he was trusting my instincts, and so I was doing the same.

Thus far, it seemed to be working.

“Now this,” Maliki went on, his voice even lower. “This isn’t good, Az.”

“I know.”

“Morale is already low?—”

“Mal,” Az interjected, pausing beside me. “I know. Fuck,weknow. And there’s nothing I can do about it right now. We need to find Typhos.”

Maliki stared at him for a beat and nodded. “All right. I’ll… I’ll see what I can do here.”

Az arched a brow. “Will you really?”

His brother tilted his head, a cocky grin gracing his full lips. “Have I ever let you down before?”

“A thousand times.”

Maliki’s grin only grew. “Then maybe I’ll surprise you this time.”

Az grunted.

Maliki winked. And then he vanished.

“Well, that was helpful,” Ajax deadpanned.

“It was, actually,” I said slowly, thinking through everything Maliki had said. He’d commented on the weakening morale, which had me thinking about the point of the portals and Vivaxia’s attacks again.