Page 145 of Hell Fae King

Rather than remark more out loud, I let those thoughts circle around me as I continued our journey toward the tunnel that connected the Netherworld Kingdom to the Morpheus Kingdom.

“How was it helpful, little angel?” Melek asked after a few moments of silence. He didn’t sound doubtful so much as intrigued.

“I’m not sure yet,” I admitted, aware that I probably sounded a little crazy. “I’m not done puzzling it all out. Vivaxia wants Typhos’s light. That’s always been her goal. But why instill distrust in his fae? To make them turn against him?”

I paused as the path ended and turned back toward the silent village.

“If her goal was to create a rebellion, I think she failed. The Nightmare Fae don’t seem angry so much as scared. They’re not vengeful. So was that not her goal?” I looked at Melek. “And if it wasn’t her goal, then why create all those portals? Was it really all a distraction?”

I was being repetitive. I knew that. But I needed to understand her motives. To see through every trick. Uncover the details.

Because that was what made Vivaxia tick.

She’d been playing with Typhos Lucifer for thousands of years. And from what I understood, she kept undermining him at every turn.

This is no different,I thought.

“She wanted to destroy their faith in Ty,” Melek murmured, his irises glittering with a mixture of anger and sadness.

“Yes, that’s why she attacked the brides, too,” Az added. “Typhos spent a millennium planning that event, all to appease his fae. Only for her to undermine it and make him look like he was losing control.”

“Another hit to their faith,” Melek said.

“Exactly,” Az replied.

“But why?” I pressed. “What end purpose does it serve?”

“Guilt,” Melek answered simply. “Losing the faith of his fae makes him feel like a failure, which inducesguilt.”

I frowned. “Guilt.”

He nodded. “If there’s one thing Vivaxia is good at, it’s exploiting guilt in others. And guilt is one of Ty’s weaknesses. He doesn’t like to fail others, not when he’s spent an eternity repenting for his perceived sins.”

The deaths of his parents, I realized. That’d been the catalyst that had caused him to shift his power into something else, to use his talent to help others rather than harm them. It was why he no longer considered himself a siphon, and yet, he was still siphoning power… just in a very different way.

Melek had said Vivaxia didn’t know about his ability, or that Typhosthoughtshe didn’t. But I was starting to wonder if that was true.

She’d mentored him in the art of deals, something he’d used to foster his energy-absorbing talents. Surely she’d noticed.

And we all knew she hadn’t helped him out of the goodness of her heart.

She’d just wanted him to master his skill so he could amass more power.

Power that had become his inner light.

A light she’d wanted to steal.

And now I realized that she’d determined the best way to do that was to exploit his weakness—his guilt.

Guilt was a building block of his Source, his need to protect others with his power born of his desire to repent.

Vivaxia had left him alone for thousands of years while he’d created the ultimate light. She’d waited until he was bursting with power, nearly knocked off-balance, to swoop in and make her final play.

And she built her final act around hisguilt.

I stared at the tunnel, my heart suddenly in my throat.

Whatever we were about to walk into was going to hurt. I could feel it in my soul.