Page 173 of Hell Fae King

The world blinked in and out of existence around me as Iascendedto her side, her soul a beacon my spirit couldn’t deny.

She stood where I had in the Strigoi throne room, her focus on a furious Vivaxia as power whipped around the room.

I reached out a hand, placing it on Camillia’s shoulder as I helped anchor her. It was the most natural of movements, a response to a need she hadn’t spoken aloud but conveyed with her soul.

Her eyes closed, her lips parting as more energy whirled around her. Through her.Inside her.

I have no idea what I’m doing,she whispered.

You’re creating a Source, I told her.One that appears to be mated to mine.

“What?” she asked out loud, seemingly drawn out of her daze as she looked right at me. “How?—”

Power jolted across the room, hitting Camillia right in the chest and shoving her backward.

Melek and Ajax appeared just in time to catch her before she went crashing into the wall. But flames erupted all over her as Vivaxia’s toxic magic engulfed every inch of Camillia’s body.

Azazel roared with fury as he arrived, his sword appearing in a flash as he attempted to drive it into Vivaxia. However, she caught the sharp end, twisted it from his grip, and seized him by the throat. The movements were so quick I barely caught them.

She’d always been powerful. But this was so much more than that.How many Virtuous Fae souls reside inside her?I wondered, recognizing the magic I saw spiraling through her aura now.

It seemed she was what was left of the Virtuous Fae Realm, her power nearly as robust as a Source.

Only, she wasn’t able to control it. It simply orbited her in waves of chaos, ones she absorbed energy from, but it wasn’t… it wasn’t the same as what I did with my power outlets.

Unfortunately, though, it still empowered her.

As it did now when she began mouthing a spell, one Azazel knew well. One that had me growling in fury. One that had Camillia…screaming.

No. That was thefire. It was eating her alive.

Melek shouted something, as did Ajax, the two of them trying to douse the flames. But whatever magic Vivaxia had cast was too strong for them to battle. Or too unknown.

Azazel hissed in fury as the pet spell began to take hold. A spell that shouldn’t be allowed to exist. Because it went against our original deal, the one that had set Azazel free.

Which could only mean one thing—Vivaxia had found a new spell to use on him. One that wasn’t subject to the bounds of our original agreement.

Or maybe she just doesn’t care about our terms anymore,I thought.

Then another blast shot out of Vivaxia toward Melek, the rope of fire catching around his neck as she yanked him away from Camillia.

It all happened so fast,too fast.

My heart splintered at the sight, my soul torn between an impossible choice.Melek. Azazel. Camillia.

And now Ajax.

Because the fire had spread from Camillia to him, the flames supernatural in nature and seeking todestroy.

I growled, the sound rumbling across the floor in an echo of torment. Pain.Fury.

Vivaxia had sought to force an emotional reaction from me, and she’d finally won. Because seeing my mates—all four of them—in agony had my heart cracking wide open. And with it, my Source.

“You want my light?” I asked Vivaxia, my voice deeper than ever before and riddled with unspokenpower. “You can have it.”

Energy flowed from my fingertips as I raised my hands in her direction, my Source empowering my rage aslightshot from deep within.

All my being.