Page 191 of Hell Fae King

“I don’t actually know why you’re here,” Shade interjected. “But when I heard you might be visiting, I came by to check in. After all, the last time I saw you, your mate had been sucked off to another plane of existence. During Aflora’s ball, in case you need the reminder.”

I winced. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

He shrugged. “Florica creates paradigms full of violent snakes daily. It’s fine. But a little note saying you were okaymight have been appreciated.” He glanced pointedly at my owl. “Same with you, Kuro.”

My familiar ruffled his feathers, his head lowering a little in response to the chastisement.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re alive,” Shade went on. “Oh, and before I forget, Aflora wants me to invite you and your queen over for dinner. Given the state of certain things, I suggest that it be sooner rather than later. You’re about to be very distracted with your new roles.”

I frowned. “Why does that sound like a riddle?”

He gave me the most innocent of looks, which only further confirmed my suspicions. “Would I do such a thing?”

“You’re Zenaida’s grandson. So yes. Yes, you would.”

He smiled. “Well, just get back to me on the dinner soon, hmm?” He looked at his grandmother. “Sorry to eat and run, G’ma. I need to go help Kols escape Florica’s fiery ropes.”

“Yes, I do believe you’ve left him to suffer long enough,” she replied, her gaze narrowing. “You should consider?—”

“Nope,” Shade cut her off. “No prophecies or advice today. Maybe tomorrow. Or next year.” He shadowed out of the room without another word, clearly in a hurry to escape his grandmother’s meddling.

I felt similarly.

Which was why I quickly cut in and said, “I need a safe place to keep this stone, and since you gave it to me, I assume you already have an idea for me.”

Her blue eyes practically shone in response, her long, dark hair seeming to wave on an invisible breeze. “In fact, I do.” She looked at the God of Dreams. “Morpheus will take it.”

Rather than comment, he merely held out a hand for the stone.

I scoffed at this suggestion. I’d expected Zenaida to recommend a paradigm or perhaps help me create somewhere to hide the stone for eternity.

But this?

No.

“Why the hell would I trust you to handle this after you allowed Vivaxia to blatantly manipulate the beings of your realm?” I demanded.

He arched a silver brow, the expression almost reminding me of Lucifer. Probably because he looked haughty as fuck, all while boasting a regal flair. “Because I have access to a prison in my home realm that was specially built to hold immortal fae like Vivaxia.”

I folded my arms. “Tell me more about this prison.”

“It’s Pandora’s Box,” he replied, the name meaning nothing to me. “It houses the worst of Mythos Fae kind. And my brother Ares is the Warden there. He’ll find an appropriate place for that death stone.”

“I realize you don’t know each other well,” Zenaida interjected before I could reply. “But giving Morpheus the stone is my recommendation. He knows how to handle it and the contents inside of it.”

“Forgive me for not being all that confident in this solution,” I drawled. “He left his kingdom to die.”

“Just because one doesn’t intervene in fate doesn’t mean that being doesn’t care about the outcome,” she replied with a soft smile. “Many of us have our roles to play, Ajax. And in my experience, being the watcher is the hardest role of all.”

I flinched at her choice of words, her comment bringing back a memory of the day I’d been forced towatchas my loved ones died. If anyone understood the horrors of that role, it was me.

But I didn’t understand why she felt the need to mention it now.

Was she trying to imply that Morpheus had been forced into a similar situation?

I doubted it. He was an all-powerful fae God. He could have intervened if he’d wanted to.

Unless it would have altered fate, I thought, glancing at him again. The events of today—of the last few months—had changed everything in the Hell Fae Realm.