Page 45 of Hell Fae King

“So you’ll support my training exercise?”

“Support it how?” he countered.

“By being my Warden,” I replied. “I’ll be focused on Camillia’s powers and ensuring they don’t grow out of control. Which means I need you focused on the prisoner.”

“I assume you have a certain prisoner in mind?” Ajax drawled, arching a brow.

My lips curled. “Indeed I do.” The perfect one for Ajax to watch die. “You recall what I said about these dark souls? How I’ve trapped them in a nightmarish form as punishment?”

“And then had me supervise them under the guise that all Nightmare Fae had to be tamed?” Some of that distrust returned to his expression. “How could I forget?”

“I deserve that note of sarcasm,” I admitted. “But at some point, you’re going to need to take my apologies seriously.”

“Oh, taking them seriously isn’t the problem,” he drawled. “It’s believing them that’s an issue.”

“I don’t think believing them is the issue,” I countered. “I thinkacceptingthem is the problem.” I folded my arms to mimic his defensive stance. “You’re angry, and rightly so. I should have explained who you were guarding from the beginning. I didn’t. I acknowledge that mistake. Now I’m going to make amends.”

“By training me properly,” he muttered. “Yeah, I got that.”

My lips curled. “No. By giving you a dark soul whose extermination I think you’ll very much enjoy.”

That eyebrow of his arched even higher, reminding me a bit of myself.

Maybe that was what drew me to Ajax in the beginning—our kinship. I saw myself in his suffering. He was angry. I’d been angry, too.

Hell, I was stillangry.

But I channeled it into power and protection, something I suspect he would do now that he had someone he cared about.Someones, actually. Because I had no doubt he would guard Azazel and Camillia with the same ferocity and passion.

“There’s someone I’ve kept here, a soul that Zakkai and Shade wanted to be imprisoned and tortured in a very unique way. I’m not sure if they ever told anyone else. By your expression right now, I’m guessing not,” I went on, noting Ajax’s piqued curiosity. “Zakkai removed her life source from the Midnight Fae Source, and I tied her to the Hell Fae Source instead.”

“Her?” Ajax repeated.

“Well, you have noticed some of the Nightmare Fae in your dungeon are females, yes?” I asked, causing the Warden to roll his eyes.

“Yes. The Sirens are notably irritating.”

I smirked. “The Sirens are not the only ones. I’ve trapped dark souls in all sorts of forms.”

I paused then and realized this also served as a teaching opportunity.

“Before the Hell Fae Bride Trials, the dark souls under your watch were some of the only females I allowed in my realm,” I explained. “The other females in my realm are mates of high-ranking and well-trusted fae, and there are very few of them. But the dark souls kept here are actively being judged by the Source. And I masked many of them in nightmarish forms that rivaled their inner sins.”

In this case, I’d chosen an Unseelie, as they were known for their trickery. They also valued beauty, which wasn’t exactly a sin but could be if vain enough.

And this female—the one Zakkai and Shade had brought me—was notoriously vain.

A treasure hunter. A betrayer. A wannabe black widow without the power or prowess to properly slay.

Uttering all those facts out loud had Ajax staring at me. Hard. “Who did they give you?”

“A Midnight Fae named Dakota.”

Ajax visibly stiffened. “She helped Constantine kill…” He trailed off, pain flashing in his eyes. He didn’t need to finish his statement. I knew what he meant to say—She helped Constantine kill my parents. She helped Constantine kill Emelyn.

I might not have been there that dark day, but I knew all about the executions Constantine had carried out in the Midnight Fae village.

He’d encapsulated several fae with a spell, holding them captive while he’d killed loved ones after claiming the Midnight Fae Council had agreed to their fates.