Page 15

AZ

Several Minutes Earlier

“ F uck! ” I shook out my hand, then glared at my smirking half brother.

I’d still had some energy to work off after sparring with Ajax earlier, and I’d stupidly decided to seek out Maliki as a potential outlet.

Seems I wasn’t the only one spoiling for a fight , I thought, narrowing my gaze.

“Where the hell did you learn that trick?” I demanded, taking in the magical barrier he’d created around his face.

A face I’d just attempted to punch, hence my now aching fist.

“I asked if you wanted limits, and you said no.” He shrugged. “Your choice isn’t my fault.”

“And your response isn’t an answer.”

“There was a question?” he asked, feigning innocence.

I grunted. “Fine. Keep your secrets. I don’t need them.” But it was good to know how he wanted to play.

Black flames crawled up my fingertips and over my palms, causing his lips to curl in anticipation.

He crouched.

And I pounced.

Weapons formed in his hands upon impact, the deadly daggers twirling and slicing as I unleashed Phoenixfire all over him. His blades blocked my attacks, sending them back my way to be absorbed into my skin.

My eyes narrowed. It’d been a while since we’d last sparred. Ajax was my preferred partner now. However, recent events had made me a bit nostalgic for my brother. Or perhaps I was just intrigued after our last meeting.

Something was going on with Maliki. Something big. It might not be my place to learn more, but my curiosity was piqued. So I figured I’d drop by for some sparring and some potential answers.

But it seemed my brother only wanted to fight.

Fine by me.

Ajax had ramped me up with all his brooding and quiet fury. He didn’t trust Typhos. While I might not feel the same way—because I could hear Typhos’s current intentions—I understood Ajax’s feelings.

And, unfortunately, it was up to Typhos to regain Ajax’s faith.

Which he seemed to be doing a piss-poor job of right now because every time I checked on Ajax, all I heard was murderous thoughts.

Typhos had kept a lot from him.

I supposed I had as well, something Ajax and I would need to work out later. But the prison’s wards and the magic within it weren’t mine to reveal or to explain. Those cells and the souls inside of them belonged to Typhos.

Only, I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt for how much I’d kept from Ajax over the last decade of friendship. It hadn’t been intentional, just intrinsic.

Typhos was my mate. Therefore, I protected him and safeguarded his secrets.

But Ajax was mine now, too, and in a very different way from Typhos. I probably?—

Pain lanced through my jaw as Maliki’s fist connected squarely with my face.

No. Not his fist. His fucking foot .

“I thought we were sparring,” he drawled. “But you’re over there daydreaming.”

I grunted and spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground. “You’re an asshole.”

He threw his arms wide, his lips curling into a cocky grin. “Never claimed to be a saint, big brother.”

“All right.” I called upon my sword, the enchanted blade appearing as easily as my Phoenix.

Maliki’s golden irises swirled with similar power, his own weapon appearing, the magic flickering with golden specks while mine burned with violet flames.

“Rules?” he asked, giving me a chance to set the terms again.

“None,” I replied, a growl underscoring the word. He might have adopted some new tricks, but so had I. Because of Ajax and Cami.

Crouching, I waited for Maliki to make his move.

That smirk died on his face as he disappeared into a shadowy mist, his essence all over the vacant Soul Yards we’d chosen to spar in. This was his playground, the cemetery-like field littered with eerie magic that flickered in the air.

But unlike the ghostly strands of old souls floating around, my brother’s spirit was very much alive.

And connected to mine in a way no one else’s was. Because he was my flesh and blood. Which made it easier than it should be to focus on his ghostly form.

My sword shifted left only to swing back to the right and clash against his metallic blade, sending purple and gold sparks up into the air.

He disappeared again and we repeated the dance, causing another lightning bolt to shoot up from our position.

I didn’t watch where that jolt ended, but heard it explode somewhere high in the sky.

We’d have an audience soon, the Death Fae no doubt seeing our light show from their nearby castle. Let them come , I thought. Let them fear me.

Some of those assholes had tried to kill me a few days ago. Manipulated or not, the hurt still remained.

Sure, I would have come back. I think, anyway .

But that wasn’t the fucking point.

They’d attacked me and I was not pleased. They needed a reminder of my position as Hell Fae Commander. A reeducation on what the fuck that actually meant.

And Maliki was the perfect one to help me provide that lesson.

Our swords clanked again, drawing a maniacal laugh from my insane little brother. He craved lethality. Enjoyed the sensation that came with living on the edge, never knowing what may or may not be his last breath.

Some might even say he yearned for death.

Crazy bastard , I thought, matching him move for move as we parried across the Soul Yards. Maliki leapt over one of the deep rivets in the ground, his Corpse Fae energy kicking in as he ghosted through the souls streaming upward from the cavern below.

I made to follow, only my limbs locked in place as a shock of pain rippled through me.

Pain that came from the inside , not the outside.

My feet teetered on the edge of the steep cliff, a chilly spirit brushing within an inch of my nose.

Maliki was suddenly there and yanking me backward, concern etched into his features. “What is it?” he demanded, suggesting I’d released some sort of sound or an expression to indicate my sudden agony.

“Ajax,” I whispered, locking in on my mate’s dark suffering.

Words and images floated through his mind, all focused on his past. Constantine. Dakota. Emelyn. Anrika. When the names of his parents came next, I left Maliki behind in a cloud of ash and went straight for the dungeons.

All while cursing Typhos.

He’d let the wards fall, allowing Ajax to see the interior of Dakota’s cell. It was her own personal hell, one framed by the screams of the lives she’d helped Constantine take.

Lives that meant something to Ajax.

Screams that would destroy his heart.

Force him back into a time he didn’t want to live.

Make him relive that fated day…

Cami’s voice echoed in my mind as she screamed Ajax’s name, her energy latching on to mine as we both went straight to Ajax’s side.

Typhos didn’t react, almost as though he’d expected our arrival. A beat later, his mind confirmed it.

This was the training.

His fucked-up version of revealing the truth to Ajax while also providing Cami with a safe place to react and use her power.

My hands curled into fists. Typhos.

Give it a moment, he told me, his mental voice layered with command.

But Melek looked just as concerned as I did when he popped in a blink later, his glittering feathers disappearing in an instant. “I thought we were meeting in the palace courtyard.”

“Change of plan,” Typhos replied quietly.

“What the hell is this?” Cami demanded in the next breath. “What are you doing to him?”

“I’m showing him the truth,” Typhos answered simply.

“And what truth is that?” she asked, her fury a whip against my senses. She was angry on Ajax’s behalf. Angry that he was hurting. Angry that she couldn’t fix it. Angry that she didn’t fully understand it or what Typhos meant to do here. “ You’re hurting him .”

Typhos frowned. “No, I’m not. His past pain has nothing to do with me. If anything, I’ve helped him.”

“By what?” She flung her arms outward. “By putting him in charge of your little dungeon of horrors?”

Typhos pushed off the door frame, his crossed arms falling to his sides as he stared down at my fiery little mate.

“Dungeon of horrors?” he echoed, his brow furrowing.

“This sacred space has a very specific purpose, Camillia. One I was in the middle of demonstrating to Ajax. It’s a place where bad souls are punished. ”

She scoffed at that. “You mean souls you tricked into accepting a deal—one designed in a manner that favored you, not them. And now you’re punishing them for reneging or failing whatever terms you laid out.”

His lips flattened into a straight line. “Not only is that summary inaccurate, but it’s inadequate as well.”

Cami stepped toward him, her gray eyes flickering with the power of an incoming thunderstorm. “I don’t care if you feel it’s accurate or not. Ajax is suffering. Fix it,” she said through her teeth.

He studied her for a long moment, then went back to leaning against the door frame, his expression bored. “Why don’t you fix it for me?” he suggested. “Use my Source. Siphon my power. And remove the cause of his suffering.”

Typhos, I said into his mind.

Let me teach, Azazel , he returned.

This isn’t teaching. It was pissing her off instead, a fact I was about to add, but he started speaking into my mind before I had the chance.

Just because this isn’t the way you would teach her doesn’t make it the wrong way. It’s simply different. And different methods should be respected.

I sighed. All right . He wasn’t wrong. But he wasn’t exactly correct either.

Because Ajax was being ripped open by the display before him, the screams shattering his heart into a million pieces, all while he stood as frozen as Dakota did inside her cell.

Of course, Dakota wasn’t recognizable in this form at all.

And, truthfully, I would have had no idea who the soul inside this creature was had I not been connected to Typhos’s thoughts.

On the outside, she resembled a tattered Unseelie. Wings shredded to ribbons. Hair yanked out in some places, while dirty clumps hung from others. Eyes wild. Dried lips circled in a perpetual scream that couldn’t be heard.

Probably because she no longer had a voice.

A decade in this dungeon was enough to render most fae mindless.

Typhos was excellent at many things; torture was chief among them.

He’d crafted this “reality” in a way that forced Dakota to face all her darkest sins over and over again. To hear the pleas and cries of those who had been killed while she’d helped a monster try to seize a realm. But what couldn’t be seen were the sensations that went with the agonized shouts.

Typhos wasn’t just forcing her to witness it all, but to experience each death as well. To feel their distress. Their fear. Their hurt .

Every cell in this dungeon was uniquely designed, and this was the personal nightmare he’d manifested for Dakota. One he’d spent ample time crafting because he’d wanted her to suffer more than most.

It was a nightmare he’d visited several times over the last ten years to perfect, something I heard in his mind now.

He’d ensured this soul paid for her sins tenfold. For Ajax , I realized.

And you, Typhos whispered back to me. He’s always meant a lot to you. Therefore, he means a lot to me.

The words were a breath in my mind while his eyes were on Cami.

She looked ready to kill Typhos. Only a minute had passed since we’d arrived.

Maybe two. But she’d amassed a hell of a lot of distrust over the last sixty or so seconds.

“What game is this?” she demanded. “You force me to watch Ajax suffer while you offer me some sort of deal involving your power? Say you’ll let me use it… but for a price?”

“We’re not negotiating, Camillia De la Croix.”

“Then what are we doing?” she asked through her teeth.

“Well, I’m observing,” he drawled. “And you appear to be stalling while Ajax suffers.”

Her lips parted.

Melek shook his head.

And I… I just sighed. Again. “Cami?—”

“No,” Typhos interjected, cutting me a look. “This is between me, Cami, and Ajax.”

Melek moved to my side, his power seeming to hum beneath his skin. But he remained silent as he watched the Hell Fae King with our mate.

My teeth clenched. She doesn’t understand.

I know, Typhos returned. And that’s my burden to take on, not yours.

I shook my head. He was going to make this worse. But his words from earlier played back through my mind. While this might not be the way I would handle it, that didn’t make his way wrong.

Fine.

I took a step back, hands up, and let him lead.

Two minutes , I told him. Then I’m intervening.

I won’t need more than one , he promised me.

Yeah, we’d see about that.

Because at this rate, Cami was going to try to hit him before she listened to him. We both could hear Ajax’s mind and the broken thoughts fluttering through it. He was standing right in front of us, but he wasn’t with us.

He was back in the Midnight Fae Realm.

Standing on a podium.

Locked down under a spell.

And watching everyone he loved… die .