Page 18

CAMI

L eaving Ajax in the dungeon wasn’t easy, but I heard in his mind what he needed to do. And I couldn’t watch him execute Dakota.

Did she deserve it? Yes.

Did I want to witness her death? No.

It also wasn’t my death to take. Ajax needed his vengeance to heal. Somehow it seemed Lucifer had known that. Or that was what I’d gathered from the thoughts of my mates.

Lucifer had created that nightmare for Dakota as a way to punish her for hurting Ajax.

Because he cared about Ajax. He had from the beginning.

And Lucifer took care of those he cared about.

Hell, it seemed Lucifer took care of everyone , not just those in his inner circle. But the entire realm.

Az , I thought as I wrapped my arms tighter around Melek.

It’s okay, little warrior , my Phoenix Fae mate murmured into my mind. I’ll look after our Warden.

Of course he knew that was what I wanted to say. He could hear all my concerns and likely feel my unease. Which meant Ajax could, too.

Thank you, I whispered back to him.

Don’t thank me for something I would do naturally, Az returned. He’s my mate, too. And we have some things we need to work out between us.

My blood warmed a bit at the sensual threat in his tone. Maybe I should come back…

His responding chuckle heated my veins even more. You’re always invited to join us, little warrior.

I was thinking I’d like to watch, I admitted, fantasizing about the two of them together while they worked out their issues.

Hmm, he hummed. That might be fun, too.

“I don’t know what you’re saying to Azazel, but I think I like it,” Melek said against my ear.

“You can tell I’m talking to Az?”

“I can feel it, yes,” he murmured. “And it’s obviously a conversation I would enjoy overhearing.”

Because he could sense my reaction to Az’s commentary. Right. If I’m not careful, Melek might want to watch, too.

Not sure Ajax would be keen on that, Az replied.

But you would be?

Today? No. At another point… maybe.

That… that was interesting. I see.

Surprised, little warrior?

Yes, I admitted.

I didn’t say I want to fuck Melek. But if he wants to watch me master you and Ajax, I wouldn’t be opposed.

Just not today? I replied.

Not today, he repeated. Today… is for Ajax.

Oh, I whispered back, suddenly understanding. Because you have… things to work out.

Yes.

I nodded. Not that he could see me. I was… I glanced around. Well, I was somewhere inside Melek’s wings, his gold feathers wrapped around us both as he took us to meet with Lucifer.

His den , he’d said. Whatever the hell that meant.

I sighed, suddenly exhausted from everything Melek had shared today coupled with what had just happened in the dungeon. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to join Lucifer in his den , or wherever the hell we were meeting him.

Goose bumps pebbled my arms, uncertainty settling in my gut. I couldn’t handle anything else new right now, not after feeling all those souls from the overheated prison.

Fae, I’d forgotten how hot it burned down there.

How uncomfortable it felt to just walk in those corridors.

How horrible it had been my first time there…

Yet my cell had been nothing compared to Dakota’s cell. She lived in true purgatory.

“Technically speaking, she deserves to live in agony for eternity. But I’m offering you a chance to end her cruel existence, should you choose to.”

Lucifer’s words echoed through my mind as the familiar walls of the palace appeared around me and Melek, the flowing lava a welcome sight. Because it meant we weren’t going anywhere unique. Just home.

I stilled. Home , I repeated to myself. Is this home?

It… it felt comfortable. And the scents reminded me of my mates.

Mint.

Embers from a simmering bonfire.

Sin.

Underlined with burning cinnamon.

I inhaled, then frowned at that last bit. Cinnamon. That part was Lucifer. My eyes instantly scanned for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. However, I knew exactly where he was—behind the massive double doors ahead.

Doors I recognized.

The Contract Room .

Melek had shown me this before. Only, the chains were no longer crisscrossed and the skull-shaped fastener wasn’t spewing flames like the last time I’d been here. The metal doors were also ajar, almost as if to invite us inside.

“He calls this his den?” I asked, raising a brow.

“It’s somewhat attached to his den,” Melek replied.

I looked at him. “Physically or metaphorically?”

“Both and neither,” Lucifer called from behind the doors. “I consider it an extension of my den, and there’s a door I can use that connects them. But it’s not attached in a typical sense.”

Yeah, because that wasn’t ominous at all.

Rather than focus on what Lucifer had just said, I opted for another topic. One I used as a distraction from whatever was about to happen behind those heavy doors.

“Did you fly us here?” I asked Melek. “Because usually we travel a lot faster than that.” And it felt like I’d been wrapped up in his feathers for several minutes, not seconds.

“I lingered,” he replied, the cryptic comment one he left hanging between us like bait.

“Do I even want to ask what that means?”

“He was coating you in his scent,” Lucifer answered, this time from the doorway as he poked his head out. “Trying to make you even more alluring than you already are.” His sapphire gaze went to Melek. “The tiny shorts and tight white top weren’t enough?”

Melek shrugged. “You didn’t seem to notice the outfit choice, so I decided to make her skin glow.”

Skin… glow? I dropped my gaze to my arms and cursed as gold glittered up at me. “Melek!” I was covered in his fucking golden jizz again. “Ugh!” Now I needed a bath. Or a shower. Or… or to be dunked in a damn ocean. “This stuff takes forever to wash off.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Lucifer said, ignoring my outbursts. “I always fucking notice.” The edge in his voice stirred the hairs along my arms and had me glancing at him again.

I swallowed at the whirlpool swirling in his dark blue eyes, his intensity making him that much more beautiful.

Not the ocean I wanted to be dunked in, I thought, holding his gaze. But I could absolutely lose myself in those oceanic irises.

A long moment of silence passed, tension seeming to crackle in the air. Or maybe that was the fiery walls nearby. I couldn’t say. I… I was hypnotized by that look on Lucifer’s face.

Only, it vanished in a blink as he stepped backward into the contract room. “Come in, Camillia. There’s something I want to show you.”

He disappeared from view before I could ask for details. Not that he’d probably give any of them to me.

Sighing, I started forward, only to freeze outside the doors. Not because I was afraid, but because my distorted reflection in the metallic sheen reminded me that I resembled a damn disco ball again.

“You’re going to scrub all this crap off of me,” I told Melek. “And then you’re apologizing by feeding me chocolate-covered strawberries in the bath.”

“Mmm, it’s a date,” Melek replied as he hugged me into his side. “Maybe our king will join us.”

Wait, what? I ? —

“Only if Camillia learns how to behave,” Lucifer replied from behind the door. “I don’t reward brats. I punish them instead.”

I blinked, his earlier commentary regarding my brattiness filtering through my mind and causing my eyes to narrow.

“I wasn’t being a brat,” I argued, resuming my walk toward his contract room. “Your lesson, or whatever you want to call that back there, was hurting Ajax. I reacted appro…” I trailed off in the middle of the word as I stepped through the threshold.

Because wow .

I couldn’t say what I expected, but it wasn’t this. “Holy fae,” I breathed, my gaze traveling up the endless wall of files. It… it just kept going. There was no roof. Just a sky of swirling paper above.

And golden quills.

I jumped back as one sailed by my head, a memory clicking into place of the last time I saw one of those. It’d been during Melek’s tour. He’d warned me to stay away from it. Something about it having unpredictable properties.

That’s an understatement. The entire palace is riddled with unpredictable magic.

And Lucifer was the most unpredictable of all.

He stood in the center of the space near a single desk. There was no other furniture. Not even a chair. Just a simple wooden desk.

“You claim to know a lot about my deals,” Lucifer said as the doors closed behind Melek. The rattle of chains that followed suggested we’d just been locked inside, too. “Enlighten me, Camillia. What do you think you know?”

“I know I didn’t agree to be a bride,” I told him.

“That you made an arrangement with my father for my life without my consent.” I folded my arms. “It’s a fair deduction to assume there are others like me who tried to break free from one of your arrangements.

And as you’ve said, you enjoy punishments. Ergo…”

I waved a hand, allowing the statement to fizzle and burn between us.

Lucifer considered me for a moment. “That’s it? That’s your grand summary?”

“You also tried to force Ajax to mate you,” I added. “Should we talk about that again?”

He didn’t immediately reply, just stared at me. “Your opinion of me is quite low.”

That… wasn’t true. I’d actually begun to respect him a bit. But I didn’t feel the need to voice that out loud. So I just held his gaze and waited for him to say more.

“All right.” He snapped his fingers, making me wince at the unexpected sound.

His lips curled down in response, his gaze narrowing a bit.

Then a paper appeared on the table before him, the lone document the only item on the dark wood.

A quill appeared next.

“We’ll start from the beginning,” he murmured, taking the feather between his fingers and scrawling across the page.

I frowned, not following. From this distance, I couldn’t see what he was writing, so I crept forward.

My frown deepened when I realized what he’d conjured with that snap. “That’s my contract.”

“Technically, it’s my contract,” he returned. “One I had with your father. And now”—the edges of it began to burn—“it’s no longer active.”

I blinked. “No longer…” The parchment went up in flames, the flickering red ends glittering with magic.

I watched in awe as the paper melted away, my father’s inscription disappearing into a flare of bright embers that swirled in the air.

“I don’t…” I lifted my gaze to Lucifer. “What does this mean? Will my father be punished for this?”

Only…

Only, my father couldn’t be punished. Because he was dead. At least according to my mother.

Which meant the deal was already inactive.

And therefore this all meant nothing. It was just for show. “You’re trying to trick me,” I said before he could answer my previous questions. “Why? What lesson is this?”

His brow furrowed. “I am not trying to trick you, Miss De la Croix. I’m trying to start over by destroying the contract that binds you to my realm.

And as for your father, he upheld his part of the bargain by having his daughter participate in the trials; thus, his soul is still free from my Source. ”

I snorted. “Yeah, because he’s dead.”

Lucifer looked from me to Melek. “Is this confirmed?”

“No, because it’s the first I’m hearing about it.” Melek stepped up to my side, his palm pressing to my lower back. “Why do you think he’s dead, little angel?”

“My mom told me he’s dead,” I replied, a little startled that I’d failed to mention that to my mate.

Is it normal not to think much about a parent’s death? To not really mourn the loss?

Maybe too much has happened for me to process what my mother had said. Or maybe… maybe I just wasn’t normal.

“I see.” Lucifer’s voice seemed to deepen with those words. “I released him from my Source as part of our deal, so I can’t easily confirm your mother’s claim. But I’ll look into it personally.”

“You think she lied?” I asked, even more startled now.

“I think it’s possible, yes,” he replied. “It’s also possible that he was her puppet all along, something I should have caught when he approached me with his offer.”

“You had no way of even suspecting Virtuous Fae influence, Ty,” Melek interjected. “Don’t take that blame on yourself.”

“He was my responsibility, and I failed him. It’s as simple as that, little prince.

” Lucifer waved a hand through the air, causing a blank sheet of parchment paper to appear.

“But we’re not here to discuss my shortcomings.

This is about training Camillia. And to do that, she needs to understand how I make deals.

” He focused on Melek. “So let’s show her how it’s done, little prince. Make me an offer, one I can’t refuse.”