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Our foreplay would be taming these beasts, together. Not by defeating them.

But by saving them—at least, the ones who deserved to be saved.

As I circled the Nightmare Fae, giving myself time to analyze them, I could see the difference between the Siren and the Naga now.

The Naga had a dark aura about it that I had thought to be some strange shadow, but it wasn’t a shadow. It was the aura of its soul.

The Siren did not have the same shadows.

It wasn’t an ability I had before. But then again, I’d previously been the Warden in name only.

Lucifer had given me the key—a symbol of the true power that came with the role.

I was indeed part of his inner circle now.

The Siren was one of Lucifer’s protected inhabitants, and Vivaxia was trying to confuse us, to get us to attack each other. The agony in his eyes was something I understood.

He didn’t want to be here. Meaning this was an innocent trapped by Vivaxia’s power.

Shit.

The Naga launched again just as I used magic to nudge the feral Siren into the pool I’d created and trap him there. I’d been distracted, leaving the Naga a chance to drag a claw across my leg. Blood seeped into the fabric of my pants, making me dizzy as stinging heat flushed through my veins.

Ajax, Az pressed. That heat grew and seared across my psyche as I tapped into Az’s mind, sensing the battle he still waged on his end in the dorms. It’s getting worse out here. Tell me what to do, because right now I’m just stalling.

Still, Az was trying to let me lead. But I wasn’t doing a good job of it so far.

Fuck, how do I fix this?

I couldn’t make a plan until I figured out how to separate the dark souls from the light ones—and now my leg was stinging like a bitch.

Nagas could have poisons in their strikes, so I muttered a quick antivenom spell, but it didn’t seem to work.

The icy heat of the poison seeped over my hip bone and gave me a nasty pinch in my side.

What’s the plan, Warden? Az pressed. He wanted to give me a chance to lead, meaning it was on me to handle this.

Az knew that was what I needed to accept my role as the true Warden, and I wasn’t going to let him down.

Try to incapacitate or capture those under Vivaxia’s pet-control manipulation until we can figure out how to help them, I replied. Az had broken the spell, so whatever alterations she’d made so far should be breakable as well.

We need to herd them all to the dungeon. We’ll separate the light and dark souls once we get them there.

My dungeon wasn’t just going to be a hall of nightmares anymore. Lucifer had trusted me as Warden, and I was going to make some changes.

I would fill it with those needing rehabilitation, not just torment.

But I would have to decide what we’d do with the dark souls once we had them secured in their cells.

Killing Dakota had created a conundrum inside me that I didn’t have time to evaluate.

But it was something I needed to consider as I moved forward in my role as the official Hell Fae Warden.

Because I possessed the power now to remove mirages and end the dark souls trapped in those cells.

I just needed to determine how to proceed and who deserved what sort of sentence.

Some souls, however, were innocent. Corrupted by a magic meant to manipulate and destroy. They didn’t deserve the fate of being locked in those dungeons.

So, I would rehabilitate them. Those who deserved to be saved would be.

This was right.

This was the kind of Warden I wanted to be.

I whispered a spell that amplified the air around me, then I whistled. The sound drew the attention of several Nightmare Fae wreaking havoc away from the Hellhounds who were struggling with a Sea Dragon, as well as three other erratic fae.

And they homed in on me.

As I expected, their feral state made them more susceptible to loud targets.

“This way, wildlings,” I coaxed them as excitement thrummed in my veins. The pinch in my side had lessened, or maybe I imagined that. It didn’t matter; this would be over soon. Lucifer had given me the key, one that burned in my pocket and promised power to the Warden. To me . “Follow the noise.”

This wasn’t the typical hunt, but a sick part of me enjoyed the challenge that offered.

I had to capture, not kill. Every soul would be evaluated once we had tamed the beasts.

And once I drew the feral fae to the dungeons, I would use the power Lucifer had trusted me with to protect his people.

Our people, now.

I jumped as another portal opened right in front of me. Instead of fighting, I swirled my finger and summoned a defensive spell again.

What the fuck are you doing? Az demanded as I amplified my whistle while the newly arrived fae rammed into my defensive barrier.

I can hear that noise all the way from here.

The sound spell worked better than expected, likely because Vivaxia had done something to this paradigm to make it behave like an echo chamber.

I’m drawing them back toward the dungeon, I informed Az, but I didn’t get a chance to explain further because a shrill reverberation of my whistle slammed into me, making me throw my hands over my ears as my barrier shattered like glass.

Az! I thought as the strong body of a Sea Dragon wrapped around my torso. The static electricity that had been perpetually humming bloomed until all I could hear was the throttling drone of magic that was foreign and wrong.

Whatever had separated me from Cami now stood between me and Az. I couldn’t feel him or hear him at all.

A new sensation fluttered over my body, leaving me chilled even as I used my wand to force the Sea Dragon to release me.

Ice cold, just like Vivaxia’s heart, I thought as my teeth chattered, and I glanced up at a broken sky while I stumbled into a run.

Literally broken, because cracks formed over the surface of the paradigm as if it was about to split apart.

“Fuck,” I cursed as I forced power into my legs and continued running, because the Nightmare Fae were still on my heels.

All of them.

I tried to shadow to put some distance between them, but my magic sputtered around me and vibrated like opposing magnets trapped inside an iron spindle.

The throb from the wound across my thigh burned like frost, making my extremities go numb.

This wasn’t like any Naga poison I’d ever encountered.

Because it’s not poison, I thought as my vision started to turn an odd shade of brilliant white. It’s her.

Vivaxia wasn’t just finding a way into the realm; she was digging into the minds of innocent Nightmare Fae and trying to break us all apart.

Starting with Cami and her mates. I suspected the rest was just a bonus.

Killing the brides would set Lucifer back centuries.

Undermining me as Warden would be an embarrassment and seed further distrust and chaos.

This was how she won, by dismantling everything Lucifer had built.

By attacking his heart.

I was a part of that heart now, whether I was ready for it or not. I was mated to Az, making me indirectly part of Lucifer’s inner circle.

I might not be able to feel Az, but he was still there. Just like Cami was on the other side of the invisible barrier that was choking the life out of this paradigm. It wanted to keep me apart from her, to suffocate me, but there was one problem with that.

You don’t understand the power of love, Vivaxia.

A strange sense of peace settled over me as I managed to summon one more defensive barrier. Even while Nightmare Fae corralled around me, hissing, and threatening to overcome me, nothing would take that truth away.

I thought I had understood love, experienced it, even, but it was nothing like the real thing.

Camillia was my heart and soul, and the entire power of Heaven and Hell couldn’t keep us apart.

I looked up as if drawn to the paradigm’s ceiling by instinct. The brilliant white light spreading across the sky wasn’t just the invading magic that seared through my veins.

It was love itself.

Glass and sizzling gold stars broke through the cage surrounding the paradigm, and beyond the chasm was Cami’s love radiating through.

Melek held her as he spread his impressive wings, making it seem like Camillia was the one who flew through the sky.

Like an angel.

My angel.

Our angel , a voice seemed to say as the vibrant sky slowly turned black.

And the feral fae attacked.