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Only to be distracted by a powerful blast behind me.

A blast that lit my veins on fire and drew a gasp from my throat.

I want that, I thought. That power… I want to… to take it…

My eyes instantly searched for the source of it.

Typhos .

Because of course it was his power my inner siphon desired.

He’d ensnared two Nightmare Fae in magicked chains, creating a line of Hellfire along their skin.

The strands of vibrant electricity were wrapped around the neck of a Sea Dragon and the leg of a Manticore who was trying to fly, which was a magnificent sight to witness since he’d skillfully managed to imprison only the offenders, not the innocents caught in their clawlike grips.

A flurry of embers burst into the air as Az appeared and caught a new chain of fire from Typhos, the two of them working seamlessly to wrangle the Nightmare Fae around them.

Except… except several of them weren’t dark souls.

Like the Centaur , I thought, my palm still against his vibrating chest.

When I looked back at him, I saw almost a plea in his gaze, like he was losing some internal fight.

“You’re trying not to attack me,” I realized aloud, my heart skipping a beat.

He blinked as though to confirm, some of that lightness coming through again. Only to be overrun by chaos once more.

Gods… It’s the pet spell , I suddenly grasped. Or a version of it.

I wasn’t even sure of the formal name.

Nor did it matter.

Because right now, these creatures were suffering.

And it was all because of Vivaxia.

I had to help them. To… to fix this.

By siphoning it off of them, I thought, my eyes widening. I can siphon the magic .

Just like I’d tried to do in the Netherworld, albeit with that death stone, but I… I was a siphon.

I didn’t have to siphon just Typhos’s energy, right?

I could… I could siphon Vivaxia’s spell, too.

My fingertips tingled as I tried to locate the strands once more inside the Centaur. Not his soul , I thought. Not his power. But the… the disease that doesn’t belong.

I had no idea what I was doing. I was just… hunting .

Sorting.

Chasing the darkness. The ice. That… that frigid familiarity.

I’d been exposed to this magic more than once. However, my understanding of it went deeper than experience. It… it was almost ingrained in my psyche.

Because it’s Virtuous Fae magic , I realized. And I’m… a Virtuous Fae. A siphon.

I was literally created to absorb.

So that’s what I’ll do… I latched onto the darkest strand, the one that didn’t belong, and started pulling. Unraveling. Siphoning.

It was slow at first, my tugs tentative.

But each second seemed to lessen the Centaur’s agony, his eyes becoming clearer and clearer until… until he blinked.

“Thank you,” he breathed. “ Thank you. ”

I took a step back, my body suddenly alive with the foreign magic. It hummed all over me, through me, inside me . Like it was searching for a valve, a place to go.

The Centaur took off while I focused on a few other Nightmare Fae, curious about whether I could unravel them from the poisonous spell without touching them.

It only took a few seconds of focus to find the source—that inky black strand—and tug it free.

More electricity vibrated around me. I shivered from the intensity but kept seeking out the spell, siphoning it from each Nightmare Fae I found with my gaze.

It was invigorating. Empowering . Yet I wasn’t sure where to send the power. It… it just kept bundling inside me like an electrically charged ball.

Morphing.

Churning.

Curling.

Threatening .

I shifted my focus to the Siren next, the one Ajax had trapped with magic, and released it from Vivaxia’s spell while carefully ensuring the barrier remained around it.

A shudder rippled through me as that final tendril curled around me, the power burning too hot inside.

It wanted to dig deeper.

Go inward.

To that place… the one that connects me to her .

No. I… I couldn’t let it go there.

But I couldn’t hold all this in either.

It was going to burn me alive. Suffocate me. Kill me .

I… I had to push it somewhere.

Somewhere safe.

My gaze flew to Typhos, to where he wrangled his beasts with wisps of burning power.

Or someone safe, I thought slowly. His Source…

I didn’t think further; I simply acted, my heart opening as I connected to Typhos with ease.

Too much ease.

Because I’d been created to steal his light.

Only, I was going to fight that urge and do the opposite of what Vivaxia wanted of me. I was going to blast everything I’d taken from her—that horrible enchantment—and give it to her nemesis.

To Typhos.

To his Source .

I felt his eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. Refused to hear him.

He could accept this. Hell, he had to. Because I would not give anything to Vivaxia. If she wanted to bespell the fae who resided here, she would have to pay the price of losing that magic.

It belongs to Typhos now, bitch , I thought at her.

Not that she could hear me.

But I didn’t fucking care.

I kept siphoning and sending.

Siphoning and sending.

Siphoning and?—

Cami! Melek shouted into my mind. You need to slow down and take a breath.

I blinked, not understanding his concern. I felt fine. In fact, I felt energized.

I’m only taking Vivaxia’s spells , I told him, certain of my actions. No innocent souls .

Because all of the strands I’d tugged on were dark cords of disease—manipulative to their frayed ends.

So much darkness, I thought, whirling around.

Only for my gaze to fall on Ajax.

Still unconscious.

Hidden behind his bubble.

Ajax , I breathed, momentarily knocked off-kilter as I realized I’d left him there to suffer. Ajax!

I ran for him, only slightly confused by how I’d ended up so far away from him.

Was I moving while siphoning all those spells? I wondered.

But I didn’t have time to try to answer my own inane question.

All that mattered was Ajax.

And the copious amounts of dark magic covering his body.

Gods… How had I missed that before?

Or maybe I was just seeing the magical strands in better detail now as a result of being so hyper-fixated on them.

The how didn’t matter, though. The fact was I could see them, and Ajax was infected with several strands.

This… this is going to be difficult to siphon.

He was riddled with power. So much so that he alone might push me over the edge and force that valve inside me to open.

No , I decided. I can do this. I have to do this .

I’d just… I’d just send even more power into the Hell Fae Source. If a little of me goes along with it, so be it.

I placed my hands on Ajax’s far-too-cold body and tried to mentally unravel all the strands of magic strumming around him.

“Camillia,” the Hell Fae King said, his voice carrying through the chaos.

He was near the gates, while I was still closer to the library where Ajax had fallen, but it was as if Typhos’s lips were right on the cusp of my ear.

It was similar to the first time I’d heard his voice in the arena, only this time, all of his attention was on me.

He was surrounded by miraculous, fiery chains, the ends of which held various Nightmare Fae hostage.

He’d started lining them up for me.

Az and Melek, too.

Because they’d realized what I’d been doing, and now they were holding the fae there as hostages.

While waiting for me to release them from their spells, I thought, my heart warming.

Typhos had not only discerned what I’d started doing, but he’d also decided to partner with me in the effort.

And if he was mad at me for touching his Source, he showed no signs of it.

Instead, his expression only seemed marred with concern. Which was confusing, given everything we’d just unraveled together as a team.

He said something I couldn’t hear now, my mind suddenly consumed by Ajax once more.

The darkness, I realized, feeling it crawling up my arms from where I’d touched Ajax. It’s spreading.

Because it really was like a disease.

Only, I had the cure for it.

Me .

Ajax flinched as I began unwinding the invisible cords of darkness holding him captive.

You’re going to be okay , I thought at him. I just… I just have to… I swallowed, the first kick of power nearly causing me to lose my balance. Hold on…

I wasn’t sure if those words were for him or for me because it suddenly felt like I was flying. Soaring. Too high .

Gods, this is one hell of a spell… It practically choked me as I unraveled the first layer, the poison seeming to seep right into my spirit and head straight for that forbidden place—the connection to Vivaxia.

No , I growled, shoving it into Typhos’s Source.

But it started to claw its way back, threatening to return to Vivaxia instead. Via me. Like I’m some sort of fucking conduit.

No! I shouted again, shoving it out of me with so much force that my breath left with it.

But I didn’t care.

I was not sending any of this back to Vivaxia. Because if I opened that connection, who knew what she would do or accomplish? I had to push . To shove . To unwind… and… let go.

My eyes fell closed as a whooshing sound echoed in my ears, the intensity causing my pulse to race.

Someone shouted at me in my mind, but I ignored them, too focused on Ajax.

Next layer, I thought. Almost… there…

I forced myself to inhale, the icy bite of Vivaxia’s power jolting me to my very core.

It sank into my soul, sucking and slicing its way down.

Cami! someone shouted again.

But I… I was lost in this web of power. Siphoning layer by layer off of Ajax. Along with… with other spells. All of them dark. All of them belonging to her .

It was heavy.

Intense.

Suffocating.

Ice prickled my being, like I’d suddenly been pulled under a crushing waterfall, the impact leaving me frozen beneath a barrage of powerful waves.

The spell, I realized. It’s breaking…

Not just in Ajax, but in everyone around me.

In the entire fucking paradigm.

I was absorbing it all. Drowning in it. Allowing those icy claws to scratch at the valve… seeking Vivaxia… desiring…

No! I screamed at it, shoving it away yet again.

But the force of it was crushing me. Pulling me. Breaking me.

Only, I couldn’t let it go back to Vivaxia, so I… I pushed everything I could into the Hell Fae Source. Everything I could give. Every piece of me.

My breath squeezed from my lungs, and my soul itself seemed to detach from my body.

But I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. Not now. Not ever.

I had to keep going.

I can’t let her win.

I won’t let her win.

This power… belongs… to Typhos Lucifer now.

Every bit of it. All the magic. The energy. Even… even me.

Because I didn’t have anything left.

Everything I am… is gone.

Every ounce.

Every spell.

Every breath.

Leaving me with nothing at all. Making me nothing. Creating… nothing .

Yet still I gave. Because I had to return all of it to the Source. To Lucifer. To the Hell Fae. To this realm.

None of it could go to the Virtuous Fae. To her .

I won’t be a siphon for you, Vivaxia, I thought as the world blinked in and out of existence. Because in the end, I’ll choose death… Every. Fucking. Time.