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Not that I thought Typhos would have separated me from my mates, but with Vivaxia’s endless mind games, I had to check on them.

Who knew when she would attack again or how?

Typhos had suggested that she might be weakened by me absorbing her magic and redistributing it to his Source, but I suspected she wasn’t weakened much at all.

In fact, she was probably already working on her next attack.

So what would it be? I wondered.

“What are you thinking about?” Typhos asked, making me realize that I’d wandered off again. Only this time, I’d held his gaze while pondering Vivaxia’s intentions.

“Her next move,” I whispered, frowning. “Vivaxia’s, I mean.”

He drew his touch up to my hip, then slowly stood before me. My gaze followed his along the way, causing my head to tilt back to maintain our eye contact.

Gods, sometimes I forgot how tall Typhos was, but I certainly felt it now.

He had over a foot of height on me, something that used to intimidate me. However, I felt safer than ever in this moment. Because this male exuded strength and protection. I suspected he always had; I just hadn’t been open enough to accept before.

Everything had changed between us.

A part of me should probably still be scared, yet the fluttering sensation in my lower abdomen had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with interest.

“You could probably use your connection to her to determine her next move,” Typhos said, his comment at odds with my mental musings but reminding me of what I’d said seconds ago.

Gods, I seem to lose all sense of reason around this man, I thought, quivering a little inside. The varying topics in my head were giving me whiplash. “How would I do that?” I asked him. “Try to follow the link she created and… invade her head?”

I frowned as my words shoved another realization into my mind.

“If I can do that to her, can she do that to me?” I stiffened, my heart skipping a beat. “Can she?—”

“Breathe, Camillia,” Typhos interjected, his hands suddenly on my cheeks as he pulled me beneath the shower spray.

I sputtered as water hit my face, my desire to shove him away slamming into me. But he had me up against the shower wall before I could even process what was happening. “Calm down for me,” he commanded.

“ Calm down ?” I repeated on a shriek. “You just tried to drown me!”

“I just snapped you out of your panic,” he bit back.

I growled.

And he growled back.

“You’re impossible,” I snarled at him.

“I could say the same to you, Camillia De la Croix.”

“What the fuck even just happened?” I nearly shouted. “You were being all gentle, and now… now you’re…”

“Taking charge?” he asked, arching a brow.

I tried to fold my arms, but he was too close for me to maneuver them up to my chest.

Gods, he has me pinned… I hadn’t even realized it, but his palms were on the stone wall behind me, effectively trapping me between his muscular form and the hard surface at my back.

I glared up at him.

And he glared right back. “You need to learn control, Camillia.”

“And you’re going to teach it to me by dominating me?”

“Yes.”

I huffed a humorless laugh. “Okay.” Again I almost crossed my arms but couldn’t, which just… just pissed me off. “ How ?” I demanded.

“By making you fight me, my queen,” he murmured, his lips curving upward in a taunting smile.

Then he kissed me before I could reply, his tongue invading my mouth in a quest for dominance that left me winded and a little dizzy.

Because fuck, I wasn’t expecting that. But I probably should have been after all this touching.

Except he said he wasn’t going to fuck me.

Gods, this male is maddening.

But so were the mingled feelings inside me. Fear mixed with yearning. Anger mixed with intrinsic need. A hatred that was never really hatred… but lust in disguise .

I wrapped my arms around him, my nails digging into him for an entirely different reason now. Because I wanted to climb up his big body and plaster myself to his exquisite form.

Except his hands went to my hips to hold me against the wall as his mouth continued to own mine.

Taunting me, I realized. Trapping me beneath his power, his form, his very being.

Because he wanted me to fight .

I had no idea what brought this on, how he’d anticipated my panic before it’d truly begun, but I didn’t care.

All I wanted to do was annihilate him with my touch, bring him to his knees with my mouth, and prove that I really was a queen. One who was not only compatible with him but also capable of battling him where it counted.

His teeth skimmed my lower lip, a hum of approval seeming to emanate from his chest. “I enjoy you like this,” he told me. “All feisty and pissed off.”

“I don’t even know why I’m mad,” I admitted. “But I am.”

“Because I yanked you out of a downward spiral,” he returned, his mouth against mine.

“If you worry about how deep Vivaxia can go into your mind, you’ll basically pave a path for her to follow to your innermost thoughts.

Instead, you need to locate that link inside you and use it to your advantage.

But you’ll need training on how to do that. ”

I stilled, his words bringing back my concerns. “But what if she’s already?—”

“Shh,” he hushed. “If she’s already done it, then it’s too late to stop her. So let’s not invite her in and instead find a way to push her out.”

My head spun. “How?” I demanded. “How do I shove her out?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” he murmured, his nose brushing mine in a tender movement that contradicted the rough way he’d handled me. “It’s a puzzle we’ll solve together, but you’re going to have to trust me, Camillia. Do you think you can do that? Can you trust me?”

I gazed into his eyes, the answer coming to me without hesitation. “Yes.” Because I already did.

It was insane. And maybe even borderline suicidal.

But I trusted this infuriating male. This Hell Fae King.

With all my heart and soul… “I trust you, Typhos Lucifer.”

“Then let’s begin, Camillia De la Croix…”