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“Yes. Now, it’s the Nightmare Fae. Then, it was Virtuous Fae and others he saw as needing an extra boost.” I shrugged. “What you see today is several thousand years old. Trust me when I say that he started small. Though, he’s always been powerful.”

“So how did he learn to do that?” Cami asked. “His parents obviously didn’t teach him. Not because they didn’t want to, but because it sounds like they couldn’t. So who helped him?”

“Vivaxia,” I replied. “In a roundabout way, anyway.”

“Oh.” Cami’s expression darkened. “She taught him how to siphon his power… for good?”

“Not exactly.” I paused, considering how to explain this.

“After everything that happened with his parents, he more or less throttled his siphoning ability. But it wasn’t a permanent fix because the power still existed within him.

So he found a new outlet, one born of his lessons with Vivaxia on how to craft deals.

While the outlet might not have been the purpose of those lessons, it was something he taught himself while mastering the art of negotiating with others. ”

“So she didn’t actually help him master his siphoning talent,” Cami replied.

“No. I’m not even sure she knows about it. Ty says she doesn’t.” But I’d always wondered deep down if she knew the truth and if it was his ability to siphon that she longed to exploit. Because it was that ability that allowed him to manifest his creative energy.

“That makes more sense to me,” Cami said slowly. “But even with teaching him the art of making deals, I assume she had an ulterior motive.”

“Oh, she absolutely did. She wanted his light, as you know. But she helped him master his ability and watched as his power grew. Basically, she groomed him and his gift, knowing all the while that she intended to one day take it.”

“Except the deal didn’t go according to plan,” Cami said.

“Correct. And that deal brings me back to Vita,” I murmured, pleased that I’d finally reached the whole point of this discussion—to explain Vita’s history, just as Ty had requested. “The day I retrieved that journal is the day he penned that infamous deal with Vivaxia.”

Cami sat forward a little, like she was eager to hear more.

“Ty sent me to find that little book, saying he needed it for nostalgic reasons. Of course, I knew the purpose was deeper. By that point, he’d perfected his skills and was using deals as a way to fuel his Source.”

“By collecting debts,” Cami said.

“Yes, exactly that,” I replied as I stretched my arm out behind her along the top of the love seat.

“I had thought he might want the journal to pen some of his deals, or maybe just as a keepsake. I later learned that the purpose was to have a place to guard his memories and ensure no one could access his mind.”

Her face expressed confusion, telling me I needed to clarify what I’d just said. Which I supposed was the entire point of this lesson and what Ty truly wanted her to understand.

“He’s been alive a very long time, which often increases the risk of immortal insanity. But Vita allows him a safe space to expunge some of his vast knowledge and experience, which is imperative for someone in his position.”

“But not imperative for you?” she hedged.

I smiled. “I’m not the one with an entire realm under his sole protection.”

“Yes. However, you are mated to the one who is,” she pointed out.

“True,” I agreed. “And if I someday feel a weakening of my mind, I may seek a similar outlet. Ty has simply chosen his method early, which again makes sense for one with his responsibilities.”

She considered me for a moment. “So he didn’t actually need Vita yet?”

“Maybe, maybe not. The point is that he created her in case he does need her, because the safety of the realm will always come first. And he knows the importance of safeguarding his thoughts.”

“Which is what Vita does for him. It’s not a power exchange for him. It’s an outlet for his memories, one that allows him to keep an, uh, open mind.”

My lips twitched at her apt description. “Actually, yes. That’s exactly what Vita is to him. Although, I didn’t know that would become her purpose that day. At that point, we weren’t fully mated yet, so I couldn’t read his mind or his intentions.”

A fact that I hadn’t liked at the time. But I’d understood it.

“Ty couldn’t fully mate me until he mastered his power,” I went on. “He hadn’t wanted to risk hurting me.”

Cami swallowed. “He’d already lost his parents; he didn’t want to lose you, too.”

“Yes,” I agreed, warmth filling my chest.

Of course, that warmth vanished as I recounted what came next… after I’d found the journal.

I told her how Ty had given me directions, thus making it an easy search-and-retrieval mission. “But while I was gone, he penned that deal with Vivaxia.”

A deal whereby he’d agreed to mate her.

A deal that had broken my heart… for a few seconds in time. At least until I’d realized his true intentions.

He’d wanted to free Az. He’d also wanted to free himself. Which meant he could finally be with me.

So I’d played along by pretending to betray him. I’d thrown that journal onto Vivaxia’s nightstand after telling him I’d bedded her. Then I’d left.

“And later that day, he fell,” I concluded, having provided the entire summary of events out loud.

Cami said nothing, her gaze on me as she processed everything I’d told her.

“To save him, you orchestrated his fall,” she finally commented.

Everything that had happened was because of what I’d put into motion that night. Vivaxia had groomed Ty to the point where he’d thought he was winning.

But I’d known that the game had been rigged.

So I’d done what needed to be done.

“Sometimes, it’s in the darkness that we can finally see the light,” I said, suddenly needing a drink.

I pushed away from the love seat and glanced down at Vita in the process. She was still blank.

Very strange .

I closed her cover, wondering if that would help process that power surge better. Then I wandered over to a bar in another nook.

Cami followed, her steps quiet but her presence very much noted.

“Hey!” she snapped, causing me to frown and face her just as a quill flew past her face. “Ugh. I remember that thing. You told me not to touch it.” She ducked as it buzzed around her, causing my lips to curl.

“Like Vita, that, too, is riddled with magic. It must have heard us talking about Ty and Vivaxia’s agreement.”

Cam raised a brow. “What?”

“That’s the pen they used,” I explained as the quill whirled around her again.

“Oh.” Her body stiffened. “No wonder you told me to stay away from it.”

“Yes, it very much has a mind of its own.” As did most objects from the Virtuous Fae Realm. Although, this one seemed to be trying to say something now, which was odd.

The feather quill twirled in front of Cami’s face, causing my eyes to narrow. It was always performing tricks, the magic very much a personality of sorts.

Similar to Vita, I thought, glancing at the book again. I’d left her closed on the table, but her pages were spread again.

Only, they were still blank.

What is going on? She should have had enough time to recover by now.

And Vita always had something to say.

Because she has a mind of her own, I told myself, something about that nagging at me. She’d always been a unique object, her existence very much tied to Ty.

And the quill… I looked at it again, noting its increasing velocity as Cami backed away. The quill is tied to Vivaxia .

Ty had used it to sign their legendary agreement, but it’d been his, not hers. Same with Vita.

But she touched both. My eyes widened. She touched both .

“Oh, fuck,” I breathed, pieces coming together in my mind. Pieces that should have been obvious before but weren’t. Because I’d never considered that she might have left her mark in?—

Pain exploded in my chest, stilling my train of thought and drawing my gaze downward.

To where the infamous pen had just lodged itself… in my chest.