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CAMI

“ M elek!” I screamed as his knees hit the floor.

The quill danced inside his chest, taunting me with its golden feathers.

Melek had once told me not to touch it, a reminder he’d issued just moments ago.

Well, fuck that. It’d stabbed him!

I grabbed the twirling weapon and yanked it out of him. Which was probably the wrong thing to do, given the blood gushing from the wound, but surely he’d heal. He… he was immortal. Right?

His eyes captured mine, sheer terror shining in his multicolored depths. It was a look I never thought I’d see on his face, one that had me grasping the quill even tighter as it tried to writhe out of my grip. I didn’t trust it not to stab him again.

Cami, his mind whispered to mine. Vivaxia… touched the… and Vita, Cami… You have to… warn Ty… His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell silent.

“Melek?” I reached for him, noting the blood still pooling from his chest, and winced as the damn quill tried to spin out of my opposite hand. It seemed hell-bent on flying again, but I wasn’t in the mood to let it go.

Only, its golden feathers turned sharp, trying to slice its way free.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I growled at the damn thing, my siphoning ability kicking in as I started absorbing the magic from its metallic edges.

It was such a natural response.

One that had my brow furrowing after a moment because I… I recognized the essence.

Vivaxia , I thought, blinking. Melek had said this was the pen Typhos had used to sign his deal with her. Is that why I sense her?

No. It… it went deeper than that. Her power was embedded in the enchanted item. Almost like she’d wielded it herself…

My eyes widened. Az! Ajax! I screamed their names, needing to ensure our connection still existed.

Nothing.

Fuck!

She was here again, this time choosing to hurt Melek. To play with my emotions, I realized, growling to myself.

That must have been what Melek had been trying to say about warning Typhos.

Except… I frowned. What does that have to do with Vita?

I siphoned the last bit of energy from the quill, causing the golden shine to die in my hands. Then I let the object fall to the ground with a soft thud. It was no longer empowered, the glittering magic inside me instead of the pen.

Rather than expel it, I kept it, knowing I was probably going to need that energy boost to battle whatever enchantment Vivaxia had woven across the Hell Fae Kingdom.

But what about Vita? I wondered again, hearing Melek clearly in my head.

He was unconscious on the ground, his wound still fresh.

Glancing between him and the book, I bit my lip. He’s immortal. He can’t die.

But that had been no ordinary pen.

What if…

No. I could still feel him. Sort of. I couldn’t hear him, but I… I sensed his life strand inside me. Is it weakening, though? I swallowed, trying my best not to lose my mind. To keep calm. Because losing control of my emotions was Vivaxia’s goal.

Is she attacking Az and Ajax, too?

Their life strands were just as alive inside me.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t hurt.

Fuck . I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. Don’t let her mess with your head. Just… just think, Cami.

Hell Fae Rule #3: Know Your Enemy Before Engaging.

Hell Fae Rule #13: Nothing Is What It Seems.

My eyes opened. Those rules were taught to me by my parents. Parents I’d never trusted. Parents I would never trust.

But my mates… I trusted them. Typhos, too.

And they lived under their own guidance, making their own choices and decisions as each moment presented itself.

Hell Fae Queen Rule #1, I thought. There Are No Rules .

I needed to stop thinking inside a box and consider all potential avenues in a problem.

Melek is immortal. A Virtuous Fae. He can’t die .

Except he was stabbed by an enchanted Virtuous Fae item. However, I had that magic inside me now, which meant I should be able to determine the spell’s intentions.

Closing my eyes once more, I focused deep inside myself and called on that strand of magic, evaluating it for any deadly properties. Yet all I found was creationism undertones. And a note of possession.

Like the pet spell, I recognized. Vivaxia simply enchanted the item to allow her to use it from afar. But it’s not deadly. It’s just… a very sharp pen.

One that had obliterated Melek’s heart with all that spinning.

My eyelashes fluttered as I refocused on his chest. He’ll survive .

I was sure of it.

Okay. Now what about…? I looked at Vita again and forced myself to breathe. It wasn’t easy, especially with my mates being blocked from my mind again, but if I’d learned anything from my new life here, it was how to properly focus.

Melek had said something about Vita. Something important. Vivaxia touched… and Vita.

“Were you talking about the quill?” I wondered out loud. “The quill… and Vita?”

He’d just finished telling me how the book had been in her room.

And Vita had shown me that scene, too.

There must have been something it— she —wanted me to see.

“What about now?” I asked as I walked toward her. “Anything useful now?”

But as I reached the text, I found simple, blank pages.

I arched a brow and bent to close the book. However, I jolted back as my finger was met with an icy touch.

What the fuck? I thought. “Why?—”

“Cami!” Az shouted from somewhere in the distance. “Where the fuck are you?!”

“I’m in here!” I yelled back, my heart kick-starting in my chest from both the panic in his voice and the chilled book on the table.

“Vivaxia…” I trailed off, not sure how to finish my sentence.

Nor did I want to yell my suspicions out loud.

I might be in our private quarters, but I didn’t trust her not to be close by.

Or to have one of her enchanted minions nearby, anyway.

Thus far, she hadn’t entered the realm. Typhos had said he would have felt it.

And I believed that.

She emitted power, just like he did.

I’d felt that energy around her. Experienced it in my own soul. Recognized it now, I thought, frowning. Why does it feel like she’s all over this room?

It hadn’t felt that way before. Or… or maybe it had and I hadn’t noticed it?

“Cami,” Az breathed, seeming to appear right in front of me. I wasn’t sure if he’d ashed or if he… if he’d just run really fast.

But I was in his arms in the next moment, his hands roaming all over me like he was trying to assure himself that I was real.

Ajax joined him in the next second, his lips suddenly in my hair. “Fuck, little rebel,” he whispered. “We… we couldn’t hear you?—”

“We thought…” Az added, trailing off. “ Melek .” He released me and leapt toward the fallen prince. “What the fuck happened?!”

“The quill stabbed him,” I said numbly. “I… I think he’s alive, though?” It came out as a question. Because everything felt so unreal. Like a dream, I marveled, blinking. “Vivaxia did something.” I couldn’t define it, but I felt it.

Frowning, I tried to trace the strands of energy—the ones that seemed to be intensifying with each passing second—and found myself staring at Vita again.

Why are you cold? I wondered as I slipped free of Ajax’s arms and knelt by the table.

Lifting my hand, I hovered my fingers about an inch away from the chilled text. “I can’t feel Typhos,” I whispered. Which was strange. Every time I touched this book, I sensed heat; I sensed him .

Yet right now, I felt nothing.

Just… ice .

My frown deepened as I flattened my hand on the pages, determined to solve this puzzle.

Az and Ajax said something in response, or maybe to each other. I wasn’t sure, as I couldn’t hear them over the rhythmic beating of my heart.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

It didn’t make sense. I’d just pushed all that energy into Vita. She should be thriving with life, not resembling ice.

I flipped the pages, searching for anything useful. But she revealed nothing.

Why can’t I read you? I demanded, closing the book to scowl at the cover.

A cover… that looked tattered and old. So, so old…

And so unlike the Vita I knew.

She… she looked like a normal book.

No, a journal, I thought, my heart stalling in my chest as a whooshing sound echoed in my ears. No…

I opened it again, my gaze scanning the first page.

A page filled with a script I didn’t recognize, the language ancient. Typhos’s mother’s words, I thought, blinking at it. “That’s impossible,” I whispered. It was like Vita had reverted back to her original form. “Where did all of Typhos’s memories go?”

And what happened to the energy I’d pushed into it?

Vivaxia… touched the… and Vita… Melek had said to me.

Vivaxia touched the pen and Vita , I put together. Warn Ty…

“She did something to Vita.” And Vita had been trying to tell me. “That’s why she showed me the bedroom.” As well as that strand of black hair.

Vivaxia has black hair .

My lips parted.

What if I wasn’t the first siphon?

What if… what if she’d put something in Vita?

Something I’d triggered…

By flooding the book with energy.

“Oh, shit,” I breathed, looking up for Az.

He was there, standing beside Ajax, both of them watching me intently. “What is it, Cami?” Az asked.

“Can you feel Ty?” I asked him.

Az shook his head. “I can’t feel any of you. Vivaxia’s clearly fucking with the Hell Fae Kingdom, just like she did with the paradigm.”

“Or she’s fucking with the entire Hell Fae Realm,” I told him, the chilled book spreading ice through my veins. “Something’s wrong with Typhos.”

It was the only explanation for how she’d gained this much, this quickly.

“She’s here somewhere,” I went on. That was why I could feel her now, sense her magic all over this palace. “She’s infected the realm.” I swallowed. “And I… I think it’s because I gave her the access she needed to break through the gates.”

By being the key, I realized.

Melek had called me that before.

If only he’d realized how accurate he was…

Because I’d unlocked Typhos’s mind by releasing his memories.

By absorbing his essence.

And shoving it all into Vita.

Vivaxia’s original siphon…