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What? Who the fuck was she even talking to? Nos?

He was almost dead.

And not from the slit to his neck.

It was Vivaxia’s power . She owned his soul now. His very being. And she was extinguishing his essence through her own force of will.

A horrible way to die.

Painful, too.

While he might deserve it after what he’d done to the fae under his command, it wasn’t her punishment to give.

Yet I couldn’t move. I was being forced to watch her dismantle his soul right before my eyes.

What the fuck is happening? I marveled. Why does it feel like she has control over me?

I hadn’t agreed to one of her pet spells. Nor was I a creation she could control. Our deal had never been about ownership . Just a soul-bond. One that my soul had rejected, thereby nullifying the entire agreement.

Which was where her blood payment clause had come into effect.

Regardless, that didn’t grant her authority over my spirit. So why the fuck can’t I move?

“See how he struggles?” Vivaxia infused a hint of sadness into her tone. “It’s so disappointing to watch, is it not?”

The fog began to lift, revealing the room once more.

And all the Strigoi inside it.

Breathing Strigoi , I realized, noting that over half the bodies on the ground were no longer there. They were standing inside, their alarmed gazes fixated on me.

“What game are you playing?” I demanded, my words for Vivaxia.

“It’s not a game so much as a trial,” she replied. “A trial of your strength. And I think you might be failing, sweet Typhos. Just like you failed to extinguish those portals in the other realms. Just like you failed to handle the whole Monsters Night debacle correctly. Just?—”

Just like I failed to protect my mind, I thought, cutting off whatever she’d been about to add. She kept talking, but I stopped listening.

Because I suspected this was also a distraction—hence the reason Nos hadn’t died yet. She could have ripped him apart in seconds.

She wanted this to last, which implied she possessed a nefarious purpose for this prolonged charade.

So what are you really up to? I wondered, trying to decipher her motives.

The fae in the room all appeared to be real, yet they were clearly being controlled. Perhaps because of her ties to Nos.

She’d bound him by that slave spell, and they were bound by the hive mind .

Or had Vivaxia done something to turn them all into puppets?

Virtuous Fae were creationists. She would have the ability to master any being she’d created in the past, including her Nightmare Fae.

But Vivaxia hadn’t manifested the Strigoi. Another Virtuous Fae had done that.

So how is she controlling them? I pondered, still ignoring whatever she was saying to the room.

Her words didn’t matter.

Her actions, however, spoke volumes.

She’d somehow ensnared me and all these Strigoi.

I ran my gaze over her, searching for clues, and again noted how she stroked the throne with those deadly-looking fingernails. My conduit .

I’d been considering it earlier, realizing that her connection to Nos was clearly purposeful. Because he uses my power in place of a Sigil , I thought.

But it had to be deeper than that. I hadn’t granted him enough energy to enslave me. So she was garnering her strength from something else. Something even more powerful.

Something like Vita, I thought, my heart stopping. Camillia pushed my essence into Vita and…

I frowned, my mind trailing off into nothing.

Which didn’t make sense.

It was like my brain had formed a wall that I couldn’t pass through.

Because of Vita… something with Vita.

Something with these fae.

Something with Vivaxia controlling everyone and everything in this room.

Not just by the power of the throne, but… but by the power of various Virtuous Fae.

I blinked, that concept seeming to come out of nowhere.

Yet I felt it now, the strands of energy she was manipulating—strands that didn’t belong to her. Or they shouldn’t, anyway.

It was as though she’d absorbed the essences of others.

Like I did with my parents , I realized, the memory assaulting me with a vengeance.

A memory that had once been locked away in Vita. I’d released it recently, but not quite like this. The vision now hit me like a punch to the heart.

I must have visibly reacted to the invisible hit because Vivaxia tsked, the noise reminding me of nails on a chalkboard. “I wonder how many more of you have to fall before he’ll even try to retaliate,” she asked, drawing my focus back to the room and noting three fresh bodies on the floor.

One belonged to Nos, his shriveled skin reminding me of a husk.

The sight of it stole my breath as another recollection assaulted me.

A recollection that starred my own parents in a similar state. They’d resembled husks, too. Husks that had broken apart under a soft breeze, turning their remains into dust on the wind.

As though to remind me of that moment, Vivaxia bent and blew out a breath in Nos’s direction, causing bits and pieces of him to flake off his dried-up form.

Then a fourth body collapsed, the Strigoi gripping his throat as agony spilled from his lips.

The guard , I recognized, his eyes meeting mine.

Betrayal and agony lurked in the depths of his dark eyes, his words from before playing through my mind.

“Now that you’re here, hopefully that will change.”

My failure to do so echoed in his expression, accusations seeming to linger on his lips.

Why aren’t you doing anything? he seemed to be asking. Why aren’t you helping me?

My teeth ground together, my power flickering deep inside.

Only to quickly be extinguished by a wave of foreign energy.

Energy that shouldn’t be there.

Energy that belonged to Vivaxia .

My gaze cut to hers.

“You’ve amassed so much power since your fall, Typhos,” she said, her gray eyes glittering with cruel intentions. “It truly has become your heart, hasn’t it?”

My chest squeezed as though she had her hand wrapped right around my organs, her nails digging into me without her ever having moved.

Real or a mirage? I wondered. Physical or mental?

Because I couldn’t tell.

She was suddenly everywhere, her essence infecting my very being.

Vita , I thought again. She… she…

There was something there. Something I had to grasp. Something… something that escaped me again.

The guard took his last breath, his soul crying out to me to intervene. To help .

I could hear it deep in my head, hear my Source screaming for an opportunity to react. To respond. To punish .

Just as it had punished Nos.

Because deep down, my power had recognized the betrayal and the infection that betrayal had brought with it.

Somewhere, somehow, I’d known she was here all along. Weaving her magic through my realm, corrupting my fae, manipulating them to do her bidding through her links to their souls.

Creationist magic .

Creationist magic that she’s siphoned from others.

She’s a siphon. Like me. Like Camillia.

Is that possible? I thought, dizzy from another twist of my heart. Did Vivaxia understand my power all along? Is that why she sought me out? Taught me about deals? Because she saw herself in me?

She’d said that before, told me how I had the potential to be as great as her, if not greater. And I’d always caught that glimmer of envy in her eyes when she’d said those words.

I’d thought she’d been talking about my inner light, the power I possessed that helped others. A power crafted from my ability to siphon and harness energy .

It had shifted over my lifetime, my parents’ deaths acting as a catalyst that had turned my talent into something else entirely.

My fall had heightened the burning energy when part of the Virtuous Fae Source became mine.

Then I’d fostered it throughout the millennia, ensuring it protected the Hell Fae Realm.

And now Vivaxia wanted what it had become. Or perhaps she’d always wanted it. But she’d bided her time, waiting for me to create the ultimate Source before she stepped in to take it.

The Source being my heart. My core. My very reason for existing.

She’d promised to make me bleed, and this was what she’d meant—by forcing me to watch her extinguish the lives of everything and everyone under my protection. All while she absorbed my light.

This ultimate consequence of a nullified deal.

But she wasn’t the only one who understood the importance of layers and contingency plans.

She’d taught me well, after all.

I knew never to go into an agreement without thinking several steps ahead, thanks to her endless games.

And this was no different.

Something she seemed to know, as her smile dimmed now. “Typhos…”

She must have heard the intention in my mind or seen the glimmer of promise in my gaze. I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t about to pause to evaluate how she knew what she knew. She’d clearly breached my thoughts, but I was never going to let her breach my Source.

I’d die first.

Closing my eyes, I activated the protocol I’d hidden deep inside myself for this very moment.

And let my Source engage .

Vivaxia screamed as blinding light filled the room, the echoes of it resembling fire beyond my closed eyelids.

I let it engulf me. Become me. Push me .

Then I relaxed into what came next, welcomed the pain, and gave myself to the darkness of the fall.

It was the only way to protect the realm.

To protect my mates.

To protect Camillia.

Because Vivaxia couldn’t take my Source if my mind was no longer sound.

But as a member of my inner circle—as a mate to my mates—Camillia could. She could absorb all of it. Create her own light. And save us all…