Page 47

AZ

E verything was dark.

Too dark .

My Phoenix paced inside me, disturbed by our surroundings. This endless tunnel resembled a cage, which brought back painful memories of our past.

Not being able to sense my mates only worsened the sensation of feeling lost.

I also couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here. One moment, I’d been walking with Cami, Ajax, and Melek, and the next thing I knew…

I’d woken up here.

Alone.

Deep underground .

It was cold. Damp. And contained . A tunnel with a low roof that skimmed the top of my head and walls that brushed my arms on either side as I walked.

A nightmare , I recognized. One derived from my past .

Only, I wasn’t sure how I’d landed in this tight space. And I was determined to escape it. To find my mates. To be free .

A tremble tickled my spine, that final word one that reverberated through my head. Free . I’d longed to experience liberation many moons ago, when I’d been trapped by Vivaxia’s spell.

I’d tasted independence since, been allowed to exist of my own free will.

However, I felt… weighed down again now. Like she’d somehow tightened her noose around me once more.

My gaze narrowed. No . I would never be hers again.

She could play. Flaunt. Threaten . But I was my own Phoenix. My own fae. My own man .

“You’ll have to do better than this to trap me,” I told Vivaxia. Because I had no doubt she was the cause of this nightmare.

I’d sensed her presence the moment we’d entered the Morpheus Kingdom. It was as though she’d taken over, her aura thickening the air with her familiar perfume and nearly making me gag. Melek had picked up her scent, too. I’d seen it in his expression.

We both recognized her brand of immortal madness.

And this mirage she’d created was just the beginning of her games.

Fuck, I hope Ajax and Cami are okay . They’d never played in Vivaxia’s mental mazes. If they didn’t see through her tricks…

No. I couldn’t think that way.

Cami had proved very capable of identifying mirages while in the bride trials. She’d recognize this for what it was.

And Ajax… My lips twisted. Ajax should be able to figure it out, especially in his role as Warden. Typhos had done something to bolster his power. Surely it would?—

Energy swirled in front of me, causing me to jump back, the bright light nearly blinding my sensitive eyes.

“Thank fuck.” Ajax’s familiar voice had me blinking in confusion, my eyesight still hindered by the unexpected light. “I was beginning to think Kuro had lost his mind.”

A huff came on the heels of that pronouncement, followed by the ruffling of feathers.

I blinked again and again, my vision slowly registering the sight before me.

Ajax stood just outside of a portal, his wand in one hand with his familiar perched on his opposite shoulder.

I frowned at the owl. “When did he get here?”

“Around the time you all vanished into thin air,” he told me. “Vivaxia tried to ensnare me with her spell as well, but my defensive instincts kicked in before she could pull me into her paradigm-like enchantment.”

Paradigm-like, I repeated to myself. “She cast a mirage.”

“Yeah. One I couldn’t see but could feel.” He glanced around. “Although, I guess she stuck you down here. Because this is real, not an illusion. That’s why I was able to find you. Or Kuro was, anyway. He can still sense you.”

I stared at the owl. His golden eyes held mine, his expression one of indifference. “And here I thought you didn’t like me.”

The owl huffed again, as though to say, I don’t .

“We need to get above ground,” Ajax said, ignoring my standoff with his familiar. “Cami’s up there somewhere, so I need you to help me hunt her down.”

My inner Phoenix perked up, his desire to track instantly engaged.

Except… no. That wasn’t quite right. My Phoenix had already been tracking someone.

Typhos .

I’d been tracking him above ground with Melek, Ajax, and Cami, searching for his power. We’d reached the Strigoi Palace Courtyard, and everything had shifted.

Vivaxia’s influence had been everywhere at once, and these walls had appeared.

Because my Phoenix took me deep underground .

Not Vivaxia. My animal. He’d ashed us here. To protect me. And to continue our hunt.

But why would you leave Cami? I asked him, confused by his choice.

He purred inside me as Ajax said something—something I didn’t hear because I was too busy trying to understand my beast.

We need to find Typhos.

I understood that much.

However, I didn’t understand why we’d abandoned?—

Power flooded my soul, causing flames to explode from my fingertips. Ajax jumped back with a sharp curse, one that echoed in my ears as I focused on that inner fire. Typhos’s Source.

My Phoenix paced again, urging me to move, his impatience curling deep within me.

This was his way of helping Cami— we need to find Typhos and his Source… for Cami.

I wasn’t sure how he knew it, but the jolt of energy seemed to confirm that knowledge somehow. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Source was talking to my Phoenix.

Just like it’d been communicating with Cami as she’d led us to the Morpheus Kingdom.

“Typhos’s emergency protocols have been triggered,” I realized aloud, aware of his strategy because I knew him.

I’d been inside his mind for so long that I knew how he thought .

“We need to find him.” That was why my Phoenix had insisted on ashing us down here.

He’d been leading me to Typhos until Ajax had interrupted our hunt with his portal.

Unless Vivaxia is fucking with my mind, I thought in the next instant.

But I was already shaking my head in denial. Because no, this direction felt too right. Typhos’s Source had taken over. It was in self-preservation mode. I could feel it now, my energy swirling inside me and connecting to the beacon of power with a single thought. Just like I always had.

Typhos had gifted me with that connection, providing me with an outlet.

It might not be my Source, but we knew each other well. Because I was mated to it as much as I was mated to Typhos.

As well as Cami .

“I can feel her,” I whispered, noting the way her energy curled around inside Typhos’s Source. “I can feel Cami.”

“Where is she?” Ajax demanded.

I shook my head, unable to answer that. All I could say was “She’s okay.” I looked at him as I repeated, “We need to find Typhos. Now .”

I didn’t wait for him to reply; I just started running into the darkness.

Ajax cursed behind me, then cast a spell that sent some sort of firefly racing ahead of me to light up the tunnel.

He knew how my beast worked—once we had a scent, we couldn’t be stopped.

I’d been dazed before, confused by how I’d ended up in the tunnels. Perhaps I’d even been fighting off a hint of Vivaxia’s magic—one I’d narrowly escaped, thanks to my Phoenix ashing me out just in time.

Whatever the case, my head was clear now, and I knew where to go.

These were the caverns Typhos had created after his first fall, the land deep under the Hell Fae Realm that no one but him ever traversed.

Except for maybe Melek. I suspected Typhos allowed him to venture down here. But knowing Melek, he hadn’t visited often.

And as for me, I’d only been down here once—the day of Typhos’s fall.

It didn’t bode well that he was underground now because it suggested he’d fallen… again .

I picked up my pace, determined to find him. My upper body protested, the tight walls scraping my bare arms, but I pushed through it.

Because time was running out.

I could feel it in my bones. In my heart. In my soul .

A countdown had started.

The Source ticking away like a time bomb.

It’s going to implode.

And if that happens before Typhos wakes… the entire realm is going to go with it.