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CAMI

T yphos!

His power exploded around me, causing the fires to burn hotter, faster, more intensely . But they weren’t burning my skin. They… they were pulsing around me and Ajax.

Beneath a slender barrier of fire… Which was counterintuitive to battling a flame, yet it served as a shield that kept us warm and protected.

Did you create this? I asked Ajax, our minds suddenly linked again.

Though, I realized now that it hadn’t been Vivaxia’s magic blocking our mate-bonds, but Typhos’s Source.

It’d gone into protection mode, ensuring we were not connected mentally to protect us all from Vivaxia.

She’d breached the confines of Typhos’s mind, making us vulnerable.

The Source had known that, and it’d reacted appropriately.

No , Ajax said, answering my question about the fiery shield. It’s coming from you.

I frowned. It’s not… I trailed off as I tracked the origin of the energy to the stone in my hand. The death stone…

It was fighting fire with fire. Just like what I’d done on those camping trips…

I swallowed, my mind torn between the present and the past, but as another sizzling wave washed over me, I was solidly grounded in this moment once more.

Typhos is detonating.

Melek’s sharp cry of pain hit me right in the heart. Because I felt it, too. The sense of loss. The understanding that Typhos was sacrificing everything to save us.

His Source.

His life.

His realm .

He was shoving it all into Vivaxia with the force of a million shooting stars, all aimed at giving her exactly what she craved— his light .

I understood his logic, saw how he thought it would overwhelm her and send her into an existence she could no longer manage.

Because she was already showing signs of having siphoned too much.

The Virtuous Fae souls , I thought. She absorbed too many of them, creating a beacon of power around her that swirled and provided energy without actually granting her true control.

Managing a Source required a heart. It required knowing how to love .

But Vivaxia only cherished herself.

She could never truly lead.

Except, Typhos can’t sacrifice himself either, I decided, needing to do something. To stop him. To help him.

He’d said I was creating a Source—a Source that had mated his. It’d startled me and I’d lost focus. A ridiculous reaction, because in the next breath, I’d known it was true.

I’d been siphoning all those spells, stripping Vivaxia’s control away from the Hell Fae Realm, and channeling the power into a new form. A beacon of compassion. A renewed sense of power that would grant the Hell Fae and Nightmare Fae the ability to fight Vivaxia.

I’d wanted them to have free will . And in doing so, my sphere of energy had mated with Typhos’s Source.

It’d been so natural, so right, that I hadn’t even realized what I’d been doing until he’d mentioned it.

Now, I need to do it again , I thought, my mind focusing on the fire engulfing me and Ajax first. It fizzled and cracked, the dark strands of magic trying to avoid my mental touch. I felt it wiggling, writhing, and trying futilely to escape my siphoning ability.

My jaw tightened. I will not be defeated by fire. I’d been in enough infernos to know how to fix this.

Rather than pull the energy into me, I used the death stone to amplify that thin layer of flames and blasted it outward.

Right into Vivaxia .

She drew it inside her, just like she was doing with Typhos’s power.

Free from her fiery prison, I focused on Melek’s flaming leash and sent that back to its creator as well—to Vivaxia.

Azazel was next. Only, he wasn’t engulfed in flames but trapped in a spell that had forced him into his Phoenix form.

His dark eyes captured mine, and what I saw burning inside him was unadulterated ire.

He was furious. And he was fighting from within.

But whatever Vivaxia had done had imprisoned him.

Not for long , I thought, narrowing my gaze and unwinding the invisible ropes around him.

Vivaxia accepted them back into her growing ball of energy with ease.

It was as though she didn’t even realize what she was taking into her soul; all she desired was power . And she didn’t care where it came from.

She wasn’t paying any attention to me at all.

Because I was merely her pawn.

Meanwhile, Typhos thought of me as a queen. His queen. And I was about to serve by his side.

I’d start by taking back that throne, the one she still touched like her survival depended on its existence.

With a thought, I crushed the metal and stone, destroying the conduit she’d taken control of, and smiled as she stumbled, her eyes blinking as though coming out of a daze.

I didn’t give her a chance to recover, instead hitting her with a dose of my own light. If she wanted to ascend so badly, she could soak it all up and explode like a fucking star.

The death stone pulsated in my hand like it agreed, the rock amplifying my gift with a force that took my breath away.

It wanted me to use it to expel power, not siphon it.

Yet it was a siphon. Just like me.

Fight fire with fire. Make it burn hotter.

Fight a siphon… with a siphon.

Even though it didn’t make sense at all, I understood the purpose.

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

Is it possible that my parents had groomed me for this moment? I whispered to myself, thinking back on all our experiences. All the impractical solutions to catastrophic events.

I’d thought they’d meant to prepare me for the trials.

But now… now I wondered if it’d been for this. To battle Vivaxia. To save Typhos. To protect the Hell Fae Realm.

Did they know? Were they fighting Vivaxia all along?

My mother had seemed distraught in that mirror, her eyes wild with panic. Had Vivaxia been controlling her before? Controlling my father, too?

I swallowed, my head spinning with questions and no answers.

And there wasn’t time to contemplate more.

I had to help Typhos.

He was all but depleted on the floor, his light almost entirely extinguished.

Yet he still continued to pummel Vivaxia with power.

I ran to him, my free hand finding his beautiful wings as they folded over him like a black-and-gold blanket, and shoved some of my vitality into him.

You’re mine, I told him. I won’t let you die. Not now. Not after… I couldn’t finish the thought. Rather, it trailed off as he took my energy and gifted it to Vivaxia.

I growled at him and fisted my hand in his wings to hit him with a heavier dose.

Don’t fight me, Typhos , I thought at him. Work with me instead.

A fierce surge of possession followed my words, but it didn’t originate from me. It came from him, from his soul .

I felt it inside me, all around me, in the core of my existence. It was as though his essence had reached out and seized my very being, claiming me on a level that shouldn’t exist.

And yet it did.

Because my spirit bowed to his, accepting the ownership without question.

Power exploded between us, our spirits winding together in a binding way that secured our future. Our present. Our past.

Melek was suddenly there, too, his arms wrapping around me from behind as Az—now in his human form again—fell to Typhos’s other side. Their energy mingled with ours, creating a surplus of strength and vitality that whirled inside Typhos to replenish his reserves.

Ajax was last, his Midnight Fae essence a kiss to my senses that helped ground me in the moment. It gave me focus.

And focus I did.

On blasting Vivaxia into her own fucking universe.

I clutched Typhos with one hand and the stone with the other and allowed them both to amplify my siphoning talent. I absorbed the rest of Vivaxia’s presence in the Hell Fae Realm, absorbed all the negative energy I could find anywhere nearby, and absorbed the gifts provided by my mates.

By Ajax.

By Az.

By Melek.

By Typhos.

They were all mine and I was theirs. Just as this realm was mine and I was its queen. I wanted to protect the fae here. Honor them. Free them .

I’d felt the gates deteriorate as Typhos had begun to overload Vivaxia with power. He’d opened his realm for the first time since he’d created it. Because the bride trials didn’t count. Those females had been selected by his Source and provided special permission to enter.

However, now his realm would be available to everyone.

His Source would protect those who chose to remain, but he would no longer decline entry to others. Specifically, female fae.

Because something he realized was that he’d failed all the female Nightmare Fae that existed. He’d blocked most of them from entering his realm because of whatever seeds Vivaxia had planted.

Now he would rectify that.

If they even still exist, I heard him thinking, his mind a whisper against mine.

If they do, we’ll help them together , I promised him as the stone burned hot in my hand. I nearly dropped it but held on when an echo of power zipped up my arm.

It felt oddly familiar.

My mind searched for the cause of that familiarity, but Typhos took a strangled breath, his mind seeming to blink in and out of existence.

Because he was still feeding his light to Vivaxia and keeping nothing for himself.

It reminded me of my experience in the paradigm when I’d been hell-bent on pushing all my power away from Vivaxia and into his Source. Only, he was doing the opposite now and trying to overwhelm her with his essence.

At the expense of himself .

I filled him with more power, as did Az, Melek, and Ajax. But he didn’t accept any of it. All that energy simply spiraled around him and… and flowed back into me.

My eyes narrowed. Stubborn fucking king.

I tried again.

And again.

And again .

Each time, he returned it to me while giving up the last of his light to Vivaxia.

His corporeal form was dying, his energy moving on to a new phase of life.

I shook my head, furious with him for doing this. Furious with myself for not knowing how to stop him. Furious with Vivaxia for being the cause of everything .

The bitch was standing by the destroyed altar, looking wind struck with her tattered wings bent backward at odd angles and her hair whipping around in some sort of invisible breeze.

She was ascending, just like she wanted. I could see it. Feel it . And while I knew that was the point, I… I couldn’t…

There has to be another way.

But I don’t know how… or what… or…

An explosion derailed my broken thoughts, causing me to jolt as power flowed through me and into Typhos.

What was that? I wondered, looking around.

The Strigoi , Az replied, sounding awed. They’re adding their energy to ours.

My eyes flew open, my mind whirring. “But they can’t,” I said aloud, taking in the sight of the weakened Strigoi around us. “You have to stop,” I told them. “This… this will hurt you. It might kill you!”

They’d been abused and battered for too long. I could feel the frailty of their kingdom, see the withered energy reserves of inner souls.

It’s their choice, little angel, Melek said into my mind, his internal voice strained. They’re supporting their king and queen.

Not like this, I thought, ready to force them to stop.

But another geyser of strength soon followed, the owner of it outside.

Ghouls , my soul whispered. Or maybe it was the Source. Because I could see their energy strands now, my heart recognizing their origin.

Just like I saw the Strigoi now, too.

It all came to me in an array of light and color, the magic beautiful and unique as it wrapped around us and flowed into its fallen king.

I was momentarily struck by the sight, unable to respond, and only more taken aback when additional currents of energy flowed up from outside as portals began to open.

My connection with Typhos and the Hell Fae Realm helped me identify them, my mind sensing their auras and recognizing them instantly.

Because I was married to this world now. Mated to the Hell Fae King. Bonded to his Source through one of my own.

It was utterly unexpected. But all I could do was embrace it and use it.

My mind connected to everyone here, their essences flowing into me like I held some sort of beacon. And maybe I did. Maybe it was the stone. Maybe it was just me. But I let their power build mine into a maelstrom of energy that I released back into the realm, into the Source I’d been creating.

It just kept building and building, creating a new light. A new purpose. A new star.

But that star desired more .

My soul required all of my mates.

Typhos, too.

Because a queen needs her king…

With a snarl of fury, I sank my fingers into his plumes again with one hand and pressed my opposite over his chest with the death stone near his heart.

I closed my eyes and commanded my mate to return to me.

To be here.

To wake the hell up.

And be my fucking king.