Page 55

MELEK

C ami was fucking magnificent.

The way she took charge and mastered the powers around her, intertwining them through the air and into a breathtaking star of power was… perfection .

I held her in my arms, feeling her energy mingling with everyone else’s auras, weaving a masterpiece for the Hell Fae Realm.

All while Ty continued to sacrifice his light.

But I felt Cami’s intentions, understood what she planned to do.

You’re not going anywhere, my king, I thought at him. Because our queen needs you. We need you. And Cami isn’t going to let you die.

I could sense it in her resolve. The Hell Fae King had met his match in Camillia De la Croix. She wouldn’t let him sacrifice himself and become a martyr. She was going to reinstate him as our king and make him her mate.

It was the most amazing sensation in the world to observe and experience. I wasn’t sure how Cami had done it, how they had mated, but I felt it in my heart. They were joined, not just by the Source or their royal statuses in the Hell Fae Realm, but by their souls.

It was a bond unlike any I’d ever witnessed. Not Virtuous Fae. Nor was it Hell Fae. It was simply them.

Ty and Cami.

Our king and our queen .

I kissed the back of Cami’s neck as my wings formed to curl around us in a protective cocoon. Ajax nestled in as well, one hand on her hip as his other rested on Ty’s thigh.

Power hummed between us all. Az, too, from his position across from me. His hands were on Ty, but his violet eyes were on Cami.

She was the center of our universe. Our world. Our Goddess .

And she was reviving our king.

Ty pushed back, his energy dwindling. But Cami leaned down and pressed her mouth to his to literally breathe life back into him.

He fought her, his light blinking in and out of existence.

I swallowed, my heart slowing with his. Come on, Ty. You’re a sadist, not a masochist.

He didn’t react other than to take one final breath, the sound far too quiet. Far too ominous.

Ty, I snarled at him. I will never forgive you if you do this. And you can forget me loving Cami for you. That’s your responsibility. She’s your queen. So wake the fuck up and take her the way a king should.

“ No ,” Cami said, making me blink. “You’re not doing this. I refuse.” She fell over Ty, her breasts pressing against his back as the two collapsed on the ground with me right behind them. Feathers and skin and fire blended in a mystical mix of redefined power.

Ajax and Az were there, too.

All five of us were locked in some sort of starlike swarm of energy that was growing violently around us.

Cami was at the center of it, her essence spinning in waves of fiery light .

The Source , I thought, amazed.

She’d… she’d tugged it out of existence, into this very room—assuming we were even still in a room. Actually, we might have left it. I couldn’t see anything beyond the blinding white star that was Camillia De la Croix.

Whirling.

Burning.

Forming a cyclone of intensity.

One she shoved into Ty with a force that had his back bowing in response.

With a sharp inhale, he spun their positions around on the floor and grabbed Cami by the nape, his eyes open yet narrowed. “You do not command me, my queen,” he told her as he settled between her parted legs.

“Yes, my king, I do,” she replied as she shoved more energy inside him with her palm.

No.

Not with her palm.

With the death stone .

I blinked at it, confused by how she was using it in this manner. That stone contained souls. It was a literal prison, one that siphoned spirits from a corporeal host and captured them inside the rock.

She’d used that stone before to amplify her power. However, this… this was on a whole different level.

Ty growled, but she kept hitting him with power.

He shoved it back.

So Cami did it again.

The two of them engaged in a duel underlined in vitality, their souls manifesting a star so bright it blinded my eyes.

A new Source , I realized.

Or rather, a renewed one.

More robust. More powerful. More balanced .

Because it came from all of us.

Az. Ajax. Ty. Cami. All of the Hell Fae Realm .

It was being fed by everyone’s sacrifice, everyone’s willingness to work together, everyone’s cohesive love for their world and what it represented.

Holy fae, I thought, admiring the stunning display of togetherness. Of respect. Of a realm joined by mutual goals and affections.

This was the world Ty had created. A world where everyone was accepted. A world where everyone cared .

And now they were showing him what that meant to them.

They’d never doubted him as their king. They’d worried, yes. But their worry had been founded on love for the fae that had protected them all their lives.

It was the most unselfish and divine coming together of a faedom that I’d ever seen.

It’s what the Virtuous Fae used to be , I realized, feeling the warmth from that world shining down upon us now. A realm of love, peace, and equality . Our very own utopia .

Unfortunately, the screech that sounded in the distance told me Vivaxia didn’t appreciate this development.

She’d wanted all of Ty’s light.

Yet Cami had prevented him from giving her the last sliver, and it seemed the Source was returning to Ty with a vengeance.

Not just Ty, I thought. Us…

It was reviving every part of the realm that Vivaxia had touched.

Replenishing the Nightmare Fae with their inner lights.

Strengthening Ty.

And emboldening Cami.

All while they fought on the floor, their competing natures creating more light. More energy. More life .

They were both so fucking stubborn. Ty with his resolve to sacrifice himself. Cami with her determination not to let him.

A balance of purpose.

The grounding of a union.

Our Hell Fae Queen and Hell Fae King .

Ty growled. Cami growled back.

And then they were kissing, their mouths seeking dominance over one another.

Ty would win. But Cami wasn’t going to make it easy on him, something she proved by palming his chest and driving even more power into him.

He responded by mastering her with his tongue and flattening her to the ground as flames shot up all around them.

Az sat back to admire the show, as did Ajax.

But I kept my eyes trained on the scene, trying to decipher exactly where we’d ended up.

Not in the cavern. Yet we were also no longer in the Strigoi throne room.

And that ground I thought Ty had pinned Cami to… wasn’t the ground. It was a wall of power.

My eyes widened. We’re in the sky.

My wings instantly splayed out at my back as I locked a hand on Ajax’s arm, preparing to fly for us both if needed. However, the Source simply rolled around us, guarding us in its light, and gradually returning us to the hard surface below.

Where Ty continued to devour Cami on the actual ground.

Either they couldn’t hear Vivaxia shrieking from somewhere nearby, or they didn’t care.

I lifted my hand to shield my eyes as the Source brightened even more, only to disappear in a flash.

Except it hadn’t actually vanished. It’d… returned to the realm’s core.

Spreading love throughout the kingdoms, creating safety, and empowering its beings once more.

It was invigorating and perfect and utterly virtuous .

Just like Cami.

Although, the way she was kissing Ty right now wasn’t all that innocent. She bit down to draw blood, causing him to growl against her mouth. “I’ll never submit,” he said against her lips.

“I know,” she breathed. “You’re a king.”

“I’m your king.” He kissed a path to her ear. “Which means I’ll bow occasionally. For you.”

I arched a brow. Oh? You’ve never bowed for me, my king.

We both know that’s not true, little prince, he replied without missing a beat.

Then he started kissing Cami again, like he couldn’t help himself. Perhaps now you see why we all fell for her, I drawled.

Magic fucking pussy , he returned. But I heard the humor in his voice, as well as the underlying groan. Because he wanted to be inside her. To fuck her. To claim her.

And she desired the same.

However, her mind was also processing their surroundings and paying attention to the electric currents in the air.

Fascination stole over me, only to turn to horror in a blink as I sensed Vivaxia’s darkness coming right for Cami and Ty.

Their names left my mouth as a shout, but the two of them were already moving. Ty’s wings flared around him and Cami, his hands on her hips as they faced the incoming swarm of angry energy.

It didn’t even look like Vivaxia, just a mess of hornet-like spheres buzzing in a fiery hive.

But it was her.

Her essence.

Her soul .

She wasn’t welcome here. The gates may no longer exist, but this realm protected its own. And the Hell Fae Source was the ultimate beacon of power.

A beacon of power that Cami and Ty owned.

A beacon of power that Az, Ajax, and I guarded.

And that beacon of power didn’t approve of Vivaxia’s presence.

However, we couldn’t let the Source push her out. It might take thousands of years for her to recover, but she would be back. She was obsessed with Ty’s light, and Cami would be just as much of a target.

Which meant we had to find a way to imprison her. To destroy her corporeal shell and encapsulate her soul.

Ty, I started.

But a hush from his mind told me not to interfere. He was helping Cami focus.

I listened as she realized what she needed to do, the stone in her hand guiding her. Ty’s thoughts helped her understand what the rock was trying to say, too. I couldn’t hear him, but I could imagine what he was saying.

It’s a death stone because it imprisons souls and prevents them from moving on.

Which suggested she might be able to trap Vivaxia inside it, a realization that Cami was now making as the hissing hive neared us all.