Page 121 of Hell Fae Prince

Vivaxia wasn’t even home, as far as I was aware, but I had come early after reading an urgent note from Azazel saying that he was being sold.

I couldn’t let that happen.

And when I had found her mansion empty except for the scent of ambrosia, I never expected to find my lover in my rival’s bed.

I should have been tipped off by the utter lack of servants or guests. Vivaxia was flamboyant with her status and was rarely alone, unless she was playing a game.

Melek stood, letting the sheets fall from his naked body.

“You’re one to judge,” he said. “I saw the deal, Ty. I know what you’re planning to do with Vivaxia. How you lied to me about wanting to mate me, and only me.”

“Melek—” I began, not having a clue what the fuck he was talking about.

He snarled as he cut me off. “No. You sent me on a fool’s errand to search for some flaming text.” He grappled for a book on the nightstand and held up the tome in question. The one my mother had favored. The one I desired to repurpose as a text-like catacomb for the important notes from my mind.

Anger flared in my chest when Melek held the book up by the cover, not the spine or as a whole, just haphazardly dangling the item between us from his fingertips.

“I was hunting forthisall while you were here engaging in another infamous deal, one meant to tie your soul to hers. Well, now my energy is tied to hers instead.”

My heart skipped a beat.The mating bond. He’s initiated the mating bond.

I couldn’t sense it. But I… I had never known Melek to lie.

I shook my head, not wanting to believe any of this was happening. How life could take a turn so damn quickly.

Melek was from one of the noble families, and we had fallen in love despite all my efforts to not let anyone in. I’d promised to mate him.

Yet he’d… he’d seen adealthat had suggested otherwise.

And he’d believed it? After everything we’d been through?

Fuck. We’d been studying my magic for years, learning how it worked and how I could wield it.

That had led us to crafting dealstogether.

I ran everything by him. Every caveat. Every clause. Every agreement.

Yet he’d lost all faith in me over a piece of paper that suggested otherwise. A document that stated I wanted to mate Vivaxia. “Let me guess,” I said through my teeth. “Vivaxia showed you this deal?”

“Of course she did,” Melek bit back. “She thought I should know the truth, which is more than I can say for you.”

I grunted. “Melek?—”

“No,” Melek hissed with a vehemence to his tone I had never heard before. “I’m done, Typhos. Let this be the last memory you have of me.”

He threw the book on the floor and stormed out, leaving me without a backward glance.

I’d stood there for hours, unsure of how to proceed or how to fix this.

His lack of faith in me had broken me. His energy mingling with Vivaxia’s had shattered me. And his easy dismissal had infuriated me.

When Vivaxia waltzed into her bedroom some time later, I was still there. And I’d been so incredibly vulnerable.

Vulnerable enough to sign the deal that soon led to my fall.

A deal that had changed us all.

I closedVita’s cover with a thud and stared at it as the truth seeped into me. It left me feeling trapped, like the walls were closing in around me.