Page 18 of Hell Fae Warden

She grunted. “You stopped long enough to orgasm at least.”

I spun around to face her, furious at the accusation underlying those pointed words. “Are you trying to sayIusedyou?”

“Maybe you did.” She shrugged and immediately regretted it when one of the snakes sank its fangs into her upper arm.

This time I didn’t weave a spell to help numb her to the pain, too furious by what she was implying. “Youusedme, Camillia. You tricked me into bed and then escaped while I was in the shower trying to clear my head. Don’t even think for a minute that you can turn this around on me.”

She bit her lip, her eyes tearing up from the fresh wound in her arm.

Yeah, snake vines hurt.

But they only bit those with nefarious motives, and clearly, Camillia De la Croix had those in spades.

“I didn’t use you,” she gritted out, wincing as the snake finally withdrew from her skin. “Fuck, that burns.”

I scoffed at her claim and rolled my eyes. “No, you just snuck out while I wasn’t paying attention, then fucked off to some untraceable realm for fun. All the while not giving a fuck what would happen to me or Az when Lucifer found out.”

“Why would I care?” she demanded in a low whisper that sounded similar to the snakes hissing around her. “It’s pretty fucking clear that neither of you cares about me. So why should I care about either of you?”

Well, she had a fair point there.

Because I didn’t care about her. At all. Not even a little bit.

“Hmm, I suddenly see why you called in a truth spell request,” Shade said as he appeared beside me. “But now I’m not sure who it’s meant for.”

I glared at him. “About fucking time.”

“Actually, I think my timing was absolutely perfect,” he drawled, his black cloak billowing around his legs like a perpetual dark shadow. Appropriate, given his name. His ice-blue eyes shifted toward Camillia, his gaze assessing her like prey.

She glowered right back at him. “Keep your fangs to yourself, vampire.”

He laughed dryly. “Who knew you had such good taste, Ajax?”

I rolled my eyes. “Did you bring what I need or not?”

“Sort of,” Shade said vaguely as he started circling Camillia. “You chose a fitting location for this, Ajax.”

“Did I?” I asked, already bored by whatever riddle my best friend was about to weave.

“After all, Aflora and I had our first date here,” he continued, acting as though I hadn’t spoken. “And look how happy we turned out to be.”

“This isn’t a date.”

He glanced up at me from behind her, his expression exuding a confusion I knew wasn’t real. “She’s naked and bound by snake vines, Ajax. Perhaps I’ve been hanging out with Kols and Zeph too long, but that certainly sounds like a date to me.”

“I would never use snake vines on Aflora,” a deep voice interjected as a door appeared in the wall, the outline glittering with emerald magic.

Warrior Blood enchantment, courtesy ofZeph, I thought, suppressing a groan.

“Now, regular tree vines? Yes,” he said, stepping into the room.

He tsked at the sight before him, making my shoulders tighten in annoyance. I’d never been a huge fan of the Warrior Blood, but he and Shade were mated to the same female, making him a necessary evil in my life.

“Proper domination grants the submissive true control.” His green eyes narrowed at Cami’s bound form, specifically at the bleeding snake bite on her arm. “I’m surprised she hasn’t safeworded you yet.”

“That would require myprisonerto have a safeword,” I snapped at him. “This isn’t a date or some kinky bedroom play. This is an interrogation.”

“Interrogation makes for great foreplay,” a third voice murmured.