Page 21 of Hell Fae Warden

When I figure out how to get out of this mess, I’m going to kill Ajax,I decided, closing my eyes to hold my burning tears at bay.

“Impressive.” Zeph’s deep baritone made his voice easily decipherable. “I know Warrior Bloods who can’t even handle that.”

“Is there a reason you’re punishing an innocent?” the other male asked, giving me pause.

I nearly opened my eyes to gape at him, but I didn’t want to be tricked into revealing my tears.

“Innocent?” Ajax scoffed. “She managed to escape Lucifer’s trials and disappeared for thirty days without a trace. She isnotinnocent.”

“You mean a female fae ran away from the bridal trials she was forced into against her will?” Zakkai rephrased. “That’s incredibly shocking.” His deadpan tone coaxed me into peeking at him through my thick lashes. “And that also does not make her guilty of anything other than desiring free will.”

All right. Zakkai might be intimidating, but I would absolutely buy him a beer at a bar if he wanted one.

“She used to me to escape,” Ajax said through his teeth.

“That sounds like a disgruntled lovers’ spat, not a reason to strap an innocent to a chair and threaten her with snake vines,” Zakkai returned, his wand appearing in his hand as he whispered a spell that surrounded me in a cloud of cerulean smoke.

I gasped in relief as my lungs expanded on a full breath—the first one I’d taken since the snakes had appeared.

“This isn’t your interrogation, Zakkai,” Ajax snapped.

“Wrong, Death Blood. It became mine the moment you reached out for help.”

“I didn’t askyoufor help.”

“No, but it’s my help that you clearly need.” Zakkai sounded regal in his reply, his tone befitting a king. “Now get on with your questions before I get bored.”

The cloud disappeared, causing my eyes to immediately shift downward. The snakes had been covering my nudity before, and without them, I expected to be completely exposed.

But no.

I somehow wore a tank top and jeans.

My fingers ran over the fabric, half expecting it to be a mirage. However, it was definitely real. And it was the most clothing I’d been given since this hell had started last week.Nope. Scratch that—over a month ago.

“I think I would have preferred Kolstov in this situation,” Ajax muttered.

“Kolstov is busy seducing our mate.” Zeph’s voice seemed to deepen impossibly more with his words. “Which I would prefer to be watching over this interrogation. So I agree with Zakkai—get on with your questions beforeweget bored.”

“Fine.” Ajax looked at me, his dark irises going to my now free hands before narrowing upward at my face. “What happened thirty days ago?”

“Thirty days ago?” I repeated. “I have no idea. I was probably in class or doing homework.”

His brow furrowed. “I thought you said she was ready to be questioned?”

“She is,” Zakkai replied as he leaned back against the stone wall behind him.

Ajax shifted his glare to the Source Architect. “But she’s still lying.”

Zakkai held his gaze without flinching. “Or you’re not asking the right questions. What has she said so far?”

“That she doesn’t know anything,” Ajax summarized.

“Which is true,” I inserted. “He keeps asking me how I escaped, and I don’t know how I escaped. I wasn’t actively trying to go anywhere. I mean, I wanted to, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t actually attempt to leave.”

Ajax pointed at me. “See? She’s still lying.”

“She’s not,” Zakkai said before I could speak. “I would feel it in the energy if she were, and she’s not even trying to lie to you. She’s telling the truth.”