Page 35 of Hell Fae Warden

When I got to the part about the book appearing and showing me Lucifer falling through the sky, I paused and added, “You were there. You were smirking.”

He nodded. “Yes, because I knew what Ty was about to do.”

I blinked. “Wait. You mean this was real?”

“Of course. Everything in the book is real,” he replied, canting his head to the side. “You grew up in the Human Realm. Surely this story reminds you of another famous one the mortals like to believe?”

“You mean, the religious one about a fallen angel sent by God to rule Hell?”

“The very one.” His lips curled. “A lot of human folklore stems from some realistic experience. In this case, Ty’s legacy has been morphed to scare human children into repenting for their sins. But he doesn’t mind. Much, anyway.”

“So you’re saying what I saw really happened? Even the part about touching a light source?”

His shoulders stiffened. “What part now?”

Right, I hadn’t gone into that detail yet. So I wrapped up everything I saw of Lucifer’s fall and how the vision had changed into me being drawn toward the hot bulb of power and how I’d been compelled to touch it. “But then the strand changed colors, and the energy grew…violent.”

I told him how I’d started to run, which had eventually led me to waking up in my old college room.

And how Ajax and Az had shown up a few minutes after that.

He stared at me for a very long moment before saying, “You told Ajax this?”

“Yes. As well as Zeph and Zakkai.”

His eyebrows rose. “The Midnight Fae consorts to the queen?”

“Yeah, they were helping Ajax with his…interrogation.Although, they were much nicer about it than he was. Zakkai gave me these clothes.” I glanced down at the plain tank top and jeans. “He also got rid of the snakes.”

“I see.” Melek sounded thoughtful. “Did they say anything else?”

“Not really. They just asked me how I felt about Ajax and Az, and then Zakkai asked about my parents.”

“What did he want to know about your parents?”

“Their ancestry, I guess. I told him my dad is a Hell Fae and my mother is human. But he seemed to question that.” I frowned. “He also kept saying I’m powerful. And he told Ajax to tell Lucifer to call him when he’s ready to figure things out.”

Melek hummed again. “Interesting.”

“I take it Ajax hasn’t passed that message along yet?”

“No, but he’s otherwise occupied at the moment. And I’m not sure he understands the gravity of what you’ve revealed.” He waved his hand over the dishes to make the empty plates, used napkins, and bottles disappear.

“That sounds ominous,” I said, his words weaving dread through my thoughts. “Have I done something wrong?”

“No. But Ty may not realize that.”

Another menacing statement. “Except you know I didn’t do anything wrong, so that… that has to count for something, right?” I couldn’t hide the unease in my tone.

Nor did he attempt to dispel it.

Instead, he studied me with unreadable eyes, his expression giving nothing away.

“Thirty days ago, you managed to escape without a trace. However, that’s not the only thing that happened. A portal was opened in the Netherworld Kingdom that allowed several Nightmare Fae to go on a romp through an alternate reality.”

“Okay… And this happened at the same time…?”

“Yes. It all happened concurrently when Ty noticed a darkened strand in the Hell Fae Source.” He stared at me. “A darkened strand that appeared to have beentouched.”