Page 38 of Hell Fae Warden

“To an alternate reality again?”

“No, it’s opening to an ocean in our Human Realm. But it’s acting like a vortex. At least twelve dragons were caught up in the creation and swept out of our world. King Neptune has already unleashed a search party.” He shuddered out a long breath. “Two of them were found dead, perhaps from the impact of being sucked into the portal.”

“So it’s forcibly pulling Nightmare Fae out of our realm?” I translated.

“It seems that way, yes.” He swallowed, then drew back to stare down into my eyes. “Where have you been?”

“I went to see Cami,” I admitted, not wanting to lie to him. Normally, I would have tried to disguise my activities with something playful or cryptic, but that wasn’t what Typhos needed right now. “I’ve been with her for the last ninety minutes or so. She needed some healing and some food.”

Typhos expression hardened. “Where were Ajax and Az?”

“Battling in a Midnight Fae courtyard nearby.” I slid my hands down to his neck, holding him to me. “It seems our Commander lost control of his Phoenix.” Something that hadn’t surprised me. I’d noticed he was throttling his animal when he’d visited Ty earlier, and I’d guessed that it was Cami-related.

Typhos growled under his breath and tried to pull free from my grip.

“This is good, my king,” I told him. “It means Cami had nothing to do with the portal. Otherwise, I would know.”

“Perhaps notthisportal, but what about the other? What about the source?”

“Two portals in our world in such a brief time suggests a pattern, yes?” My fingers locked behind his neck. “I doubt she would be responsible for one and not the other. Additionally, she has nothing to gain from a portal. The source, however, may be a different matter.”

He stopped trying to yank free from me, his dark blue eyes locking on mine. “She told you something interesting.”

“She told me something interesting,” I echoed, confirming his statement. “Something you’re not going to like.”

Something I’d intended to keep to myself for a while, but with Ajax already being aware of her truth, it wouldn’t be wise to hold this information back.

Moreover, these details would be better coming from me rather than someone else.

“Your book showed her the source of your power.” There was no mincing the truth or wrapping it up in riddles. We didn’t have time for that, and I needed Typhos to focus and listen to me, not play a game.

“What? My book?”

“Vita,” I confirmed, causing his eyebrows to hit his hairline. “That’s why it keeps running off. It’s been visiting Cami.”

“And you’re just now telling me this?”

I lifted a shoulder. “It wasn’t relevant before.”

“Not relevant thatVitaistalkingto a candidate?” He looked ready to kill me. “Melek.”

“I’ve been monitoring the situation, my liege. Cami originally picked it up in the library to look for a way to break your deal. But she’s since been using it to learn certain things. As you know, the book has a mind of its own. It shows Cami what it wants her to learn, not what she’s actually asking to see.”

He gaped at me, his expression telling me he needed a minute to process this. “Fuck,” he breathed. “That’s why you chose her,” he realized aloud. “Because she can read the book.”

I smiled. “One of many reasons, yes.”

“She shouldn’t be able to read it.”

“I know.” Only Ty, Az, and I technically could. “But she can. I’ve seen her do it several times.”

“And each time you witnessed this miraculous act, you failed to mention it to me?” he demanded.

“As I said, it wasn’t relevant before.” Not exactly true, I just hadn’t felt it was pressing information to share yet. Now… now it unfortunately was. And Ty was taking the news about as well as I’d expected him to.

“An outsider being able to readmybook is always fucking relevant, Melek.”

“I wanted to see where it would go before I said anything.”