Page 4 of Hell Fae Warden

Every muscle in his body was coiled as if he were about to strike.

The air distorted around him and wavered in submission. Even his dark hair softly flared out on the ends like feathers.

Or daggers,I thought, shivering.

It wasn’t just the tension in the room that made it feel like I couldn’t breathe. It was Az’s magic, too. It plucked at me as if he had a molten hook inside my soul that he somehow controlled. Each movement left an ache inside of my chest, making me feel as though it wasn’t just the rope bindings holding me down.

Tears burned at the edges of my eyes, but I didn’t dare shed them. Crying solved nothing. And something told me it wouldn’t sway the male before me in the slightest.

This was Az the Commander, not Az the lover. Not that I knew either side of him well. But I much preferred the latter to the former.

He circled me, that deadly-looking blade still in his hand. Twirling. Repeatedly. Just inches away from my skin.

I swallowed. That was the same knife he’d used on me during sex. Well, not sex, technically. But our…playtime.

Only now I suspected he wanted to cut me for entirely different reasons—reasons that had nothing to do with sating Ajax’s vampire-like hunger.

The Az from just a few hours ago was long gone. Replaced with a beast that seemed to think I had proved to be more trouble than I was worth.

Because apparently I’ve been gone for thirty days.

How is that even possible?

And how do I do it again?

Because if their accusations were true, I’d somehow escaped the Hell Fae Bride Trials. Which had been my goal from the beginning.

Lucifer had made a deal with my parents for my soul, forcing me into a battle I wanted no part of—the battle for a Hell Fae husband.

No, thanks.

I’d been holding my own, though. Mostly. All the while trying to find a way to break Lucifer’s deal with my parents, or flee.

That made my statement of innocence unlikely to be believed, considering I’d vowed to Ajax that I would find a way to leave.

“I’ll survive this,” I’d told him. “I’ll find a way out.”

“You won’t,” he’d replied.

Apparently, I’d been right. I just had no idea how I’d managed it—something he was never going to believe, as evidenced by the way he lurked near the door to this windowless room and stared at me with unblinking blue-black eyes.

I could barely see him in the darkness of the room, his power seeming to blend into the shadows around him. Only a single torch lit the small space, and even its flame appeared to struggle against the deep chill in the air.

“How long can we stay here?” Az asked, his intense gaze on me despite speaking to Ajax.

Where ishere, by the way?I wanted to inquire, but I didn’t. Whereverherewas, it was cold. Or I told myself that was the cause for the goose bumps pebbling across my skin. It certainly had nothing to do with the two handsome men holding me captive.

Ajax’s dark cloak neatly shielded his body as he pulled a wand from the inner pocket. It flared with purple magic, suddenly brightening his perfect face.

A shiver traversed my spine as I took in his raw, unhidden emotions.

Fury.

Savagery.

Barely restrained rage.

“As long as we need,” Ajax said as his magic scented the stale air with fresh pine. The purple glow swept around the four walls of the room, lighting up each brick until it was everywhere.