Page 71 of Hell Fae Warden

He nodded. “Yes.”

My stomach dropped, and I felt like I’d been teleported by Melek’s magic all over again.

I supposed it was better than being put in a dungeon.But is it?I wondered.Do I want to be this close to the Hell Fae King?

A shiver traversed my spine, rendering my limbs stiff as I forced myself to follow Melek. I didn’t know what to say or what questions to ask anymore. I was too lost in my own confusion to focus.

Melek said something about a certain hallway that I didn’t quite catch. The wordplayroomwas all I caught. And I didn’t bother to ask for clarification. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what type of “playroom” the Hell Fae King would entertain.

We kept moving for what felt like hours but was really only minutes.

Just to come to a new hallway with more Hellhounds. But these weren’t chained up to the fiery walls; they were sitting on leather platforms. And many of them were in their human forms.

I blinked at them, then startled as a tuxedo-clad Hell Fae wandered by with a Hellhound on a long lead.

“Um…” I watched the Hell Fae head down the corridor we’d just exited. “Is he going to be punished like the others or something?”

Melek glanced back at me, his eyebrows flying upward. “Punished?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Like the Hellhounds in the other room that were chained up to the fiery walls?”

He stopped walking and faced me. “They’re not being punished. Hellhounds like fire. And they take commands better in their canine form.”

One of the Hellhounds nearby snorted, his beady black eyes meeting and holding mine as a ball of fire formed in his palm. I half expected him to throw that burning inferno my way, but instead he tossed it to the shifted Hellhound across the room.

Who proceeded to catch the fiery sphere in its muzzle and crunch down while wagging his tail in excitement.

Then he sprinted on four legs toward the other one and tackled him to the ground, the two engaging in a wrestling match of man versus flaming dog.

“See?” Melek sounded amused. “They’re very playful creatures. This is one of the rooms Lucifer has gifted them on this side of the palace to relax in while on break. Their security wing is a good mile away, and while that’s nothing for a Hellhound, many of them prefer to chill here instead.”

“Security,” I echoed. “Hellhounds are the primary security for the palace.” That made sense. “But they need leashes?”

“As I said, they obey commands better in their canine form. But they can be messy creatures, their penchant for fire frequently causing destruction. It’s easier if a Hell Fae helps them swap posts.” He shrugged and started walking again.

Melek was being uncharacteristically forthcoming, which told me he was likely preparing me for something. I’d learned a little bit about his tells after the last however many days or weeks we’d spent time together. Everything he did and said had a purpose. This was no different.

And he had yet to say anything about Lucifer’s intentions for me. That couldn’t be a mistake—he didn’t want to comment on it for a reason.

I just wished I knewwhy.

My fingers itched for a knife, something to help protect me from whatever was coming, but the sharpest items on me right now were my heels.

Heels that continued to click loudly across the blood-red floor.

The next part of our “tour” included a walk through a trophy room—which had way too many skulls in it. Then Melek showed me the kitchens, both staffed and self-serve, and a few reading nooks, as well as various libraries stacked with books.

It didn’t surprise me that Lucifer appreciated literature.

Probably because I’d become familiar with one of his books.

I started to notice a pattern as Melek showed me around—every room had some sort of incredible art piece or statue in it. Sometimes Melek commented on them; sometimes he didn’t. But when he did remark on a piece, it was always related to Lucifer in some way.

“Ty commissioned this about two thousand years ago to commemorate the creation of the Underwater Kingdom.”

“This was created to honor Ty’s negotiation with the Mythos Fae. The collection of hands represents their monumental agreement, but if you look at it this way, you can see that it forms a cage. A very telling piece of art, some would say.”

“The Hellhounds made that for Ty. It’s… well, it’s unique. But Ty cherishes it, which is why it’s in his favorite library.”