Page 80 of Hell Fae Warden

“So you may call me Lucifer,” I concluded. “For now.”

CHAPTER18

AJAX

Camillia hadno idea how big a deal it was that Typhos Lucifer had just given her permission to address him by his surname.

I’d worked for him for nearly eight years before he’d told me to drop the formal address and call himLucifer. And that was leagues before many, many others.

Hell, even his lieutenants typically referred to him asmy liegeandmy king.

The only reason I’d been brought into the inner circle was because I had a relationship with Az.

So I supposed it made sense that Lucifer would grant Camillia similar leeways, what with her having a very clear connection to Az, me, and Melek.

But after the disrespectful way she’d behaved, it was even more astonishing that he would allow this familiarity to grow between them. She’d called him thedevil, which was a nickname he despised. Az had warned me long ago never to even whisper the term in the Hell Fae Kingdom, or Lucifer would hear it.

Yet she’d basically referred to him by that name, and he’d responded by saying, “You can call me Lucifer. For now.”

Well, he’d said a few things before that. However, it was surprising nonetheless.

Camillia held out her hand. “I’m Camillia De la Croix. My friends call me Cami. Your people call me Candidate Sixty-Six.”

Typhos smirked and took her hand. “I’ll be calling you Camillia.” He turned toward the sofas, his gaze flicking around the room again as he grimaced.

I understood because I’d slept in this room before with Az. Melek had definitely redecorated with Camillia’s tastes in mind.

Minus the stripper poles.

Those were absolutely for Melek. Although, I wouldn’t complain if Camillia wanted to shed her clothes and swing around a few times.

In fact, she could easily do so right now—just drop the robe and climb up the pole.

But instead she sat beside me on the couch while Lucifer took over the adjacent sofa. His long legs parted, his muscular form appearing regal against the black leather, as though he’d just created a new throne for his intimidating presence. Because only Lucifer could maintain a domineering stature while sitting down with a book resting against one thick thigh.

Cami pulled her legs beneath her, completely unfazed by lounging in a robe. She actually seemed more concerned with her damp hair, her fingers running through the dark blonde strands as though she longed to tame them.

I had the sudden urge to find her a brush and offer to comb her hair for her. Thankfully, my mouth was smart enough to refuse the urge when it tickled my tongue.

Because no.

I was not going to offer to brush her hair.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

“This is the book you’ve been reading, yes?” Lucifer asked, breaking the silence, his gaze on Camillia.

“Yes. It appears to me at random, then hides. And sometimes Melek has it,” she replied, causing Lucifer’s eyebrow to twitch upward. “I mean,PrinceMelek.”

“Has my Melek been using you to help the candidate?” Lucifer seemed to be talking to his book and not to Camillia because he stroked his hand over the leather binding while he spoke. “What exactly has he told you to show her, hmm?”

The pages fluttered, the book opening on its own to display a blank canvas. I frowned at it, wondering what that meant. But when I glanced at Lucifer, he seemed to be reading.

“Quomodo tame a bestia,” Lucifer read aloud with a smirk. “Beast-taming spells.” He glanced up at Camillia. “You didn’t use any of these.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Because you forgot them?” he pressed.