However, I’d learned long ago that fretting about the negative never resulted in anything positive.
So I accepted what had happened. Accepted that I wouldn’t mind a repeat. And accepted that I still wanted to leave.
Perhaps those items didn’t correlate appropriately.
But that was an issue to think about another day, as I needed to focus on the next trial now.
“Does that mean our rest day is done?” I asked, unable to keep the hopeful note from my voice.
He thumbed through the moondial for a moment before nodding. “We can use after hours to train. It’ll be easier to engage the death…” He trailed off, his brow furrowing. “Fucking Shade.” He sat up, the muscles of his abdomen flexing in an alluring manner that almost distracted me from his comment.
“Death? Shade?”
He shook his head. “An old friend. He brought me a death stone, and now I know why. Always meddling.” He ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair, the strands falling in a manner that seemed appropriate for the bedroom.
Upon catching my gaze, his own eyes narrowed. “Look, Cami. This—”
“Was fun,” I finished for him, not wanting to do this right now. “But I want to know more about thisdeath stone, like what it’s for and why we need it.”
He studied me for a moment, then cleared his throat. “I still need a proper shower. Then we’ll discuss.”
I very nearly offered to join him to conserve water and to learn more, but he was already rolling out of the bed. “This isn’t happening again,” he said from the doorway without looking at me. “You’re not my candidate.”
I arched a brow. “Who said anything about beingyourcandidate? I don’t even want to beacandidate?”
He lifted his blue-black eyes to mine. “You’re a Hell Fae Bride, Cami. That’s not going to change.”
“We’ll see.”
“Just because we fucked—”
“We didn’t, actually,” I interjected. “And that’s not what I meant. I told you, Ajax. I’ll survive this. I’ll find a way out.”
He sighed. “You won’t.”
“I will,” I corrected him. “And in the interim, I’ll have some fun.” I glanced pointedly at his bed and then at him. “Now go take your shower. I want to learn more about thisdeath stone.”
His jaw clenched, but he must have realized it was a futile argument because he left.
Which was good.
Because I almost suggested we havefunand then go play with the death stone.
An irrational plan. However, that didn’t make it any less enticing.
I pinched my lips to the side.Right. I needed to ignore the ache between my thighs—one that had seemed to come alive the moment I’d woken up and found Az in the room—and focus on the trial.
On surviving.
On finding a way out of this hellish mess of fate.
I flopped back down and winced as my head landed on the book. Glancing sideways, I saw the telltale edge of the leather binding. “Where do you keep going?” I asked the text as I rolled to the pillow beside it—the one Ajax had just been using. It smelled like mint and pine, making me sigh in contentment.
Then the book opened to reveal an image of a bookshelf.
I blinked at it. “Is that where you go?” I startled. “Wait… you can understand me?”
Several pages fluttered, revealing an ancient language that seemed to morph into words I understood in the next instant.
