It reminded me of how I’d felt yesterday—exhausted and just done.
Does she feel that way now because I caught her mid-escape? Or is it from the way I reacted?
Silence fell over us for a long moment, her throat working slowly as she swallowed small sips of the drink I’d crafted for her. By the time she finished, her quivering had subsided. A slight flush stole across her cheeks, providing her skin with much-needed color as she set the cup on the table.
Several more minutes passed while I waited for her next move, curious as to what she would try to do. But all she did was turn to look at me, her gray eyes cautious. “What happens now?” she asked. “Or is your spell tormenting me with waiting in suspense?”
“What spell?” I asked her.
She gestured toward the cup with her chin. “Thatone.”
“It’s already taken effect,” I told her. “You’re no longer shivering.” But it wasn’t actually a spell, just a warm drink.
She arched a brow. “You mean you were actually trying to help?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she asked incredulously.
“Because you needed it,” I admitted. “You seemed frozen.”
“Ifeltfrozen,” she replied, shuddering. Her attention shifted downward as she grabbed the talisman hanging from her neck. “It’s this thing. I don’t really understand it. Like how it deflected your cuffs or the cooling power it sends across my skin.”
Another tremor visibly shook her shoulders, causing her to bite her lower lip and wince.
I leaned back into the couch, my arm stretching behind her.
“It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not with you, Camillia.” I angled my body toward her as I brought my ankle up to rest across my opposite thigh. “And I’m really tired of guessing. Can we try for honesty? Please?”
She made a noise in the back of her throat and shook her head. “I haven’t lied to you, Ajax. Actually, I’ve been pretty upfront from the very beginning.”
“Then let’s begin again,” I suggested. “Tell me what you were doing with the portal, and I’ll attempt to believe you.”
CHAPTER21
AJAX
Camillia glanced at me sideways.“Attempt to believe me. Right.”
“I’m trying, Camillia. But none of this has been very easy. You—”
“You’re right,” she interjected. “None of this has been easy at all. From the very first moment that you dragged me to the Hell Fae Realm, it’s all been pretty fucking difficult. And as much as I want to blame you for it, I can’t. Because it wasn’tyourdeal. It was between Lucifer and my father.”
“Well, I’m partially to blame for capturing you and putting you in the paradigm,” I pointed out. It only seemed right to own up to my part in it.
“You were just doing your job. Just like you were doing it again when you tracked me down and interrogated me.” She shook her head once more and collapsed against the couch, her hair touching my arm. “My father is the real culprit.”
“On that, we agree.” Because she was right. She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her father’s bargain. “But I’m surprised you’re not blaming Lucifer, too.”
“Oh, he’s certainly part of it,” she said with a dry laugh. “But I don’t know. He… There’s something about him that makes me question his true motives.”
I nodded, understanding what she meant. “He’s an enigma.”
“He is,” she agreed.
Another beat passed between us before she turned a little to look at me, her gaze searching.
“I wasn’t trying to escape,” she told me. “The book was being insistent and kept landing in my lap, so I finally looked down at it, and it showed me a picture of my father.”
