Her nose crinkled with the words, making her appear adorably infuriated.
But rather than comment on that, I asked, “And then what happened?”
“Well, it showed me a star.” Her fingers went to the talisman, her thumb stroking the glittering gems. “And then it revealed a spell.”
So this is Melek’s meddling again,I thought but didn’t voice it aloud.
“I thought it was going to help me locate my father. Instead, it opened a portal. Except it wasn’t really a portal. Or I don’t think it was, anyway. Because it only showed Az and Melek. I tried to talk to them, but they couldn’t hear me.”
Her expression turned pensive again, her fingers still running over the talisman. I half expected her to try something nefarious, maybe utter another spell that would render me immobile while she escaped, but all she did was sigh again and release the star.
“Melek once said this was a conduit, so I thought that maybe it was a conduit for some sort of blood-tie and that the book was trying to tell me how to use it, you know, to help me find my father. Then I let my need for vengeance take over.” Her fingers clenched, her expression turning fierce.
Which, of course, had my cock reacting all over again.
This female is going to be the death of me.
“Anyway, the book tricked me, like it does, and showed me Az and Melek in a graveyard.”
“The Netherworld Kingdom,” I corrected. “It’s a land full of Corpse Fae and Death Fae.” It was supposed to be the site of the next trial a month ago, but that hadn’t happened after the Monsters Night chaos. “I was supposed to help you learn more about them for the bride trial.”
She slowly nodded. “I remember.” Her gray eyes flashed. “Because that was just a few days ago for me. Or a day ago. I don’t know. Time is really fucking with my head.”
“Well, everything is fucking with mine,” I replied, not bothering to hide my irritation. I wanted to believe Camillia, but it was a risk. Not because she might succeed in escaping, but because I didn’t want her to be able to hurt me.
I’d lived through more than enough pain in my life. I didn’t need any more.
But something about this woman had the cages around my heart threatening to shatter.
It wasn’t just that she reminded me of Emelyn, although that was a large part of it. Or, at least, that’d been the instigator of my interest. However, every passing moment with Camillia drew me to her even more.
Like now, when I should want to wring her neck for the stunt she’d pulled, all I actually wanted to do was kiss her. Worship her.Fuckher.
It was counterintuitive to reason. And it was making me feel insane.
“What was the spell?” I asked, curious as to what the book had supposedly shown her.
“Oh, um…” She frowned. “Invenire. Inveniunt. Aperi ianuam.” Her eyes flew to the wall as though she expected the portal to reappear, and when it didn’t, she released a relieved exhale. “Right. I have to be touching the talisman,” she said, seemingly speaking to herself. “Or…” She glanced at me. “Did you want to see it?”
I shook my head. “No, the words are enough.” And knowing that she needed the talisman to make it work told me what I needed to know, too. “That’s not Hell Fae magic.” I looked at her necklace. “And neither is that.”
Which meant this was all Melek’s meddling.Fucking prince.
“I don’t think the book is really Hell Fae magic either,” Camillia said, her gaze on the ancient text on the table. “There’s something very…otherworldly… about it.” She glanced back at me. “Can you read it?”
I shook my head. “No. The pages looked blank to me earlier.”
“So at least Melek told the truth about that, I guess. He found me in the library reading it on my first day here. I’d been trying to look for a legal way to break my father’s deal with Lucifer, and the figments brought me that book. But it didn’t help in the way I’d anticipated.” Her gaze narrowed at the item in question. “It never does anything that I expect.”
“Sounds like Melek,” I mused. “Except I can always expect him to do something devious.”
She snorted in response to that. “Every. Time.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “Although, he’s been a lot more forthcoming lately. Serious, even. Like when he was talking to Az through the portal window thing, he didn’t sound playful at all.”
“What was he saying?”
“Something about Virtuous magic.” She frowned. “Do you know what that means?”
I slowly shook my head, my lips curling downward to match hers. “No, I haven’t heard of that.” Which was troubling. Because if Az and Melek were discussing a type of magic I’d never heard of before, then it meant no one was supposed to know about it.
