And that had been before our bond was in place.
Now, he was downright possessive of us. Yet I’d felt him tempering his instincts, telling his bird towait. But I suspected he would explode soon.
Part of me was looking forward to that explosion. It would be hot and dangerous.And orgasmic.
But another part of me was terrified of it.
Because that explosion would burn the connection into our souls, cementing it for eternity.
And then there would truly be no turning back.
Not that we could break the bonds anyway, but the moment I accepted our fate, the second I let the intensity of it inside me, everything would change irrevocably.
Assuming Lucifer lets me live, I thought sourly.
Ignoring his summons probably wasn’t my wisest move, but I needed him to understand that I wasn’t his to command anymore. Zakkai had restructured my connection to the Midnight Fae Source, to allow me entry into the Hell Fae Realm.
But I wasn’t a Hell Fae.
I wasn’t the Hell Fae Warden.
And I wasn’t part of Lucifer’s inner circle.
Truly, I belonged nowhere.
Although, Shade had made it clear that I was more than welcome to remain in the Midnight Fae Realm—indefinitely.
“It’s odd that you would provide him with a spell that would harm the Hell Fae Commander, Melek,” Zenaida said as the Hell Fae Prince appeared. “I imagine there was a lesson involved of some kind?”
I frowned.Wait…Melekprovided the spell?“The card said it was from you,” I interjected before Melek could comment. “And there were cookies.”
“The cookies were from me.” She smiled. “The spell was not.”
My teeth ground together as I glared at Melek. “You put the card there?”
He wavered a little, his gaze searching the sky for a moment before he shook his head. “Not quite. Or rather, not directly, anyway.”
“You gave it to Shade,” I muttered, shaking my head. Of course Melek would seek out Shade. Those two could probably take down monarchies all over the fae realms with their shared penchant for meddling.
“Hmm,” Melek hummed, neither confirming nor denying my guess. “The Midnight Fae Palace is quite fascinating. All that magic. Even now, I can feel the residual kiss of power. Almost as though I left some things behind… which I suppose I did. Certain agreements, anyway.”
I arched a brow at his gibberish. “Agreements?”
“Ancient things,” he murmured. “Don’t worry. Az will handle it.”
Both my brows hiked upward. “He’ll handle what, exactly?” I stalked toward him. “What did you do?”
“Careful, Ajax. Camillia is safe,” Zenaida interjected. “But you won’t be if you keep the Hell Fae King waiting for too long.”
“She’s right,” Melek agreed as I stared him down. “On both counts. But I assure you, Cami is fine. I would never do anything to hurt her. Or you. We’re all connected now. Our souls. Harming you or her would be akin to harming myself, which I’m not going to do.”
That reveal gave me pause.
He’s bonded to Cami.
I already knew that.
What I hadn’t considered was how my bond to Cami would be linked to Melek. Just as my bond to Az would link back to Lucifer.
