A soul like Emelyn’s.
In many ways, Ajax’s view of this was simplistic.
Camillia was his. Therefore, she must be protected.
My Phoenix bristled in the back of my mind, clawing at the barrier of my soul in firm agreement. He wanted to fix this.
Whereas Typhos, my king, wanted tofinishit.
That was something I wasn’t sure I could accept. Which was why I’d stood against him tonight. I’d felt his shock at my taking Melek’s side, but on this, I agreed with the Hell Fae Prince. Killing Cami would be rash. I’d witnessed her burst of power, her enigmatic energy, and saw an ally, not an enemy.
She’d helped fix the barrier.
Yes, she’d used Typhos’s powers to do it, but she could have used them for something far worse. Why punish her for doing the right thing?
I sighed, my gaze wandering to the little Halfling at the center of all this chaos.
She appeared so fucking innocent on the couch. He’d tucked the blanket over her bare breasts, but the material was thin enough to give me a full view of her luxurious form. Her beaded nipples disturbed the folds of the fabric, begging for attention.
My mind easily slipped back to when she’d been essentially naked in the cage at the club. All of her delicious skin had been on display and?—
Grrrr.
My Phoenix growled in the back of my mind, interrupting the memory, but not just because he wanted me to fuck her. No, it was more proprietary than that. His perception was possessive.Instinctual.
Andpissedthat so many other fae had seenhisfemale in such a vulnerable state.
I studied her features as I tried to understand this fascination that my Phoenix held for her.
Well, maybe not just my bird, but me, too.
She was stunning. Intelligent. Strong. A survivor.
Despite her disqualification from the trials, she was a Hell Fae Bride by every definition of the term—but she was something so muchmore,too. Her multicolored hair didn’t seem to agree if it should be blonde or brown, the mixture of tones intertwining the silky strands together as they framed her angelic face.
She appeared so vulnerable while asleep, but her brows furrowed as if even her dreams weren’t free of endless trials.
The urge to smooth the worry from her brow all but consumed me. Yet, my loyalty to Typhos, my mate and my king, kept me in place.
Mate,my Phoenix echoed, but his word was intended for the beauty on the couch, not for Typhos.
The divide in my loyalties shook me to my core, making me tremble with indecision.
My Phoenix pulled me toward the female, while my past demanded that I follow orders.
Mate,my Phoenix insisted again. My teeth ached with his desire to bite her.
But that would mark her as mine—permanently. It would be a betrayal that Lucifer would not forgive because it would put him in an even more delicate situation. He already had Melek to contend with; he didn’t need me involved, too.
Besides, I was stronger than my primal instincts, wasn’t I?
Maybe.
The desire seemed to be growing by the day, my Phoenix irritated by my refusal to listen to his irrational need. He’d been this way since he’d taken over the other day, his cravings blending with my own and confusing my senses.
If I bit her, I could truly protect her, but the claim would destroy everything I had built with Typhos in the process.
My chest tightened as I struggled to breathe again.
