AJAX
This is so fucking surreal,I thought, glancing around the Hell Fae Realm. It wasn’t being here that aroused that sensation so much as being here beside Lucifer.
He was walking and talking to me like an equal, something he’d done a bit before, but never quite like this.
And definitely not since the incident with Cami in that fucking chain-link dress.
What the hell are we even doing?I wondered, glancing around the fiery courtyard that surrounded the Hell Fae Kingdom Palace.
Lucifer is making a statement,Az replied, clearly having overheard my thoughts.
What kind of statement?I asked, wary. Because most of Lucifer’s “statements” involved punishments, and I really wasn’t in the mood for one of his infamous lessons.
The kind that’s meant as an apology, Az told me.
I nearly snorted.Right. Typhos Lucifer did not apologize. That would require him to admit fault.
Oh, he might have told me that I no longer had to mate him—though the offer, he’d said, was still there should I desire it.But that didn’t mean I believed him or the explanation that had accompanied his declaration.
“I realize now that demanding a mating under those circumstances was wrong. A fae should want to mate me, not do it out of obligation,” he’d said a bit ago. “But make no mistake, Ajax, I still want you in my circle. However, I realize I need to demonstrate that desire rather than force it.”
Kuro ruffled his feathers on my shoulder, drawing me back to the present. He’d arrived shortly after Lucifer’s proclamation, no doubt responding to my internal stress.
Because it was all too good to be true.
And just because he’d changed his terms didn’t mean he wasn’t planning to punish me in some way. I’d defied him. Chosen Cami over him.Lefthim.
He wouldn’t let that go unanswered.
He couldn’t.
Az sighed into my mind. However, he said nothing more. His ties to Lucifer clouded his judgment. Or that was my opinion, anyway.
Az disagreed, muttering something about how he’d put me first, but didn’t otherwise press the issue. Instead, his mind shifted to thoughts of Cami.
And Melek.
My hands curled into fists.
I might not be in the room with them, but I knew what they were doing.
Was I jealous? Yes.
But it went so much deeper than jealousy. I didn’t fucking trust Melek. However, whatever he’d said and done had made Cami feel differently.
I could hear her mind processing Melek’s intentions, could feel her arousal as she looked at him, could sense her interest inmore.
It had my teeth grinding together. Az’s, too.
Though, if it bothered Lucifer, he didn’t show it. He simply sauntered along the courtyard, head held high, and nodded at Hell Fae as they passed.
“Is there anything you’d like that I haven’t covered?” Lucifer asked, drawing me out of my thoughts and back to the deal he’d told me no longer applied. Instead, he was listing one-sided terms for me to accept.
Except, he hadn’t called them “terms” or referred to this as a “deal.” Just a way to comfortably restore my status, with no strings attached.
I’d believe that when it came to fruition.
Still, I pondered his question as we exited the courtyard and turned onto the main street that ran through the center of his kingdom.
