“Instead, his thirst for power only grew,” she continued. “He started collecting pets from all the fae realms, offering them a kingdom to reside within so long as they bowed to his will. That’s why he forbade females from entering—it was a way to control the masses, to ensure they never mated.”
My mother nodded behind her. “It’s true, Camillia. Your father told me all about it. Not allowing mates was a way to keep his Hell Fae loyal.”
“And it worked,” my grandmother said. “For a long time.”
“Until some of the Hell Fae and Nightmare Fae started to question Lucifer’s real reasons for keeping them unmated,” my mother murmured. “That’s when Lucifer devised the Hell Fae Bride Trials.”
“It was brilliant, honestly.” My grandmother—No,I thought,Vivaxia—almost sounded proud. As though she respected Lucifer’s decision. “As with everything else, he crafted the perfect setup, one that he controlled. And he used it as a way to punish those who went against him.”
“Like your father,” my mother added. “He wanted to leave the Hell Fae Realm, and the only way to do that was to sign away his daughter’s life. You.”
I considered that for a moment, recalling the deal I’d read that had determined my fate.
My mother’s summarization matched what I’d seen—my father choosing his freedom over mine.
But something about this explanation didn’t feel right. It didn’t marry up to what she’d said during our tour, either. She’d told me that she’d used my father to create me… then she’d convinced him to sign the deal with Lucifer.
So which story was real?
The world flickered again, my mind seeking the truth. Seekingreason.
I’d been doing something before, too. Something inside me.Beating at a wall…
My eyes nearly widened, the thought crashing through my stilled state. I’d fallen under some sort of hypnosis, listening and believing Vivaxia’s words. Questioning what I knew. Questioning whether or not Az and Melek had told me the truth.
Typhos has been their mate for thousands of years,a part of me whispered.They would lie to protect him.
I almost agreed, the train of thought a dangerous one to follow.
But the use ofTyphosin the sentence gave me pause.
I didn’t call him Typhos.
I called him Lucifer.
My jaw tightened. Something—orsomeone—was in my head.
Magic swirled around me, foreign energy humming through my veins.
The wall,I thought, clawing toward it in my mind while Vivaxia continued droning on about Typhos’s fall, talking about how devastating it had been and the aftermath of his punishment.
“He broke all our vows, but the Source still believed in him.Westill believed in him,” she said, the depressed quality of her voice almost sucking me back into the discussion. “So our light followed Typhos into the darkness and tried to renew his purpose. But he never atoned for his sins. Instead, he kept our light, and our Source…”
The sky changed once more to display that polluted state, the gray colors unsettling me inside.
“Our Source shattered because of his selfishness,” she whispered. “He refused to come back to us, refused to listen to the light, and this is who we are now. Broken shells, waiting to be reborn in our glory once more.”
I stared at the polluted sky, the dimmed sun, the fractured wings at her back, and wondered what the true mirage here was—the utopia or the perceived pain.
Perhaps they were both lies.
Visions meant to manipulate.
A sea of dishonesty encased in a single incoming tide.
That tide was Vivaxia.
Her eyes gave her away. No amount of tears or frowns could hide the evil lurking within.
