I’d forgotten about that, because after the death of my parents, my powers had been altered. Not by Vivaxia, but byme. I’d been a siphon only very briefly because I had permanently broken that part of myself, changed it into something different that wouldn’t be as dangerous.
No one knew how my parents had died. I wasn’t from a royal line—or any family of notice, even, when it came to the Virtuous Fae—so my family had been forgotten. I’d also moved to the central city, seeking to escape a past I’d longed to forget.
But I remembered the parents I’d lost, even if it had only been in Vita’s pages.
And now my power leaned on an eternal source of energy.
My raw emotion.
I had created an entire realm from my grief. There was power in emotion, especially such deep-seated pain that manifested into raw energy when in the hands of an immortal.
Turning the page again, my heartbeat quickened. I walled myself against Melek and Azazel so they wouldn’t sense my discomfort.
Because they couldn’t know how Vivaxia had managed to create Camillia.
Not until I confirmed it.
The next page wasn’t an image but a script that was a memory of a discussion I’d once had with Melek long ago.
I didn’t want to remember.
But if I was going to face the future, I first needed to recall the past.
Many,many years ago…
I stared at Melek’s beautiful face.
Gorgeous.
Breathtaking.
And yet, I barely recognized the male I intended to mate. His multicolored irises exuded a hatred that I’d never witnessed before. A hatred that had my heart beating rapidly in my chest. That day had been the only time he’d ever looked at me like he hated me.
When I brushed his mind, all I felt was disgust.
But the words he’d just spoken… the bold statement he’d just uttered…
I swallowed.
“You… you slept with her?” I asked, not even sure how I repeated his claim without screaming.
Or killing someone.
He said he fucked her. Why would he do that?
And yet, I had just found him naked in her bed.
Exclusivity wasn’t always a requirement between us, but sex with Vivaxia was a betrayal. She was devious and powerful and had the ability to rip apart life from the inside out.
I wasn’t mated to Melek, not fully. Although, we had been planning it, once it was safe to do so.
Melek knew my history. He also knew I would never risk overpowering him or consuming him like my energy craved to do.
Now, it wouldn’t be possible to attempt if what he was telling me was true. If he was compatible with Vivaxia, there was no way a final mate-bond between us would work on an ethereal level.
Because I would never be able to risk being connected to her. Not even for him.
Melek scoffed as he flicked away hair that had fallen in front of his face. His wings behind him flared with challenge, when they were usually soft and supple, curling around me with an intimate embrace.