Page 140 of Hell Fae King
Virtuous Fae were creationists. She would have the ability to master any being she’d created in the past, including her Nightmare Fae.
But Vivaxia hadn’t manifested the Strigoi. Another Virtuous Fae had done that.
So how is she controlling them?I pondered, still ignoring whatever she was saying to the room.
Her words didn’t matter.
Her actions, however, spoke volumes.
She’d somehow ensnared me and all these Strigoi.
I ran my gaze over her, searching for clues, and again noted how she stroked the throne with those deadly-looking fingernails.My conduit.
I’d been considering it earlier, realizing that her connection to Nos was clearly purposeful.Because he uses my power in place of a Sigil, I thought.
But it had to be deeper than that. I hadn’t granted him enough energy to enslave me. So she was garnering her strength from something else. Something even more powerful.
Something like Vita,I thought, my heart stopping.Camillia pushed my essence into Vita and…
I frowned, my mind trailing off into nothing.
Which didn’t make sense.
It was like my brain had formed a wall that I couldn’t pass through.
Because of Vita… something with Vita.
Something with these fae.
Something with Vivaxia controlling everyone and everything in this room.
Not just by the power of the throne, but… but by the power of various Virtuous Fae.
I blinked, that concept seeming to come out of nowhere.
Yet I felt it now, the strands of energy she was manipulating—strands that didn’t belong to her. Or they shouldn’t, anyway.
It was as though she’dabsorbedthe essences of others.
Like I did with my parents, I realized, the memory assaulting me with a vengeance.
A memory that had once been locked away in Vita. I’d released it recently, but not quite like this. The vision now hit me like a punch to the heart.
I must have visibly reacted to the invisible hit because Vivaxia tsked, the noise reminding me of nails on a chalkboard. “I wonder how many more of you have to fall before he’ll even try to retaliate,” she asked, drawing my focus back to the room and noting three fresh bodies on the floor.
One belonged to Nos, his shriveled skin reminding me of a husk.
The sight of it stole my breath as another recollection assaulted me.
A recollection that starred my own parents in a similar state. They’d resembled husks, too. Husks that had broken apart under a soft breeze, turning their remains into dust on the wind.
As though to remind me of that moment, Vivaxia bent and blew out a breath in Nos’s direction, causing bits and pieces of him to flake off his dried-up form.
Then a fourth body collapsed, the Strigoi gripping his throat as agony spilled from his lips.
The guard, I recognized, his eyes meeting mine.
Betrayal and agony lurked in the depths of his dark eyes, his words from before playing through my mind.
