“You’re being too generous. What’s the catch? You never take that collar off me in your realm. And you’re using fine magic to seduce me,” I accused, arching a brow.
War grinned, grabbing my hand. “I’ll show you,” he said, and pulled me through the mirror.
We stepped into a forest straight out of a dream—sky-high waterfalls, giant glowing moths, and tulips in purple, blue, gold, and pink, all towering over six feet tall. “I saw Azarion here with Clover in my dream,” I told him.
“It’s his birthplace. The forest gave birth to him, using the elements of the land to fuel his magic. But this is just an illusion—a mirror image of what used to be, before it was destroyed. This was the original Charmden, back when only the fairies lived here,” he replied, a trace of sadness in his tone.
I looked up at War, surprised to see horns sprouting from his head—taller, thicker, and deadlier than mine, with tiny, glowinggear symbols spinning inside them like wild clockwork. He was so beautiful, so striking, I could stare at him all day like he was a painting.
He grabbed my hand and led me through a bed of towering flowers. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. “Azarion didn’t have parents? He just rose from the ground?” I asked, still mesmerized.
“No. Charmden was his parent. And when you don’t obey them, they’ll punish you and take back every gift they ever gave. But you already know how ruthless they are. So you teach yourself to build your own world, create your own clan, study the elements—prepare for what’s coming. My parents stripped me of my magic in front of my whole clan and handed my position to Hoax. A coward. He slithered into my world and dethroned me because they were scared. And because of their betrayal, their land and people suffered. The fairies—those nurturers—worshipped Hoax because they thought he killed me. Everyone I protected, they killed my spirit. They fucking betrayed me! But my clan, the humans I taught magic to in exchange for their souls, they were loyal. They protected my ashes for a hundred years so I could come back. And in the end, some weak-ass elf who didn’t know shit about defending his realm stole my life!” War’s eyes blazed, burning like fire.
I reached out to him, half-afraid he’d snap at me. “Your heart is broken,” I whispered.
War let out a bitter chuckle and turned away. “Fuck all of them muthafuckas. I sleep like a baby on titty milk, knowing their president’s killed more fairies than I ever did,” he said, stalking toward the waterfall.
I followed, feeling a pang of sympathy. “Who killed Clover?” I asked.
“Dove killed her out of jealousy. But she and Hoax were in it together—the whole thing was his scheme from the start. Hoax wanted to conquer Charmden, and Dove played right into his hands. It was all a hoax,” he said flatly.
“Why didn’t Charmden just get rid of him?” I asked.
“Because you can only unmake what you’ve made. I was born from Charmden’s roots, so the land could strip me of everything. But Hoax… he was never theirs to begin with. He came from somewhere else. The forest couldn’t touch him, no matter how much it wanted to. And after I was gone, he wielded that dragon fire staff. It bound the people of Charmden to his will, made them prisoners in their own home. No one—not the land, not the people—could lay a hand on him after that. It was their karma,” he replied.
I flew after War, shifting into my fairy form. When I landed on his shoulder, my wings buzzing in his ear, he shook his head. “Knock that shit off,” he grumbled, sounding annoyed.
I kissed his cheek, feeling his body relax beneath me. I crossed my legs, hitching a ride on his shoulder. “Can I ask you something?”
War sighed, sounding agitated. “Can you get off my shoulder? I’m getting flashbacks,” he said, but there was a hint of playfulness in his tone.
“Flashbacks of that bitch, Clover, huh?”
“Why you stay hating on a headless corpse?”
“Because I feel like I’m getting the leftovers. My question is, why did they punish you? I’m still confused about what you did wrong.”
“I created Hex13 through sacrifices. Humans had to offer their souls to me to become warlocks. I got hooked on dark magic,” he admitted.
I floated off his shoulder, hovering in front of him until he stopped. “You were punished for dabbling in wicked shit, War. What the hell did you think was going to happen? That type of magic is supposed to be forbidden in Charmden.”
“It was the only way I could keep my magic—be reborn without needing their damn forest. The wind started blowing different, the forest lost its green, the birds didn’t sing like they used to… I felt Charmden turning on me the second Hoax stepped into our world. I had to be ready, and I was right. The dark magic I used didn’t come from Charmden, and that’s why the land couldn’t touch it. It operated outside the laws of the forest—outside anything Charmden could control. I was made to kill, not to have a family, a wife… nothing. My purpose was to protect. All those lives I took, the realms I ruined… it fucked me up. They created a monster, and when I started scaring muthafuckas, they decided they wanted a skinny, long-faced, mushroom-smelling elf to be the peacemaker,” he ranted, his filled with anger and pain.
War walked into the pool beneath the sky-high waterfall, all of his sexy nakedness on display, muscles flexing under the spray. I flew high above the ground, wings catching the mist, and dove in with my knees to my chest like a cannonball. My miniature frame barely made a sound when I pummeled into the water. As I swam back to the surface, War’s massive handscooped me out, setting me on a slick, mossy rock under the falling water.
“You look like a child. Go ahead and turn back,” he said.
“No, I don’t! Demon boy,” I shot back, grinning, water dripping from my hair.
“That’s why I kept that cuff on you, so you wouldn’t try this,” he replied.
I stood on the rock, hands on my hips, breasts bouncing, wings twitching with irritation. “Wait a minute. You literally call me your lil’ pussy fairy but you hate when I turn into one?” I leaned in, teasing, trying to read him. “Is that Cashaun speaking to me? I feel like he would be the only one who doesn’t like my fairy form since he grew up as a Hex13,” I pried, searching his face for a crack.
“Stop trying to figure it out. I don’t like it because I have too much dick for that form,” he said, smirking, but there was a flicker of something softer in his eyes.
I sat back, stretching my legs, water beading on my skin. “Is sex all you think about?”
“What do you want us to do? Get to know one another? The moment I saw you, I knew your whole lifeline. Do you expect me to take you out on a date? That’s a waste too because you have all of this nature. Nothing is better than being in this type of realm,” he said, spreading his arms wide.
