Page 162 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“What child?” Axel asked, trying to keep the panic from his tone. There is no way they could know about Kat.

Bree held her glass out, the blood gone, and let it be refilled with wine. “Surely the rumors swirl in the kingdoms as they do here. About what the Villas are truly for?”

“I know what they are for,” Axel said tightly. He’d been there a few times with his father, and while he’d never taken part in the activities there, his father sure as fuck had. So had Theon and Luka, although the partners he saw them take to private rooms were always Legacy with an enchanted ring on meaning that was likely very consensual. But of course he knew about the forced breeding that went on in the upper levels of the Villas.

“And the rumors of the hidden villas?” Bree asked before taking a healthy gulp of her wine.

“What hidden villas?”

“Axel, darling,” she chided. “You expect me to believe an heir of a kingdom does not know of the hidden villas?” When he just blinked in confusion, she tsked under her breath as she took another drink. “The hidden villas are where they cross Fae and Legacy, sweet one.”

“That’s forbidden,” he said immediately.

Her head tilted, silky, dark hair slipping over her shoulder. “That’s what they want you to believe, isn’t it? I have found the most ridiculous sounding rumors tend to carry the most truth. Ask Mansel.”

Axel’s gaze slid to the Legacy across the table from him, and the smirk on his face told Axel he wasn’t going to like anything he was about to learn.

“Well?” Axel demanded when Mansel continued to stare back at him. “Speak.”

“You are out of your element, little heir,” Mansel sneered.

And then he was choking on shadows as Axel’s power leapt across the table, slamming into the male and shoving his chair back from the table. “And you forget your place,” Axel snarled. “You think just because you are down here and inherhouse, you are more than I am? I am still above you, and the Underground is still my domain.”

“For now,” Mansel choked out.

His shadows tightened, Mansel’s eyes bulging a little as Axel picked up his glass of blood and took the smallest of sips. It tasted nothing like her. This was lukewarm and salty. A water Fae no doubt, and it made him want to spit out the small sip he’d swallowed.

“And even when I cannot control the shadows that are keeping you from breathing, I will still be stronger than you, Mansel. I will still be more than you in every possible way. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The male was glaring at him, but he finally gave a sharp jerk of his chin and Axel released him. Perhaps it was a waste of his power, but fuck had it been worth it. He glanced over at Bree to find her eyes glittering with delight, and that satisfaction faltered. This was exactly why she wanted him at her side.

Mansel’s hands were clenched into tight fists where he still sat a few feet away from the table. When Axel’s shadows started drifting towards him again, he gritted out, “The hidden villas are where Fae and Legacy bloodlines are crossed in an attempt to create stronger Fae.”

“And what happens to the young?” Axel demanded.

“Depends on if they were a request or not.”

“A request?”

Mansel nodded. “The rulers request certain…combinations. To add to their defenses or to replace a Source. If they’re powerful enough, they are used to further the research.”

Further the research.

What in the actual fuck?

“And you were part of this?” Axel asked sharply.

When Mansel’s eyes flicked to Bree, Axel turned to her as well.

“He was,” Bree said. “With Valter’s Source. As he mentioned, we do not know if the results were favorable, but suspicions are they were.”

“You are telling me Eviana has a child? Thatyousired?” Axel asked, looking back at Mansel.

His smirk was back. “That darling Fae does whatever Valter tells her to do, like the good little Source she is. It took a while to get her under control, but we did it. Would have done the same for Theon’s Source if he hadn’t been so godsdamn territorial.”

“What happens to the rest of them?” Axel asked, ignoring Mansel. “The other half-Fae, half-Legacy young that are born?”

Bree shrugged. “We don’t know because it’s all rumors and whispers. If they’re not powerful enough, it is said they are killed. If they are a coveted combination, the rulers work something out.”

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