Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

by Lexi C. Foss

  A shock wave of spirit flashed out and slammed into my chest. Exos and Cyrus were ready and held off the attack. Exos shoved out with raw power, making Ophelia’s eyes roll back in her head.

  “Sleep,” he commanded.

  Ophelia collapsed, and Claire caught her just before her head slammed against the wall. She glared back at the Spirit King. “Was that necessary?”

  Exos didn’t flinch or respond to her censure. “It’s as I feared. Her mind can’t handle the two decades of torture Elana has put her through. We’re going to have to get answers a different way.” He shared a look with his brother. “We could go into her mind…”

  “No,” Claire said with finality. Exos might be a king, but Claire’s gaze burned with a regal authority of her own. She held power over the five elements, not to mention our hearts. “We’re going to do this my way, Exos. Nobody is touching her mind ever again.”

  When Claire struggled to drag Ophelia’s limp body back to the bed, I left the shadows and gently took the woman from my mate’s arms, then draped the frail female over the sheets as carefully as I could.

  “Thank you,” Claire whispered, taking my hand and guiding me out of the room. “Call me if she wakes up,” she called over her shoulder, the words a demand, not a request.

  I couldn’t help the grin that formed at the edge of my mouth. I loved hearing Claire boss around the royal brothers.

  And their responding smiles said they felt the same, even if they didn’t agree with her.

  Vox and Titus followed us into the living area, where Claire began to pace.

  “That went well,” the Fire Fae said, crossing his arms and settling his gaze on Claire. He looked as if he wanted to go to his mate, to comfort her, but Claire was too shaken for the unbridled raw emotions Titus inspired in her right now.

  She needed something solid, a rock she could hold on to.

  As if hearing my thoughts, she stopped by my side. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close and kissing the top of her head. “It’s going to be okay, little flower.”

  She nodded, then melted into my embrace. “I know. But I need to be here when she wakes up again. There are things she can tell us, things that can help us, and I don’t know if she’ll talk to anyone else.” She flicked her gaze to Exos and Cyrus as they entered. “And she won’t be able to if they just knock her out every time she screams.”

  “She’s suffered intense pain and torment, Claire,” Exos replied, unapologetic. “Her mind is unreliable, which means defensive energy is our only approach until we can ease her into her new reality.”

  “He’s right,” Cyrus agreed. “I can’t even begin to understand what she’s endured these last two decades. And I can’t decide whose situation is worse—hers or Mortus’s.”

  “They’re equally bad,” Titus muttered. “Have you seen how lost he is out there?” He gestured to the makeshift sparring grounds outside. They were empty right now due to the evening hour. But his point was made.

  “It’s bad,” Exos agreed. “They’re both in rough shape.”

  “Which leaves us without additional information on Elana,” Cyrus added. “Luckily, we’ve learned a lot from those books. Such as the source of her power.”

  “Which is?” Claire asked, her brow furrowing.

  “The death fields,” Exos replied, glancing at his brother. “The spirit energy she’s imprisoned there is used for sacrifices to the dark arts, particularly death magic. Fortunately, she can’t access it anymore.”

  “And unfortunately, that means Exos is her new target,” Cyrus added, narrowing his gaze at the Spirit King. “I gave you a day, brother.”

  “And I said we would discuss it after the matings were done,” he gritted out through his teeth.

  “We’re on a time clock here and—”

  “Wait,” Claire interjected, cutting off Cyrus. “You set yourself up as bait?” Her voice broke on that last word. “And didn’t tell us?”

  “I needed a way to guarantee she’d come here,” he said. “Now she has one.”

  “Which would be great if we were better prepared to receive her attack,” Claire countered.

  He didn’t appear at all fazed by her combative tone. “My choices were to shut down her access or allow her to continue feeding her dark energy, and the latter didn’t feel like a great option. So I did what was best for the Spirit Fae—what was best for all of us.”

  “What do you mean by ‘feeding her dark energy’ with the death fields?” Vox asked, his dark brows furrowing.

  “The Spirit Fae plague wasn’t a plague at all,” Exos explained. “It was a way for her to trap the souls of dead fae, to use as fuel—sacrifices—for her death magic.”

  “You’re certain?” I asked.

  He nodded. “And from what I can tell, it’s what she’s been doing to the Earth Fae. She’s been slowly stealing their lives and putting the remnants of their souls in the fields. Refusing to grant them access to the afterlife.”

  Vox frowned. “As Spirit King, can’t you just release them all?”

  Exos shook his head. “No. Not without undoing her magic. The best I could do was block her access to the souls by placing a spirit shield over the entry point.”

  “Which will make her come after you.” Claire dampened her bottom lip, considering. Then sighed. “You still should have told us.”

  “You’ve been a little preoccupied with your matings, princess,” he replied softly. “Which was more important to all of us.”

  “But how am I supposed to mate Sol tonight with my mom being in a spirit-induced coma and the very real threat of Elana’s impending arrival?” She glanced up at me, her eyes filled with sadness. “It won’t be fair to mate you tonight with my mind preoccupied by everything else.”

  I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I understand, little flower.” It broke my heart not to complete the bond with Claire, especially when she needed my earth to fully ground her. But Claire was right; these distractions would damper our joining and ruin what should be a joyous experience. “We’ll postpone the mating until after things have cooled down.”

  “But she needs to complete the circle,” Exos interjected. “It’ll strengthen her.”

  She shivered in my grasp like a leaf about to tear itself from its tree, defying his words. “Not in this state,” I argued. “Mating tonight while all of this is weighing upon us will taint the bonding.”

  Exos eyed us both, then blew out a long breath and shook his head. “Damn it.” He glanced at Cyrus.

  “He’s right,” his brother said softly.

  “I know,” Exos agreed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I know.”

  “We’ll figure this out,” Cyrus vowed. “All of us. But first, I suggest Claire spend tonight with Sol to at least absorb what she can through the bond.”

  I nodded. “I’ll give her whatever she needs.”

  “But you need your element, too.” She tugged on my shirt, demanding my attention. “You only give me what you can, Sol.”

  “Okay.” I kissed her forehead. “But I have a lot of power.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Sol.”

  “What? I do.” I lifted her up into my arms, loving the way her butterflies seemed to flutter around me in response. “I’ll prove it.”

  “Yeah, go prove it,” Titus encouraged. “But try to get some rest with Sol. We’ll watch over your mother in case she wakes again.”

  Vox, Exos, and Cyrus all nodded in agreement.

  “No more fainting spells,” she said, aiming the words at the two Spirit Fae.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Exos drawled, winking at her.

  I started walking toward my bedroom before she could argue, not wanting to waste another moment of our time together. We might not be mating tonight, but we could bond in other ways.

  Claire seemed to agree, because her dress dissolved the moment her body hit my bed, the oversized mattress large enough to accommodate my size. My gaze raked over her.
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br />   She curled under the sheets like a seed settling into the earth. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light awarded by the window. “Sorry,” she murmured. “The butterflies were starting to itch.”

  I smiled, peeling away my clothes and joining her, to add warmth to the cool sheets.

  She settled against my chest and draped a leg over my thigh.

  “I’m here for anything you need,” I said, stroking her bare shoulder.

  She tucked her chin against my neck and breathed in, then exhaled, and her breath swept goose bumps across my skin.

  “Fuck, Claire, don’t do that, or I’ll be here for more than you need right now,” I said as my cock reacted to what she did to me.

  She giggled and snuggled closer, wrapping her arms as far as she could around my chest. “Sorry.” She didn’t sound very apologetic.

  I took three long breaths and tried to bring to mind images that would calm the rumble in my chest.

  Hmm.

  Glacier—hate his face. He’s so not good enough for Aflora. But I knew better than to tell her that.

  Oh, Titus melting my stone around my ankles. The bastard had made me look like an idiot.

  “Do you think Vox will join us?” Claire asked, interrupting my attempt at a mental distraction. Because just the thought of Claire between Vox and me had me rock hard.

  I shifted my weight. “Do you want him to?”

  She pondered the question, then rested her head on my chest, her hair splaying over me. “I think I just want to rest. For now. It’s been a long few days. Weeks. Months.” She laughed softly. “You know what I mean.”

  I did. But I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

  “We can rest,” I agreed, stroking my fingers through her hair.

  She fell quiet for so long that I thought perhaps she slept.

  But I felt her eyelashes moving against my skin, her mind clearly racing.

  “What are you thinking about, Claire?” I asked, drawing my thumb down her spine and back up again.

  Her breath feathered over my skin, reminding me of a warm solstice breeze. “She was so scared, Sol,” Claire whispered. “I… I could feel what Elana did to her.” She made a fist and shivered, the sensation reverberating against every inch of me. Because I knew what she meant, understood how spirit could scar the soul. “Elana’s going to pay, Sol. For this. For what she did to the Earth Fae. For everything.”

  I tucked her closer into my side, wishing to shield her from the darkness her words evoked.

  But Claire was right.

  Elana would pay for what she’d done.

  And soon.

  Claire

  Fire licked across my skin, burning a path along my soul, branding me in death.

  I fought beneath the restraints, my hands bound behind my back.

  Elements whirled around me. Chaotic. Frenzied. Unbalanced.

  And the winds roared overhead.

  “She’s coming, our queen,” a dark voice whispered, the cackle that followed eliciting a trail of goose bumps down my arms. Only to wither and die beneath the fire.

  “She’s coming,” it repeated, singsonging in my thoughts. Inky wisps of smoke twirled along my nostrils, leaving behind an acrid stench. “She’s not alone.”

  Another tendril wrapped around me, bathing me in the scent of the dead.

  “We’re coming,” an echo taunted. “Run, run, while you can. We’re coming for you.”

  I flew upright on a scream, my body drenched in sweat. “She’s coming!” I shouted, sounding like the remnants of my nightmare.

  But it wasn’t a nightmare.

  I knew deep down it was very real.

  Those creepy-crawly things were on their way here.

  A hot arm wrapped around me, eliciting another shout from my lips, my fight instincts roaring to life.

  “It’s me!” Sol said, jolting away from the flames flashing across my body. “Shit.”

  He waved his hand around, the skin burned from my carelessness. I immediately soothed it with water and spirit, mending his wound without even realizing my intention. He gaped at it in shock. “How did—”

  Exos threw open the door, Cyrus right beside him. “What the hell is going on?” my spirit mate demanded.

  “She’s coming,” I said urgently, apparently unable to say anything else.

  “Elana?” Cyrus asked.

  Vox and Titus appeared behind them, looking half-asleep.

  Which, yeah, it was the middle of the night. But… “We need to prepare. Right now.”

  They all shared a glance, and I knew what they were thinking: How do you know it’s not just a dream? Well, I knew. I couldn’t say how. I just knew.

  “Trust me,” I urged. “Please. We need to prepare the grounds. She’s bringing the dead with her.” I couldn’t explain how I knew that either. Or what those things would look like. But their stench still lingered in my nostrils.

  Real.

  Lethal.

  Things.

  My mates nodded as one, choosing to believe my instincts. “Right,” Cyrus said first. “We all know what to do. Let’s sound the bells. See you all on the main grounds.”

  And so it began.

  The beginning of the end.

  I felt it in every fiber of my being.

  Tonight was the night.

  I’m ready.

  Cyrus

  The moon blurred beneath an uncustomary cloud, confirming Claire’s claims. The elements were warning us of the future lurking beyond the horizon. Death drifted in the air, the earth uncharacteristically silent.

  “Soon,” I whispered to Vox, aware of the currents lingering around my mouth, awaiting my command.

  He nodded from the other side of the quad, acknowledging he’d heard my warning, and relayed it to his fellow Air Fae.

  A chill swept goose bumps up and down my arms, leaving behind an inky sensation of doom.

  Water Fae stood at my back, awaiting my signal.

  While Sol and Titus hid with their respective ranks.

  We had a good idea of what to expect, thanks to the texts from Kols and to Claire’s previous death experiment with Elana. It seemed the old Chancellor was playing with animated corpses. And from what Claire described of her dreams, those were exactly what we could expect to arrive any minute now.

  Exos stood at the top of a tower, Claire lingering at his side.

  He was the bait and she was his knight.

  How the chess pieces had shifted. But our mate had demanded a front-row seat, her powers the strongest among all of us thanks to her access to all the elements. If only we’d been able to complete her mating to Sol.

  Alas, there wasn’t time.

  Not with the approaching army of dead coming for my brother.

  Mortus cleared his throat, and I glanced sideways at the shell-shocked professor. “Yes?”

  “I can feel her,” he said softly, grimacing. “Like a leech searching for the souls it’s touched before.”

  That didn’t surprise me. We’d agreed before this began that I’d be knocking him out if I suspected for a second that Elana had ahold of him. Hence his position beside me.

  I poked his spirit with my own, found it as shattered as before, and nodded. “She’ll either swoop in quickly to take you over or she’ll leave you to the wolves.” My bet was on the latter. Mortus had served his purpose, his mind and body resembling a broken puppet after Elana’s manipulations. There weren’t many resources left for him to offer her at this point.

  Ophelia was in the same boat.

  Which was why we left her unconscious at the Spirit Quad. A handful of Fire Fae had agreed to guard her. Not that we expected it to be needed.

  No. Elana wanted Exos.

  And my brother was standing at the highest point, essentially offering himself up for her to kill.

  Anyone else, and I’d call him an idiot. Fortunately, I knew better than to question Exos’s strategy. I trusted him. As did Claire.

  “Tit
us and Sol are ready,” River announced, meeting me on the field to take his position.

  “Good.”

  We’d set a little trap for Elana, one Sol and Titus had constructed together. The rest of us were merely the lure, to ensure that her minions came to the right spot.

  She’s here, Claire said suddenly. I can’t see her, but I feel her darkness everywhere.

  I followed her line of thought to the spirit plane and noted the dimness approaching the source. Yes, I agreed, pulling back to focus on our surroundings. “She’s here.”

  “Where?” River asked.

  I shook my head. The darkness lent her a supreme advantage, something she played on as more fog and clouds filled the sky, removing the moon from our view.

  “It’s time,” I whispered, nodding at Vox.

  He bowed his head in acknowledgment, communicating to his squadron.

  The hairs along the back of my neck rose.

  A whistle of foreign energy glided through the air.

  Followed by the acridness associated with the dead.

  There! Claire shouted into my mind. By the forest line.

  I narrowed my gaze, seeing the shift of smoke. But another glimmer near the opposite edge of campus caught my focus just as Vox said, “Behind us.”

  She’s approaching from all angles, I told Claire, saying the same out loud. She means to divide our forces.

  A smart tactic. One that would work if we weren’t all in communication in some manner. “Luring these monsters isn’t going to work. River, tell Sol and Titus to move to their secondary plans. They’ll understand what that means. Go. Now.”

  “On it,” River said, taking off for the rock tunnel manufactured by the Earth students. It appeared to lead underground, but didn’t. The clever fae had carved it into a hill, one that rested above sea level, thereby allowing the fae inside to maintain their access to the elements while hiding beneath a sturdy shelter.

  I rolled my shoulders, preparing for the inevitable. Darkness continued to fall as the smog painted over the light above, shrouding us in a sea of black.

  But I had a contingency plan.

  One that would light up with my signal.

  Closing my eyes, I called upon the source of both my elements, weaving them together in an intricate web of life and ripples of tranquility.