by Lexi C. Foss
That plan seemed more practical with every inhale, and not just because it would grant me answers. It would also allow me to keep this beautiful creature alive for as long as possible. I still couldn’t have her, especially now that I knew what kind of power she seemed to be harvesting in her blood. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a little fun, right?
“We’re going to keep this secret between us for now,” I told Aflora, nuzzling my nose gently against hers. “But it means you need to do exactly what I tell you in regard to your growing talents. Understood?”
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Because I’m not done with you yet,” I admitted on a whisper, my lips brushing the corner of her mouth.
Dangerous. Very dangerous.
But, oh, it felt good.
Too good.
This female was an ideal mate in every way. Or that was what my instincts told me.
However, my mind knew otherwise.
I’d made a mistake months ago of following my dick into a bad situation. I wouldn’t be allowing that to happen again, no matter how much it hurt to stop this little game.
Which was precisely why I rolled off of her and onto my back, my body tense with the need to do a lot more than chastely kiss her. “Now would be a good time for you to leave,” I said, my jaw clenching with each word. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
Aflora seemed to pause, but I couldn’t risk looking at her. Because if I saw even a single ounce of desire reflected in her gaze, I’d do a hell of a lot more than taste the edge of her mouth.
While I adored stretching my limits and testing my resolve, something told me this female would destroy all my maintained control.
Worse, I’d welcome it.
As the door softly shut behind her, all I wanted was to go after her, push her up against the wall, and devour her entirely.
And allow her to do the same right back to me.
Chapter Eighteen
Zeph
“A Quandary Blood,” I mused.
The news didn’t surprise me. I had suspected it when we all saw different colors in her fire. That was a trademark Quandary Blood trait, a way to complicate their magic.
“I wonder what kind of wand the figments gave her at AcaWard.” I never actually looked at it, but I imagined it held traces of her heritage. “Have you asked to see it yet?”
Kols shook his head, his expression tired. “I was too focused on keeping her magic under control in Elite Class today. Emelyn has decided Aflora is a fun target for practicing her mean-girl bullshit, which put Aflora in an immediately defensive position.” He sighed, relaxing into my couch, and lifted a bottle of beer to his lips.
At this rate, we were going to go through my entire stash our first week. Good thing we had two break days coming up. Just had to get through another class tomorrow first, then I could pop into the Human Realm to pick up more. Except it would be on Kols’s dime. He came from money. I did not.
“We could ask for her wand now,” I suggested. “She’s next door, right?”
Kols took a long swallow, his golden irises flaring in a way I recognized. It told me what he was going to say before the words left his lips. “I need a break before I do something stupid.”
“Like fuck her?”
“Yeah, exactly like that.” His gaze narrowed at me. “And don’t tell me you’re immune from the pull. We may not have played together in a few months, but I know your type. You want her just as badly as I do.”
I lifted a shoulder. “It’s not going to happen.”
“I know. Now, if only my dick could get the message, we’d be on the same page.”
“Your dick always did get you into trouble,” I muttered. Technically, us, I corrected. His dick always got us into trouble.
He set his bottle down on the coffee table and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, if you need to blame me for what went down with Dakota, then do it. But I need your help here, man. This is a big fucking deal. If Shade mated her because he knows what she is, then there’s a lot more going on here than just an act of rebellion.”
I don’t blame you. I blame myself, I thought. But it didn’t matter, because he was right. We needed to focus on Shade and Aflora and whatever the hell was going on there.
“What did you read from her when you discussed her Quandary Blood?”
“Genuine surprise and a hell of a lot of confusion,” Kols replied. “She’s either an amazing actress or she had no idea about her abilities. I’m going with the latter because she seems to think it’s Shade’s fault. She was pretty adamant that her parents were pure-blood Earth Fae.”
“Her gifts prove that to be a lie.”
“I agree, but that doesn’t mean she believes it. Regardless, it shows innocence. I think she’s a pawn in a much larger game. What I want to know is, who is the master on the board? Is it Shade, his father, or someone else entirely? Because we both know the Death Bloods and Quandary Bloods share a dark history.”
“Hence the reason your grandfather killed them all off a thousand years ago,” I said, recalling the lessons from my history courses here at the Academy. It was a subject that always left me uneasy—the extermination of an entire bloodline to send a message to all the others.
Behave or you’ll be next.
The Quandary Bloods were seen as the villains of the story, but I always suspected there was more to the history than what we were told. It was a topic most of us avoided, something I assumed was done with a purpose. If no one questioned the events of the Midnight Fae Dark Age, then the secrets remained safely buried.
Maybe that was Aflora’s purpose here—to help disinter some of those rumors.
“We need to keep her alive,” I said, lifting my ankle to rest over my opposite knee. “She’s worth more than bait.” Because she might be the key to unearthing a truth long hidden.
“My father would want her dead immediately.” Kols stared at the floor, his expression hard. “I should kill her, Zeph. She’s an abomination. I have proof of it.”
I considered him for a long moment. “Then why haven’t you executed her?”
He continued to focus on the black carpet. “I promised Exos and Cyrus that I would look after her,” he admitted softly. “Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I want to.” He exhaled a long breath, his golden eyes finally lifting to mine. “I feel this strange urge to protect her, Zeph. I barely know her and yet...”
“You feel obligated to shelter her from the harsh future you know awaits her,” I finished for him, my voice equally quiet.
Because yeah, I understood. That bizarre inclination to watch over her tied into my strange need to teach her, to help her survive. Yet I knew her death was inevitable. The need to take care of her hit me right in the gut, and I had no idea where it came from or why.
“Do you think it has something to do with her being an abomination?” I wondered out loud. “Maybe she has some sort of enchantment woven into her existence that’s forcing us to act in her best interest.”
“Like some sort of self-preservation instinct?”
“Yeah, exactly.” I rubbed the scruff dotting my jaw, a stiff reminder of my need to shave again soon.
I’d let myself go this week as a result of my misery pertaining to my new vocation. Teaching was not for me. I had little patience for idiocy, and half the new students were too green to know their left foot from their right. They’d learn. Eventually.
“It’s possible,” Kols replied, considering my enchantment theory. “I feel half-crazed with lust every time I’m near her. And before you say I’m always like that, this one is different. The others were just challenges I enjoyed conquering. Aflora poses more than just a challenge. She’s a real threat to me and this kingdom. And it goes against all my training to let her live, let alone help her.”
“You’re talking about the choker.” I gave him a hard look. “Tell me you put it on her.”
“You know I didn’t,
” he muttered.
“Fuck, Kols.” This was bad. Really bad. “That was a direct order from Malik.”
“You think I don’t know that?” he countered, shaking his head. “I realized my mistake about thirty minutes after I allowed it to happen.”
“You mean after you jacked off,” I translated, knowing him all too well. He’d told me about the heat spell when explaining his findings about her powers.
“Yeah, twice, but that’s beside the point. I know it’s wrong, yet I still couldn’t put it on her this morning. Instead, I focused all my energy on keeping her under control today.”
“Which, I imagine, only brought you that much closer to her power.” That was how our abilities worked. We fed off the power waves of others. Kols was the strongest among us, the black lines dancing along his arms and chest an indication of his ties to the source. If we practiced our spells together, my strength would grow tenfold. Implying Aflora’s would as well.
“You have no idea,” he muttered. “My power is hungry for hers, and not just in an ascension kind of way.”
“She’s an ideal mate, isn’t she?”
He picked up his beer and took a powerful pull before nodding solemnly. “I’ve felt it from the moment I laid eyes on her. Her personality isn’t helping matters.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s selfless and intelligent, has a backbone of steel, and, let’s not forget, she’s stunning.” He set his bottle back down and dropped his head to his hands. “This is wrong on so many levels.”
I allowed him to wallow for a moment while I contemplated everything he’d said. A few thoughts kept popping back into my mind, most of them dangerous to utter out loud. Similar to the historical secrets I suspected were hidden for reasons that might not be in everyone’s best interest.
However, since we were already having a conversation that could land us both in a dungeon, why not push the boundaries?
“We’ve been told our entire lives that abominations are vile creatures,” I started, considering my wording carefully. “But isn’t it how we use the gifts that matter? Not necessarily who our parents are?”
He lifted his gaze just enough to catch mine, his palms still hovering over his mouth. “What are you trying to say, Zeph? Speak plainly.”
“Aflora is an abomination, but she doesn’t strike me as evil at all. I’d actually call her sweet.”
“We barely know her,” he pointed out.
While I agreed, I couldn’t help saying, “You’ve always prided yourself on being a good judge of character. Would you trust Exos’s and Cyrus’s opinions of her?”
He lowered his hands, clasping them between his legs as he continued to rest his elbows on his thighs. “Exos and Cyrus would do anything to protect their mate. And their mate is friends with Aflora. That alone means I can’t trust their opinions because they’re inherently biased.”
“All right, well what does your gut say about Aflora? Because mine says the girl grew up playing with flowers, not plotting world domination.”
He snorted. “Oh, she’s innocent. But not entirely. The way she used that heat spell on my cock spoke volumes about her lack of innocence.”
“Always thinking with your dick,” I mused, amused despite the serious subject matter. “Just because she knows her way around your pants doesn’t mean she wants to take over the Midnight Fae kingdom.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get your point. But I would have bet money a week ago that she was a virgin, and before you say that’s irrelevant, it’s not. If I misjudged her experience, then I could easily be misjudging her.”
“Fair,” I agreed. “However, I never picked up a virginal vibe from her, just a lack of experience with multiple partners. Which is still my assumption in that realm of conversation. Regarding the more important one, however, I don’t think Aflora could ever invoke harm intentionally. Hell, she looked ready to cry when you destroyed her burning thwomp last week.”
Kols chuckled. “Yeah, she wasn’t at all happy today when Headmaster Jenkins used a crow in her compulsion spell. There were tears in Aflora’s eyes when the poor thing died. I lied and told her the bird was a conjured being, not real.”
“She believed you?”
“Yeah.” His lips curled. “I made her a crow on our way back to the suite. She still has it in her room.”
“And this woman is a threat to our kind?” I scoffed. “You’re using that bird to spy on her right now, aren’t you?”
“Not presently, but yeah, I can see through its eyes.”
I smirked. “I’d call you brilliant, but your ego doesn’t need stroking.”
“You’re right. I already know I’m brilliant.” He finally cracked a smile. “So what are we going to do?”
“I should think that’s obvious,” I replied, lifting my ankle off my knee to sprawl lazily in my recliner. Despite hating the location of my suite, I couldn’t deny the comfort in the furnishings provided by Kols’s family. They kept my fridge stocked—except for beer—and provided me with all the luxuries I grew up with in the Nacht Estate. Not a bad life. I just hated the new teaching part of it.
“We’re going to protect her,” Kols said, referring to the future plan.
“Yeah. Until we figure out what the hell is going on with Shade.” And possibly glean some historical answers in the process. “He tasted her, so he has to know what she is.”
Kols bobbed his head in agreement. “The question is, did he know before he bit her?”
“That’s my guess.”
“Mine, too.”
“One thing that perplexes me—”
“Only one?” Kols joked.
I didn’t remark on it, just continued my thought. “He had to know we’d figure this out. Why hasn’t he tried to keep us away from her?”
“He hasn’t had a choice.”
“He’s Shade,” I reminded him. “He’s a dick who doesn’t play by the rules, yet he’s been waltzing the peaceful line all week. Why?”
Kols frowned. “I... I don’t know.”
Neither did I, hence the reason I brought it up. “We need to keep him away from Aflora.”
“Easier said than done. He keeps visiting her dreams.” Kols grimaced. “I overheard her moaning his name last night.”
I arched a brow. “Overheard?”
“Okay, I may have tried to play with her in her dreams. It’s safe and an easy way to burn off some lust. But Shade was already there.”
My lips twitched. “Maybe you should try shoving him out tonight and see what happens.”
“Don’t think I won’t.”
“Oh, I know you will.” Just the thought of it had my dick awakening in my pants because I knew what that scene would look like from Kols’s point of view. And yeah, I wanted in on it. But I’d never give in to it. Even if I went to bed the last few nights to thoughts of Aflora’s full mouth wrapped around my cock.
I cleared my throat. “Right. Well. I’m going for a run.”
“Another one?” Kols asked, arching a brow.
“A man has to exercise.”
“Uh-huh.” He gave me a knowing look. “Good luck.”
“Given that you’re the one who has to sleep next to her every night, I think you’re in need of luck, mate.” I stood and stretched, smiling as Kols observed the movement beneath his hooded gaze. “Feel free to add me to your little nighttime fantasy. You know what I like.”
With that taunt—one I shouldn’t have allowed to slip from my lips—I left to explore the Academy grounds again.
All the while thinking of a dark-haired beauty with pouty lips and tits made for a man’s hands.
Thinking about her wasn’t exactly a sin.
Even if it felt like one.
Too bad that distinction only made me harder.
Chapter Nineteen
Aflora
“Okay, so this time, try not to kill me, ’kay?” Ella stood across from me on a mat, her hands up in the air. It didn’t escape my notice that Trayton ho
vered near the edge, his gaze holding a lethal warning in them.
“No magic,” he said, his tone holding a royal inflection I recognized all too well.
Annoyance flashed in Ella’s features. “She knows, Tray. That’s the point of this makeshift gym class.”
“Physical training,” Kols corrected, joining his brother. They both wore sleeveless shirts that showed off their athletic physique. I could definitely see the family similarities between them in their regal postures and aristocratic jaw structure. But Tray resembled the night, while Kols reminded me of the sun.
A sun I very much missed.
Starting classes in the evening really messed with my concept of days. We finished closer to the time I used to wake up, then slept during the light hours and started all over again each night.
No wonder the Midnight Fae were pale.
Well, except Shade. He had a slight tan, which I suspected linked back to his penchant for disappearing into shadows.
He winked at me from across the gymnasium where he stood waiting for his turn on the mat.
I scowled at him in response.
His dreams at night were killing me, and he knew it. I argued with him every time he entered my head, yet I still ended up mostly naked and writhing beneath him.
Except for last night.
My cheeks burned at the memory of the things I’d done with Kols while asleep. It’d also been in my head, a coping mechanism that helped me force Shade out, and I was a bit embarrassed by how thoroughly I’d used the Royal Fae. He was supposed to be helping and mentoring me, yet I spent the night doing wicked things to his sculpted physique.
A physique that flexed as he took a step forward and lightly took hold of my arms. “You can do this, Aflora. It’s just a tumbling exercise. Ella will show you how it works. Just don’t call on your fire, okay?”
Mother Earth, even now he was trying to help me and had no idea how I’d used him last night. My hesitation on the mat had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with guilt.
