Radley looked at me stonily. “Prove it.”
I thought for a moment, then my grin became wicked. “You pretend that nothing scares you, but as a child you spent an entire month terrified that you were pregnant because a female fae brushed against you in the courtyard. It took the Countess explaining that male fae didn’t have the correct bits to give birth to calm you down.”
Natalia giggled.
Radley blushed and then looked murderous.
A little too far…?
I pointed my wing at Felix, and he shrank back. Actually, this was fun. “And you tell everybody that you admire Oberon the King of the Faeries in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, but secretly you admit that you wish you could be Titania, the Queen.”
Felix covered his face.
When I arched my brow at Apollo, he thwapped his wing across my mouth to silence me.
“No need to convince me,” Apollo said, struggling to hide his laughter. “You’re the same blue-blooded rascal that you ever were. But how did you become all thoughtful and forgiving?”
I ducked my head to escape his feathery gag, stroking the nape of Radley’s neck, as I thought of Beau in the dungeon. He should’ve been part of our childhood memories, only I’d chosen not to treat the ones of him as precious.
“It was Wells’ son.” My grip tightened on Radley. “By my feathers, he helped me to realize that I don’t…we don’t…see everybody as they are or at least, we see them like we want to. We knew him.”
Radley shook his head, but I looked hard into his eyes.
“We did. Only, he wasn’t important enough for us to remember, and so we wrecked him. I refuse to do that to the other fae. I regret that I’ve allowed myself to stay safe wrapped in your brotherhood alone. I haven’t made the effort to get to know the other students but I do know that no one will ever again be forgettable or unimportant.”
All of a sudden, the phone rang shrilly, and I jumped.
The skvader startled as well, snatching the chance to fly into the air, as Natalia picked up the receiver. Treasure flapped his wings at me in parting, before diving for the window.
Thunk.
He smashed against the closed window, crashing to the ground with a groan.
“Just an idea, but maybe you should make sure that the window’s open for your next escape attempt,” I called, helpfully.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Okay, I’ll remember to hang up this time.” Natalia beamed at us, even though I flinched on each sir. The Dean had truly wanted a polite doll. “Bye, bye, bye…”
Natalia merrily sang goodbyes into the receiver, before placing it down like she’d arranged a date out for dinner, rather than for our discipline.
“You can go in now to see the Dean.” Natalia smiled. “Oh, and he still sounds cranky. Remember, if he cuts off your hair, can you ask him to save it for me? My other pet doesn’t look too well, and I think Fairy will be so silky to stroke.”
I straightened my swan clip in my hair, sweeping it back like that’d protect it.
“Fairy?” Felix mouthed at me.
I ignored him, pushing myself to my feet. Then I led Radley and Felix to the door of the Dean’s office. Apollo walked elegantly behind us with his head held high; he looked like Lincoln. Clearly, he wanted to impress the Dean.
The Dean was smart and dangerous. Yet I didn’t know him and that was frightening. I had no idea how he’d react.
I knocked on the door.
“Just get your asses in here,” a gruff voice called out.
Okay, cranky about summed it up.
I shoved open the door and stepped inside, expecting an office dyed blood-red with slaughtered students or decorated with medieval torture devices. Instead, the room was bright with black and white furniture like an office designed for the upwardly mobile executive. Big windows looked out at the courtyard below and a fountain.
It could’ve been peaceful. Except for the demon sitting in a plastic chair behind the desk.
The Dean didn’t even look up, as my mates and I swaggered into the room to stand in front of his desk because there was only a single white seat, and I wasn’t sitting if my mates had to stand.
The Dean’s blue suit and tie were neat, just like his goatee and mustache. His hair was so short, I wondered whether he’d shaved Oscar’s hair just because he’d wanted buzz cut twinsies.
Yet the Dean’s expression was stormy like he was considering a hard puzzle and if he couldn’t work it out, then he’d eat each puzzle piece slowly.
I swallowed. Really, this would be fun.
When I fidgeted, Radley wrapped his wing around me.
At last, the Dean looked up from the stack of papers that he’d been studying.
“I’ve read all your files.” When he slowly slid his gaze across us, I felt weirdly dirty. So much for small talk. “Lord Brooke, you’re a psychopath.”
Radley raised his eyebrow. “I prefer violently possessive.”
The Dean’s brow darkened further; he glared at Felix. “And you’re—”
Felix bounced on his toes like he was about to be awarded a gold star. “A budding playwright? Lover of the arts? Lucky?”
The Dean pinched his nose and sighed. “Don’t even get me started on the swan.”
“Aye, you’d better not start.” Apollo ruffled up his feathers.
“Swan soup,” the Dean muttered.
Us Hostage Lords growled in unison.
“Then we have Lord Spring himself.” The Dean pulled at his tie, loosening it. “Do you know that you’ve played more pranks than any student who’s ever attended this school?” Mentally, I high-fived myself. “Here’s where I’m confused. Your math, English, History, hell, even your Fighting classes have received top marks. But when I look at your special lessons run by Professor Pond, which are marked in number of Court Dictates broken, you score higher than any other fae as well. Interestingly, that ranks you bottom. Do you see the problem here?”
“There’s a serious issue with the House of Fae’s marking system…?” I ventured.
To my surprise, the Dean broke into a smile. “I don’t like being played, either by students or professors. I’m the one who pulls the strings around here, and Professor Pond is trying to pull mine.”
I sneaked a glance at Radley. He curled his wing further around me.
“How?” I asked.
The Dean sprawled back in his chair. “Do I think (with all my years of experience), that three fae and a swan shifter who wasn’t even playing are somehow responsible for a mass Fae Ball fight, especially when my spies’ report that at least fifteen fae openly targeted you? Hell, no.” Why was it not a surprise that he had spies in the school? “Do I think that Professor Pond lost control of the lesson and decided to try and trick me by blaming her most difficult students? Damn straight.” He steepled his hands. “I’ll defend each House’s right to punish their problem students with my last breath, but her mistake was to try to make a fool out of me.”
It was nice to see that he had his priorities straight.
“So, I imagine that you expect to be sent to the Detention Center for some horrific punishment now?” When the Dean leaned forward in his chair, it squeaked.
Was that rhetorical…?
The Dean’s smile crept across his face. “You’re all sentenced to see the counselor like Wells wants, but before that…” Here it came: Belenus preserve us. I shivered, snuggling into Radley’s warmth. The Dean casually reached into his pocket and pulled out three tiny iron balls, dropping them onto the table. “Let the punishment fit the crime.”
“Woah, scary,” Felix deadpanned.
“Shut up, Lix,” I hissed.
Nothing with iron was ever good for a fae.
The Dean’s smile faded, and his expression became stormy again. “Pick one up one each and drop it into your right boot. Don’t take it out all day or you’ll have ten to drop into your boots tomorrow. The swan is excused because (how sad for the Countess), he doesn’t wear b
oots.”
I stared at the Dean.
This was the punishment…?
I pulled off my boot, flinching at the way that the tiny ball burned my thumb and finger simply to pick it up and drop it into my boot. It’d sear the sole of my foot or force me to hop for the day but it wasn’t deadly.
Plus, the Dean had been sure to devise it in a way to save the shifter.
This was his revenge on the Countess, as well as proving what happened when anyone attempted to play with him.
The Dean was a jerk, but he was a smart one. That made him powerful.
I grimaced as I eased my foot back into my boot. Already, the iron was uncomfortable through my sock. I didn’t want to think about how it’d feel by the end of the day.
Yet now I had my counseling session with Emerald. I’d been desperate to be together as a group with her, longing to hold Emerald again. I couldn’t wait to see if the bond could truly unite all my lovers.
Yet I was equally terrified that when she offered the chocolates to Radley or Apollo, they wouldn’t accept…or she wouldn’t accept them.
Would it break the bond if they were rejected?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Wicked Reform School, House of Fae, Discipline Floor
Wednesday 28th April
I stared around the Discipline Floor in shock. Where was the ivory couch, coiled whips, and leather straps? Instead, there was a circular white bed, which was large enough to take up most of the room. A chandelier of cascading rubies cast lights across the ceiling.
Radley grunted. “Fancy.”
I took a limping step forward, and the tiny iron ball dug through my sock. Had we been so keen to see Emerald for our session that we’d stepped off on the wrong floor?
Then I noticed the sign on the wall: Emotions Counseling Waiting Area.
“On my wing, someone’s been busy,” I muttered.
My heartbeat was suddenly too loud, and I was dizzy with desperation to see Emerald again. It was agony to be separated from her and unable to protect her, when I knew the dangers of this school.
Yet why did something tell me that she could protect herself?
Apollo flew over my head in a familiar flurry of feathers that made me grin, before settling with a contented honk on a nest of the silk pillows. “If this is how Emerald welcomes her bonded, then she knows your value. Perhaps, I don’t need to break her arm in your defense.”
I pointed at him. “Swear on the pond that you’ll do no such thing!”
Apollo bobbed his head smugly. “Nay, of course I shan’t hurt the woman you love. But to save you, I could, right?”
Apollo allowed butterflies to ride around on his back, rather than disturb their sleep. He’d stand in the way of a battering that could kill him, like he had in the Fae Ball game, but he wasn’t a warrior like Radley. And I didn’t expect him to transform into one for me. I wasn’t a Court Fae who needed my lovers to mold themselves to fit me. I loved them just as they were.
Still, I put on my serious face and nodded. “To save me, you’d be formidable, as well as beautiful, of course.”
Apollo preened, before lying down.
“Couldn’t I just try a little of my…?” Felix waggled his fingers.
When Radley shook his head, Apollo hissed sadly.
Felix had managed to hide just how powerful his Fortune Magic was for over a decade. Wells didn’t bother to monitor the dormitories, which is how I’d eventually known that it was safe to change Apollo back into his human form there. But no matter how much Felix cast me his just think how mind blowing the sex will be if you say yes eyes, it was too dangerous for him to risk taking off Apollo’s collar now.
Then Felix sniffed, and his eyes lit with delight. He grasped my hand, pulling me close. “Where does it smell like to you, Quince?”
I breathed in deeply the scent of damp moss and wet tree trunks. The air was fresh; even the fire in my lungs eased. My eyes smarted because it was like I was back home beneath the shadowy coolness of the trees, and I’d never been sent away to be a Court that’d become my prison.
“Hope Forest,” I gasped.
How had Emerald managed it? And why had she put so much thought and effort into today? Love coiled through me that she’d remembered the Pleasure Spell and recreated the forest, knowing that it was the most special place in the world for me.
It was like a slice of my exiled home here in America. This wasn’t simply feeding from pleasure or a fantasy. Emerald was trying to get to know, understand, and accept all of us Hostage Lords.
This was real.
Radley’s gaze darted to the black door, which didn’t have a door knob. The words COUNSELOR EMERALD gleamed across it.
“I want my bond now,” Radley growled. I shivered: it sounded like he was about to devour Emerald. If it’d been me, I’d have been okay with that. “This woman who cares enough to bring the forest of our homeland to us is mine.”
When he hammered on the door, I jumped.
Bang — bang — bang.
Well, that broke Dictate 912: Only knock once. More than this is unseemly and won’t make them answer any faster.
Except, it did.
When Emerald swung open the door, the ruby light from the chandelier sparkled across her.
Every time that I saw Emerald, she looked more beautiful. It was as if I could see through her glamor just a touch more. I wished that I could kiss her without the mask on at all.
I was desperate to ask her about the glamor, but if she wasn’t ready, then I wouldn’t rush her. Her identity was her own.
When Emerald smiled at Radley, I realized that her hair was pinned up with swan clips just like the ones in my hair. Had she copied my style on purpose to connect us or remind herself of me when we were apart?
My breath caught at the thought.
“You knocked?” Emerald’s smile grew.
Radley blinked, before he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at me. “He’s having an angst fit that we won’t bond.”
Wait…what?
When I flushed, Felix squeezed my hand.
Emerald arched her brow. “That’s interesting because I could’ve sworn that I promised to offer to bond today. I mean, I’d have thought that the bed was a giveaway…”
Felix let go of my hand to run his fingers lovingly along the cover. “How’d you justify a bed, when we’re meant to be kept pure? Not that I preferred the S & M theme that this room had going on before.”
Emerald’s expression became troubled. “The only advantage to having a screwed-up bitch like Professor Pond in charge is that she believes every twisted method you suggest. She doesn’t think that I’m touching you. Use your imaginations about the other creative games that she imagines I’m having you play.”
Really, I’d rather not.
“Enough talk.” Radley held out his hand like it was a sword. “I demand a chocolate.”
“Aye, me too.” Apollo waddled across the bed, before holding out his wing.
Emerald studied them with cool amusement. “Huh, students don’t usually demand treats when they’re here for punishment counseling sessions. You know,” she narrowed her eyes at me, “I’ve only just had to heal you because you almost got yourselves killed. What happened to limiting the hurt?”
Ah, that stern voice I so loved…even if her lips pinched with concern.
I shot Emerald a sheepish look, before striding towards her. “Ehm, sorry…?”
“Are you limping now?” She winced.
I winced as well; the iron had wedged itself between my toes and no matter how much I wiggled them, I couldn’t free it. “Maybe…?” I hopped on one foot to take the pressure off. “All better.”
Emerald rolled her eyes.
“Chocolate.” Radley shook his hand, and Apollo flapped his wing. “Then we can get to the good stuff.”
When Emerald stroked her hand down Radley’s chest, my skin prickled that it wasn’t my chest that she was touching. “Lord Brooke, I se
e that you’re the romantic of the group.”
Felix chuckled, sprawling on the bed. “Quince has made this Wicked Bucket List of things that we wish to do before Saturday, when we...” He trailed off, and Emerald’s expression darkened. “Number Six is bond with all my lovers. By my wing, we’d do anything to make that happen for him, and he’s worried it won’t.” He glanced down, shyly. “I want it too.”
When Emerald’s gaze met mine, it was soft and loving. “If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’d do anything for him too.”
I didn’t know if I liked being discussed like this.
Wait, I did. Because it felt like I’d known Emerald for years, and she just fitted into our familiar banter like she’d been the missing piece that we’d needed all along.
“Hey, that’s…true,” I weakly protested. “But I was a good fae. I didn’t even complain.”
“Will Emerald offer my gorgeous lovers a chocolate? What if they don’t accept the chocolate? What if there are no chocolates…?” Apollo mimicked me with a faux English accent that was so posh I refused to accept it was me. Okay, it did sound like me. Felix snickered. “Your frown on the way over here, My Lord, although dominant and sexy, was giving me a headache.”
When my frown deepened, Felix snickered again.
I forced myself to smile instead. That’d teach them to know me so well.
“I did have a big romantic build up, which you’d have loved by the way, on how to offer these… But how can I leave Lord Spring to suffer?” Emerald waved her hand through the air, and a box of chocolates appeared on her palm. She pulled on the ribbon, and the lid sprang open. I hopped closer, sighing at the delicious aroma of the truffles. Radley appeared mesmerized. “Why doesn’t the swan pick first?”
Apollo hissed, “Is she mocking me?”
“His name is Apollo,” I said. “He’s my sacred swan shifter, who’s only trapped in his swan form by that bloody collar. He’s loyal and devoted, and I love him.”
“You don’t need poetry,” Apollo sounded like he was holding back tears, “and I don’t need anything else on the Wicked Bucket List. You’ve fulfilled my every wish, My Lord.”
Rebel: House of Fae: A Dark Fae Paranormal Romance Page 16
