4. Aflora
AFLORA
“We really needto stop meeting like this, little rose,” a deep voice murmured into my ear.
I sighed, not wanting to move, my body cocooned in a blanket of comforting warmth. Yet something about those words nagged at me, dragging me back to a reality I didn’t want to face.
To the hard mattress beneath me.
To the stale air of a dungeon.
To the beady red eyes of the supervising gargoyle.
I sprang upward, my head aching with the desire to return to my dreamless sleep. Ugh. The exhaustion had won while I was messing with the magic around my neck, leaving me in the same position as before—powerless.
Shade’s palm ran up my side in a soothing gesture undermined by lies. Leaping to my feet, I backed away from him. He remained on the mattress, his athletic form balanced on his elbow. “The Council concluded that your theoretical commentary was not enough to require action, and I’ve been instructed to return you to the Academy. So whenever you’re ready, let me know.”
I gaped at him. “Theoretical commentary?”
“Yes. I explained to them how you were merely theorizing what should be done if your powers were to grow out of control. As they haven’t actually proved uncontrollable, the Council saw no reason to act.” He lifted a shoulder. “Classes resume tomorrow—well, later today, really—as scheduled.”
“I’m… I’m free?”
“Not really. The Academy is just a fancier prison, in my opinion.” He pushed off the ground and landed deftly on his feet. “Shall we, princess?” He extended his hand with the offer, his dark brow waggling in a taunting manner.
“Is this a joke?”
“If you think it is, then my ego’s wounded. Because I swear I’m funnier than that.”
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Time ticked on between us with his hand dangling in the air.
The gargoyle huffed in agitation, his stone wings beating rapidly as he shoved through the door and left it wide open in his wake.
Either I was dreaming or Shade had told me the truth.
“Take a chance,” he dared, a sinful promise teasing the edges of his lips. “I promise not to bite you today.”
“I think it’s a little late for promises,” I muttered, stepping around him to reach the door.
Shade caught me by the waist, pulling me back against him. “I said you were free.” His lips brushed my ear with the whispered words. “I said nothing about using doors.”
“Wh—”
The world shifted around us in a thick gray cloud, causing my stomach to roll with uncertainty.
Then the scent of fresh-cut grass tickled my nostrils.
Followed by flowers in bloom.
And the kiss of a morning sun.
I’m dreaming, I thought, spinning in a circle as the inky smog evaporated into a blue sky. Plush green blades met my bare feet, the sensation of earth breathing life into my being and sending me to the ground in a sob of unfiltered joy.
Earth.
I’m surrounded by earth.
The essence beckoned me to play, but the mechanism around my neck halted my reaction, yanking me back to a reality of pain and suffering. I clawed at the offending leather, longing to be rid of it, and screamed in frustration.
This was the definition of hell—being surrounded by the element I craved just to be cut off from it because of black foreign magic.
More torture.
More games.
More wicked intent.
I growled, ready to kill the being who did this to me. I lunged for him, only to find myself caught up in his much stronger arms, his lips at my ear. “Breathe.”
The single command had me snarling. “I hate you.” It came out hoarse, my emotions spilling from my pores in ripples of convoluted fury.
“I didn’t put that device around your neck,” he reminded me in a calm tone that only infuriated me more. “But you have the tools to undo it. So stop freaking out and use your Quandary Blood to unweave the magic around your source.” He released me and took a step back.
I spun around, ready to slap him, when his comment registered.
You have the tools to undo it.
He was right.
I did.
Assuming I didn’t fall asleep again.
Frowning, I prodded at the spells enchanting my collar once more and found them waiting eagerly for my manipulation. Odd. They hadn’t done that in the dungeon. Why could I see them more easily now?
“The cells are laced with protective spells that make magic difficult to access,” Shade said, reading either my mind or the confusion on my face. “You should find your Quandary Blood skills are much easier to access, even with that thing choking the life out of your magical spirit.”
He took another step away from me, his back meeting the trunk of a nearby tree.
“Just try to remember how to put the spell back together. We can’t have Kols or Zeph finding out that you can circumvent their little masterpiece, yeah?” He slid down to the ground, still braced against the tree, and closed his eyes. “I’ll just be over here having a nap while you play.”
I blinked at him. “A nap?”
“Mmm,” he mumbled, clasping his hands in his lap. “You’re not the only one who requires beauty sleep, little rose.”
“Wait, where are we?” I asked, taking in the array of fields and trees and flowers around us. “In the human world?”
He snorted. “I have no idea where we are. While trying to return you to the Academy, my exhaustion kicked in and we accidentally ended up here. Too bad, really. It’s so bright. Alas, I didn’t want to risk getting us more lost, so we decided to nap here for the day before trying again. I’m sure Kols will understand. He has a room to fix, after all.”
“Do you always talk in riddles?”
“Only when I’m tired.” He yawned dramatically. “And, man, am I tired. Hope you don’t mind spending some time here, Aflora. Sorry for my lack of coordination and direction.”
He didn’t sound apologetic at all.
But that was the point.
He’d purposely brought me here and was telling me the lie he intended to give everyone else.
My fingers unfurled from the fists at my sides, realization threatening to breach the icy confines of my heart. He brought me here to play with my earth.
He’d given me the gift of the sun. The grass. Trees with real leaves. Flowers in full bloom. And while he wouldn’t tell me where we were, he’d also provided me with subtle instructions on what to do.
All in his cryptic little way.
I studied the chiseled features of his handsome face and caught the slight twitch of his lips—the only outward sign he was pleased. Then his expression slowly fell into one of contentment, his closed eyes unmoving. “Use your Quandary Blood to set your earth source free, little rose,” he murmured. “I’ve always favored floral scents.”
Me, too,I thought, slowly kneeling once more as I engaged the part of my spirit that loved solving puzzles. It felt so foreign and yet familiar. A conundrum of energy that I didn’t quite understand, but I applied it to the collar around my neck and slowly picked at the various strands of magic. I didn’t touch the ones tied to my Midnight Fae mates but focused on the black web surrounding my elemental gifts. Pulses of the source peeked at me from below the dark strings, demanding freedom.
It was an intricate dance woven through my mind, the powers blending in a manner that surpassed logical form. This shouldn’t feel right, but it did. The essence mingled inside me, my problem-solving skills mating with my love for the earth as a spark of light stirred behind my eyes.
There, I thought, seeing the source of my elemental power beckoning me forward. I followed it knowingly, bathing in the rays of welcome it shined through my spirit, and lifted my eyelids to find myself rolling across the earth in a blanket of flowers.
An exuberant giggle bubbled from my chest, happiness kissing my soul after what felt like months of despair.
This was my rightful place.
My home.
My earth.
A breeze trickled through the trees, sending me their warm welcome as more blossoms sprouted from the grass in an array of my favorite colors.
The dark one is watching, one of the trees whispered, drawing my attention to where Shade lounged beneath the green limbs. His eyes were indeed open, his expression amused.
“You remind me of a nymph,” he said softly, his voice deep and soothing. “A gorgeous little nymph.”
“I’ve heard that word used to describe Earth Fae before. It’s appropriate.”
His lips twitched, his eyes falling closed once more. “Wake me when the sun falls, little rose.” He fell into true sleep then, his breaths even as he remained seated against the tree trunk with his legs crossed at the ankles.
I let him rest while I explored the meadow, my heart soaring with the song of beauty and nature’s grace.
This place wasn’t part of the Human Realm, the life surrounding me unfamiliar with mortal essences. So it was a fae world of some kind, but I couldn’t determine which one. Every time I asked, the trees whispered of something different, something new, distracting me from my questions and urging me to exhaust my earth essence instead.
I created a myriad of plant life, played with the grassy roots and soil, and luxuriated in the foliage of life.
By the time the sun began to descend, I felt full of vitality, my soul thriving in a way I hadn’t felt in far too long.
All because Shade brought me here to play.
Under the excuse of having lost his way back to an Academy he’d shadowed to thousands of times before.
Maybe this was his way of apologizing.
Maybe this was all just a trick, a last dance with life before death consumed me.
I couldn’t know for sure, my faith in him nonexistent.
But that didn’t stop the inkling of gratitude from entering my heart. He’d given me a gift. I just didn’t know his intentions for it.
He stirred as night graced the horizon, his arms stretching overhead as he took in the twilight meadow. His lips curled. “This is beautiful, Aflora.”
A compliment.
Not a taunt.
Or it didn’t sound like one, anyway.
I remained cocooned in my sea of flowers as he stood, his head cocking to the side upon finding me beneath a shield of earth. He stepped forward, only for one of my tree roots to lift and stop his path. “Impressive,” he replied, eyeing the obstacle before shadowing around it to appear at my side.
I considered wrapping a vine around him to secure him to the earth, but he knelt beside me and plucked a flower from my hair. He brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply, then released a sigh.
“Unfortunately, we need to return to the Academy, or they’ll send Warrior Bloods after us. My excuse will only get us so far.” Rather than hold out a hand to demand we leave, he sat down and settled into the flower bed I’d created. “For your own safety, you need to rewrite the spell, Aflora.” His blue gaze met mine. “But maybe you can weave it in a way that allows for a little flexibility in the restraint.”
Another riddle.
Another clue.
A suggestion.
“And maybe we can come back here in the future,” he added, his knuckles brushing my cheek.
“That implies I can trust your word, which I know I can’t.”
“You can’t?” He arched a brow. “Why not, Aflora? I’ve never lied to you.”
“Your actions are louder than your supposed truths.”
“My actions,” he mused, his hand falling from my face to the flower petals around him. “You mean how I doctored the recording to save you from the Council’s wrath? How I brought you to this special place to give you a day of freedom at the expense of my own?” He phrased both as questions. “Are those not actions in your favor?”
“You gave them the recording.”
“An altered version of it, yes.”
“Why?” I demanded. “You had me essentially arrested for what purposes?”
He scrutinized me for so long that I was surprised when he actually replied, “To lull the Council into a false sense of security. If they think I’m playing by their rules, they’ll give more freedom—something we could all use at the moment. I also wanted to distract them from looking into the explosion of power from the other night. Kols’s little story about the duel wasn’t going to satisfy my father. He knows I’m not the losing sort.”
His explanation shocked me for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being that he’d actually given me a factual reply. The question was, did I believe him?
“You believe actions prove integrity,” he continued, arching a brow. “Then ask me to bring you back here in the future. We’ll see what happens. In the interim, I need you to enchant your collar again. But if you want to program in a backdoor to access your earth, I’ll look the other way and pretend not to notice.”
He stood and wiped his palms against his pants.
“I’m fucking starving,” he added, abruptly changing the subject. “Did you happen to make anything edible around here? Like fruit?”
My lips curled at the thought of home and the Elemental Fae Queen’s favorite peach trees. “No. But I can.” It was one of the only human fruits I knew how to create, thanks to Queen Claire’s obsession with the juicy treat.
Shade faced me, his expression expectant.
So I gave him what he wanted by calling the seeds to the soil and expediting the growth through my access from the source.
He watched in fascination as the tree grew, the branches sprouting with leaves first and then luscious circles of fruit. He plucked one off the tree and took a bite, his moan of approval holding an erotic appeal that I pretended not to hear.
“Fuck, this is delicious.” He leaned once more against the tree he’d used for his nap and devoured the peach. Then he walked over and snatched another one.
“Throw the pit over there,” I instructed him, pointing with my finger to where I wanted it.
He did as I requested, and I used the core to create another tree. “Earth is a continuous cycle of life.”
“While Midnight Fae are known for the darkness of death,” he returned, his blue eyes alight with knowledge. “But Quandary Bloods are rumored to be more than just dark magic. They’re conduits of The Source. The one that controls all others, I mean. That’s how many of them were able to hide during the mass extermination—they assimilated as other types of fae. Even Earth Fae. Or that’s the theory, anyway.”
“Are you saying that not all Quandary Bloods perished?”
“I think your existence answers that question, little rose,” he replied before finishing off his second peach. “Now we have to stop stalling. If we don’t return soon, we’ll be back where we started—in the dungeon—and we can’t have that. Not after I went through the hassle of having that tape altered to suit our needs.” He pushed off his tree, hopped over the root I’d left in the ground, and came to stand over me. “Snap the magic in place and let’s go.”
He made it sound so easy.
Which, now that I knew how to unravel the spell, actually was pretty simple to put back together. But the confident manner in which he spoke made me wonder how he knew it would be such a quick task.
“Do you know any Quandary Bloods, Shade?” I asked him while I mentally began the process of closing off my connection to the earth source.
“Now you’re asking interesting questions,” he praised, his gaze alight with mischief. “If I told you yes, would you believe me?”
“Maybe.”
“Then maybe I do. I mean, I know you.”
“Other than me,” I clarified.
He merely smiled, his hand finding mine as he pulled me to him and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth. “Did you create a way to access your earth through the spell?”
I took a page out of his book and didn’t reply other than to grin.
“My perfect mate,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. “Hold on tight, little rose. I suspect we’re about to endure a rough Academy welcome.”