9. Aflora
AFLORA
I satin my Midnight Fae Politics classroom, trying to ignore the whispers around me.
Everyone knew about my arrest, but the reasons behind it were all wrong.
Some said I attacked Kols.
Others claimed I’d lost my shit after Zeph killed Clove, and stated I tried to burn down the Elite Residence.
“Kolstov is fine,” I heard someone say behind me in response to someone else’s comment about me trying to kill him. “Altrina saw him in the Human Realm last night, working his magic on a pair of mortals.”
My teeth clenched. Is that where he ran off to? I wondered.
I hadn’t seen him since the night he gave me the key to my renovated room. Not that I’d really gone looking for him. I needed a few days just to decompress and was thankful my mates had allowed me the time alone. But when I woke up for classes and heard from Ella that Kols still wasn’t back, I’d begun to wonder where he went.
Is he meeting with the Council about me?
Has he told his father about our mating?
Is he trying to find a way to undo what happened?
The thoughts had run rampant through my mind, making me uneasy and distrusting. I kept waiting for a horde of Warrior Bloods to descend upon the Academy and take me back to that dungeon. However, the primary assault I’d received so far was in the form of rumors.
And now this.
“Sounds like Kols,” another girl replied. “I swear he’s fucked his way through half the mortal population.”
“Well, if I had my fate promised to a chick like Emelyn, I’d do the same.” That came from a male in the back of the room.
“You could only be so lucky, Slag,” a prim female sniped with a flip of her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “And if I were Emelyn, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Prince Kolstov’s cock. He’s a walking disease. I hear he even fucks Halflings.”
Someone snorted. “You’re confusing Kols with Tray.”
“Oh, no, it’s a Nacht family tradition at this point.” The prim fae practically purred the words, her penchant for cruelty written into the sharp angles of her too-perfect face. “I mean, Tray took the Halfling human mutt as his mate, and his brother has no doubt fucked the Elemental abomination. To each his own, I suppose.”
“Aw, are you not getting enough dick in your life, Justine?” Ella asked, her expression one of mock concern. “Is that why you have to focus on others? Live vicariously through those you envy? That’s a shame.”
A flicker of magic singed the air, but Ella caught it easily with her wand and returned it to the sender just as our headmaster entered.
“Isabella Cinder!” Headmaster Vayera snapped, her cloak billowing around her in a flurry of annoyance. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Practicing defensive arts,” Ella replied, not at all contrite.
“Not in my classroom, you’re not.” Headmaster Vayera pointed to the door with a sharp black nail. “Out.”
“It was one spell,” Ella argued.
“Out!” she shouted, not bothering to give Ella a chance to explain.
“Ella was just protecting herself,” I interjected. “Justine started it.”
“I did not!” the blonde perfectionist fae retorted, sounding affronted.
“Oh, come on,” Slag drawled. “We all saw you send that firefly at the Halfling. Aflora’s right, Headmaster. Ella was just protecting herself.”
Headmaster Vayera pulsed with irritation, her beady blue eyes searching the room. “Anyone else care to add to this delightful discussion?”
“Ella insulted?—”
“That was a rhetorical question, Corrine,” Headmaster Vayera cut in, then took out her wand to wave it through the air with a muttered spell. Thick texts landed on each of our desks, all opening to various sections littered with legal jargon.
Groans filtered through the air.
“You will read and decipher each point, then present your section to the class by midnight. There will be no break today, as it’s clear you all enjoyed your fresh air a little too much yesterday and the day before. We’ll have a quiz instead that will cover all of the presentations, so I suggest you pay attention and be thorough in your translation.”
Ugh, academic punishment, I thought glancing down at my section regarding Paradox Fae time manipulation laws. This wasn’t even related to Midnight Fae at all. Well, except for the bit about how it was illegal to work with a Paradox Fae to change a timeline. But that was the case in all the realms.
I blew out a breath that turned into a vibration between my lips. Ella snorted in response.
And so began our very long day of reading, deciphering, and articulating into essay form. Because yeah, that was the test method Headmaster Vayera selected.
“She’s just evil,” Ella said as we entered the residence hall several hours later.
Tray stood waiting for her at the stairs, his eyebrow cocking upward at her statement. “Who?”
“Headmaster Vayera.” Ella drew out the a on a long groan. “She made us read Midnight Fae ordinances, Tray. Then she quizzed us on it afterward, and it was awful.”
His lips quirked upward. “Sounds like my childhood.”
“Ugh, not the same.” She walked into his open arms and accepted his hug. “It felt like law school,” she mumbled into his chest. “Not that I’ve been, but it’s the hell I imagined.”
“Mmm,” he hummed, holding her close and kissing the top of her head. “Need me to make it better, baby?”
And that was my cue to keep moving. “You two have fun,” I called, racing up the steps to the third floor and heading toward the gargoyle at the end.
“Sir Kristoff,” I greeted.
“Abomination,” he returned in his chilly tone. It didn’t help that the stones churned together in his mouth every time he spoke.
At least he allowed me to enter. I suspected if he had a choice, he’d close off all the doors and keep me trapped in a room with no entrance or exit. Similar to his master.
I scowled at the memory of the Council dungeon and moved through the threshold into the suite. Kols and Zeph were inside, their attention snapping to me as their conversation came to a halt.
“Don’t stop talking on my account,” I said, noting Kols’s flushed appearance.
Blood, I realized. It’s from drinking blood. Zeph had the same look about him, suggesting they’d both gone into the Human Realm for a snack. And probably sex.
Fine.
Just fine.
We were mates, but we hadn’t discussed anything about being committed. I mean, they betrayed me not twelve hours after biting me. So. What did that say about our bond?
I snorted and stomped off to my room, not wanting to talk to either of them. If they wanted to seek pleasure elsewhere, I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t even want to sleep with them anyway.
At least I knew why my dreams were vacant the last few nights. It wasn’t out of respect for me or their way of giving me time. No, they were too busy playing with mortal females and using them for blood and pleasure.
My bedroom door slammed behind me.
“Not my business,” I muttered to myself.
Who was I to even judge anyway? I had three mates. There was one of me. Of course, I wouldn’t be enough to satisfy them. Not that they’d bothered to try. But I didn’t want them to anyway, so this worked out well for all parties involved. They could mess around and leave me alone, and maybe we’d find a way to break this link between us.
I was a Quandary Blood, right? My gift literally unraveled magic. Why not try it on the mating connection?
I hung my cloak in my closet and stared at my reflection in the mirror Kols had affixed to the back of the door.
“What’s the point of any of this?” I asked myself. “Why am I even here?”
Because Shade had bitten me.
I narrowed my gaze.
Shade.
I hadn’t heard from him in a few days either. Had he joined the guys in their little human orgy? Doubtful. So where was he? Why hadn’t he reached out?
“Stop it,” I chastised myself while taking off my blouse and skirt. “Just. Stop.”
The guys didn’t matter. My future did. Whatever that meant.
I put on a pair of flannel shorts and a soft white T-shirt, then shut the closet and walked over to flop onto my bed. “Enough,” I muttered into my pillow. “Enough. Enough. Enough.”