15. Aflora
AFLORA
Silence.
It started after Shade’s revelation and continued long after he left with Kols and Tray to attend an emergency Council meeting. I sat on the couch between Zeph and Ella.
None of us knew what to say.
Ella glanced at me, her lips twisting like she wanted to say something, only she kept deciding not to speak. I understood why.
She’d recognized the word because of my song. It was one of the primary phrases repeated throughout the ballad. And it’d been written in fire above the destroyed Death Blood Education Building.
I couldn’t explain that. Just as I couldn’t explain how I’d recognized the magic. It wasn’t mine but felt so familiar. Like I knew the fae who cast the spell.
Impossible, I thought for the millionth time. It’s just not possible.
Who could it be? My parents? I nearly laughed at the thought. They were dead. I felt their souls depart when the earth source moved to me. And why would they attack the Academy?
However, I’d sensed something ancestral about the magic, like it was somehow connected to me, yet not.
I didn’t know how to articulate it, so I kept the knowledge to myself while we waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Ella picked up her phone for the millionth time to check for any updates, then set it down again. Zeph did the same. I just sat with my hands clasped together on my lap, useless. Elemental Fae didn’t really do technology. We preferred more natural methods of communication.
I pinched my mouth to the side and glanced around for the thousandth time. Zeph looked at me, his dark green eyes sheltered and not giving anything away. I wanted to ask him if this had ever happened before. I also wanted to tell him what Shade had said about the future being now. And I sort of wanted to confide in him about what I felt out on that field.
What if he betrays me again?
Can I really trust him?
A few nights of sexual torment didn’t really mean much, and while he’d been against me unweaving the bond, there still wasn’t a lot of evidence that he cared about me.
Except he’d guarded me on the field today.
No, he’d shielded the whole class.
Hmm, however, he’d yanked me beneath him in a protective gesture, and I’d felt his concern for my safety. Unless that had all been in my head.
His gaze narrowed at me now, my emotions probably running across my face with reckless abandon, making it obvious what I thought about.
Because I was still staring at him while I ran through all my considerations about trusting him or not.
I swallowed and looked away just as a cawing sound echoed through the suite. Clove swooped in through the threshold, her black and white feathers splayed in a manner that showed off all her falcon glory. My lips curled at the sight of her, my heart warming from the nearness of my familiar.
“Hello, Clove,” I welcomed her.
She cooed in response, then dropped something in my lap from her long talons. I glanced down at it, curious, then froze at the sight of blood on my blouse and skirt.
“Oh,” I breathed, my eyes widening.
“It seems your familiar brought you a present,” Zeph said, his amusement palpable.
“What the hell is it?” Ella asked, clearly horrified by the dead, uh, thing in my lap. It was definitely an animal of some kind, but it seemed to be a cross between a rodent and a bird.
Zeph reached over to pick up the item by its long, wiry tail and held up the grotesque sight before us. “It’s a stonepecker,” he marveled, his tone suggesting we should be impressed.
“A what?” Ella gaped at it. “It looks like a possum mated with a… a…” She squinted at the sharp-looking beak. “A woodpecker?”
Zeph considered and nodded slowly. “I can see the resemblance, yeah. They’re a bit of a nuisance, yet incredibly powerful. And they’re known to absorb enchantments from whatever rock or stone they choose to destroy by pecking, hence the name stonepecker.”
He set the dead little guy on the coffee table, then glanced at Clove. She’d perched on the back of the recliner chair and was busy preening her feathers.
“Seems someone’s been playing in the LethaForest,” he mused.
“The LethaForest?” I repeated.
He nodded. “Stonepeckers are nearly extinct as a result of them being a nuisance to Midnight Fae housing structures. Their ability to absorb enchantments also enables them to be used for nefarious purposes, such as circumventing wards or runes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding.
Zeph brought his ankle up to rest on his opposite knee and stared thoughtfully at the animal, his brow furrowing. “Many important Midnight Fae establishments are protected by wards. You’ve seen the Academy walls; they’re riddled with protection charms.”
“The snake vines,” I said, nodding.
“And many others,” he replied, his expression darkening. “They’re controlled by a variety of spelled runes to ward off any evil intentions. But if a stonepecker were to peck at some of the surrounding walls, it could absorb the magic, which could then be used by a Midnight Fae to create a counterspell.”
“A counterspell,” I repeated. “Like to dismantle the protection spells?”
He nodded, his focus still on the stonepecker. “Yes. It would essentially create a safe portal for the fae to enter and exit through. It may also allow the fae to craft a shield of sorts to deflect any and all counterattacks that may be incurred after harming someone or something inside of the protected structure.”
“Such as blowing up a building and writing Alqisian in flames above the destruction,” I suggested, following his train of thought.
“Yeah. Just like that.” He looked at Clove, then at me. “Your familiar just brought us evidence.”
“That can’t be good,” Ella interjected. “I mean, especially after Aflora sang about…” She trailed off, her hands twisting in her lap.
“I didn’t do this,” I promised.
“Oh, I know you didn’t,” she replied without missing a beat. “I’m just…” She cleared her throat and looked past me at Zeph. “Is someone setting her up?”
My eyes widened as I glanced back at Zeph.
His expression turned grim. “That’s certainly what it seems like. Why else?—”
“We have a problem,” Shade announced as he materialized across the room. He started toward us, then paused at the sight on the table. “Why the fuck is there a dead stonepecker in the living room?” Then his gaze widened. “Oh, shit. You need to dispose of that. Right fucking now. Before the Warrior Bloods arrive.”
“She didn’t do it!” Ella blurted out, jumping up to her feet in a defensive stance. “She was with us the whole damn time. I will go in front of those Council idiots myself if I have to. And fuck their male chauvinist bullshit; I will bang down their damn doors and scream at the top of my lungs.”
Shade blinked at her, then glanced at me and Zeph. “What is she going on about?”
“Clove brought the stonepecker to Aflora,” Zeph explained, gesturing at the blood residue on my uniform. “We believe someone is trying to set her up for this.”
Shade huffed a laugh. “Close, but no. The attack has Elite magic all over it, and my father is blaming Kols.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“There’s no time to explain. The Warrior Bloods are on their way to conduct a thorough search of the premises, and that cannot be here.” He pointed at the stonepecker.
“That’s ridiculous,” Zeph scoffed. “Kols was in my class during the explosion. There’s no way he did this.”
“While I agree, the scene reeks of source power. And Kols?—”
“Is the one closest to the source,” Zeph finished for him, cursing under his breath.
Shade dipped his chin once in confirmation, his icy gaze holding a touch of unease. “He looks good for the setup, Zeph. Which means someone is trying to take down the future king.”
“Where’s Tray?” Zeph asked.
“With Kols. He’s the second potential suspect for obvious reasons.” Shade ran his fingers through his dark hair and blew out a breath. “I need to get back before they notice I’m gone. I came to warn you that the Warrior Bloods are on their way to conduct a search, authorized by the king himself. So I suggest you hide anything incriminating.” His expression flashed with meaning.
Then he vanished into a puff of smoke.
Zeph immediately pulled out his wand and uttered a spell that incinerated the evidence on the table. Then he uttered another one after it that caused the surface to shimmer. He spoke so quickly and efficiently that I couldn’t even decipher his words. When he focused on me next, I opened my mouth to stop him, but the magic was already working its way over my outfit and destroying all evidence of the creature from my lap.
I gaped at my pristine uniform.
“Well, that’s one way to do laundry,” Ella muttered, then shook her head. “Okay, there’s something I don’t understand.”
“Only one thing?” I asked, completely taken aback by the last few minutes of conversation and the revelations Shade had dropped on us.
“Well, many things. But what I really want to know is, why did Shade just come here to warn us? He hates Kols. I’d expect him to be gloating and celebrating the accusation, not”—she waved her hand around the space he’d just vacated—“you know.”
Zeph cleared his throat. “Well?—”
A commotion at the door interrupted his ability to reply as three Warrior Bloods entered the suite with an irritated Sir Kristoff right behind them. “Fucking royals overriding royals,” the stone creature muttered. He waved at them and looked at Zeph. “I’m taking the night off.” His stone wings bristled and crunched, then he disappeared into a cloud of white chalk.
“They can do that?” I asked, shocked.
“Unfortunately,” Zeph muttered, standing up. At some point, he’d put his wand away, but I sensed his magic lingering in the air. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, his attention on the three male fae in the foyer.
“We’re here on order of the king to search Prince Kolstov’s suite for anything related to the attack today,” the one with white-blond hair to his shoulders replied, his tone devoid of emotion.
“You can’t be fucking serious.” Zeph folded his arms. “What the hell could Kols have to do with any of this?”
“That’s Council business,” another of them replied, his chin notching upward in clear dismissal. “You’re no longer privy to that information, Headmaster.”
“Oh, fuck you, Danqris. I’m Guardian-bonded to Kolstov, which makes me your superior by default. A temporary demotion will never change that.”
Danqris’s lips pulled back into a snarl. “It will if I find anything that incriminates his ass.”
Zeph scoffed at that. “Yeah, be my guest, asshole. But when you don’t find anything, and Kols returns to see that you’ve destroyed all his shit, I’ll be sure to tell him who to thank.”
The Warrior Blood seemed to take that as more of a challenge than a threat and proceeded to rip apart the suite. When he reached my room, he demanded I unlock it.
And then began to destroy everything inside.
Including my new plant.
Zeph vibrated with anger by the end, but it was nothing compared to Ella. She actually slapped two of the Warrior Bloods after they rummaged through her personal items. Then she kicked the one called Danqris when he went for her underwear drawer.
I watched in amazement as they actually backed off, the blond one even looking a tad contrite as he sidestepped her to exit the bedroom.
After what felt like hours of unnecessary damage, the three Warrior Bloods left without a shred of evidence.
Clove hadn’t moved from the recliner, having chosen to nap there while they rummaged through the suite. But I sensed her alertness, as if waiting for me to call her to my aid should I need it.
I wondered why she brought me the stonepecker, if it was something she found outside the walls or if she was trying to tell me something.
My suspicions told me it was the latter, but I couldn’t figure out what she wanted me to know aside from the obvious—the perpetrator had used a stonepecker to breach the Academy walls.
“I’m going to fucking kill those assholes,” Ella seethed as soon as they left, her eyes flashing with blue fire as she took in the mess they left behind.
“Kols will take care of them,” Zeph promised. “But in the interim, we should probably clean this shit up.”
Ella muttered a few more choice words before pulling out her wand. “I’ll be in my bedroom.”
Zeph nodded, his gaze catching mine. “Come on. I’ll help with your room.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can, uh, well, I can pick up everything,” I finished lamely, my lips twisting to the side.
I totally had this. I would just put everything away by hand. How hard could it be?