Spirit of Fae Academy

by Kendal Davis

  The reverse happened. Where he had been odd and abrupt before, now he became as wild as a forest animal. His eyes blazed his displeasure at me, and he stood from his seat so quickly that he knocked over half the things on the table. When he left camp, stomping away from the foothills, his feet sinking into the marshy ground, I was sure he hated me. Had I really believed he would smooth all his rough edges, just because I’d called him out on a mistake? I would not even like him as much if he was different.

  While we all cleaned our camp and found our beds, silence reigned. He had to come back. Without Alder, we had no idea how to find the spirit, or how to bring her back to the Academy. As I unzipped the door of my tent, I stood thinking about my feelings for the strange professor. I knew I would, in fact, like him any way that he was. We were bonded. The earth magic that stretched between us existed in the spaces that separated us, and in our souls as well. It did not matter to me in any way what he was like. He was mine. That was enough.

  Surely he felt the same?

  I ran my hand through my hair, wishing I knew that to be the truth. As I did, I felt Rook and Owain walking up behind me. Even as I turned around, I was shaking my head. “We shouldn’t. Not tonight.”

  Rook frowned. “Do you mean to say you’re worried about the earth man? Or is it that you want to make sure your bed is empty in case he comes to it?”

  “That’s enough,” said Owain. “It is destined to happen, so there’s no need to make such heavy weather about it.”

  “Well, it’s not destined to happen tonight,” I said crisply. “It’s just that I have to keep my magic completely under control. If I don’t, the mist will come and surround us, and then none of us will ever leave here.” I smiled gently to try to take the irritation from my words, but I didn’t need to. They both understood, as they did everything about me.

  In the morning, Alder was back at camp, tending to the greenery that sheltered us when I woke up. Nobody mentioned the fact that I’d publicly blamed him for putting the entire world of the fae in danger. I certainly didn't. Who was I to call somebody out for making a mistake?

  When I saw the huge forest man, all I could think of was how much I wanted to touch him. I tried to slow my feet, but in the end I ran to him, thinking I’d throw my arms around him. Instead, he stepped back, almost as if he didn’t want to touch me. When my momentum carried my face closer to his, he could have leaned down and kissed me. I would have welcomed it above anything. But he did not. His lips were right there, full and perfect, and scented of spices, but he did not want to kiss me.

  Ouch.

  At least we could still finish our quest. After that, I’d figure out why the man was so determined to duck me.

  He was already saying the same thing. “Ciara, we need to bring the spirit of the Academy back. Today. You haven’t wanted to say anything, but I know that your spell is weakening. If you lose control of it and the castle falls apart, the fae will never regain all the knowledge that would fade.”

  “I know,” I said simply. “What do we do?”

  He spoke to all of us now, clustered together in the cool but clear morning. “We must go into the woods, ascending to the treetops above the mist line. That is where we will find the spirit.”

  “How did we get to the point where we all think a spirit is real?” Rook wondered aloud.

  I looked around the group. “We do think that now, don’t we? I don’t know how it happened, but it seems so obvious now.”

  “Why would anybody ever have thought they were just a fairy tale?” Lily was dismissive.

  Alder went on. “It is our proximity to the mists that has changed our thinking on this. As the mists threaten to strip us of our magic, we see all supernatural things more clearly. The mists will change a great deal about you, given enough time.” His green eyes were solemn. “We must eat, then pack everything away onto the horses. They will wait for us. Our exit from this place will need to be sudden.”

  None of us chose to comment on his dark prediction. It seemed more than likely, at this point. I nodded to the others, and we all set to work preparing a quick meal, then breaking camp as we nibbled on our food.

  Alder passed me on his way to tend to the horses. His smile was unexpected. “I asked you if you thought you were the leader of this group. Perhaps you are. I see that they all look to you, even Lily. There is a presence about you.”

  “I came to this land to be its Queen,” I answered.

  A shadow seemed to pass over all of us.

  Alder nodded at my recognition of the change in the air. “She is still watching you, you know. Hellebore does not forget anything. She wants your power desperately.” Then, before I could ask him why he spoke of her as if he knew her personally, he moved on.

  My heart pounded with trepidation as we left the horses and made our way to the foothills. The morning was so clear that it was hard to believe the mist had taken such a purposeful form last night. The crossing of the hilly land between our campsite and the forest was so easy that I wondered if it might be a trick.

  I watched Alder as he ran careful eyes over the underbrush and narrow tree trunks as we entered the woods. He was thinking the same thing.

  “Why is there no mist at all today? Have we scared it?” I knew I sounded like a braggart, but I hoped it was true.

  “Not at all. It is waiting for us, for the right moment to bind us all.”

  “Am I supposed to keep my magic silent, no matter what happens?” There was no way I was going to stand by and watch people I loved go into danger without help.

  Alder did not answer. Instead, he gestured to Evana and Finley, the two air fae of our party. “Can you raise us all into the treetops?” He pointed to where he wanted to go.

  Rook moved closer to me. “Is that where you traded the spirit’s life for your own?”

  “It wasn’t like that.” Alder hardly bothered to answer.

  After some murmured consultation, which seemed to include standing very close to each other, Evana and Finley nodded their assent. They both raised their hands and gathered their magic. A gentle breeze lifted us, slowly bringing us as high as the sapling trees. We kept close together, not wanting to make the job any more taxing than it already was. We levitated, climbing slowly higher, until we were as high as the oldest, most enormous trees.

  I gasped. We’d been moving into the forest so surely that I’d almost forgotten my question about the mists. Now I understood. There was one huge tree, whose branches formed something like a nest at the very top. As we neared it, the stark white of the mists unfurled and began to spread.

  Alder murmured, “I think that’s where they are holding her. It is the same place where I was for so long myself. That was my tree, while I was off on...the business I needed to do.”

  “We can’t teleport, because our magic would be cut off. How can we get there without being enveloped in all that?” Owain was practical.

  “We need a distraction,” our professor said. “Wait. I have an idea.” A devilish light suddenly appeared in his eyes. I cocked my head, aware that he was about to suggest something that I might not like.

  But I was wrong. It was just what I wanted.

  “We divide into two groups,” he said. “Evana, Lily, and Finley, you will go to the nest and bind the spirit. You’ll need to work together, weaving both fire and air to hold her. As it is the purpose of a fae spirit to hold elements together, they have a very hard time breaking them apart.”

  I waited, my lips parted with anticipation as he revealed the rest of his plan. “The four of us; that is, Ciara and her fated lovers, will stay behind. We will draw the mist to us.”

  “You mean by revealing the multi-faceted nature of my gifts?” I was tentative.

  “Yes. We will reveal them by arousing you,” he said, showing his teeth in a wolf-like smile.

  Owain stood still, weighing the plan. Rook looked as if he might be about to punch Alder. When I nodded at him, though, he relaxed. I sent reassurance th
rough both of those bonds.

  In response, my mates came to me. Rook held me in his arms, dropping a kiss into my hair. Owain pressed against my back, his strong body protecting mine, bringing me closer to both men. I knew the sexual heat I felt was making my magic swirl around me. As Rook tilted my face up for a kiss, I felt sparks twisting into the air above us. When Owain brought his mouth to my neck, tasting the soft skin and marking it as his, I lost more control, making tiny snowflakes appear under my feet.

  I knew that the others had reached the nest when Alder joined in. His powerful hand took mine, drawing me gently from the man sandwich I was in. He slid an arm around my waist. My heart felt like it might stop. Did he know this was what I’d wanted since the moment I saw him?

  His green eyes were full of confusing emotions. He was mocking, yet kind. Rough, yet devoted. And, most of all, his passion for me was gentled, yet fierce. He would take me without any questions, without discussion. When he set his lips against mine, I drew vines up from the treetops we stood among, and I wrapped them around us. His kisses were urgent, his body hard against mine.

  When I felt a chill, I pulled myself away enough to look. The mists that destroyed magic had become aware of mine. My multitude of fae gifts was indeed unnatural, and it drew attention everywhere I went. This would be no exception.

  As we stood together, the mists curled toward us. They were inexorable as they advanced, attracted by the power that lit me at my men’s touch.

  And if the mists reached us, we were doomed.

  12

  Rook

  It felt like a game, like the newest idea in sporting events. I knew that sounded crazy, but it also worked in my mind as a way to keep my focus on what was real. My goal here was to arouse Ciara, to make her as wild with lust as she’d ever been. When she could no longer think of anything but the way we touched her, she would glow with every magic she possessed.

  I knew what that would look like, because we did it all the time back at the Academy. Or, rather, Owain and I did it for her. The three of us had shared a bed for a year now, losing countless nights of sleep to our desire for Ciara. I could picture her with her eyes closed in ecstasy, with her water and fire abilities engaged and heightened to their peak.

  But now? There would be three of us, each touching her with our own elemental connection and loving her in the way that suited us best. I was not sure that I could bring myself to allow Alder into the moment with us.

  Ciara looked at me, still encircled in Alder’s arms. Her eyes were clear and determined. “Rook, it’s alright. This is exactly what we should be doing right now. Don’t you see that it makes sense? It will increase my powers, and it will draw the mist to us as a diversion. Look, it’s already happening.”

  I followed her gaze to the area where the tree branches had formed a nest. The mist was, as she’d said, coming toward us already. It moved with increasing speed to the bright flame of Ciara’s power.

  Alder sounded gruff as he took a step back from Ciara. I almost smirked, perfectly aware of how much he wanted her, but I held that in. There was no need to antagonize the guy just because he’d underestimated the passion he felt for her.

  He blinked at me, as if he’d heard my thought. “Rook, this is what we need to do. It’s a strategic necessity. This is the only way that we can make sure the others can reach the spirit and get her out of there.”

  I concealed a grin. “Yep. We’re going to make Ciara moan with pleasure because of strategy. That’s such a hot way to put it.”

  She snickered along with me. “I love it when you talk dirty to me, guys. Let’s go ahead and do what we need to do. To save the world and stuff, you know.” And without any further chit chat, she set her hand against my cheek and drew my face to hers.

  I willingly kissed her back, as purposefully as I knew how. More than willingly. I still woke up every morning amazed that my fated mate had turned out to be this woman. This heart-stoppingly gorgeous mortal woman, with more power than any castle full of fae, was a better life mate than I could ever have dreamed of. I slid my hands around her, hoisting her against my hard cock so she’d feel how I wanted her.

  She knew. Ciara always knew how we felt about her. She’d understood it before I had last year, and she would set the tone now for how we accepted Alder into our menage. Her unerring knowledge of us and how we fit together was no less now, just because we were in peril.

  Ciara leaned back against the air above the treetops. It had been cool with morning dew when we’d arrived, but now it was almost tropical. She flicked a glowing finger to create a bed of air behind her, and as she sank into it, her eyes gleamed with humor and passion.

  “Rook, I need you right now.” She pulled my hand until I was above her, supporting my weight on one arm, my body covering hers. Then she whispered, “I know you aren’t sure what this will be like. Don’t worry. You will always be my fire mate, my first bond.” Then she winked at me, sending me a thought along our bond that I understood well.

  I kissed her neck, loving the way she arched her back as she moaned with pleasure. I saw that Owain was at her side, running his hands lavishly over her, even as I made my way lower. Her curves had always enchanted me, and this was no exception. I allowed my tongue to trace the softness of her breasts, then her nipples as I pushed aside her knit top. She pulled the shirt over her head, holding out her hand for Alder. I could not see him anywhere.

  I strayed lower, reaching her navel, then the top of her plaid riding pants. When I’d shucked those from her, delicately pulling them over her feet, I found her center, the place I’d sought. As usual, my mortal lover wore no undergarments. I loved that about her. She was soft and sweet, wet with anticipation. My hands and mouth slid across her body, tasting her, learning her as I did anew every time we lay together. She bit her lower lip and moaned.

  As I pleasured Ciara, her body shone with all four of the elements she commanded. Her hands were full of fire magic, the heat urging me on rather than discouraging me. Where Owain stroked her skin, she glowed with water magic, a fine humidity beading all around us. But I still could not figure out where Alder was. If he was missing this, he was a fool.

  The chill of the white mist should not have been apparent with the heat we were generating through our fire bond, but it was. When the curling danger came closer to us, we all felt it.

  Owain murmured to her. “Ciara. You have to build a barrier around us. Use your magic, incorporating all the elements. It will attract the mists, but it will also be impossible for them to break through.”

  She turned to look at him, even as her hips rose in response to my touch. “But they’ll stop the magic. They’ll take it.”

  “Not if you weave all that you have,” he insisted. “It will be like nothing the mist has ever seen.”

  Suddenly, Alder’s deep, rough voice was there. He was on the other side of Ciara, his massive form dwarfing hers. “Owain is right,” he said. “You are unique, Ciara. The mist seeks you, but cannot hope to pierce through a barrier you build. You must let go of all your concerns.”

  As he spoke, he sent green vines around her wrists, pinning her in place. Ciara smiled at Alder, knowing that he was teasing her. She could break the vines in an instant, but she did not choose to. Instead, she did as he’d suggested. She leaned back, giving herself over to what was happening to her, to the ecstasy that she knew we could bring her.

  Ciara no longer spoke, instead surrendering herself to the pleasure I gave her as I flicked her clit with my tongue. She was on the verge of orgasm; I knew it. Then she called out with release, channeling all her senses into a dome of bright magic above us. It moved into place just as the tendrils of mist reached us. They pressed firmly against the tangled wall of magic, but they could not move it. The white fingers became smaller and sharper, but they could not pierce the barrier.

  I watched her closely as she caught her breath. If it were a normal night at the castle, we’d cover her with our bodies again and again, pul
ling her atop us, taking turns until we all fell asleep in a tangle. Now, I waited to see what she thought we should do next.

  Ciara nodded at me and Owain with understanding, but turned her attention to Alder. He leaned forward and kissed her, his lips moving all over her face, urgency driving his movements. “You’ve done it. The others are leaving the forest now. They will be back at the horses in a moment. And they’ve caught the spirit.”

  She looked at him. “Caught it, or rescued it?”

  “Both, truly,” he answered. “We will return it to its home, its proper place. That is all it has ever wanted.”

  “Then why did it rescue you?” Owain mumbled. “It might have been better not to.”

  Ciara shook her head, her eyes filled with love for Alder. “No, this was what was meant to happen. This quest has brought us together. Don’t you see? With all this power, I can do anything at all.”

  Alder kissed her neck, his hands roaming over her breasts. “Then you must do it. For we have a problem now. Can you teleport us all out of here?”

  “Wait,” I said. “I thought it was supposed to be too dangerous to teleport anywhere near here. We won’t know if there will be mists where we want to go. We could lose it all.”

  Ciara sat up, looking fierce. “No. We will do what we need to, to have it all. I am not going to be cheated out of any of my own destiny, just because of some stupid magic-erasing mists. I came here to be the Queen of the land of the fae, and I will be.”

  As it had before, a shadow filled the sky above us.

  Ciara seemed to know what it meant. “That’s right, Hellebore,” she shouted up to the sky. “I’m here to take the throne, not for any of the reasons you did. But because I have fae to care for. I love them. I have fae to save.”

  And she mustered all her powers, careful to time her spell correctly, so that her dome of protection would not fail too soon. She wrapped all of us in a gentle bond of all four elements, and she did the thing that no fae had ever dared to do in these lands.