by Lexi C. Foss
He smiled. “Likewise, baby. But that only makes this so much hotter.” His mouth recaptured mine before I could reply, his touch robbing me of my ability to think.
His hands were everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
His kiss a brand against my lips.
His dick throbbing against the place I needed to be touched most.
Too many clothes.
My wrists were caught in one of his hands and hoisted above my head. “Not yet,” he breathed. “Not here.”
“Not what?” I replied, dazed.
“Shh,” he hushed, his refreshing scent surrounding me in a jungle of sensation.
Trees.
Water.
Flowers in full bloom.
The familiarity of the aromas had me sighing in contentment while my body hummed to life with renewed passion.
I kissed him with all of my being, gifting him with the life thriving in my soul, only to be ensnared in his dark web in return. He tugged me under, filling me with a venomous energy that felt wrong beneath my skin.
“Shade,” I whimpered, writhing against him.
“I’ve got you,” he promised.
But I didn’t believe him.
I couldn’t trust him.
Just as Zephyrus said—I’d be wise to develop a similar armor. One outlined in distrust.
My limbs began to shake.
Tears slid from my eyes.
The world rumbled around me, and I couldn’t make it stop, even while an inferno built inside me, begging to be released.
It terrified me.
Enthralled me.
Owned me.
Shade’s tongue dominated mine, his cock a thick presence against my core, pushing me to the precipice of something terrifying. I clung to him with all my strength, horrified and captivated at the same time. Nothing I could do would stop this. I felt it in my very blood, an unerring compulsion to give in to Shade’s ministrations.
A part of me rebelled.
The other part… rejoiced.
I hated him more in that moment than anyone else in my entire existence. Yet my craving for him won.
Ecstasy erupted inside me, drawing a scream from my throat that was filled with self-loathing and pain. And also represented the most powerful orgasm of my life.
I wasn’t a complete innocent.
I’d played with Glacier countless times, and while the Water Fae was good in bed, he never made me feel quite like this.
Like liquid ice.
Hot on the inside, frozen on the outside.
A tremor rocked me from head to toe, my rapture subsiding beneath a fresh wave of horror.
I couldn’t discern up from down, right from wrong, or passion from hate. Shade’s lips were at my neck, his kiss far too tender for my liking. I’d prefer his bite so I could hate him more. Only, he held me with worship in his touch, his warm body wrapped around me in a false blanket of protection.
“I hate you,” I whispered, my eyes wet. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”
“I know,” he replied softly. “I hate myself, too.” He nuzzled my throat, sighing. “I’m not supposed to be here, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m not okay,” I told him, shuddering. “Not okay at all.”
He kissed my jaw before pulling back to meet my gaze. “You’re strong, little rose,” he said softly, the new nickname underlined in a deep caress. “We’ll both be okay in the end. You’ll see.” He pressed his lips to mine once more as he carried me to the chair. Lowering me into it, he hovered over me with a sinful look. “I need to go before Guardian Zephyrus finishes his spell. But I’ll see you again soon. In your dreams.”
Shade vanished into a cloud of smoke that seemed to take up the entire room, his existence touching every article of clothing and all the walls, until all I could see was darkness.
“Aflora!” Zephyrus’s furious voice slapped me across the face, jolting me from the chair. He stood before me with a livid expression, his wand in his hand.
I frowned at him, then whirled around the unfamiliar room. Wait… I glanced down to find myself fully clothed and wrapped up in a cloak like a blanket.
My skirt looked brand new, my blouse fully buttoned, and I even had on knee-high boots.
I blinked. “What…?”
“A sleep enchantment,” Zephyrus hissed. “That little prick.” He shook his head, a curse falling from his full lips. “He’s circumventing the rules with mind play. I’d be impressed if he wasn’t breaking a hundred protocols to do it.”
“So he wasn’t… That didn’t… I…” My cheeks heated, unable to finish. My damp panties were the only thing on me that matched my supposed dream. So either I’d woken up turned on or I’d orgasmed in my sleep.
Which meant Zephyrus had probably seen it.
Oh, Mother Earth… Warmth touched every inch of my being at the thought of what he’d witnessed.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem all that keen to mention it.
“We’re done shopping,” he said instead, turning on a wave of superiority, an array of bags forming around him. “I assume that’s your cape of choice. Same with the wand. The other items will be in your wardrobe by the time we get back.” He glanced at my boots and skirt. “A little schoolgirl for our trip back, but I doubt anyone will notice. Let’s go.”
“Wait, what wand?” I asked. “I didn’t pick one.”
“Check your pocket, Aflora. One already picked you.”
I patted the side of my cape, my eyes widening. “They do that?”
He just gave me a flat look and gestured with his chin toward a mirror. Assuming he meant for me to walk through it, I did and found myself in the cloakroom once more.
My cape billowed around me as I twisted in a sharp circle. “How…?”
“You have so much to learn about our world,” Zephyrus replied as he retrieved his cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders with a flourish. “Also, a wand isn’t a magical being. It’s an extension of our power.”
With a wave of his hand, a keypad appeared, and he punched in a code that I caught this time. Of course, it was to the place I didn’t really want to go, so not all that helpful.
“We use them as a conduit,” he continued, his arm sliding around my shoulders to hold me close while the portal began to whirl around us. “As I said, it’s an extension of your power. It helps you focus on a single book on a shelf rather than an entire collection.”
Cawing pierced my skull as the crows took over, welcoming us back to the Academy grounds.
In minutes, they were back to their rocky forms, dotting the courtyard.
Flames ignited along the paths again, illuminating the otherwise quiet campus.
“When do students start to arrive?” I asked as he led the way back to Kolstov’s building.
“Some are already here but keeping to themselves. The majority will return in five days’ time to attend the annual autumn bonfire.” He flicked his wrist, sending the bags ahead in a train that moved toward the residence. “Let’s take a tour before heading back. We can stop by the cafeteria as well and grab something to eat.”
My stomach grumbled at the idea, agreeing.
Aside from the tea he’d forced on me after waking up, I hadn’t eaten at all.
“Just be warned,” he added, already walking. “The food on Academy grounds is of the human variety. So either you’re going to have to learn some meal-conjuring spells or you’re going to need to change your tastes. I recommended the latter.” He snapped his fingers, a torch appearing in his hand. “Now try to keep up, Aflora. I’m going to give you a crash course in Academy life, and I won’t be repeating myself.”
Chapter Ten
Zeph
I did not miss this place.
The food.
The lounging crows.
The general aura of misery.
In a week, this place would be the definition of hell, brimming with students all eager to continue their studies.
>
I envied them.
My entire life had been determined before my birth, my duty to a family I’d grown to loathe. Anything and everything Malik Nacht told me to do, I did.
Including taking a job as a headmaster at the Academy when I had no interest or desire to teach.
I took a sip of my coffee, enjoying the way it scalded my mouth and throat on the way down. Pain made me feel alive. Unlike my current surroundings.
Aflora sat across from me, a pout on her full lips as she eyed the contents of our trays. I’d selected an array of my favorites for her to try, yet she didn’t seem keen on any of them.
Impossible female.
She didn’t belong here any more than I did.
I set my mug down and folded my arms on the table, leaning toward her. “Want a magic lesson?”
We hadn’t spoken much during the tour. Mostly just me gesturing at buildings and telling her what courses were held where, as well as pointing out the various residential units. She remained studiously quiet the whole time, probably because she didn’t plan to stay here long.
Given what I witnessed inside AcaWard earlier, she’d be here a lot longer than she anticipated. Because Shade clearly possessed a hold over her psyche, something that suggested their blood bond was a lot stronger than it should be.
Which meant their powers were going to grow together.
And that would very likely lead to their deaths.
A disappointing thought, but realistic.
“What kind of lesson?” Aflora asked, referring to my query.
“Well, as you don’t seem keen on the food here, I’ll teach you an easy spell for acquiring alternatives.” And in turn demonstrate why she needed to change her attitude about our sustenance offerings.
Acquisition spells required energy.
Something that would become quite evident to her in a matter of minutes.
I pulled out my wand and set it on the table. “As I mentioned earlier, wands are not the source of magic. We merely use them to help focus the energy. I’ll give you an example.” We had an entire table to work with, the other twenty chairs around it empty, therefore providing me with the room to exaggerate this lesson a little. “The spell for creating something edible is Tareero Tamida and then the item.”
Pretty simple, really. But her expression told me she didn’t agree.
“So I just say the two words and the food I want, then it pops up.”
“Well, you need to put some magic behind it. But yes, that’s the general idea.”
She frowned at me. “And I use the wand?”
“It’s not required, no. As I said, a wand focuses our magic.” Her creasing forehead told me she wasn’t following. “Here. I’ll provide an example. Give me a food item you’re craving.”
“Uh, I don’t know. A sandwich?”
Now I was the one frowning. “You have a sandwich.” I pointed to the ham and cheese melt on her plate.
“That’s not a sandwich.”
“It’s definitely a sandwich.”
“This has bread and meat and cheese. A sandwich is leafy greens baked to perfection with yammock filling, berries, and sometimes a sliver of hartmint, if you’re feeling gluttonous.”
Right. I didn’t know what any of those things were. “How about another loaf instead?” That I at least knew how to make as I’d eaten one before.
Her lips twisted as she shrugged. “Sure. That works. Can you make a coldberry loaf?”
“There are different types of loaves?”
After studying me for a long moment, she said, “A shroom loaf is fine.”
Good because that was the only one I knew how to make. Rather than waste time on explaining the plan again, I just performed the spell. “Tareero Tamida loaf.”
One the size of her entire plate appeared, causing her eyes to widen.
“That’s huge,” she gasped out.
“Yeah. Because I didn’t control the size with my wand.” Not exactly true. Children could perform this kind of magic in their sleep and still make an appropriate loaf, but I wanted to exaggerate the results for teaching purposes.
Hey, look at me living up to my headmaster role, I thought sourly.
Wouldn’t King Malik be so proud?
Arrogant fuck.
Clearing my throat, I pushed the negative thoughts away and refocused. “Using the conduit, you can control the magical outcome.” I picked up my wand and performed the spell again, this time creating a perfectly proportioned loaf. Then I muttered a cleanup spell that dissolved all the food on the table—including the items we’d picked up from the chef—and said, “You try.”
She considered for a moment, then nodded. “All right.” Taking her wand out of her cloak, she gave it a little wave while saying, “Tareero Tamida sandwich.”
Nothing.
Not even a twitch of magic.
I leaned back in my chair and watched as she tried again.
And again.
And again.
All without any kind of result or a single hint of feeling.
After her tenth go at it, she huffed, “This isn’t working.”
“Clearly.”
She stared at me, waiting.
If she expected me to give her more directions, then she had another think coming. I already explained how the process worked. If she couldn’t figure out how to apply it, that was on her, not me. Besides, I shouldn’t even be here.
“Is my wand broken?” she asked, holding out the magical conduit.
I didn’t even look at it. “No.” Because it’s not about the wand, I added to myself. She needed to figure that out on her own. Magic came from the blood. I couldn’t really help her find the link. She needed to do that herself.
“Well, that’s helpful,” she muttered, putting away her wand. “Could you at least explain how I make it work?” she asked slowly as if speaking to an idiot.
I answered her in the same tone with, “You access your magic.”
“Right. How?”
“How do you call on your earth essence?” I countered.
“It’s a natural connection through my soul.”
“Then there you go,” I replied. “Class dismissed.”
She pointed to the collar at her neck. “I think you’re forgetting this.”
“You’re letting a necklace hold you back? How disappointing.” It only blocked her earth magic, not her access to the dark arts. I could admit that out loud, but that would belittle this exercise.
“Holding me back?” she repeated. “It cut me off from my gifts!”
“And?”
She gaped at me. “Wow. You are the worst teacher I’ve ever met.”
“It’s my first year,” I offered in explanation. “And I technically haven’t started yet.”
“Well, you’re off to a horrible start,” she muttered.
I lifted a shoulder, unbothered by her attempt at an insult. This wasn’t my career choice. And if I had it my way, I’d be done before I even started.
“So you all expect me to perform magic with a handicap,” she drawled. “Oh, but I may not have any dark magic at all, which this exercise seems to confirm.”
“Yet you dismantled a high-level spell inside your mind yesterday, which suggests otherwise,” I pointed out. “Not just anyone can outmaneuver a Nacht binding charm.”
“The little web, you mean?”
“There was nothing little about it.” Yet, that she considered it little said quite a bit. “How did you dismantle it?” I’d wondered the same thing last night but had been too amused by her attacking Kols with a thwomp. Dangerous, yes. And entertaining as fuck. I was almost disappointed when she lost.
Alas, she always would.
“I found a piece of my light and followed it,” she answered vaguely. “I don’t see any light now because of this.” She gestured to her throat again.
“That cuts you off from your elements, not the dark magic growing inside you.” Which I sensed humming just benea
th her skin. Another hint I could provide her with, but to what purpose? The best way to learn was by doing, not being led. If she wanted any hope of surviving in our world, then she needed to start thinking and acting for herself. Not relying on others to protect her.
Even if that was technically my job for the time being.
She shook her head. “This is a waste of time.”
“Is it?” I drawled. “I had no idea.”
“Wow. This is really not the right career path for you.”
I smiled. “Your reasoning skills are outstanding, Aflora.” I leaned forward. “And you couldn’t be more right.”
“Then why are you here?” she demanded.
“Because I’m serving my duty to the crown as prescribed.” Whether I like it or not, I added to myself. But enough about that. “Regarding your powers, Midnight Fae pull through our blood, not our souls. So try that instead.”
There. I’d tossed her a bone. Now no one could accuse me of not trying to help.
“Through my blood,” she repeated, her tone skeptical. “Right.”
“Look, if you don’t want to try, then eat the shit offered up at the buffet and let’s head back. I could use a nap, and you have a pile of textbooks to start reading.” Not that any of them would help her.
This poor girl was utterly fucked.
And so not my problem.
Then why are you trying to teach her? some unhelpful voice in the back of my mind asked.
I shoved it away. I wasn’t helping her, just providing some guidance to get her started.
Aflora glowered at me, her blue eyes glittering in a way that reminded me of sex.
Hot.
Passionate.
Fierce.
Sex.
The kind of fuck I enjoyed.
Not. Happening.
Except I always did favor the forbidden. And nothing could be more forbidden than the female sitting across from me. With her full, pouty mouth, delicate jaw, slender throat, and, mmm, that body. She might be wrapped up in a cloak right now, but I’d already noticed her ample assets—pert tits, slender waist, and a heart-shaped ass.
I wasn’t blind.
Aflora was a stunning woman. And strictly off-limits for a myriad of reasons.