by Wendi Wilson
I clamped down on my magic, the act nearly a subconscious effort, and the air around us cooled. But the fire inside only grew, reaching levels that were both unbearable and utterly delicious.
On that blanket under the stars, we worshipped each other. We let the rest of the world fade away—my new family, the academy, and the Zephyr threat all disappeared as we focused solely on each other and the pleasure to be had in the arms of the one you love.
I wanted to stay there, always, but the real world waited outside that worriless privacy bubble in which we were cocooned. Eventually we’d have to go back, but for that one night in Easton’s arms, everything was perfect.
Chapter One Hundred Three
5
“We have received reports from our people in the city that Sebille is slowly tightening her control over the humans. The Zephyrs have upped their demands, requiring service in the form of physical labor in exchange for crops that supply food and materials for textiles. And she sent out a notice that no additional plots of land will be rehabilitated to support new plant growth. Ever.”
Everyone in the classroom stared at Professor Goodman in shock and disbelief. Not only was he giving us news we hadn’t heard before, but the disgust evident in his words was new, as well. Each of his previous lectures had held a hint of reverence for the Zephyrs, but I now knew that was all for Aubrey’s benefit. Puck had to keep up the act that he was doing as ordered so the Zephyr spy could report it back to the queen.
He was no longer tied by that constraint, and could let his true feelings be heard and seen. It was about damned time.
“She is accelerating her timeline,” he continued. “Soon, the humans’ entire lives will be consumed with serving her people. They will have no freedom left. No choices. No rewards other than just enough resources to keep them alive. She will own them.”
Those last words were uttered with meaning, like he wanted us to understand the seriousness of the situation. To really grasp the horror of the human population’s imminent reality.
“What can we do to stop her?” I called out when the other students remained trapped in a stunned silence.
My grandfather smiled at me, answering my question with a question by saying, “What do you think we should do, Ms. Thorne?”
“I think it is up to us to end her reign,” I said. “The humans are in awe of the Zephyr power, and Sebille has done too good of a job pretending to be a benevolent savior. They won’t rise up against her. They will continue to be grateful for whatever scraps she deigns to throw their way.”
“And how will we stop her?” Puck asked, his words light and encouraging, devoid of the mocking tone that had previously been there when he spoke to me in class.
“We have to take her out,” Shaela called out before I could respond. “She holds too much power over the humans and the Zephyrs. She has to be eliminated.”
Puck turned to the board behind him. Picking up a piece of chalk he began to draw a large triangle.
“Imagine, if you will,” he said, “that this triangle represents Sebille’s empire.” He shaded the bottom half of the image. “This portion represents the humans.” He drew swirling lines in the upper half, adding “This is the Zephyr population.” Last, he circled the point at the top. “This is Sebille.”
“So if we cut out the humans, her empire will crumble?” Tiana called out in a snide voice.
Puck narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. My spine straightened as I leaned forward, anxiously waiting for his response. If Tiana thought she was sucking up to him, she had another thing coming. He was not the same teacher he was before.
And it was time everyone else, including the high bitch herself, figured that out.
“So, your suggestion is to eliminate the humans?”
“I, uh…no?” Tiana stuttered, obviously flustered by the professor’s stern tone.
“Was that an answer, or a question, Miss Avery? Do you think we, the Sylphid army, should wipe out humanity to defeat Sebille?”
His words were clipped, his palm pounding on the desk top with each syllable. Tiana flinched with each word, and for once, she kept her head down and her mouth shut.
“Anyone else have an opinion?” Puck asked when it was obvious Tiana wasn’t going to say another word.
“We have to protect the humans,” Easton called out. “The Zephyrs want to eliminate them, or at the very least minimize the population. We need to build them up and help them escape the grip Sebille has on them.”
“And what would be the easiest way to do that?” Puck shot back.
“Kill the queen.”
The words burst from my lips, filled with conviction and the surety that I was right. Killing Sebille was our best option.
“If the queen dies, the hive is weakened. The colony must produce a new queen, or all its inhabitants will perish,” my grandfather said, his voice laced with meaning.
Our gazes locked as I struggled to find a response that wasn’t but I don’t want to be queen, or some other childish argument. The bell signaling the end of class rang, breaking our staring contest. I heaved a relieved breath as I began gathering up my things.
I was so not ready to have that conversation, especially in the middle of class.
“December…a moment, if you don’t mind.”
Tiana snickered at Puck’s words, obviously sure I was in trouble or something like that. She smirked at me as she pranced through the door, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder and swaying her hips. I rolled my eyes, my patience wearing thin.
“If she knew you were my granddaughter, she wouldn’t dare treat you as she does,” Puck mused as I approached his desk, flanked by Easton and Shaela.
“I can handle it,” I said. “I’m not ready yet.”
No one outside of our group and Finn knew the mysterious Ellie Goodman, who was visiting her father at the academy, was actually my mother. I wanted this time with her to be special, to get to know her without outside forces casting judgment and hate. Without people like Tiana Avery spewing nastiness about her love affair with a Zephyr.
“As you wish, my dear,” he said with a nod. “I have news.”
“Good news, I hope,” I replied, my eyes skirting from him to Easton, then Shaela and back again.
“I’ve decided to relinquish my position as your professor.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re not leaving again, are you?” Shaela cut in before he could answer me.
“No, I’m not leaving,” he said, giving her an indulgent smile. Then he looked back at me. “I never wanted to teach here. I only took the position to appease Sebille. Now that her spy is gone, I think it’s best if the council finds you a real teacher. Someone dedicated to molding young minds and whatnot.”
He said that last part so flippantly, I couldn’t repress the laugh that burst from my chest. Classic Puck.
“I also wanted to tell you that an emergency council meeting has been called for this afternoon, at my request. I am going to tell them everything.”
“You are?” I asked, my nerves jumping under my skin.
“Worry not, December. They will not force me out again,” he said, seeming to read my mind. “Though I tricked them and they will feel like fools, they will also understand the advantage of having a double agent under their roof. The intel on Sebille will be too tempting to resist.”
“I hope you’re right,” I mumbled.
I’d only just found him. I couldn’t lose him already.
“What time is the meeting?” Easton asked. “I need to be there.”
Puck smiled at him, then his eyes moved to me and Shaela.
“The council will want first-hand accounts of the events that led us to this point. You will all be there.”
Chapter One Hundred Four
6
The tension in the room was palpable—so thick, it settled on my skin like a coarse blanket, making me itch all over. Five sets of narrowed eyes darted back and forth between me an
d my dad, like we’d somehow sullied the council room with our very presence. I could practically hear the wheels spinning in their heads.
Aubrey turning out to be a Zephyr spy was somehow our doing, despite the fact that she’d arrived years before us.
I shook my head at the thought. It was easier to lay the blame on us than face their own incompetence.
A soft hand slipped into mine as a soft floral scent wafted around me. I smiled at my mom, standing tall and proud in obvious support of the despised Zephyrs in the room. She held no fear, no shame, no regrets. She really was the best.
I caught Finn looking at our clasped hands, a soft smile playing on his lips. He was the only Sylph at the table not shooting daggers at me with his eyes. When his gaze lifted to mine, I thanked him with a small nod and an upward tilt of the lips.
Puck had stood before the council and told them the entire sordid story, including the circumstances of my conception, birth and subsequent abandonment. He described his spiral of shame that sent him to the Zephyr queen looking for redemption, and his return to Oberon Academy with the hopes of using his connections to Sebille and the Zephyr army to help the Sylphid cause.
“I had no idea when I returned that Sebille already had a spy installed at the academy,” he said. “Aubrey Ellsworth revealed her true form to me almost immediately, claiming Sebille had sent word that she should help me in whatever capacity I required. It was obvious, however, she was meant to keep an eye on me for the queen.”
“Which is why he did not come forward sooner,” Finn added, his voice echoing off the walls around us.
“And what information did you feed Queen Sebille?” a stern looking Sylph with a bushy blonde mustache asked. “You’ve been here for weeks. You must have given her something to keep her mollified.”
“I ruthlessly and very publicly made December Thorne’s life hell. That was my main objective, as Sebille already received regular updates from her first spy.”
“I’d like to hear from the girl,” a thin man with maroon wings interjected.
“Which girl?” Puck asked. “Both of my granddaughters are here to give testimony.”
“He meant the hybrid,” another councilman clarified.
“Don’t—”
I cut my mother’s words off with a squeeze of my hand before letting her go and stepping forward. I loved that she wanted to stick up for me, to protect me from ugly name-calling, but I’d heard much worse.
Besides, I was a hybrid. And damned proud of it, too.
“What would you like to know?” I asked, my words loud and clear.
My heart was pounding in my chest and my knees wobbled a little, but none of the nervousness was evident in my voice. I was thankful for that, at least.
“How is it that you were able to see through Miss Ellsworth’s Glamour when no one, not even our own king, was able to do so?”
“It’s nearly impossible to hold a Glamour with December,” my dad interjected, earning several glares from the table.
I held up a palm to let him know I was okay. I appreciated him trying to help me out, but this was something I had to do for myself—if I ever wanted to earn their respect.
“Because of my dual nature,” I said, picking my words carefully, “I have found that I have a resistance to Glamour from either race. While it will fool me in short doses, the longer I am around the person using it, the less effective it becomes. Aubrey never spent more than a few minutes at a time around me, and it wasn’t until she let the strength of her Glamour slip a little bit that I saw through the cracks in it.”
“Has your dual nature,” Bushy Mustache said with a snarl, “given you any other strange abilities we should know about?”
“I have control over all four elements—but I’m sure you already knew that. And,” I said, my gaze shooting to Finn, who nodded in approval, “the power of command doesn’t work on me…from either side.”
Shouts of outrage echoed through the room, words like “impossible” and “blasphemous” ringing in my ears. Finn stood from his chair and held up his hands, bringing the room back to silence. He waited until all eyes were one him before he spoke.
“I have witnessed this phenomenon for myself. December not only resisted my command, but was able to negate my orders with one of her own.”
“I, for one, would like to see this for myself,” the Sylph at the far end of the table called out, his voice sharp as a knife, like he had no doubt the whole thing was a lie. “The only Sylphs immune to the power are the members of council, and only when we are in this room.”
“But she’s not one hundred percent Sylph,” Cris mumbled, but it may as well have been a shout.
“Do not remind of us of your true nature again, Zephyr,” the councilman growled. “We may have agreed to let you reside at Oberon Academy, but we can, and will rescind the permission should you give us just cause.
I looked at my dad with wide eyes as his Glamour started to slip. His hair darkened a few shades, looking auburn in the lamplight, and his eyes swirled with darkness.
“Dad,” I said, keeping my voice even and calm, “it’s okay.”
His shoulders drooped and resignation drew down his features as he gave me a nod. I turned back to Finn, my eyes questioning. It was his decision to make. I didn’t want my ability to break his command to lessen his position in the eyes of his peers.
“Everyone, look at me.”
I felt that familiar wobble in my center, and my eyes immediately zoned in on Finn. I felt compelled to stare at him for several second before the sensation dissipated. I shook off the vestiges of his power, and my eyes trailed to the other council members.
Each one stared at me with a smile of satisfaction that quickly dropped as I met each of their eyes. Eyes widened and gazes shot around the rest of the room to the other Sylphs present. I followed the path of their stares to see Easton, Shaela, Ellie, and the rest of the random Sylphs in the room watching Finn. Even Puck’s eyes were on the king, though I could tell he was trying hard to break the compulsion.
Cris was the only person in the crowd unaffected. I smiled at him and he returned the gesture, giving me an encouraging nod.
I opened my mouth to speak, but movement in a shadowed alcove behind Cris caught my eye. The figure leaned forward, further into the light, and I bit back a gasp. It was Alwyn Jameson, Easton’s dad, his baby blue eyes locked on Finn.
“What is he doing here?”
I mouthed the words, but no sound came out. Cris frowned, looking over his shoulder to see what I was staring at. His body went rigid when he spotted Alwyn, but the bushy-mustached council member broke the silence, drawing our attention to him.
“Well, it’s obvious you’re immune to the command of the king,” he called out, his voice heavy with accusation as he added, “but that could simply be a result of your Zephyr nature. Let’s see you prove your other claim.”
Anger pulsed through me at his tone, which reeked of skepticism and a dark satisfaction that I hadn’t yet broken Finn’s command. Like he’d known all along that I couldn’t and that I, along with our king, had lied about the whole thing.
“Stop looking at the king,” I growled out, my voice warbling with a power of its own.
Heads shook as eyes darted around the room in wild confusion. It was pretty obvious that no one outside my inner circle had believed the claim, despite it having been uttered from the king’s own lips. The councilmen’s looks of bewilderment quickly morphed into glares of outrage.
“Unacceptable!” one shouted, slamming a palm onto the table.
“Dangerous,” another called out.
“Stop this nonsense,” Finn bellowed, and the room fell silent once more. “I trust December Thorne, and that should be enough for the rest of you. Do not disparage her again.”
The members of the council sat back in their seats, grudging acceptance with an edge of mutiny written all over their faces. Their king had spoken. They would obey, but they didn’t like it.
That was fine with me. I was just ready to get the whole inquisition over with so we could leave and get on with our lives.
I looked to my parents with that thought. Finn began to speak again, and as I watched, my mother’s eyes moved to his face. But Dad’s gaze strayed away from him. He looked from Mom, to Puck to the council, to me. But never at Finn.
My brow furrowed as I watched him, then as realization dawned on me, I had to choke back a groan.
Stop looking at the king.
I must have infused some command power of my own into those words. Now Cris, as the only Zephyr in the room to hear them, couldn’t look at Finn.
“Hey,” I whispered, getting my dad’s attention. When he looked at me, I mouthed “Sorry,” then infused the power into my voice as I muttered, “You can look at him now.”
His gaze shot from me to Finn then back to me as his shoulders drooped in relief. I smiled at him and he returned it. I felt eyes on me and looked back at the head table, where Mr. Maroon Wings was glaring at me.
I really needed to learn the council members’ names.
“War is coming,” Puck said, and all eyes swiveled to him. “We must be prepared for it. Who better to help us to that end than Sebille’s own son?”
“How do we know we can trust him? How can we trust you, for that matter?”
“Our king trusts us. That should be enough.”
After Puck’s words, arguments bounced back and forth as the council debated among themselves. I looked at Easton, but he wasn’t watching the exchange. I followed his gaze to the same alcove where I’d spotted Alwyn earlier, but it was empty.
“Did you see your father?” I whispered, leaning in close so he’d hear me. At his distracted nod, I asked, “Do you know why he was here?”
He looked at me then, his expression worried.
“I have no idea.”
Chapter One Hundred Five