by Lexi C. Foss
Whispers flooded the room as Charlie made his way through it—alone. Dash watched him, his expression torn between loyalty to his friend and loyalty to himself.
In the end, he chose himself.
As I suspected he would.
Anderson Motors wouldn’t be recovering anytime soon, if ever. Meaning Charlie was about to go through a very humbling experience, one that would probably take him out of school or relocate him to somewhere more financially suitable.
Or maybe they’d allow him to stay to finish the year. I really hoped so because his life at Darlington Academy—a place that notably cared more about status than its students—was about to change drastically.
As Dash demonstrated now by returning to his table instead of chasing after his supposed friend.
One down, three to go, Ella murmured.
I kissed her temple and wrapped my arms around her. On to the next phase, I agreed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ella
Three weeks later and everyone was still talking about Charlie. He’d transferred out of Darlington Academy within days of the announcement, his family moving to somewhere in the Midwest while his father’s company went to battle with an army of lawyers.
It was possible Charlie Anderson wouldn’t learn anything from the experience. Perhaps I should have chosen a harsher avenue of punishment, but he was never my biggest target.
No, Dash Charming won that prize between the two of them.
He stood on the pool deck in a tiny Speedo, flirting with a trio of chicks. They were mooning over him, as per usual after swim class. He’d gotten over the disappearance of his buddy right quick, happily taking over the mantle of king at Darlington Academy.
Except something about him felt different.
Like the way his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He also no longer seemed to be fucking his way through the student population. Or maybe he was just being more discreet about it. And he hadn’t spent much time around Ryan or Carmen lately, at least from what I’d seen.
Regardless, he wasn’t acting like the Dash I knew and loathed, and that perplexed me a bit.
With a shake of my head, I wandered into the girls’ locker room, deciding to contemplate him more later.
He was next on my list after I finished fucking with Carmen.
Tray had suggested I use her as target practice for my magic. A “two birds with one stone” sort of deal whereby I familiarized myself with some of the Midnight Fae texts and spells, then applied them to my wicked stepsister.
Such as the one I evoked two days ago that induced hair loss.
It’d been a tricky spell that required a strand from her platinum blonde head, but I’d managed to snag it during lunch after pretending to bump into her.
I had used that moment to also sprinkle some dust onto her skin.
Hence the hives she’d broken out in recently—an intense case that would cause scarring if she didn’t stop scratching herself.
Her appearance was the subject of conversation by all the girls in the locker room. Some felt bad for her. Others claimed karma. Most were just happy to watch her suffer.
“She’s gained a ton of water weight, too,” one of them was saying.
“Stress.”
“Oh, totally. I mean, if my face looked like that, I’d be stress eating, too.”
“Totally deserves it.”
“Wish it happened to her bitch of a twin.”
“Gretchen,” the girl beside me warned.
“What? Ryan’s a cunt. I’d love to see her suffer.”
Several rounds of agreement rang through the locker area. No one would have dared hold a conversation like this a month ago. But today? Several were participating.
Down crumbles the queen, I thought, pulling my shirt over my head.
The discussion continued while I put on my skirt, socks, and shoes. It was as I put up my hair that I realized the room had fallen silent with several sets of eyes on me.
I checked my appearance, noting everything was in place.
“What?” I demanded, glaring at them all.
“Didn’t you, uh, hear the announcement?” a petite junior asked. Her name began with a T. Taylor. Tiffany. Tia. Tribeca. Something.
“No.” I had tuned out their conversation. I mean, yeah, it entertained me, but I also just wanted to get the hell out of here. “What about it?”
“You’ve been nominated for Winter Queen,” Junior with a T whispered, her eyes rounding. “A-against Carmen and Ryan.”
I swallowed. Well, that hadn’t been part of the plan.
“Tray and Dash are up for Winter King,” she continued, her voice growing a little stronger. She listed the other nominations—two senior chicks who functioned as Ryan’s personal minions, and three other dudes I knew from my classes.
The typical court.
Minus me and Tray.
Did you do this? I asked him, sensing his presence in the hallway, waiting for me.
If by this, you mean the Winter Court assignment, no.
“Huh,” I said out loud. “Cool.”
Not the word I meant to use, but everyone was gaping at me.
I shrugged on my backpack and headed toward the doors. “Thanks?” I called back over my shoulder, uncertain of what else to say. The school had voted on the nominations—which meant my peers had put me into this position. Something I wasn’t sure how to feel about.
“Do you think Ryan did it?” I asked as soon as I saw Tray.
He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his side. “It’s possible, but your popularity has skyrocketed, dove. So it might be the students. We’ll know when we see her reaction.”
We had early release today, making swim class our last period of the day. That explained why they did the school announcements in the morning. I always tuned them out and hadn’t even noticed.
Tray led me down the corridor toward the exit. Several sheep watched along the way, their intrigue palpable. Ryan must be waiting near the doors.
So it would seem, he murmured, tightening his hold around me as we approached her.
One look at my stepsister’s face confirmed she had nothing to do with the nomination. Because she was not that good an actress.
“A word, please?” The demand was leveled at Tray, not me.
“I can’t imagine what we have to discuss,” he replied coolly. “I’ve already turned you down several times, and my decision hasn’t changed.”
Steam billowed from her ears as she followed us outside. “Now, Trayton.”
“Does that actually work on other people?” He glanced at me, arching a brow. “Do you find that as annoying as I do? That people buy into this shit?”
“What can I say?” I lifted a shoulder. “I mean, she’s an entitled bitch.”
Ryan sputtered, my words hitting their mark and sticking.
Meanwhile, Tray nodded sagely. “It’s true.”
“We could just ignore her,” I suggested.
He flashed me a dazzling grin. “I knew I adored you, El.”
We took two steps before she shrieked, officially losing her shit. She grabbed Trayton by his blazer and yanked him backward.
My power flickered to life, zapping her on instinct.
I’d left my power-diminishing bracelet in my bag.
Oops.
She released him on a scream, her face contorting in a rage unlike any I’d ever seen. “You!” she yelled, pointing at me. “How are you doing that?”
I lifted my eyebrows innocently. “Doing what?”
“You know what,” she snarled, stalking toward me.
But Tray stepped in between us. “I think you need to calm down, Ryan.”
“That bitch electrocuted me!”
Several gasps came from our audience, their whispers becoming background noise.
“I didn’t even touch you,” I pointed out, pressing my palm to Tray’s back. “Come on, baby. We should go.”
“Oh, this is fucking rich,”
Ryan snapped. “He doesn’t even—”
A bellow from the doorway cut her off as Carmen appeared with a giant lock of her hair in her hand.
Drawing more shocked sounds from the crowd.
Because yeah, she looked, uh, bad. And the words spilling from her mouth were unintelligible.
Tray’s amusement touched our mating bond. Nice.
I try, I replied.
Carmen collapsed against Ryan—who shoved her away with a disgusted grunt. “Gross! What if you’re contagious?”
Oh, I like that idea, Tray thought at me. Can we make her contagious, dove?
No, I need Ryan to suffer in other ways.
Disappointing. But I can wait for the finale, he replied, draping his arm around me again and steering me away from the meltdown on the stairs. Everyone parted the way for us, their attention drifting between us and my evil stepsisters.
Have you given more thought about Dash? Tray asked on the way to his car.
Yeah. I think we need to take him down with Ryan. Which was what Tray had suggested. It made sense with the two of them attending the Winter Ball together.
Part of me wanted to destroy his societal status the way we’d done Charlie’s, but it would be too obvious.
And to give him the same makeover as Carmen wouldn’t work either.
So I decided a public humiliation for both Dash and Ryan was in order.
“Did you order the cameras?” I asked Tray after sliding into the car.
He buckled his seat belt and grinned. “Of course I did.”
“Because you knew I’d cave.”
“I hoped you would,” he admitted, putting the car in drive. “It’s also a solid way to destroy him.”
“Assuming your suspicions are right,” I reminded him.
“They are.”
“So confident.”
“Always with you.” He winked at me and pulled out of the school parking lot. “But it means you need to initiate the final phase. Can you do it?”
I sighed, allowing my head to fall back on the seat. “Yeah. I can. However, I’m not going to enjoy it.”
He snorted. “I should hope not.”
“Aww, are you going to be jealous, Trayton Nacht?”
His palm landed on my thigh and squeezed. “You’re mine, Ella. And I’m a Midnight Fae. We’re notoriously possessive.”
“Really? Because I don’t feel that way at all,” I lied, grinning at his scowl. “I have no idea why I shocked Ryan. It’s not like she touched you or anything.”
His scowl morphed into a chuckle. “You’re a bad girl, Isabella Cinder.”
“Are you going to pun…?” I trailed off, grimacing. “Nope. Can’t even say it. Too cheesy.” And the words tasted horrible in my mouth.
He laughed outright, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, dove. I’m not into the punishment game.”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d probably be fine with it. But the words? Out loud? Sounds like a cheesy romance movie.”
“Pretty sure you mean porn, darling.”
My eyes widened. “Fae watch porn?”
He gifted me with another of those amused sounds, the kind that made my heart skip a beat. “Oh, Ella. We’re supernatural beings who thrive on blood and sex. What do you think?”
“I think I want you to share your stash.”
He glanced sideways at me, then refocused on the road, his neighborhood a few streets away. “I’d rather demonstrate my learnings. Personally.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to turn that offer down. “But only after another milkshake.” I’d been craving one all day—something I never thought would happen after watching him make the first one. However, they’d become a part of my daily diet. Tray suspected it was a result of my fae side making up for lost time.
My powers were growing, too. I felt them simmering beneath the surface, my control a continued learning experience.
“Deal,” Tray agreed, releasing my leg. “However, I require you to drink it naked. Consider it your punishment.”
I snorted. “Sounds like something that’ll punish you more than me, so sure.”
His lips curled. “We’ll see.”
“Indeed we will.”
Turned out, it was a punishment for us both.
One we thoroughly enjoyed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ella
One Month Later
Freshman attended the Holiday Ball in December.
Seniors attended the Winter Ball in early February.
The similarities between the two made tonight perfect for what we had planned.
“Wow,” Tray breathed from the doorway, his eyes roaming over my black gown and the slit running up my left leg to the middle of my thigh. It was one of the most risqué outfits I’d ever worn, hugging my figure in all the right places and dipping low into my cleavage.
It was the kind of dress a supermodel wore to a fancy gala or a celebrity event.
And it was perfect for tonight.
“You really are like a fairy guardian, Tray,” I teased him, thinking of the conversation we had after Homecoming. Because once again, he’d chosen the gown, and this was my favorite one yet.
“Fuck fairies,” he scoffed, sauntering into the room in a sinful black suit. “I’m all fae, baby.” He wrapped his palm around the back of my neck, tugging me toward him for a long, sensual kiss.
“My fae,” I murmured, smiling.
“Your fae,” he agreed, angling his mouth over mine.
He tasted like fresh mint. I dipped my tongue inside, indulging myself in more as I clutched his shoulders. Mmm, I could do this all night.
Me, too, he agreed. But we’ll miss the dance.
And what a shame that would be, I thought, unable to hold back my sarcasm.
“Mmm, we put too much into tonight to miss it now,” he said, nipping my lower lip. “Ryan still thinks I intend to ruin you.”
“I really don’t know how you’ve managed to convince her that’s still your plan with everything else that’s occurred.” Her reputation at the academy was soiled after her most recent erratic behavior—courtesy of my occasional taunting jolt.
Every time I felt bad for provoking her, I recalled all the horrible things she’d done to me over the years. The fact that she desperately wanted to ruin me tonight only fueled me onward. She needed a healthy dose of her own medicine. Maybe then she’d stop tormenting people.
And Carmen.
Oh, Carmen.
She wore a wig every day now and had already begun consultations for plastic surgery to fix some of the scarring—which wasn’t even that bad. Unfortunately, her personality hadn’t changed much, apart from adding a layer of whining to the mix.
So she hadn’t really learned her lesson yet.
It was something I planned to revisit after our finale tonight.
“The compulsion these last few weeks helped,” Tray admitted, pressing his forehead to mine.
“Yeah.” I knew he’d woven some compulsion into his statements. After all the rumors started flying about her losing her mantle of queen, Tray had needed to do damage control. “I can’t wait for all this to be done.”
“Me, too,” he whispered against my mouth.
We both agreed that graduating from high school really wasn’t needed. Especially after what we’d discovered last week regarding my father’s will. And, aside from that, a GED wouldn’t mean much at Midnight Fae Academy. However, I still planned to apply for mine. My advanced curriculums and grades would allow me to qualify for early graduation. Not to mention, the administrative board wouldn’t have a choice after Tray’s plan came to fruition next week.
It all meant I would be free to move to the Midnight Fae Realm with Tray, where I could practice my magic freely.
Finally.
“Take me to the dance, Tray. Before I decide this isn’t worth our time and demand you take me to bed instead.”
He grinned. “Mmm, if you would just allow me to kill t
hem all, it would go much faster.” He phrased it as a joke, but I knew he meant it.
“This will be better.”
“So you say.” He linked his fingers through mine and tugged me toward the door. “I still say a bloody end would be more entertaining.”
“Such a vampy thing to say.”
“Midnight Fae, darling. Not vampires. Midnight. Fae.” He gave me a look. “Did you not read that history text I gave you? It clearly explained what we are.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Professor Nacht. I remember.”
“Headmaster Nacht,” he corrected from the top of the stairs. “Or Prince Trayton. I’ll accept either title from you in the bedroom, darling.”
“Dead Nacht has a much better ring to it,” I mused while following him downward toward the foyer. “Especially if you want me to call you either of those names in the bedroom.”
He chuckled and tugged me into a kiss near the front door, his lips holding a hint of dominance against mine. “I bet I could convince you otherwise.”
“Maybe,” I breathed, wrapping my palm around the back of his neck. I slid my tongue into his mouth, reveling in his taste once more, and pressed my body flush against his.
His growl of approval dampened the silk between my thighs. This man did such wicked things to me, and I adored him all the more for it. He wrapped an arm around my waist and clasped my jaw with his opposite hand. “Keep this up and we’re never going to make it to the ball.”
“Didn’t you hire another limo?” I nibbled his jaw. “We could warm up in the backseat.”
He groaned and yanked me outside. The chill in the air did nothing to dispel the heat between us. Tray all but carried me down the recently shoveled driveway to the waiting limousine parked on the street. Snow glistened all around us beneath the moon, painting the scene of a romantic night that I longed to enjoy at least for a little while.
And Tray willfully obliged.
He pulled me onto his lap in the backseat and wasted no time finding my mouth once more. His hands drifted up my sides to the straps of my gown, pulling them down my arms to expose my breasts.
“Fuck, I love this dress on you,” he whispered, his lips trailing downward to my hardening peaks. He took one deep into his mouth, causing me to cry out and arch against him.