I hadn’t seen him since the night he gave me the key to my renovated room. Not that I’d really gone looking for him. I needed a few days just to decompress and was thankful my mates had allowed me the time alone. But when I woke up for classes and heard from Ella that Kols still wasn’t back, I’d begun to wonder where he went.
Is he meeting with the Council about me?
Has he told his father about our mating?
Is he trying to find a way to undo what happened?
The thoughts had run rampant through my mind, making me uneasy and distrusting. I kept waiting for a horde of Warrior Bloods to descend upon the Academy and take me back to that dungeon. However, the primary assault I’d received so far was in the form of rumors.
And now this.
“Sounds like Kols,” another girl replied. “I swear he’s fucked his way through half the mortal population.”
“Well, if I had my fate promised to a chick like Emelyn, I’d do the same.” That came from a male in the back of the room.
“You could only be so lucky, Slag,” a prim female sniped with a flip of her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “And if I were Emelyn, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Prince Kolstov’s cock. He’s a walking disease. I hear he even fucks Halflings.”
Someone snorted. “You’re confusing Kols with Tray.”
“Oh, no, it’s a Nacht family tradition at this point.” The prim fae practically purred the words, her penchant for cruelty written into the sharp angles of her too-perfect face. “I mean, Tray took the Halfling human mutt as his mate, and his brother has no doubt fucked the Elemental abomination. To each his own, I suppose.”
“Aw, are you not getting enough dick in your life, Justine?” Ella asked, her expression one of mock concern. “Is that why you have to focus on others? Live vicariously through those you envy? That’s a shame.”
A flicker of magic singed the air, but Ella caught it easily with her wand and returned it to the sender just as our headmaster entered.
“Isabella Cinder!” Headmaster Vayera snapped, her cloak billowing around her in a flurry of annoyance. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Practicing defensive arts,” Ella replied, not at all contrite.
“Not in my classroom, you’re not.” Headmaster Vayera pointed to the door with a sharp black nail. “Out.”
“It was one spell,” Ella argued.
“Out!” she shouted, not bothering to give Ella a chance to explain.
“Ella was just protecting herself,” I interjected. “Justine started it.”
“I did not!” the blonde perfectionist fae retorted, sounding affronted.
“Oh, come on,” Slag drawled. “We all saw you send that firefly at the Halfling. Aflora’s right, Headmaster. Ella was just protecting herself.”
Headmaster Vayera pulsed with irritation, her beady blue eyes searching the room. “Anyone else care to add to this delightful discussion?”
“Ella insulted?—”
“That was a rhetorical question, Corrine,” Headmaster Vayera cut in, then took out her wand to wave it through the air with a muttered spell. Thick texts landed on each of our desks, all opening to various sections littered with legal jargon.
Groans filtered through the air.
“You will read and decipher each point, then present your section to the class by midnight. There will be no break today, as it’s clear you all enjoyed your fresh air a little too much yesterday and the day before. We’ll have a quiz instead that will cover all of the presentations, so I suggest you pay attention and be thorough in your translation.”
Ugh, academic punishment, I thought glancing down at my section regarding Paradox Fae time manipulation laws. This wasn’t even related to Midnight Fae at all. Well, except for the bit about how it was illegal to work with a Paradox Fae to change a timeline. But that was the case in all the realms.
I blew out a breath that turned into a vibration between my lips. Ella snorted in response.
And so began our very long day of reading, deciphering, and articulating into essay form. Because yeah, that was the test method Headmaster Vayera selected.
“She’s just evil,” Ella said as we entered the residence hall several hours later.
