I glanced at Aflora to see her staring at me in surprise. “What?”
“You… you…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Surprised your falcon forgave me?” I asked her.
“No. I’m surprised you said you liked me. I’m pretty sure you implied the opposite just a few weeks ago.”
I frowned. “I never said I disliked you.”
“No, you’re right,” she said, her blue eyes flickering with fire. “You called me pitiful, like Clove.”
I flinched. “I was trying to teach you a lesson.”
“That you have to kill to protect yourself. I remember.”
We were never going to move past this if she wouldn’t allow it. And I could only apologize so much.
I sat back on my heels and stared at her. “The Midnight Fae world isn’t like your Elemental Fae one, Aflora. I’m only trying to prepare you for survival, something I’m going to take even more seriously now that our souls are tied together.”
“I already said I could try unbinding us.”
“And I already told you no,” I snapped, irritated that she’d even think to bring it up again. “If you release us, you’ll implode.”
“That’s not really your concern, is it?” she retorted.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Aflora. Itismy concern. I’m a Warrior Blood. It’s literally my job to guard and protect.” I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “At some point, I vowed to keep you safe. I can’t say when it happened, but I suspect it was shortly after we met. I claimed you before I allowed myself to realize it.”
I really didn’t know what else to say to convince this female that all I ever wanted was to help her survive. Maybe I’d been hard on her, but I didn’t know any other way. Warrior Bloods weren’t exactly known for their gentle touch.
She stared at me for another long, hard moment. Then looked at Clove. “What was it you needed to check?”
Part of me admired her for yanking us back to the important topic at hand. The other part was disappointed because it left our conversation unfinished, and I was really tired of her holding the past against me. We couldn’t move forward if she continued to hate me for what I’d allowed Raph to do to Clove.
Rather than harp on it, I followed her lead, knowing full well we’d return to this topic again soon.
“We need to see if she has any energy strands circling her,” I replied. “If someone enchanted her, their signature would be left behind for a few hours.”
“And if someone didn’t?” she asked.
I shifted my focus to Clove. “There really aren’t many options. It could be a coincidence, which I doubt. Or someone asked her to take it to you as a message.”
“Fae can do that?”
“Fae that are close to you in some way, like a mate.” I almost wanted to suggest that Shade could have done it, but I knew that was impossible considering he was at the Council meeting and had been clearly shocked by the stonepecker on the table. He also wouldn’t have popped in to warn us if he wanted to set up Kols.
“Close to me,” she repeated. “Like a mate… or family?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, I think a family member could call a familiar.” I studied Clove, searching for any traces of magic. Most fae wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave visible evidence, but it was worth checking.
Unfortunately, I saw nothing.
“You’ll need to do a tracing spell,” I told her. “Or I can do it, if you prefer.” I glanced at her, expecting her to agree to the former.
However, she surprised me by saying, “You do it. I’ll watch and learn.” My face must have registered some shock, because she added, “If you hurt her, I’ll make you eat a burning thwomp.”
“You seem really fond of the notion of eating burnt wood,” I replied. “It’s making me question Elemental Fae diets.”
“Ha. Ha.” She rolled her eyes, but I caught the hint of amusement teasing her lips. “Go on and test her for energy strands.”
