Balancing Aflora with one arm, I reached for my wand and muttered an unlocking spell at my door. It opened with a slight creak to reveal my one-bedroom home.
The interior didn’t boast elegance or wealth, the kitchen being sorely outdated compared to the Academy accommodations, but I rather preferred this place to my Elite Residence suite. Mostly because it was mine.
I’d purchased it using my credits as a Guardian to the Nacht family. The credits could be traded in for human cash at an exorbitant amount—a good thing because owning a place in New York City required a lot of mortal money.
I kicked my door closed behind me with the heel of my boot, then took Aflora into my bedroom to lay her on the bed. Her blue-black hair sprawled beautifully across my dark green pillows, her face holding a pale glow that reminded me of the Midnight Fae moon.
Gorgeous,I thought, smiling down at her. Then I carefully removed her knee-high boots and set them in the corner of my walk-in closet. Her cloak was next—which I hung beside mine. They weren’t normal accessories in the Human Realm, but no one had seemed to notice. I slipped off my own shoes, placed them beside hers, and returned to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Be back in a few minutes,” I whispered, kissing her forehead. I could feel her slowly slipping back into consciousness and wanted to be prepared to welcome her back to reality.
Since I’d left all our food back at the village, I opted to whip up a few things for us in the kitchen. It required a bit of magic, as my fridge and shelves were pretty empty—I lived primarily on blood when I visited the city—but I managed to create some of those mouseberries Aflora kept talking about.
She was awake when I returned to the bedroom, her gaze on the windows that broadcast boring views of the residential building across the street.
I liked Upper Manhattan for the location, not so much for the scenery.
Her nose twitched as I approached, her focus shifting to the plates in my hands. “What happened?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
I set the plates down on my nightstand, then magicked a cup of water for her and held it to her lips for a sip. “I’m not sure, but I think you saved our asses in the village,” I told her.
She took the glass and drank half the contents in one go.
“Someone or something attacked us, and you fought back.” Or I thought that was what had happened. “Do you remember it?”
She appeared to fall into her thoughts for a moment, her throat working as she finished the drink. A spell refilled it for her, something she seemed to appreciate given the glimmer in her blue irises. “I felt him,” she finally said after finishing the second cup of water. “He… he was there.” She brought her hand up to her neck, frowning as she felt the healing mark against her skin. “Did you bite me?”
“Yes,” I admitted, taking her glass and setting it on the nightstand. “You were buzzing with power, like that time in the LethaForest.” I sat on the edge of the bed near where she lay on her side. My knuckles whispered over her cheekbone to her throat. “I had to call you back to me, Aflora. The energy seemed like it was going to swallow you whole.”
She frowned, making me wonder if I’d done the wrong thing. I was the one she hadn’t yet accepted as hers, and I supposed she could see my actions as a way of forcing her hand—a common male behavior of Midnight Fae kind.
“I… I had to anchor you, Aflora,” I said, uncertain of how to explain it. “I could feel you slipping away, almost as if another entity had forced the power to explode out of you. If you erupted in the village, fae would have died. It was the best way to protect you, as well as the others.”
Her blue eyes flickered with confusion as she met my gaze. “Did you not want to bite me?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” I palmed the back of my neck, frustrated.
Why is this so damn difficult?I wondered. Probably because I never cared what a woman truly thought of me before. Really, I rarely cared whatanyonethought of me. But Aflora was different. I needed to win her over for reasons I didn’t quiteunderstand. They went deeper than our bond. Like my very spirit required her approval, yet I had no idea how to acquire it.
“Zeph,” she said, reaching out to lay a hand on my forearm. “Do you regret mating me? Is that why you’ve been distant all week?”
“What? No.”Fuck, what a shit show. “This whole situation is so far outside my comfort zone, it’s… I don’t know how to handle it.” And that was the rub right there, the reason this mess infuriated me.
I couldn’t control the outcome.
“I lead,” I told her. “It’s who I am. I make decisions every day. Everything I do is driven by logic. But none of my training has prepared me properly for…”For you,I wanted to say but wisely chose not to.
I blew out a breath, released my neck, and dropped my head into my hands. I was totally fucking this up. And I hated that I had no idea what to say.
“Talking isn’t my strength,” I admitted. “Neither is giving up control.”
This seemed ridiculous. Fretting over the bullshit would get us nowhere. So I’d just be blunt. She might not like it, but it would be better than dancing around these asinine thoughts.
“I’ve never agreed with the Midnight Fae mentality associated with mating,” I told her. “But I never really cared too much because I never intended to take a mate. I’m independent and I do my own thing. However, you changed that, and now I’ve bitten you twice without your permission. Which is technically fine by our societal laws, but that doesn’t mean I feel right about it.”
My logical side argued that it wasn’tconvenientat all, more of a burden. Especially considering the consequences of that action.
But that was all beside the point.
