This whole thing resembled a waiting game—one I didn’t want to play.
“Aflora?” Shade murmured, his lips brushing the shell of my ear and sending a shiver down my spine. I’d stayed at his place after Advanced Conjuring yesterday. It had provided a nice change of pace and sort of solidified our new existence where Zeph, Shade, and Kols somehow managed to share me evenly. Shade never joined the other two, but Zeph and Kols seemed to enjoy putting me between them. Or sometimes Kols was in the middle. Those were interesting experiences.
“That look in your eyes makes me want to skip class even more,” Shade murmured, drawing me around to face him. “Are you thinking about last?—”
A blast of magic from across the yard had both of us jumping apart to find the source.
“What the fuck?!” Kols shouted as he caught the ball of fire with his hand and threw it downward to smother with his shoe.
“That’smyline, Kolstov,” Emelyn snapped, her palm already alight with another flame. “Have you forgotten to tell me something, darlingbetrothed?”
My heart dropped into my stomach.Oh, no. She knows. She knows we’ve bonded and now?—
“I’m sure there are many things I’veforgottento tell you,” Kols drawled, somehow managing to sound both bored and annoyed at the same time. “Care to elaborate on which item you’re inquiring about?”
Emelyn huffed and threw the inflamed sphere at his head, only for him to catch it again and dispense of it like the first one.
“Do that one more time and I’ll show you how to properly use WarFire.” The threat lingered in his golden irises, causing a chill to skate down my spine.
So much power, I thought.So much beauty, too.
Emelyn was either oblivious to the threat or didn’t care. She stopped right before him, giving me her back. “Why did a dress arrive for me today from your mother? I thought we agreed not to go to the Blood Gala together.”
My brow furrowed as I glanced at Shade, my mental connection to him opening automatically.Blood Gala?
Political bullshit, he replied.The Nacht family throws the fancy ball annually. I always skip, but Kolstov will be expected to attend with Emelyn.
I frowned.Oh.Right. Engagement.
A vision of Kols taking Emelyn as his date to the event fluttered through my mind, and I didn’t quite care for it. Not even a tiny bit.
Kols sighed. “Fuck. I forgot to talk to my father about it.”
“Obviously,” she said slowly, annunciating each syllable. “Fix it.”
“Yeah, I will,” he muttered.
“No, you’ll fix it right now,” she demanded. “I’m not going.”
“I said I’ll take care of it, Emelyn.”
“Yeah, and that’s what you said weeks ago, Kolstov. I want it fixed right fucking now.” She put her hands on her hips.
Whatever expression she gave him seemed to irritate him even more, because his golden eyes swirled with red power. “Remember who you’re talking to, Elite Blood.”
“My betrothed,” she spat out.
“Your future king,” he corrected, his tone holding a chill in it that caused all the hairs along my arms to stand on end.
Power sizzled in the air as the two of them squared off.
My stomach twisted at the dark-source essence, my Quandary magic flaring to life inside me at the familiar call. I winced, trying to shove it down, but it spread like rapid fire through my veins.
Aflora?Zeph’s deep voice trickled through my thoughts.
My mind shut down my ability to reply, the magnitude of energy swimming around me, through my soul, and stealing the breath from my lungs.
Shade grabbed my wrist, his voice urgent in my ear. I tried to hear him, to comprehend his words, but I couldn’t understand him over the roar of sound inside my head.
