I cleared my throat, the last of Zakkai’s and Shade’s enchantments leaving my body and returning me somewhat back to normal. “Hi.”
“This is my grandfather,” Shade added, stating the obvious. “Grandpa Vadim.” He gestured to the silver-haired man, who had turned to walk with Zenaida. “That’s Grandpa Kodiak. They’re my grandma’s mates.”
“I thought Fortune Fae required a circle of Betas,” I said, recalling my brief knowledge of Fortune Fae and their societal structure.
“Not everything is black-and-white, my dear,” Zenaida called back to me, her tone again not matching her attire or physical age. “Now come along. I only have twenty-eight minutes left.”
Zakkai smirked and shook his head. Then he pressed his palm to my lower back. “Twenty-seven, Zen.”
She waved a hand in the hair over her head, dismissing his comment.
“Next time I need something, you’ll be coming to me,” Zakkai said to Shade as we started walking. “I want that rock when you’re done, Zen,” he added, his voice too soft to carry the distance she’d put between us. I couldn’t even see her through the trees now.
“Yes, yes,” her voice came back to us on the breeze, surprising me.
Fortune Fae,Shade whispered into my mind.Never underestimate them.
I never underestimate anyone,I countered. I’d been burned too many times to easily trust a soul. But I did feel a strange sort of kinship to Zenaida, one I’d picked up on when I met her in the LethaForest. It had me moving a little faster, curious to know what she had to say.
Then we stepped into a clearing surrounded by homes.
Several of the fae poked their heads out to gape at us.
I swallowed.Um, Shade?
It’s okay, Aflora.He linked his fingers through mine, stepping into my side while Zakkai walked on my other side, his palm still against my lower back.Everything’s going to be okay.
You don’t sound very sure about that,I remarked, hearing the hesitation in his tone.
He didn’t reply, just squeezed my hand.
Then he led us to Zenaida’s door.
Let’s get this over with,Zakkai said into my mind, pushing through the threshold. “Twenty-five minutes, Zen.”
“I only need ten,” she replied. “Sit.”
I yawned,already bored by Zenaida’s usual spiel about reformation being the more appropriate path forward. It would save more lives. Create a more inclusive council. Realign the source with all the Midnight Fae factions.
Blah.
Blah.
Blah.
As the former Midnight Fae Queen, she deserved my respect. She was also mated to a Quandary Blood—Kodiak.
Well, technically, Kodiak had turned his back on the source by rejecting it in favor of turning into a Fortune Fae, but his transition had been halted by one of Zenaida’s visions. They’d interfered with fate by trying to stop Constantine’s annihilation of the Quandary Blood race a thousand years ago and had been trying to fix it ever since.
I pretended to check my wrist as though looking for the time, but Zenaida plowed forward without concern.
Her ten minutes turned into fifteen minutes because she’d felt the need to rehash history for some reason.
“So your father was a Quandary Blood?” Aflora asked, engrossed in the story.
“A former one, yes. He fully transitioned into a Fortune Fae Alpha. But I technically have Quandary Blood in me as a result of his origin,” Zenaida replied. “Even though I’m considered a pure Omega. I think they do that to avoid the truth about the Fortune Fae ancestry coming from Midnight Fae.”
“Yes, because all forms of abominations are frowned upon,” I drawled. “So we must excuse any and all crossbreeding as natural, hmm?”
