“No.” Zakkai looked at me, his stance defensive. “And I don’t recommend trying to help, or it’ll make it much worse for her.”
I lifted my wand at him. “Undo it, Zakkai.”
He glanced at my hand and snorted. “Try and you’ll definitely regret it.”
I’m. Fine,Aflora snapped into my mind, drawing my attention to her on the ground, where she appeared to be paralyzed beneath a layer of cerulean magic.
You don’t look fine, Aflora.
“Trust her to undo it,” Zakkai interjected. “She might not have us all for her trials. She needs to learn how to work on her own without handicaps. Give her a moment to solve the puzzle.”
He won’t let anything or anyone hurt her, Kols added in my mind.This isn’t just about trusting Aflora to fight her own battles, but also having faith in her mates to keep her safe.
She doesn’t look fucking safe,I snapped back, wincing as she whimpered inside the net.She looks pained, Kolstov.
She does,he agreed.But I have faith that she’ll figure it out. And if she doesn’t, I know Zakkai will step in.
What if it’s too late when he does?I countered.What if she gets hurt?
Then he’ll feel like hell afterward, similar to how you did when you killed Clove.His burnt-bronze irises met mine, his auburn brow arching.What happened to the headmaster who wanted Aflora to blossom and grow?
He fell in love.
Kols grinned.Yes. Yes, he did.His focus returned to Aflora, his amusement disappearing behind a mask of concern as she struggled across the floor.
I took a step forward, only for Shade to step in front of me. “Let her learn,” he encouraged, his hand wrapping around my wrist to lower my wand to my side. Then his icy gaze flickered to Zakkai, telling me with a look to check out the Quandary Blood.
When I glanced at him, I found his expression tight with concentration, his silver-blue gaze intense as he watched Aflora work.
His distraction could work to my advantage. I could knock him out and help Aflora.
Or I could fuck this all up by not trusting him and risk hurting her more with him unable to assist due to a magical coma.
My jaw clenched, my irritation over the situation making my heart beat a little faster.
I did not appreciate having my control taken away and a random lesson being inserted into today’s plans. This was not what we were meant to do here.
But Zakkai was the wild card, the one I couldn’t rely on or trust.
And instances like this only made that lack of faith worse.
Aflora gasped, seizing my entire focus.
Then she uttered a long, wicked enchantment and sent the web flying back at Zakkai.
But it didn’t engulf him. He caught it instead and absorbed the magic back into his wand. “Beautiful,” he breathed.
Aflora narrowed her gaze and hit him with another strike of blue magic, then spun a ball of WarFire into her palm. It whirled with a multitude of colors, the intoxicating mix clearly deadly.
“Do it,” Zakkai dared.
She released it, throwing it right at him.
Where it landed against his chest.
Aflora shrieked, jumping up to her feet and running to him in a daze of concern. Only for the fire to sizzle and disappear, his clothing and chest fine. But he caught her by the back of the neck and drew her in for a kiss, one that ended in her biting his tongue.
He chuckled as she slapped him. “What was that?” she demanded.
