A chorus of “No”sounded in my head, all my mates apparently having heard my question. Probably because it had the wordsexinvolved.
Zakkai’s fingers locked with mine, his palm heating my senses as his power rolled through me to flirt with the embers created by the staff in my other hand.
Zeph stood on my opposite side with Kols and Shade behind us.
A united front, just like Zakkai had said.
The gates opened for me as I approached, Laki standing on the other side. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of his charcoal-colored dress pants, his white button-down shirt unclamped at the top with the sleeves rolled to the elbows on each arm.
He looked a lot like Zakkai—same color eyes, similar shade of hair, tall, lean, muscular. Their Midnight Fae genetics gave them a brotherly appearance more than a father-son one, similar to how Zen resembled Shade’s older sister, not his grandmother.
But ages for fae were in the eyes.
And I could tell as I met Laki’s gaze that he had at least a millennium on Zakkai.
Which made sense with Midnight Fae royalty ascending once every one thousand years.
“Father,” Zakkai greeted.
“Son,” Laki returned. “I see you’re still mated and that you’ve acquired some new bonds.”
“Only one,” he replied, glancing back at Kols before redirecting his focus back to his dad. The challenge in his stance dared his father to comment or issue a command, but rather than acknowledge whom Zakkai had bonded to, Laki’s attention shifted to me.
“Aflora.” He uttered my name with a softness that surprised me. “You’ve certainly blossomed into something unexpected.” His silver-blue irises admired the staff and then my cloak. “Midnight Fae royalty looks good on you.”
“She does wear it rather nicely,” Zakkai agreed, squeezing my hand.
I smiled and stepped deliberately to the side. “Let’s do this inside the gates. While the exterior of the paradigm is well protected, the creatures would feel more comfortable with us inside the walls.” My words were instinctual and caused by the agitated hissing of the snake-vines. They weren’t upset by the arrival of the Quandary Bloods so much as their location.
Laki’s ash-blond eyebrow cocked upward in surprise, then he nodded in agreement and led the others with him inside.
There were fifteen Midnight Fae in total, including Laki, making up only a fraction of the ones I’d seen back at Zakkai’s paradigm. “Where are the others?”
“Waiting for the outcome of this discussion,” he said.
“I see.” I considered where to take them. We needed a place big enough for everyone to speak.
The history library, Shade suggested softly.It has a big table at the center that will seat us all, and it’ll be abandoned at this time of day.
Where is it?I asked.
Rather than reply, he stepped up to Zakkai’s side and gave him a look. The Quandary Blood nodded, releasing my hand.
Laki watched the exchange with a curious expression, his surprise palpable as Zakkai stepped behind me to walk beside Kols.
This way, Shade said to me, taking over the group and leading us to a building toward the center of the Academy.
“I miss this place,” Laki said conversationally as we walked. He’d taken up a position beside Zakkai, placing him near Shade’s back.
But the lack of aggression in the air told me no one was in the mood to fight. Laki and his followers had arrived to talk, just like he’d said.
That probably had a little bit to do with Lucifer as well. No one would want to tempt the Hell Fae King into coming down to dole out justice for breaking whatever rules he’d set for this paradigm.
I’d heard whispers and stories about Lucifer, enough to know that, depending on his mood, he might actually enjoy watching a battle unfold here.
Fortunately, no one seemed to be in the mood to tempt fate and invite him out to play.
Shade guided us toward a set of large double doors outside a particularly beautiful building with stone walls and tinted glass windows.
