We both fell silent, me drinking my beer, Zeph swirling his around on the table in that thoughtful way of his.
“Fuck, this isn’t good,” I finally said. “This isn’t good at all.”
“Are you going to report it?”
I nodded. Then I shook my head. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. It might still be temporary. Maybe she expelled what little power she has inside her and now she’ll go back to normal.” I heard the lie in my words, saw the confirmation of it written in Zeph’s features.
“It’s not like you to play the naïve card, Kols.”
Kols.Not Prince Kolstov or Kolstov, but Kols. He hadn’t used my preferred name in months. I swallowed another sip to keep myself from commenting on it or allowing him to see the glimmer of hope that small word provided.
We might not be able to go back, but I wasn’t opposed to moving forward.
Zeph was the one who cut off all ties.
Not me.
“I know you want to fuck her, just like you do every other hot, unattainable female to cross your path,” he added, destroying the moment. “But that shouldn’t hold you back from doing what you have to do. Just do the deed and end her afterward.”
Such a cruel approach. Although, I knew he didn’t mean it that way. Not completely, anyway. Zeph thrived on logic. And tohim, feeding the lust before completing the task struck him as practical.
Except nothing about this assignment was practical.
“I can’t just kill the last remaining Earth Fae Royal,” I reminded him. “And maybe my approach is naïve, but I need to hope this power mingling will just go away.”
“Wrong. What you need to do is prepare for the inevitable. Her power is growing. I’ve been watching her all week, and she’s not growing weaker. She’s growing stronger. Almost as if Shade’s bite flipped a switch inside her. Something’s not right, and her little power display tonight proves it.”
He picked up his bottle and finished it off in a few deep gulps. Then he waved his hand over the glass, refilling it with a muttered spell.
I pulled up my phone, checking the app linked to Aflora’s tracker, and noted her presence next door. She hadn’t tried to run yet, which actually made me admire her a bit. It implied that she put her people before herself. To return in her current state would thwart the balance. She also wouldn’t be safe there given that the Elemental Fae recently took down an insane abomination. They wouldn’t be all that accepting of her return.
So maybe it wasn’t so much that she put her people first as it was her survival instinct kicking in.
Regardless, the intelligence in her decision to stay boosted her appeal in my eyes. Which was exactly the wrong response overall because I could not—and should not—entertain the possibility of fucking Aflora.
She was a forbidden fruit.
Off-limits.
As Zeph already said,unattainable.
Yet I couldn’t deny the urge to kiss her earlier. I’d also enjoy sticking one to Shade in the process. The asshole had disappeared into a cloud of smoke before I could give him a pieceof my mind. However, I felt his residual presence all the way back to my building, suggesting he’d followed Aflora.
“He seems to care about her,” I mused out loud.
“Who?”
“Shade,” I clarified. “He traced after you and Aflora to the Elite Residence.”
Zeph considered for a second, then lifted a shoulder. “I think he cares more about the bond than he does her. If something happens to her, he’ll be the one living in pain for eternity.”
“Probably should have thought about that before biting her,” I grumbled.
“True, but I think there’s a bigger scheme behind it all.” Zeph set his mostly full bottle down and braced his arms on his thighs. “Shade’s a dick, don’t get me wrong, but that fucker doesn’t do anything without a reason.”
“I don’t know. He seems to do things all the time just to piss everyone else off,” I muttered in reply. “That’s part of what makes him such an ass.”
“Yeah, but those are small irritants. Taking an Elemental Fae mate—specifically, Aflora—is a catastrophic decision for him and her. Why would he do such a thing? It has to be more than just wanting to piss off his father, or your father, or the Council. He’s up to something.”
