Page 53 of Fae Trials

“Enjoy sucking cock, ladies!” I gave them a jaunty wave. “Next time you think of setting me up, consider how it might backfire.”

Lady Gala bared her teeth and snarled. Fury flashed in her cold eyes, which made my stomach drop. This wasn’t the end. Not by a long shot. Even though the plot to have Elijah fuck me in front of the entire academy had been her idea, she would never forgive me that it had gone horribly wrong. I stepped into the remedial building and let the door slam closed.

I didn’t stop running until I reached my dormitory. By now, orange light streamed in through the narrow window, illuminating the hair of the girl slumbering in the bed next to mine.

“Helen,” I whispered.

She raised her head and gave me a tired smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“That janitor from last night,” I said. “The Fated set me up with him.”

“No prizes for guessing who told them you knew him,” said Flora’s sharp voice from the other side of the room.

I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for someone to elaborate. All around me, the other girls stirred. Some swung out of bed and made their way to a door at the end of the room, and others turned around and went back to sleep.

Helen sat up and wiped her eyes. “What happened? Did the Fated ask the janitor to assassinate you?”

“In a way.” I recounted the events of the night before, watching each girl’s face for signs of guilt, but they both looked shocked and scandalized. My brows drew together. If they didn’t tell the fated about Elijah and me, then who?

“Fucking pixies,” Flora snarled. “They’re usually such helpful creatures.”

“But helpful to whom?” said Helen. “They’re always loyal to the highest-ranking individual in the room.”

“That would be the princes, then?” I asked.

Helen raked a hand through her burnt orange locks and yawned. “Not exactly. If the princes don’t give them orders, then they’ll follow the directions of the next highest person.”

My shoulders drooped. I had already known one of the Fated had ordered the pixie to put something in my soup, but knowing that the wretched creature had also listened to our conversation and relayed it to the girls really pissed me off.

“What can I do?” I asked.

Shaking her head, Flora strode to the other side of the dorm and picked up an engraved bottle of what looked like green liquid soap. “Be careful what you say and be careful who you trust.”

The black-haired girl strode through the door leading to the bathroom, leaving me alone with Helen.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked.

I told her that Prince Caulden had arranged blowjobs as part of the trial, and Helen clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. “How scandalous!”

“Is oral sex really that big a deal?” I asked.

“Fae females only permit sexual liaisons during their heats,” she replied.

“Oh?” My brows rose. It was no wonder the male faeries were having half-bloods with human women.

“Our bodies are too delicate outside breeding times.”

My mind raced back to something Gladiolus had said when I had resisted joining the Royal Fae Academy. That a half-blood with the appearance of a royal fae could end up a plaything or working in a brothel. An image of wicked faeries demanding sex sent a shudder down my spine. Was this to be my fate if Prince Rory didn’t get me executed?

“Why are you helping me?” I asked Helen.

“What?” She broke eye contact and smoothed down her silk negligée.

“You’ve been nice to me since the moment I joined, even though I’m the enemy of all your former friends.”

“It’s…” She blew out a long breath. “I know what it’s like to fall on the wrong side of the Fated.”

My eyes narrowed. Something in the tone of her voice sounded evasive. Full-faeries didn’t tell straight-up untruths, but they could lie by omission or make others lie for them the way the fated had done with Elijah.