Elemental Fae Academy: Book Two: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance Read online

  Contents

  Elemental Fae Academy

  1. Claire

  2. Cyrus

  3. Claire

  4. Sol

  5. Exos

  6. Claire

  7. Titus

  8. Vox

  9. Claire

  10. Cyrus

  11. Exos

  12. Claire

  13. Cyrus

  14. Sol

  15. Claire

  16. Cyrus

  17. Titus

  18. Claire

  19. Cyrus

  20. Sol

  21. Cyrus

  22. Exos

  23. Claire

  24. Cyrus

  25. Vox

  26. Cyrus

  27. Exos

  28. Claire

  29. Titus

  30. Claire

  31. Cyrus

  32. Exos

  33. Sol

  34. Cyrus

  35. Claire

  36. Vox

  37. Claire

  38. Exos

  Epilogue

  Up Next…

  Midnight Fae Academy

  About Lexi C. Foss

  Also by Lexi C. Foss

  About J.R. Thorn

  Also By J.R. Thorn

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Elemental Fae Academy: Book Two

  Copyright © 2019 Lexi C. Foss & J.R. Thorn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book may not be redistributed to others for commercial or noncommercial purposes.

  Editing by: Outthink Editing, LLC

  Cover Design: Sanja Balan of Sanja’s Covers

  Published by: Ninja Newt Publishing, LLC

  Digital Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-950694-07-5

  Created with Vellum

  To you, the reader, for taking a chance on two authors living the dream and loving every minute of it. Without you, this wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

  Elemental Fae Academy

  Book Two

  Someone wants me dead.

  Worse yet, my link to Spirit is dying. Why? Because Exos has been taken by a new enemy. Now I have to rely on my other elements to find my missing link before it’s too late.

  Oh, and I need a guard to protect me while I learn how to defend myself. No big deal. Master the elements, find my lost Spirit, and identify the bad guy.

  Yeah. Easy.

  Except Titus is tired of playing by the rules of others.

  Vox just wants to be friends.

  Sol is pissing everyone off.

  And Cyrus, well, he’s a force of nature and very much in charge.

  I’d better solve this puzzle quickly before my heart starts making choices on my behalf. Because all of these fae are beautiful, cunning, and perfect in their own ways.

  But how can I feel complete without my Spirit?

  The hunt is on, and whoever is out to hurt me and mine will pay.

  Note: This is a medium-burn reverse harem paranormal romance and book two of the Elemental Fae Academy trilogy.

  Claire

  Titus’s mouth captivated me. So smooth, perfect, and delicious. My tongue craved to meet his, to engage in a sensual dance that would lead to more. But he kept the kiss slow and teasing, his lips tantalizingly tender.

  He smiled, the motion knowing. “You said you wanted to wait for Exos to begin our celebrations.”

  “I did,” I admitted, my thighs clenching around his. Climbing onto his lap and straddling his thighs hadn’t been part of the plan, but his smoldering green eyes had become a beacon I couldn’t ignore. “He’s taking too long.”

  After the episode in the gym—where we finally discovered who was framing me for all the incidents at the Academy—Exos went off to call his brother. Whatever that meant. I had yet to see a phone in this realm. Maybe I’d ask him when he returned.

  Titus chuckled and tapped my nose. “So eager.”

  “I feel liberated. Free. Like I could fly.” I threaded my fingers through his thick auburn hair. “And I’m tired of waiting.” At this point, Exos could just join us whenever he arrived. It wouldn’t be the first time he walked in on me naked with Titus. “Kiss me.”

  “Mmm, I was,” he murmured.

  “Really kiss me.”

  He didn’t. “When did you become the demanding one?”

  “When I acquired two fae mates.” One for spirit, one for fire. Apparently, it wasn’t unheard of for a Spirit Fae to require multiple connections, as all Spirit Fae bonded to two elements—spirit and another.

  Except I wasn’t normal.

  Somehow, some way, I had access to all five elements.

  And I wasn’t even a full-blooded fae but a Halfling with a fae mother and a human father.

  I still hadn’t wrapped my mind around all of it, but I was learning to take it one day at a time and to focus on controlling all my abilities. Something a horde of mean girls had tried to ruin by making me appear unstable to the other fae.

  Fortunately, we’d stopped them.

  Hence the reason I wanted to celebrate.

  I kissed Titus again before he could reply, this time with tongue, and he responded with a growl. His grip on my hips tightened, his leisurely movements disappearing as he took control of the embrace and reminded me of his inner strength.

  Fire.

  I reveled in it, bathed in the glory of his heat. It soothed mine in a way no one else could because he was my chosen mate. For eternity. My flames called to his, engaging him in a passionate gyration of power that warmed the room. Embers floated around us, kindled by our coupling, and stirred a smoky flavor in the air around us.

  “Fuck, Claire,” he whispered.

  “That’s the idea.” I tugged his lower lip between my teeth, sucking hard. “Take me to bed, Titus.”

  I didn’t want to do this in the living area, not when others could interrupt us. Not that many would. The Spirit Quad was a wasteland—a consequence of ninety percent of the Spirit Fae dying after my mother— No. I refused to think about it. Not now. Not while Titus was doing that with his hands.

  Traveling up my sides.

  An inferno trailing in their wake.

  Oh, for the love of the fae… I loved when he did this, displaying complete control over his power and incinerating my clothes along the way. It showed restraint. It seduced and taunted my fire to come out to play. And it heightened the moment.

  Titus’s palms went to my ass as he stood. My legs tightened around his waist, my lips never leaving his. He kissed me back with a fervor, his excitement hot and evident between my thighs.

  We’d only just moved to the next level of our relationship, a place where our fiery souls promised each other eternity. There was still a step beyond this one, something about a ritual with words similar to wedding vows. I didn’t know, would reach that stage when we were both ready. But for now, I would delight in the present and learn everything I could about my intended fire mate.

  Such a stark contrast to Exos.

  And yet, I adored them equally. For entirely different reasons.

  By the time my back hit the mattress, my clot
hes were already gone, thanks to Titus’s precise use of energy. He’d burned away every inch of the fabric from my body. I began to return the favor, when power sliced through my heart, eliciting a sharp cry from my mouth.

  Titus pulled back, his gaze full of alarm. “Claire?”

  The pain struck again, this time to my mind, cascading my vision in shades of white and black as if someone had slammed a fist into my head.

  I pressed my palms to my temples, fighting to understand, but the ache only grew. An emptiness formed a cavern deep inside, creating a black void of nothing.

  “Claire!” Titus shouted, his hands on my shoulders. But I couldn’t see him. Could hardly feel him. All I sensed was this immense torment of loss. As if something had been ripped from my very spirit.

  Oh God… “Exos!” I sat up abruptly, my head connecting with Titus’s hard chest. I still couldn’t see, the fog behind my eyes a mist my senses refused to navigate. “He’s… Oh… Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong with Exos, Titus. Something’s… I don’t… It hurts!” I clutched my head again, whimpering as fractures of light pierced my pupils. “He’s hurt.”

  “Claire…” Titus cradled my face, his familiar presence cascading heat over my quivering form. Exactly what I needed, a call to return to the present, to the bed, to his mostly naked body.

  I blinked at him, my cheeks damp from tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed. Somehow I knew time had passed without my knowledge, as if I’d lost consciousness when something hit me—no, Exos—upside the head. I tried to reach out to him, to sense his presence, our link, but I felt empty and alone. My heart raced. “He’s… he’s gone.”

  What does that mean?

  Did he sever our bond?

  No. He wouldn’t do that. I had felt his emotions, strong and vibrant and true.

  So what happened?

  “Where is he? Where did he go?” Frantic sparks clawed over my skin, scattering goose bumps up and down my body. Coldness unlike any I’d ever experienced solidified in my veins. “He’s… Titus… Where is he? Why can’t I feel him?”

  A sob caught in my throat, worry and panic overwhelming whatever he said in reply. Pounding flourished in my ears, and the room began to spin again, my entire existence being swallowed up into a void of confusion and despair.

  “Where’s Exos?” I repeated again and again and again. He wouldn’t leave me. Not after everything. Right? Our spirits were bonded, not quite as deep as the one I had with Titus, but still just as powerful.

  “Claire.” Titus’s voice finally penetrated the rhythmic beating clogging my ears. “Breathe.”

  I inhaled sharply, my lungs weeping with joy from the much-needed air. I swallowed, exhaled, and repeated. It overwhelmed me, sending shudders through my limbs, eased the dark edges of my vision, and grounded me once more in the present.

  The torment inside lessened to a dull ache, my connection to Exos wounded and almost completely dissolved. More tears came, the pain of loss destroying my heart.

  I couldn’t control it, couldn’t stop it. Like a dam had opened and refused to be sealed off. My limbs were stiff, and my body strained in an anguish my mind hardly comprehended.

  Part of me wanted to fight. To go find Exos. To figure out what the hell had happened.

  But the other part of me—the one that drove my motivations—just felt broken.

  Because my spirit is gone.

  My soul.

  My other half.

  Flames roamed over me, Titus reminding me of his presence, his adoration, his love. I collapsed into him, and his lips went to my hair, his arms a cage of comfort around me.

  Seconds, minutes, hours, later, I finally remembered how to think, how to exist again, and I looked at him once more. Concern radiated from his handsome face, his gorgeous eyes flooded with protective energy I longed to bathe in.

  “Can you feel him at all?” Titus asked, his deep voice soothing and soft.

  I shook my head. “I… I don’t think so.”

  He massaged my wrists, considering. “Sometimes those Powerless Champion cuffs can leave a residual essence behind that hinders your ability to connect properly to your elements. It’s one of the downsides. Maybe that has something to do with it?”

  “But I took them off right after we left the gym.” I’d only worn them to gym class because we had suspected someone might try to frame me again. And they had. However, this time I’d worn physical proof of my innocence—the cuffs that blocked me from my powers. “They didn’t make me feel weird at all, just human again.” Something I admittedly indulged in, at least temporarily. The elemental fae world was overwhelming, strange, and not at all like the reality I grew up experiencing.

  I shook my head, clearing it and focusing. “It’s not the cuffs,” I said, certain. “Something… something has happened.”

  Titus considered for a long moment, then nodded. “All right. You said he was going to call his brother, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then let’s go to the tower. I doubt he’s still there since it was hours ago, but we can see if you can pick up on his essence. Okay?”

  “Hours ago?” I repeated, my eyebrows lifting.

  “Yeah… It’s almost midnight, Claire. You lost consciousness for a while, then woke up screaming before passing out again. It’s been, well, an eventful afternoon and evening.”

  So I’d been right about time escaping me. I swallowed. “What do you think happened?”

  “I’m not speculating. Not until we go to the tower.” He slid off the bed, fully clothed and more than proving that we’d lost several hours. “Vox is here, so he can probably help. He brought an Earth Fae with him—Sol. River is here, too.”

  Oh, good. An audience for my breakdown.

  I groaned, feeling like hell turned over. Titus must have been worried if he called everyone here. Not that I blamed him. A part of me felt, well, dead. I shivered at the realization, refusing to accept that fate for Exos.

  He can’t be… He was too strong. Too otherworldly. No, there had to be another explanation. I just didn’t know what.

  “Uh, Titus?” Vox’s familiar tone came through the door. “You need to—”

  “Move.” The deep tenor sent a chill down my spine. It reminded me of Exos, but not quite. And the face that appeared in the doorway a second later was a near spitting image of my Spirit Fae, only with lighter blue eyes that glistened with a silvery hue in the light.

  Titus immediately fell to his knee, his head bowed. “Your Highness.”

  The fae didn’t even look at him, his enigmatic focus entirely on me. “Hello, Claire.”

  I pulled the sheets up to cover my bare breasts, my throat working as I attempted to formulate a response. His athletic build, light hair, and aristocratic jaw told me exactly who this was even before Titus knelt.

  Cyrus.

  King of the Spirit Fae.

  Exos’s younger brother.

  There was only one reason he could be here, and it wasn’t to deliver good news.

  Cyrus

  “Where is he?” the Halfling demanded. “Where’s Exos?”

  “Claire,” the Fire Fae beside her whispered urgently. “Bow.”

  Titus. Powerless Champion.

  The famous fae appeared less menacing than I anticipated, perhaps due to his position on the ground. Still, I knew of his speed and strength. He was certainly not one to be underappreciated.

  “Where’s Exos?” Claire repeated, her vivid blue eyes boldly holding mine.

  “Forgive her, my liege. She’s unaccustomed to our ways and hasn’t been fully trained on formalities.” Titus maintained his formal position, as I assumed those in the other room did as well. But Claire remained unmoving, her gaze imploring mine for an answer.

  I could see why Exos fancied her—golden locks, a gorgeous face, and curvy assets designed for a male’s hands to pet and squeeze. Yet it wasn’t like my brother to be so careless. Rather than telegraph his coordinates through our familial bon
d, he’d sent me here. To her.

  Which suggested he put her above his birthright.

  Fascinating.

  And equally disturbing.

  “Can you locate him through the bond?” I asked, ignoring her question and Titus’s apology. In this situation, we could ignore the formalities.

  “The connection broke,” Titus replied.

  Claire’s lower lip wobbled, her dismay over the abrupt loss evident. I folded my arms, unimpressed by the useless emotion. “So reestablish it.” My brother wasn’t dead, just unconscious. I could feel his spirit thriving through the links, and as they were clearly beyond the first level of courtship, she should sense him, too. “Get over the shock, pull yourself together, and find him. Now.”

  She gaped at me. “But he’s gone.”

  “No, he’s not. He’s taking a fucking nap.” Not by choice, it seemed, but that didn’t matter. “But I’ll be sure to let him know how little faith you had in him to survive after we find him.”

  Her full lips parted on a gasp, her eyebrows lifting. “You know nothing about me or what I just felt. He’s not napping; he’s gone.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re not worthy of him at all, are you?” I finally looked at the Fire Fae, whose hands were fisted at his sides, his annoyance evident in the tension lining his muscular form. “Why do you allow her to act this way? She’s an emotional mess and useless.” Better yet, why the hell had my brother fostered such behavior? “You’re unfit to be his mate.”