Elemental Fae Academy: Book One Page 18

  Pain.

  Guilt.

  So much guilt.

  Gods, how was she not splitting at the seams?

  “I meant to say, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” I amended, realizing the poor girl had likely been swamped with threats and cruelty. While I didn’t believe a daughter should be held accountable for her mother’s actions, I knew it was a popular opinion.

  She narrowed her gaze at me, distrust in every line of her beautiful face. “Why is that?”

  I didn’t have a good answer for her. For over two weeks, something had put me on edge, so much so that I’d sought out the latest Academy rumors, only to find that there was a Halfling on campus. Ever since I’d known about her, I’d wanted to find her. For what purpose, I couldn’t say; I just knew that I had to learn more about her.

  That sounded so pathetic. I couldn’t tell her the truth, so I opted for what I was best at in these situations.

  Divert.

  Evade.

  Escape.

  The class assignment was to conjure air spirals, so that was what I did. The task was easy enough for a fae with my power and control. I let out a soft whistle, and a spiral of air scented with my innate gift colored the element blue. Each Air Fae favored different hues when they worked their powers, but mine seemed to fluctuate with my mood.

  This shade of blue meant I was intrigued. And not in a platonic sort of way.

  My power is attracted to Claire.

  Fuck.

  I glanced at the royal to see if he somehow knew. Maybe he could read my mind. I mean, who knew what kind of powers a Spirit Fae like him truly possessed.

  However, he didn’t react other than to glance at the air spiral flitting around my hand before looking back to Claire.

  Her wide gaze was locked on the spiral. I expected her to be afraid, but she seemed fascinated.

  An unwanted heat crept over the back of my neck, making me grateful for my warrior’s tail and beard. Displaying her effect on me, even if she didn’t understand it, was far too intimate for two strangers such as us.

  “Go on, you make one,” I offered, taking the opportunity to disperse the air spiral.

  Her eyes snapped up to mine, making me suck in a breath. Her powers rested just underneath the surface as if they could burst out of her at any moment. So many elements tangled with the beautiful swirling power that was kindred to my own. I sensed her wavering control over her air element and tugged at the wild, snapping strands before I could stop myself.

  Her chest leaned forward at the motion as if I’d pulled on her heart. “Oh,” she said, the sound more of surprised pleasure than pain. “That’s, uh, pleasant.”

  “What are you doing?” the royal demanded.

  Now that I had ahold of her wild power, I didn’t dare let go. Each strand was so frayed on the end that I wondered how she wasn’t in acute pain.

  “Why didn’t you come to Air Quad sooner?” I asked before I realized that I was chastising an all-powerful Spirit Fae who could make me squawk like a chicken if he wanted to. “She needs guidance,” I clarified.

  The royal straightened his spine and narrowed his eyes, then surprised me by uttering a single word. “Continue.”

  “Does that feel better?” I asked, hoping Claire could sense what I was doing.

  She shifted closer to me until our knees touched. Her skirt ran up her thighs from the motion, giving me a better view of her skin that glowed with power.

  Not just power, but also the sweeping blue electricity that was scented with my magic.

  Imagining her skirt inching up just a little more had the aura turning a deeper shade of blue that matched her eyes. She sighed, making me slightly dizzy. “Yeah. Actually, it does.”

  I cleared my throat, my hold on her power tightening. If I let go now, her control would snap, hurting us both. However, the only way to truly strengthen her grasp on air was to provide her with an anchor. She needed an Air Fae in her circle, likely as a mate, to truly master her powers.

  Someone strong enough to balance her.

  Someone like me.

  And, uh, yeah, that was not going to happen. I’d never been interested in courtship, and I barely knew this girl. Attraction was one thing. A mating, entirely another.

  She needed another fae. Someone who wanted that kind of connection. I’d mention it to Exos after class.

  “Try to conjure an air spiral like I showed you,” I said, hoping my tone sounded encouraging. We’d been trying this for several minutes, but she’d yet to create one.

  Claire hummed as her eyes fluttered closed.

  My power coiled around hers on instinct, the contact intense.

  She leaned forward, her shirt dipping with her and providing me with an agonizing view of her graceful neck and cleavage. A better fae would have averted his gaze, but I was weak when it came to a fae who tugged at my strings like this one did. She demanded my full attention.

  Then I noticed it—a fire brand.

  Fuck, I knew I’d sensed something else off about her. Her fire was too passionate, too practiced and perfected for a Halfling who’d been rumored to kill and injure multiple fae.

  She’d bonded with a Fire Fae as well.

  Two courtship bonds, one for each element.

  That wasn’t unheard of for a Spirit Fae, but it was definitely rare. Given what I’d seen of her powers, it seemed necessary to maintain her balance and control. However, I didn’t know of a single Air Fae who would be willing to go up against such competition.

  Yet, I also knew she required one. Exos had one hell of a challenge set out before him.

  “Just focus on that place inside,” she said to herself. “I’m a fae,” she continued, half chuckling. “I have magical powers. I can summon little air spirals.”

  “Like the hot chocolate,” the royal offered. He kept his touch light and coaxing across her arm. “You’re doing great, Claire.”

  Her brow wrinkled as she focused, and her powers fluctuated beneath my senses. Something new blossomed, a strange, dark force that felt wrong, corrupted.

  What is that? Or better yet, who is that? It wasn’t a power I recognized, the taste of it bitter on my tongue.

  Wait, no, I do know that power. It’s familiar.

  I frowned, trying to identify the owner because it wasn’t Claire. “Hold—”

  She summoned the air spiral before I had a chance to stop her. I immediately latched on, trying to quell the conjuring, but the angry power reared at the scent of my magic. It was as if the power multiplied by a thousand, hell-bent on wreaking death and destruction to any who dared to get too close to the Halfling.

  This wasn’t right. I’d mentored other fae before, and I was good at it because I could visualize their inner strength, contain it, and hold on to it until they could contain themselves. Yet when I reached out to grasp the strand of power that burned hot and angry, it wouldn’t listen to me.

  This magic doesn’t belong to Claire.

  The air spiral danced over her hand, causing her to smile at the perceived achievement. An innocent expression that morphed into horror as the energy sprung from her grasp.

  “Dispel it,” I commanded. “Dispel it now!”

  Claire’s eyes widened and snapped up to mine in confused terror, but it was too late.

  The spiral exploded.

  Shrieks sounded, and the pathetic air pixie was the first to be sucked in by the wild vortex that crashed through the classroom, sending delicate pedestals catapulting through the thick glass meant to contain even the worst projectiles.

  Professor Helios cast a wave of power to try to contain the vortex, but even the ancient fae was no match for whatever the horror had unleashed.

  “You!” the Professor shouted as his black eyes trained on Claire. “I will not tolerate violent elements in my classroom!”

  As if Claire had a choice in the matter. This wasn’t her. I was certain of it.

  Despite her lack of involvement, I’d seen the kind
of power she possessed. She could dispel this, if only I could guide her on how to use it.

  The royal braced himself against the winds, and power shimmered around him as he anchored himself to the ground with invisible threads of life. My lips parted at the display of power. I’d known he was strong, but not that he was creative.

  “Claire!” he shouted over the roar of the whirlwind that rained down chaos on the classroom. Determination was etched into every line of his face as the cyclone spiraled out of control.

  Professor Helios grunted, trying to shove the winds back as a projectile flung dangerously close to his head.

  “Claire!” Exos tried again, this time winning her wide-eyed stare. He braced a hand on her shoulder. “Remember what we taught you.”

  A desk soared through the air and caught him against the shoulder, throwing him to the ground, silencing him.

  Ah, shit…

  Claire

  Exos!

  I’d been so careful, so determined to master my fae elements. But of course, I fucked up again.

  And now I’d injured Exos.

  I started to kneel, to check on him, when the Air Fae—Vox—grabbed my shoulder. “We can dispel it. But I need you to focus.”

  Exos had told me this Air Fae might be a good mentor, his ability to control elements and help others noted in his academic records.

  The wind whirled around us, catching Exos in its tunnel and dragging him across the floor. No! I latched onto him and yanked him back with a strand of fire that had Vox jumping away from me.

  The professor screamed words I couldn’t hear, causing the tornado to whirl toward him, plunging straight ahead, as though vexed by the command.

  What the hell am I going to do?

  “Exos!” I shouted, shaking him.

  Vox was suddenly there, kneeling beside me. When had I fallen to the ground? I’d somehow landed beside Exos, my arms tight around his neck to keep him away from the destructive windstorm roaring through the room.

  Oh God…

  We’re going to die here.

  Air was the one element I couldn’t seem to master. It always threw me off, always—

  “Take my hand,” Vox demanded, holding out his palm. “We need to stop it before it destroys the building.”

  “How?” I asked, raising my voice above the bellowing vortex. The professor seemed to have it contained to an extent, but it was throwing projectiles left and right.

  And if one hit the professor…

  “Claire!” Vox shouted. “I need you to trust me. You have the power to kill that thing, and I can help you harness it.”

  Of course I did. Because I fucking created it.

  Damn it!

  I’d been doing so well with Titus and Exos, and now—

  Vox grabbed my wrist. “Claire.”

  I blinked at him, startled. “What…?” I swallowed, my throat tight. “What can I do?”

  “Can you feel the darkness?” he asked, his voice too calm for the chaos flourishing around us. “The power? Can you locate and isolate it?”

  More shouts came, then screams followed by a crash, and I winced.

  “Claire,” Vox insisted, demanding me to focus on his voice. “Try to latch onto it. Together, we can destroy it, but I’m not strong enough to do it alone. I need you to try to lasso it with me.”

  Lasso a tornado.

  Right.

  Yeah, a walk in the park.

  “It’s picking up speed!” someone screamed.

  “Shit!”

  “Run!”

  “It’s going to take the building down!”

  My blood ran cold, the insanity spiraling out of control and trying to tug Exos from my grasp. “No!” I shouted, but the word was lost to the howling winds. My hair tangled before my eyes, the lethal tunnel sucking everything into its inky abyss.

  Like a black hole, I realized. Oh God…

  Vox screamed something over the roar of sound, but I couldn’t hear him.

  I need to focus.

  I need to stop this.

  By calling the elements to me.

  Just like Exos and Titus always say.

  I can do this.

  I have to.

  Or I’ll lose my Spirit, my Exos…

  Closing my eyes, I searched within myself—the way Titus and Exos had shown me—and called forth my connection to air. Only, I didn’t recognize the whirl of power dancing before me. It felt foreign, tasted wrong, as if it hadn’t come from me at all. Not like in the courtyard yesterday when Exos helped me calm my out-of-control elements.

  This didn’t feel like me.

  But my power located it, caressed it, explored it, searching for a way inside, trying to find a weakness to exploit.

  There, my instincts whispered. Punch a hole there.

  Using a gust of wind shaped like an arrow, I sent the sharp end into the core, locking onto the heart of the darkness, and gave it a tug.

  Sweat dampened my brow from the effort, my breathing escalating, but my gifts took over, leading my every move. I punched another hole with a second arrow, then a third, all while keeping a mental rope tied to each.

  Then I yanked them simultaneously with the force of all my power, shredding the vortex from the inside out.

  I collapsed from the intensity of it, the back of my head somehow landing on Exos’s chest. We’d whirled around from the force of the tornado, landing on the opposite side of the room.

  Only, it wasn’t my arms around him but his arms around me.

  His breath rattled out of him on a sigh that sounded like my name, but the voice was wrong.

  I glanced backward to find a handsome face with gray eyes and a head of long, dark hair. Not Exos. The arms around me were leaner, too, but still strong.

  What in the world?

  I tried to move, to shift away from Vox and find Exos, except something heavy held me down. My hands fluttered over the solid muscle, relieved to find my Royal Fae. He didn’t move, still unconscious, but breathing.

  I sighed, relaxing my head, causing Vox to inhale sharply.

  Shit.

  How did I keep finding myself in this position? Sandwiched between hot men?

  “Exos,” I muttered, giving him a shake.

  He didn’t move.

  Vox’s arms loosened beneath my breasts, sending a wave of heat through my body. “Are you okay, Claire?” he asked, his deep voice a rumble beneath me.

  “I, uh, yeah. But Exos is—”

  “Suffering from a splitting headache,” Exos finished for me, his voice low. “While also rather enjoying lounging between your legs, princess. I think I’ll stay.”

  Vox chuckled beneath me. “I think he’s fine.”

  “More than fine,” Exos murmured, slowly sitting up and cracking his neck.

  It granted enough room for me to squirm out from between the two men, not that either of them seemed too keen on moving, if their matching smiles were anything to go by.

  Smiles that quickly shifted to frowns as shrieks sounded from across the room.

  Vox was on his feet in a second, his long hair loose around his shoulders. Whatever tie he’d used to secure that thick mass of beautiful brown strands was long gone, thanks to the tornado. Now it billowed in the breeze being cast from Professor Helios—a breeze aimed at me and carrying words of accusation.

  “Your Highness,” he said slowly. “I suggest you get Claire out of here.”

  Exos joined him, surveying the mess of the room before holding a hand out to help me up off the floor. My limbs shook with the effort, causing me to frown. Taking down that vortex had exhausted me more than I realized. I actually felt a bit woozy now that the adrenaline of the moment had subsided.

  The nausea only worsened as I took in the massacre of the room.

  “Oh God…,” I whispered, finally seeing the destruction. Bodies littered the floor. Some of them were moving. Most were not.

  And the one screaming was Ignis’s friend. The one with wiry blonde h
air who’d joined Ignis in the courtyard where I caused the fire.

  Her violet eyes found mine and widened in horror. “You!”

  Great…

  “She didn’t do it, Aerie,” Vox said, startling me. “It wasn’t her magic.”

  Exos glanced at him in question while my eyebrows rose. Vox felt that, too?

  The Air Fae—Aerie—screamed, the sound causing me to flinch and my knees to buckle beneath me. Exos caught me by the waist as I pressed my palms to my bleeding ears.

  What is that? The shriek had knocked me off-kilter, splitting my head in two, and worsened the ache in my gut. It left me dizzy and unstable, Exos’s arm around me the only thing keeping me upright. And even then, the room seemed to be spinning.

  I winced as the shriek deepened, worming into my mind. It knocked the air from my lungs, leaving me floating in a cloud of confusion and deafness.

  My hands fell as I tried to find them with my eyes.

  Why is everything so fuzzy?

  I blinked, trying to focus.

  “Enough!” Vox roared, a whoosh of wind following the command and sending Aerie into the wall. Or, at least, that was what appeared to have happened. I couldn’t really tell. It was as if my vision had shrunk into a teeny, tiny point.

  “I’ll talk to Professor Helios, but you need to get Claire out of here.” Vox’s voice registered, but it rang with an authority that surprised me. He seemed like such a nice fae. Not a bossy one. Not like my Exos.

  “You and I need to have a conversation,” Exos replied, causing my lips to curl. That was my bossy fae. And why did I find that so amusing?

  Vox sighed. “Oh, we’ll be talking all right. But for now, focus on Claire. She’s about to collapse.”

  I am?

  Oh.

  Exos hadn’t just put his arm around me but had also lifted me into the air. No wonder it felt like I was floating.

  Dude, I’m drunk, I realized. Like the entire world was spinning in a mist of intoxication. When did that happen and how?

  “Relax, Claire. I have you,” Exos vowed.

  “Oh, I know,” I replied, smiling. “You definitely have me.”

  “It’s the wind tunnel,” Vox said, his voice warm and far away. No, close. Wait, where was he standing, again? “Fucks with the sense of balance and thought. She’ll be fine in an hour. Just get her some water.” Another whoosh followed his words. “Do not move, Aerie.”