Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance Page 3

  There was still so much about this fae world that I didn’t know or understand. So I just nodded as if it all made sense, when it very much did not.

  Exos cupped my cheek and pressed a brief, sweet kiss to my lips. “We have all the time in the world to teach you, Claire.” He brushed his nose against mine before pulling away. “So let us introduce you to another aspect of our world—the coronation.”

  Vox

  Saying goodbye to Claire after she’d turned my world upside down hadn’t been easy, but I’d done it for her. I’d put on a smile and given her a tender kiss and sent her off to the Spirit Kingdom, a place that I couldn’t go, but I would have tried in a heartbeat if she’d asked.

  I might have looked calm on the outside, but Claire had awakened a tempest in my soul. It slipped out more often now, especially when I was thinking about her… which was all the time.

  The dishes I’d just cleaned went flying off the counter and shattered onto the ground in a dramatic cascade of broken porcelain as my air magic slipped from my grasp. An invisible gust spun around the kitchen, rattling the light fixtures, before I squeezed my eyes shut and suppressed the outburst.

  When I reopened my eyes, Sol and Titus were both staring at me.

  Sol straightened and set down the sandwich he’d been working on. “Doing okay, Vox?”

  I shrugged, trying to play it off as a fluke—something I’d done a little too much these last few days. “Too much soap,” I offered as an excuse. “It’s slippery.”

  Titus chuckled. “Soap doesn’t send three pounds of rice flinging across the entire dorm.”

  Oh, oops.

  I turned enough to see that my slip had not only sent the dishes flying but had also uprooted the pantry box with ingredients meant to last us a week—ingredients that were now scattered all the way down the hall.

  I sighed and shuffled to the closet for a broom.

  “Why don’t you just use your element to push it out the door?” Sol asked with an edge to his question.

  It was what I normally would have done, but my powers were out of control and he clearly knew it.

  I shrugged again. “Just craving some exercise.”

  The ground trembled, signaling Sol’s irritation with me. “I hate it when you close yourself off, Vox. Just admit that you’re frustrated Claire’s gone. Then we can talk about it.”

  Titus chuckled and snapped his fingers, lighting a perfectly blue flame on his fingertips as he heated up a cup of tea that had gone cold. “That’s all we’ve been doing for days, Sol. Claire’s gone to shack up with Exos and we’re not invited. What else is new?” He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s not like she could forget the night we gave her. She’s going to be thinking of us the entire time.”

  I wished I possessed an ounce of Titus’s confidence, but opening myself up to Claire had done something to me that I feared couldn’t be undone. Did Claire really know the impact she had on me? Was I honestly ready to embrace it?

  The memory of her naked before me made my core tighten, and for a moment all I could think of was how she’d tasted—and how all I wanted was more of her. How she made me feel free.

  No, I could never go back to before that night.

  Which meant I had to face the consequences of opening myself up to the bond with Claire.

  Her mating to Exos and his coronation would only make her pull on me stronger. She was already something unprecedented—a Halfling with access to all five elements. She was able to tug at every secret I thought I’d buried out of reach, and as her mate-bonds grew, so would she, and that would only force me out of my shell further.

  Not something I was ready to embrace.

  Titus surprised me by snatching the broom from my grasp. He glowered and then pointed at the table where a pile of remaining sandwiches waited. “Sol has a point, Vox. I’m tired of your moping. Sit and eat something before you get skinny.” He appraised my lean body. “Well, maybe too late for that.”

  My eyes narrowed. Skinny? Yeah, I’ll show him skinny.

  I peeled off my shirt and arched a brow. “Claire seemed to like this just fine the other night.”

  Titus smirked, his green eyes running over me. “Yeah, I guess you’re not bad. No need to get your ponytail all in a twist.”

  I snorted. “Whatever.” I marched over and sat across from Sol, who was grinning at our exchange and my lack of a shirt.

  Okay, so maybe that’d been a bit of a brash reaction. But Titus had turned up the temperature in here anyway, bringing the Spirit Dorm to a boiling point. So it felt good to remove some clothes. And yeah, maybe I also missed Claire.

  Bantering with the mate-circle always seemed to help a little. These guys understood how I felt about Claire being gone. But they didn’t know what was really going on with me. I could tell them, but there was nothing they could actually do. The control was on me. Besides, Sol barely understood his royal ties and Titus wasn’t a royal at all. Even if Cyrus and Exos were here, I’d rather swallow a spiked fruit than ask for their help.

  So I’d figure it out on my own.

  Or maybe with Claire, when she returned.

  “The Solstice Ball is coming up soon,” Sol said as I picked up one of the sandwiches.

  I rolled my eyes, tired of this topic. He’d brought it up several times over the last few days. “Will you relax already? Exos said he’d have Claire back in time for the stupid ball.”

  “He’s excited about it, okay? Don’t undermine the one good thing our titan has in his life,” Titus said, sending a flame down the hall to burn the spoiled food rather than sweep it up. I wrinkled my nose at the sour scent it created and moved my hand to send a gust out the door, then thought better of it and hunched my shoulders as I endured the stench.

  “I don’t understand why he had to take her so quickly,” Sol complained, his shoulders drooping as he stared at the half-eaten sandwich on his plate. “Or why this coronation had to be in the Spirit Kingdom.” He curled his fingers into massive fists, and his stony gaze challenged me. “Is he really trustworthy? You had to knock him out because that thing was inside of him. What if it’s still there?”

  That thing was Claire’s mother. I shuddered with the memory of the dark essence that had almost taken Claire’s life, the shadow energy that had possessed Exos.

  Did I trust Exos? Yes.

  Did I trust him to protect Claire against Ophelia? Also yes.

  But something told me Ophelia had tricks up her sleeves that none of us were prepared to face yet. So I understood Sol’s concern, and shared it myself.

  Titus sent another controlled wave of flame that manipulated the air, pushing the burnt remains down the hall with a heat-infused gust. “Cyrus wouldn’t have let Exos anywhere near her if that darkness was still inside of him. I don’t trust the asshole Water Royal farther than I can throw him, but I know he wouldn’t make the mistake of putting Claire in danger again.”

  That was big talk coming from Titus. I raised a brow, wondering what kind of bond the two fae had formed after their bout in the Academy’s arena. I supposed Cyrus had earned our trust after all that went down, at least as far as Claire was concerned.

  I nodded my agreement. “Claire should be there for the coronation and be a part of such an important day in her mate’s life. It’ll just make their mate-bond stronger and also strengthen her control over her spirit element.” As much as I disliked being apart from her, this was exactly what Claire required—and what the mate-circle needed to protect her.

  Sol’s jaw clenched. “Do you know something we don’t know? How is dragging Claire back to a dying land where she almost died herself a wise move?”

  I cocked my brow at the disgruntled Earth Fae. “You know what the coronation does, right?” Sol wasn’t familiar with his royal line, but I figured even he would know what a coronation really meant. Maybe I was wrong.

  Titus finished up his “cleaning” and joined us at the table, looking intrigued. He brushed his hands together and left
a flutter of soot over the table that I’d just wiped down before our meal. “I remember she was much stronger after mating with Cyrus, who is as royal as one can get. Is that what you mean?”

  I shook my head. “Cyrus is only king because Exos originally turned down the crown. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still strong—almost impressively so—but Exos will be even more powerful as king.”

  “So what’s going to happen?” Sol asked, concern etching a pattern into his forehead.

  My lips twitched. “Nothing bad. Bonding with Exos will ensure she never loses him again. And, by participating in his coronation, she’s embracing a royal line of power. She’ll no longer have to draw from the outskirts of the element like most fae do because she’ll have access to the source directly through Exos.”

  That kind of power was what made royals so respected and feared. Accessing the raw core of an element was something only true elemental kings could do. As Exos’s mate, Claire would be able to piggyback on that ability. Most considered it a dangerous connection—hence the reason only the strongest of fae could ascend.

  I’d been in contention for that power once.

  I’d immediately denied it.

  Air was the most volatile of all the elements and could cause destruction that would decimate the fae in unskilled hands. I would never want to rule such an energy source. Ever.

  “How do you know so much about this?” Titus asked, leaning on the table. “I know you have some royal blood in you, but you don’t talk about it much.”

  “For good reason,” I muttered, but these were Claire’s bond-mates. Both Sol and Titus watched me expectantly, their concern palpable. They were beginning to feel like family. Like they were mine just as much as Claire was mine.

  Keeping them in the dark seemed wrong.

  And so I did something I’d never done before.

  I opened up about my history. Just a little bit.

  “My grandfather was given access to the royal source of the air element,” I admitted. The source wasn’t necessarily a secret; it just wasn’t common knowledge as to how the royal lines were so powerful. “It’s a boon that can be granted by the king. My grandfather, well, he thought he could control it. Until he couldn’t.”

  I shuddered at the memory of tornados exploding across the main city just a day after he’d bragged to everyone about his new powers. Several fae lost their lives that day, casting dishonor over my family line as a result.

  “Long story short, he abused his access to the source, which labeled my family as weak and lacking in control. So you can imagine why I’d want to prove them all wrong.” Consequently, I refused to allow myself to go anywhere near my royal ties to the source of my elemental power. To do so would be to repeat my grandfather’s mistakes.

  “What happens when Claire is exposed to the source of spirit magic through Exos?” Sol asked, his eyes growing wide.

  Claire wasn’t like me. I’d seen how she embraced her elements with a natural grace that put my abilities to shame. She’d grown fearless these last few months and would only thrive with the power that came from the source. “She’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I have no doubt about that.”

  Another short burst of air escaped my grip and sent my hair unfurling from its loose warrior’s tail and put out the small flame dancing across Titus’s knuckles.

  Yeah, Claire would be fine.

  But me? That I wasn’t so sure about.

  Claire

  I stood between Cyrus and Exos as we faced a crowd of a hundred or so young-looking fae in the center square. The setting sun left everyone dressed in warmer clothes as cool wisps of air seemed to descend upon the small town from the outskirts. It left a chill along my skin, reminding me of the nearby death fields.

  Yet everyone around me was smiling.

  Not at Exos or Cyrus. But at me.

  Apparently, I was the one they all credited for Exos’s decision to ascend. He squeezed my hand as Cyrus recited something in the old language, the words weaving a magical web in the air that I could almost taste.

  Power. A lot of power.

  It hummed through the air, weaving into our essences and stringing us even closer together. Exos’s grip tightened, his body tensing beneath the cascade of energy. It vibrated through his spirit, intensifying his aura.

  My lips parted. Exos…

  It’s okay, baby, he whispered. I’m ready for it.

  Ready for what? It felt like a tornado spinning around and around, sucking us into a dark vortex of vitality.

  The source.

  The source of what? I demanded, my hair whipping around my face.

  Spirit. He sounded pained. Cyrus is relinquishing his hold over it. We’ve shared it for… He trailed off, his features pulling tight.

  I cupped his face, everyone else forgotten. Talk to me. Tell me how to help you.

  You already are, he breathed into my mind. His arms wrapped around me as he pressed his forehead to mine.

  I closed my eyes and embraced his spirit with my own. Wind swirled and roared through my ears, the universe seeming to fall apart piece by piece. But I had my Exos, my mate, my Spirit King. He kissed me tenderly, the magic warming our blood and souls.

  Royal Fae manage the access to the core of our element, he explained softly. I’ve always shared the ownership with Cyrus, but he’s giving me everything. He can’t maintain a hold over spirit and water. It would be too much for anyone to bear, even one as powerful as him.

  Does it hurt? I asked, my tongue sliding along his lower lip. Is that why you didn’t want to ascend?

  No. I’m the rightful heir, so it all feels natural to me. I only denied my position to help Cyrus. He refused to embrace his water element. Because of you, Claire, he’s finally ready. Exos smiled against my mouth, his pride and gratitude caressing my heart. You’ve changed us both for the better.

  Now you’re just sweet-talking me, I replied, my fingers slipping into his thick hair. You realize I’ve already committed for life, right?

  I do, he murmured, his eyelashes fluttering as he opened his eyes. “Mine forever.”

  “Ours forever,” Cyrus corrected from beside us, his tone amused. “Not to intrude on the moment, but Gale wants to know when we can start drinking.”

  I frowned. “We’re done? Already?”

  Exos chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not a difficult transfer when a royal already has access to the elemental source. It has to be done on the grounds of the element—which is why we’re in Spirit Kingdom. But as I was already the rightful heir with direct ties to the source, it didn’t take long. Cyrus’s ceremony will be a bit grander since he’s refused his water ability most of his life.”

  My Water Fae mate grimaced. “I prefer not to think about that right now.” He clapped his brother on the back. “Tonight’s about you, Exos. We all know how much you adore being the center of attention, so shall we get started?”

  A few of the nearby Spirit Fae laughed, clearly hearing the sarcasm in Cyrus’s commentary. Exos just shook his head. “You’re incorrigible, brother.”

  “So you and my little queen keep saying,” Cyrus drawled, winking at me. “Want something to drink, Claire? Maybe a glass of mead?”

  Exos’s mouth preoccupied mine before I could reply, his tongue parting my lips and capturing my undivided attention. Oh, his kisses literally removed me from this plane. I wound my arms around his neck, holding him close, and gave him everything. All my adoration. My trust. My heart. My soul.

  His element stroked mine, eliciting a flurry of butterflies across my skin. I giggled as they appeared in corporeal form, their pink wings fluttering in excitement.

  Several fae gasped around us, awed by the display of power.

  But Exos merely smiled. “Always creating life, my Claire.” He pressed another kiss to my lips before releasing me. “Let’s have some mead before Gale drinks it all.”

  Someone snorted loudly. “It’s ye brother who’ll drink it all, lad.”

  Cyrus pressed
his palm to his heart. “Me? Never.”

  A few laughs echoed through the main square, causing Exos’s mouth to tilt upward even more. “It’s a joyous occasion,” he announced, lifting his eyes to the crowd. “Let us celebrate new life and a renewed destiny, and drink to a prosperous future for the Spirit Fae.”

  “Hear, hear!” everyone cheered, the sounds of excited chatter breaking out amongst the town. It wasn’t long until the spritemead made its rounds, all the fae indulging in mugs of the potent liquid. And a fire blazed to life—courtesy of Exos’s secondary ability—in the cobblestone center.

  Pixies and other fairylike creatures buzzed about, delivering plates of snacks, while a female with long blonde hair tended to what appeared to be a roasting boar above the fire.

  It all unfolded so naturally, so beautifully, that I wondered how often the town’s people indulged in such festivities.

  “Not regularly,” Exos whispered. “Not anymore, anyway.”

  “Morale is down,” Cyrus added. “Way down.”

  We sat on a wool blanket a few yards away from the flames. Other couples had joined us nearby but kept to themselves while they enjoyed the appetizers brought to them by the flickering “staff.”

  “Maybe you need to do this more often,” I suggested, glancing around. “They seem to be enjoying themselves.”

  It was laid-back, but the vibe felt happy, almost relieved to have a reason to socialize. I couldn’t imagine how lonely these fae were with how much loss they’d suffered over the years. And that none of them could have children, well, I assumed that only worsened the mood.

  Most areas of the Spirit Kingdom were like Spirit Quad at the Academy—desolate and dead. This was honestly the most life I’d seen since visiting these lands. I wanted to see more of it, to learn more about all the fae who survived, to find a way to help them grow.

  There had to be a reason the fae couldn’t procreate, some sort of lasting impact on the spirit element. My mother would know. Maybe it was good she hadn’t really died. When we found her, we could demand answers.