Midnight Fae Academy #3 by Lexi C. Foss

I studiedKols and Zeph on the bed and frowned.

Aflora’s essence flourished around them, her magic weaving a dream spell that held them both captive to her mind.

Zakkai must have shown her how to do that, but I couldn’t figure out why. He’d never willingly allowed her to dance in the dreams of her mates before.

Of course, this was the most she’d ever bonded to any of us. At least as far as I knew.

Would this finally be the rendition of our fate that worked? Or was this a sign of the ultimate failure?

A Paradox Fae couldn’t fix death—something Kyros and Tadmir had both warned me about from the very beginning. Once a life strand ended, it couldn’t be brought back into a timeline.

Not without an anchor, anyway.

And I wasn’t even sure if that could work.

I considered the two men on the bed, debating my next move. I wanted to join them. I also needed to talk to Ajax.

Every other avenue I’d tried had failed, and I finally figured out why—they all revolved around Aflora. So I was playing with a new path that Zakkai wouldn’t be able to sense. A path that wasn’t tied to him at all.

Another risk.

Another potentially horrid fate.

But I was running out of options.

A tug at my consciousness had me glancing at the bed again. Aflora was unweaving my block, her power seeming to have grown overnight.

Because of Zakkai.

I sighed. She was ahead of schedule. I expected it to take her at least another week to break my barriers. At least she would know how to throw them back up when the time came.

With a wave of my wand, I conjured my phone and shot a message off to Ajax, telling him I wanted to meet up later tonight. I had to handle this dream first, as well as visit with Chern—he expected me to show up in an hour to discuss methods of tracking Aflora—and then I could continue my exploration of the alternative plan.

Rest was for the weak.

And I didn’t have time for weakness.

So I lay down on the bed near Kols and shut my eyes, giving in to Aflora’s call.

Little rose,I said into her mind as I materialized beside her and Zakkai. Central Park is an interesting choice.

So you can hear me,she replied, her blue eyes glowing with power.

I can always hear you,I murmured, sliding my hands into the pockets of my jeans. Another interesting choice. We were all similarly dressed in casual attire, like we were preparing for a stroll around the park. If only it would be this easy. “Zakkai.”

“Shade,” he returned. “I need the rock from your Advanced Conjuring class.”

It was just like Zakkai to deliver a command with his greeting. In this case, it was an unexpected demand. “Are you talking about the one that sucked all the life out of Aflora? The one you gave her?”

“I didn’t give it to Aflora,” he replied, his brow furrowing. “And what do you mean, it sucked the life out of her?”

“She nearly passed out from the spell. And your essence was all over it.”

“You attacked the Death Blood building?” Kols asked, his tone holding a touch of that arrogant annoyance he favored.

Zakkai ignored him in favor of me. “Drop the rock in our usual place. I want to review the magic.”

“Sure. I’ll just add it to my growing to-do list,” I drawled.

The Quandary Blood arched a haughty white brow. “Today.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Why not?” I had no intention of sleeping, anyway. I shifted my focus to Aflora, her cerulean gaze guarded. “Is he treating you all right?”

“Do you care?” she countered.

“You know I do, little rose.” I reached out to tug on one of her loose strands of hair and gave her a half smile. It’s okay, Aflora. I can take your hatred.

I don’t hate you, Shade, she whispered back. But I’m not happy with you.

I can take that, too,I replied, my heart skipping a beat at the softness in her voice. I expected her ire, not her understanding.

She stepped away from Zakkai to wrap her arms around me. I’m still mad, she warned as I returned the hug. But you’re still my mate, Shade.

I kissed the top of her head and met Zeph’s surprised gaze. He clearly hadn’t expected this. And he confirmed that by narrowing his eyes at Zakkai. “Okay, now I know this is all bullshit. Why have you brought us here? To lull us into a false sense of comfort?”

Zakkai merely looked at him and walked over to slide down a tree trunk. A hum of energy told me he’d whispered something into Aflora’s mind. Whatever it was had her glancing over her shoulder at him.

Silence fell as they communicated, then she nodded slowly and turned in my arms to face Zeph.

“Kai wants to teach me more about Quandary magic,” she said slowly. “In exchange for my willing cooperation, he’ll let me dream of you all.”

Kai, I repeated to myself, glancing at the Quandary Blood. He’d worked much faster to unravel her reservations this time. Because I’d given her to him? Or because he was playing a new game?

He smirked at me, then closed his eyes as though to take a nap.

“I’m supposed to believe that?” Zeph asked, drawing my attention back to him. “Try again, Aflora.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she replied. “He wants me to cooperate. I demanded access to my mates in return for that cooperation. Is this really that hard to believe, Zeph? He won’t let me leave. You can’t visit. So I’m doing what I can to see you.”

“I’m finding it hard to believe that he would allow you to see us without a catch,” Zeph replied.

“There’s absolutely a catch,” I agreed. “But I suspect we don’t know what it is yet.”

Zakkai’s lips quirked up in response, his eyes still closed.

“He wants to kill Kols,” Zeph stressed.

“And the entire Nacht line,” Zakkai agreed, his tone soft and lazy. “Maybe I want to give Aflora the chance to say goodbye to her mate.”

“You’re not killing Kols,” she snapped.

Zakkai just spread his hands in response as though to say, It is what it is.

“As much fun as it is to discuss my impending doom—an experience I will be declining—I have a suggestion.” Kols had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange.

I suspected it was because of the power circling around him in a cloud of protection, one meant to retaliate the moment Zakkai attempted anything. He was the future king, after all. The source naturally guarded him.

However, the source wasn’t actually his to command—a lesson he would eventually learn from Zakkai. Assuming it came to that. Again.

The Quandary Blood opened his eyes. “I enjoy suggestions.”

“Good. Because I think you’ll approve of this one,” Kols replied, his arrogance rivaling that of the Source Architect on the ground. “The Council and the Elders used Aflora as bait. Now they want to track her through Shade. I suspect you already knew that would happen and have safeguards in place to protect yourself and her. My suggestion is we work together to keep Aflora safe. With you. And we’ll use the nightly dreams to regroup with next steps.”

“So your suggestion is to maintain the status quo by allowing me to keep Aflora—a situation you have absolutely no control over anyway and can’t alter. Sure. That works for me.” Zakkai closed his eyes again.

“My suggestion is to accept where we are and not waste time fighting it,” Kols reiterated. “And to instead discuss a future resolution.”

I blinked, this twist of fate straightening my spine.

Aflora caught my movement because her back was pressed to my chest. What is it?

Kols has never offered to work with Zakkai before, I told her, unable to hide my shock. They usually just… fight.

The Quandary Blood’s eyelids lifted as he studied the Midnight Fae Prince. “Future resolution? And what would that look like for you, Nacht?”

“Well, for one, it would be a future where Aflora lives. Which is not what the Council or the Elders have in mind.” His tone held a note of irritation that he usually reserved for me. It was rather nice to hear it directed at someone else for a change. “I think we can all agree that some changes in the hierarchical structure are needed. I’m not sure what those should look like yet, as I’ve only recently become aware of the challenges, but I am open to discussing them.”

“And if I say the only way any of this will ever work is for the entire Nacht family line to die, you’ll agree?” Zakkai drawled, his eyebrow inching upward once more. He waited a beat before smiling and saying, “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“Death isn’t always the solution,” Aflora murmured. “Unless you want to take over the mantle of slaughtering and ending lives?”

Zakkai’s eyes shifted to our mate. “Retribution requires sacrifice.”

“So does reformation,” she countered. “Sometimes we have to sacrifice our desire for revenge to find a more efficient path forward.”

My lips parted at her statement.

It sounded like something my grandmother would say.

Zakkai’s expression said he felt similarly. He snorted and went back to his nap. “Indulge your mates, Aflora. Then we need some sleep before your classes tomorrow. Your new headmaster won’t go easy on you.”

“Changing the subject doesn’t solve anything,” she muttered. “And what class are you talking about?”

“Quandary Magic 101,” he replied. “With me as your personal tutor.”

“What about her other courses?” Zeph asked. “She’s still learning defensive and offensive skills.”

“Use the dreams,” Zakkai said, yawning. “Or don’t. But I’m not letting you into the paradigm. Not while you’re tied to the Elite Blood.”

Kols and Zeph shared a long look. They couldn’t speak mentally, but I sensed they were conversing in another way. Perhaps via their eyes alone.

“Aflora will stay where she is,” Kols said. “We won’t fight about it but will instead help Shade conceal her location. This is for her personal safety more than anything else.”

“And we’ll train in the dreams,” Zeph added. “So she can better defend herself should something change or happen.”

“And we will discuss as a unit how to move forward,” Aflora said, her focus on Zakkai.

The Quandary Blood held her gaze.

And she held his back, standing before him like the queen she would one day become.

A tendril of hope curled around my heart, the notion that we might all work together a dream that had always been so far out of reach.

I allowed it to flourish for three seconds. Just long enough to spread a trickle of warmth through my veins.

Then I recalled all the histories where I’d failed.

I couldn’t afford to hope.

Not until the end.

“Okay, sweet star,” Zakkai said softly. “I’ll agree to those terms for now.”

His words sent a chill down my spine. Not because of the way he spoke them, but because of the implication behind them.

They’d just struck a deal.

One none of us could hear.

But I knew what she’d just agreed to.

The Blood Gala.

In ten days, our fates would be decided.

Again.