Midnight Fae Academy #3 by Lexi C. Foss

“What do you mean, she disappeared?”my father demanded, his golden irises on an unrepentant Shade.

A similar question swirled through my thoughts as I sat in my chair at the Council table. Where did you take her? I wanted to ask him. But, of course, I couldn’t. I had to feign nonchalance and act like none of this bothered me.

Not Emelyn’s little episode in Warrior Magic class.

Or the fact that Aflora had then disappeared into some paradigm with my soon-to-be former betrothed.

Or the aftermath of that paradigm being brought to the ground by a horde of Warrior Bloods, and Aflora vanishing with Shade at her side.

I couldn’t reach out to her because we weren’t bonded on that level yet.

I couldn’t talk to Zeph because he’d been knocked out by the magic.

And I couldn’t ask Shade any questions because the entire Council sat in a circle around us.

It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to react.

“Start from the beginning,” my father stated, his tone brooking no argument.

Shade’s icy gaze slid to mine. “Your Highness?” he prompted, the two words dripping with his usual disdain. I couldn’t tell if it was all just an act or if he meant that tone. This evening’s events had been mostly my fault, something I explained out loud as I recounted the events to the Council.

I told them how Emelyn had attacked me with WarFire, her ire a result of the upcoming Blood Gala. Which, seriously, what the fuck? Talk about a massive overreaction. Yes, I’d meant to talk to my father about our attendance weeks ago, but I’d been a little busy lately.

Of course, Emelyn didn’t know that. Because if she did, we had a much larger problem on our hands since I was betrothed to her, yet I’d mated Aflora.

I cleared my throat and continued with the aftermath of the fight, how Emelyn and Aflora were sucked up into some paradigm. We’d located the heart of it in the LethaForest, which was when the Warrior Bloods showed up because they’d been hunting a similar strand of magic. And then all hell broke loose, ending with Aflora’s disappearance.

Because Shade wrapped her up in shadows and they vanished, I added in my head. And he didn’t tell me what happened after that because he’s Shade and he doesn’t believe in positive communication. A problem I would be rectifying as soon as this Council adjourned.

“And how did she disappear?” my father pressed, his focus shifting between me and Shade.

I arched a brow at the Death Blood. This was his part to explain because I had no idea what he did with her.

“Don’t look at me,” the bastard drawled. “She vanished before my eyes, too.”

Right,I nearly replied, but I swallowed the comment. If he didn’t want the Council to know he’d spirited her away somewhere, then I would keep his secret.

“So where is she now?” Tadmir asked, his white eyebrow inching upward into his matching hairline. “Can’t you feel her in your bond?”

“She’s shut me out,” Shade replied, his easygoing tone taking on a harsher quality that hinted at his annoyance. As far as acting skills went, the Death Blood’s were top-notch. “I can’t sense her at all.”

“How the hell did she manage to block you?” Aswad snapped. The Death Blood King wasn’t known for his patience, nor was he known for being all that kind to his son. I’d never cared much before, but seeing the way he spoke to Shade now had my hackles rising for inexplicable reasons.

Well, perhaps not entirely inexplicable.

We were essentially bonded through Aflora, making him an integral part of our quad.

So I supposed being defensive on his behalf came with the territory of our new relationship, but I couldn’t let the Council sense it. Shade and I notoriously hated each other—a consequence of our birthrights.

“When I find her, I’ll ask.” Shade uttered the reply through his teeth, then resumed leaning against the wall with his trademark devil-may-care attitude.

I envied his ability to appear so unfazed.

Because inside I was dying. I could sense something was wrong, but I was powerless to investigate the source of that unease. All I wanted to do was tell this Council—the same one that had hidden the truth about the Quandary Bloods from me for nearly twenty-five fucking years—to go to hell. However, instead, I remained poised and calm and waited for them to deliver a verdict.

Which proceeded to take two hours.

By the end of the discussion, I wanted to kill everyone.

They completely disregarded Emelyn’s behavior and focused entirely on Aflora.

“The Earth Fae Royal was obviously complicit.”

“Agreed. We need to find her. She’s the key to taking down the resistance.”

“We can use magic to bolster Shadow’s connection to her.”

Their words blended together after a while, but the final plan was to use Shade to track her through the bonds and to report back as soon as he sensed Aflora’s location. Then the Warrior Bloods would take her into custody and either kill her for running away or use her as bait again and kill her later.

Regardless, their plan was to destroy her.

My mate.

My beautiful, sweet Aflora, who had done nothing to deserve their callousness. She’d been set up to fail from the beginning by this very Council commanding that Shade bite her. All because they wanted to use her as bait.

And now that she’d been taken, they were quick to assume she was aiding the Quandary Bloods on their quest for resurrection. The Council claimed there was only one avenue that made sense—seek and destroy.

I tried to argue that it would cause political strife with the Elemental Fae. I also pointed out that she hadn’t shown a single inkling of supporting the Quandary Bloods and that perhaps she’d been kidnapped or taken against her will.

The Council and the circle of Midnight Fae Elders ignored the latter. Then my grandfather—who had taken Lima’s usual seat for the meeting—stated that the Elemental Fae wouldn’t be a problem. His offhanded commentary reminded me that this was the Council who had killed Aflora’s parents and kept it hidden for fifteen years. They didn’t care about fae politics. It was all just an act before, one meant to place Aflora at the center of a trap.

My blood boiled, and the inky lines on my arms writhed with discontent.

Thiswas my future—the council I was born to lead.

And I realized as I walked out of the room that I hated every single one of them, including my father, who called my name to stop me on the threshold.

I almost didn’t listen.

But a nudge from Shade had me turning around to face Malik Nacht, the Elite Blood King. My father. The man in charge of the Midnight Fae Council. The man I had idolized all my life. I’d spent years trying to win his favor and make him proud.

And for what?

To lead a council of murderers.

The sudden clarity clouded my thoughts, blackening my mood and causing the source to swirl inside me, anticipating my growing need for retaliation.

My father frowned as though he could sense it. “Are you all right?”

No, I am not fucking all right, I thought. “I’m fine,” I said instead. “Just irritated over the situation.”

My father snorted. “Aren’t we all?”

“You should be irritated,” my grandfather said, stark accusation darkening his tone. “Aflora is your ascension trial, yes?”

“Yes,” I agreed, my fingers curling into fists at my sides as he came to stand next to my father. The two men bore a similar resemblance, their ageless features the same as my own.

Auburn hair.

Golden irises.

Regal bone structure.

We all resembled brothers, except my grandfather held an ancient gleam in his irises that only seemed partially formed in my father’s and was entirely lacking in my own.

“Constantine,” my father said, always referring to my grandfather by name in formal situations such as this. Considering this was only my fourth time actually meeting the patriarch on my father’s side, I should probably adopt the same habit.

This man wasn’t family so much as a legacy.

I wasn’t even sure where he lived. All the Elders disappeared into their own quadrants of the realms, some choosing to play with humans more than their own kind.

Others fell into deep slumbers for countless years or centuries.

Immortality came with perks and consequences.

“I believe we need to have a further conversation on what happens when an ascension is failed,” Constantine continued, his eyebrow cocking upward, daring me to argue.

“I haven’t failed yet,” I replied, matching his haughty tone with one of my own. “Now, I don’t have time to waste on a hypothetical discussion. I have an Earth Fae to find. So, if you all will excuse me.”

I didn’t wait for them to reply.

I also ignored my father when he tried.

And instead walked straight into a portal with Shade at my side.

He punched in the destination—Midnight Fae Academy.

Seconds later, the gates revealed themselves to us along the Academy’s gothic exterior, and Shade faced me.

“Zakkai has Aflora,” he said before I could question him about her location. I’d assumed this whole time that he’d just hidden her in one of his infamous shadows.

“Who the fuck is Zakkai?” I asked.

“Her Quandary Blood mate.”