Page 3 of Fortune Fae Academy
“I see why Roderik likes you.” He ignored Seif as he slowly circled me, sending the room falling into dangerous silence.
My chest rumbled with a growl against the predator toying with his food.
I did not enjoy the sensation.
His pace put him with his back toward Seifiek. That alone demonstrated his immense power, conveying that he didn’t feel threatened by the Alpha.
Since Amell was an Elder, very little could hurt him. The tithe given to the council, and in effect, the Elders, concentrated far too much power in one place.
It wasn’t just his age that gave him strength, although that helped. Like most fae, Fortune Fae only improved with time.
Unlike other fae, Fortune Fae were nearly immortal if they had enough Dust on hand.
And this Elder certainly had plenty of Dust burning within him like molten silver.
His presence seemed to create a rumble in the Web. It sounded like a distant train, both ominous and unstoppable.
He had way too much power. The Web fluctuated around him, becoming visible in parts like shimmering threads. The display suggested that he’d recently fed on Dust.
He’d enjoyed one of his plentiful tithes, no doubt.
It was all of the futures he had stolen from others who should have lived them. I’d been a part of the underground for long enough to see how the system really worked.
If a life was cut short, that Dust would be harvested.
If an Artifact or abnormality was discovered, that Dust would be contained.
It was illegal to kill for Dust or to hunt for Artifacts or abnormalities without a license. As long as an appropriate amount was donated to the council, though, the grievance was often overlooked. I knew now why that was.
Because the Elders made sure any large stores of Dust worth having went straight to them.
Amell was no better than Roderik.
Unlike Roderik, though, he wasn’t insane. His calculating stare of an Alpha’s sliced irises watched me without flinching.
Everything had been carefully orchestrated for this moment. I still wasn’t sure why he’d thrust me into this room with Seif.
An experiment, yes. But to what end?
“If Roderik likes me so much, why am I in this cell?” I countered Amell’s earlier question. We’d been staring at each other, as if willing the other to break the silence.
If it gave me answers, I had no problem speaking first.
I’d Tunneled into the Collegium under the incorrect assumption that name-dropping my alliance with Roderik would put me in a place of power.
If anything, it’d seemed to play right into Amell’s plans.
“To maintain the purity of the timeline,” Amell said matter-of-factly. He looked me up and down as if appraising a new rug for his room. “Truthfully, I didn’t expect you to survive. Now that you have, I’m not sure what to do with you.”
The flux had healed itself, so the fact that Amell wasn’t able to read my future gave me an edge.
When it came to my mate-circle, he was working blind.
“You could take the deal I originally offered,” I said as I flexed my fingers. My claws were sharp and ready to strike, not that I’d get anywhere near Amell without losing my head if I tried anything.
But if he wanted me dead, he would have ripped out my heart long ago. The fact that he hadn’t suggested that he feared directly interfering with the delicate timeline.
Fear was something I was deeply familiar with exploiting.
