Page 2 of Fortune Fae Academy
Sighing, I mentally reprimanded myself.
Focus, Axel.
Our cell didn’t have any windows, but we were in the lower depths of the Collegium. Dust ran rampant here, illuminating every surface with faint, ethereal light.
My claws remained extended and I softly scratched them against the stone. I absorbed the soft energies radiating through the floor as I stretched out on it. There had been a boost of it earlier and not much remained for me to absorb.
But damn, I sure did appreciate being able to just feed on Dust like this. It usually required a larger sum for me to pull into myself like slow molasses. The WebRing had done the job. But now, even this little taste of Dust slowly trickled into my body with minimal effort.
“Is it always this easy for you?” I asked, breaking the silence.
Seif remained stoic at my side. “Easy?”
I scratched at the stone again and tiny chips of it splintered under my palm. “Feeding on Dust. As a Beta, it was never like this.” I closed my eyes as I focused on the sensation of little pebbles of light pricking my skin. “It’s like the Dust is drawn to me.”
Seif grunted at my side, seemingly unimpressed. “Wouldn’t know. I haven’t been an Alpha much longer than you, so I have no reference point for what’s easy and what’s not when it comes to Dust.”
My eyes shot open again. For some reason, it felt like Seif had always been an Alpha, but I knew that wasn’t true. An unmated Alpha didn’t last longer than a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, after his transition.
A transition from being a Midnight Fae.
“Right,” I said.
I stared at the ceiling in thought. Every now and then, a tiny red light broke the darkness.
A camera, which was quite antiquated for the power of the Collegium. Maybe they were taking some notes from Roderik and investing in human technology.
A sound at the cell door prevented me from continuing that thought.
Seifiek and I both shot to our feet and slipped into the shadows.
Shadows we’d created by physically manipulating the Web. Between the two of us, we were quickly learning how to make the best of our abilities.
But we needed time to develop our combined skills. And time was the one thing we didn’t have.
The Web reverberated as if trembling in fear when an Elder entered the cell. His silver eyes cut through the darkness, immediately illuminating our locations.
Amell. The Elder who always seemed to be one step ahead.
He locked in on Seif first. “That’s fascinating,” he said, waving a hand to easily part the darkness, revealing the long silver mark on Seifiek’s skin. “Come closer.”
Seifiek lifted his lips, showing off dangerous fangs, but obeyed.
Amell would force the issue if we resisted. For now, we had to play his game.
Or at least, that was what Seif had concluded.
The Elder grabbed Seifiek’s shoulder and yanked, roughly angling him to get a better view. After a moment, he pushed him away. “I do love it when an experiment has unpredicted results. It keeps things interesting.”
He sliced his gaze toward me next. “And, you, come.”
I frowned as my muscles stiffened. Maybe it was the lack of self-preservation raising its ugly head, or maybe I just didn’t like this Alpha, but there was no way I was going to be following his commands.
“No,” I said.
Seif’s silver eyes locked onto me as he stiffened. He gave me a look that said,Stop being a stubborn idiot.
Instead of crushing my heart with a thought, Amell grinned. Luckily, he was in a good mood this morning.
