Page 149 of Never Kiss a Fae
None of us were about to disagree with him, but the idea of both Vox and me taking her to the ball had me distracted. I couldn’t dance—not without destroying half the ballroom—and Vox could pull off a ballroom suit a lot better than I could. He could show her the good time she deserved without me trying to turn her down and probably hurt her feelings in the process.
“So, what are we supposed to do while they’re gone?” I asked, having grown accustomed to teaching Claire at earth class. The other students looked forward to watching her magic. It had been so long since we’d had an Earth Fae with her kind of power and control—she didn’t realize it, but we were learning from her.
Titus glanced up at the peach tree. “I think I have an idea.”
Chapter15
Claire
“This is your childhood home?” I asked, marveling at the white marble walls and obsidian floors. It was so clean. So stark. Sobare.
Cyrus leaned against one of the pristine pillars, his icy gaze holding me captive. “This isn’t just our childhood home; it’s our current one, too. It’s the Royal Palace of the Spirit Kingdom, Claire.”
I’d gathered the royal part by the grandiose appearance outside, but it seemed so unlively. Even the moats along the stone walls seemed still. “There’s no one here.” I grimaced as soon as the words left my mouth. “I mean, it’s—”
“Death,” he finished for me. “Yes.” He pushed away from the stone column and walked toward a balcony overlooking the grounds, his hands tucked behind his back.
I glanced at the old paintings hanging from the walls as I followed him, noting the portraits of all the stoic fae. That seemed to be where Exos and Cyrus obtained their hardness from, or maybe it was a result of growing up in this massive home alone.
Wisps of dead trees, still waters, and vapid land met my perusal outside. Even the setting sun seemed dim, the world around us awash in blacks and whites and little splashes of color. Except for what appeared to be a city in the distance, the glowing embers of a fire catching my gaze.
“Springfall,” Cyrus murmured, following my gaze. “It’s the only Spirit Fae community left in existence.” His hands had slid into his pockets, his expression closed off. “We have a residence there, one in the heart of the court, but Exos and I prefer staying here. It keeps us focused, reminds us of our failures and the journeys that rest ahead.”
“Sounds lonely,” I admitted.
He nodded. “It is, but it’s also necessary.”
“How do you help your people by living in isolation?” I wondered out loud, not following the logic. “Surely they would prefer to see you. And why are there no Spirit Fae at the Academy?” I’d started to assume there were no Spirit Fae left, but the colony of light appeared sizable, even at a distance.
“There are no fae of age to attend the Academy, Claire.”
I frowned. “Are they too young?”
“Claire,” he said, forcing my attention back to him. “You’re the youngest Spirit Fae in existence. No others were born after you.”
My lips parted. “Because of the plague.”
He nodded. “Yes.” He tilted his head. “Has my brother not spoken of this? Of the importance of your mating and what it means for our people?”
I swallowed and slowly shook my head. “We’ve… It’s been… Well, I mean—”
“A simplenowould suffice,” he interjected, his tone suggesting his displeasure at my rambling.
But it wasn’t like there’d been an abundance of time for Exos and me to discuss all of this. Between my recruitment—if I could even call it that—into the Academy, and all the insanity that followed, plus his disappearance, we hadn’t gotten around to what it meant for him to be a royal. Or, really, anything about Spirit Fae history other than my mother’s impact.
“My people will pray for your fertility, Claire,” he said, his gaze returning to the glow of Springfall. “You’ll be our only hope at creating an heir to the Spirit Kingdom.”
My mouth worked without sound, his words not at all ones I expected to hear.
Fertility?
Heir?
“What?”
He glanced at me, his lips curling down. “Why else would you mate with my brother if not to perform royal duties?”
My eyes widened, my head moving back and forth. “You can’t be serious. I just met your brother.”
