Page 169 of Never Kiss a Fae
“Well, Vox mentors her, too. And I swear I sense her on him.”
“Does anyone know what that explosion last week was about?”
“I heard…”
I rolled my shoulders, shrugging off the murmured rumors, and met Elana outside.
She shut the door with a softclickbefore turning to me and giving me that too-friendly smile again.
“Vox,” she greeted, her gaze sweeping over me and no doubt taking note of the dark circles under my eyes, my loose hair, and the way air seemed to distort around me with my uncustomary lack of control. She took a step closer, invading my air currents in a way that made me stiffen. “I’ve mitigated most of the rumors about last week’s incident, but you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on. It’s getting worse and, forgive me, but you all look like rocks uprooted after a storm.”
Everyone had seen Titus shooting fire into the sky, the tornados I’d conjured to contain him, and Sol’s quakes that had shaken the entire Academy. There was no way we could hide what had happened—but we couldn’t explain it. Not without consulting Cyrus and Claire first.
“When the Spirit King returns, we’ll give you an update,” I assured her for the millionth time.
Her head tilted. “You’re tired, Vox. Is Claire all right? Is there anything I can do?”
Elana’s eyes were kind, but I sensed her frustration. It rivaled my own. Claire wasn’t here at the Academy, where we could keep her safe. And the only news we’d received were rumors on the whispering winds that she’d…
I couldn’t even repeat the offense in my mind.
Water Queen, my conscious said anyway.
A sharp pain jolted through my skull, and I pressed my thumb to my temple.
Elana moved closer, motioning to rest a hand on my arm, but my air shoved her away. She flinched, a hurt expression crossing over her eyes.
“Sorry,” I breathed and let out a long breath. “I think I should just go back to the Spirit Quad and rest.”
She considered me for a moment as she absently tested my air currents with her own magic, tiny dew droplets riding the breeze and glimmering around us like crystals. The effect seemed unconscious on her part, just an extension of her ever-growing power. Which perplexed me because I didn’t know she had an affinity for water. It was well known that Elana only had access to spirit, unlike the other of her kind, who all maintained two elements.
“If I don’t see improvement in the next few days, I will need to intervene,” she warned. “Whatever it is you all are going through, you do not have to do it alone.”
Wrong.This had nothing to do with her. This was between Claire and her guardians.
However, I nodded to appease her. “We’ll get it under control,” I promised, uncertain of how we would accomplish it, but knowing we needed to.
The tension in my chest stung again and I rubbed at it. Whatever Cyrus was doing to Claire was strengthening her, and I hoped that meant she’d return soon.
Because when she did, she had some damn explaining to do.
* * *
If I’d hoped to get some reprieve by returning to the Spirit Quad, I was in for a disappointment.
Without Claire, the place seemed to fit its reputation. The Spirit Quad had lost what little bit of life she’d sprung back into it, the ground outside a desolate wasteland of cracked, burnt soil and overturned stones.
My affinity for air cleared my path, flinging away debris as I approached the front door and made my way inside. I found Titus brooding over a cooling plate of leftovers.
I winced. Admittedly, my cooking had taken a hit ever since that night. I just didn’t have it in me. “Not hungry?” I asked him, leaning against a darkened stump that had once been a dining table.
Titus didn’t look up. Instead, he glowered at the tepid soup. “It’s too cold.” Meaning he couldn’t heat it up.
I sighed and rubbed at my chest again. “My powers are on the fritz, too. Whatever Claire did to us—”
Titus was in my face, eyes wild with awakened embers, before I had a chance to even think about finishing that sentence. “This isn’t Claire’s fault,” he snapped.
Normally, I’d find the Fire Fae intimidating, but I didn’t have the patience for his short temper today. I sent a gust of wind reeling and aimed at his chest.
