Page 192 of Never Kiss a Fae
Atrap.
The scent of it soiled the air as the Earth Fae dumped my brother’s body at my feet. I cocked a brow at the giant. “You know, at some point, we’re going to need to work through your Spirit Fae issue.”
He snorted, but it lacked heat as his eyes were on Claire in Vox’s arms. Her head rested against the Air Fae’s chest, her eyes closed in a fitful sleep.
I’d felt her panic as if it were my own, the terror an ice cube down my spine. It had sent me misting back to Spirit Quad with Titus hot on my heels, only to find the dorm empty.
Once I’d pinpointed her location, I sensed Vox and Sol already on their way back and advised the fiery redhead to calm down and wait.
He’d responded with a fireball to my head.
One that I’d doused in a tidal wave that had left him sputtering.
If I’d learned anything from today’s experience, it was that Titus served as an excellent sparring partner. Once Exos woke up, I would share the news.
Hmm, but this trap…
I crouched before his prone form and palmed the side of his head.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Vox warned. “That’s exactly how Claire ended up unconscious.”
Well, I’m not Claire, I thought, ignoring his caution and driving my spirit essence into my brother’s psyche to have a look around. Something in his essence stirred a foul note in the air, adding a hint of pollution in his aura that shouldn’t be there. Claire must have gone searching as well, her instincts driving her to heal her mate. But unlike my little queen, I knew not to touch things that didn’t belong.
Like that inky abyss crawling about in my brother’s mind.
“Hmm,” I murmured, assessing the scathing energy hissing about at my presence. It almost appeared to have scales, the dark magic reaching out with claws, searching for the spirit it truly craved.
Claire.
“Exos was left alone on purpose,” I said, my eyes closed as I continued to dance with the foreign presence inside my brother’s mind. “The culprit wanted Claire to find him.”
Which explained why she’d been able to suddenly pick up his location when she couldn’t only a month ago. I’d wrongly assumed it was the enhancement of her elements. But no. It was all part of this wicked being’s plan.
That was two traps I’d fallen for.
There would not be a third.
“My brother’s mind has been infected with the same essence that attempted to overcome Claire in the death fields. That’s why she reacted. And from what I can see, she fought back when it tried to grab on to her again.” The evidence lurked in the bubbling texture—they appeared to be wounds of a sort, similar to the ones marking Sol’s aura. Only, unlike Sol’s, these weren’t scarring. “I think she damaged it permanently”—which impressed me a great deal—“but she also hurt Exos.”
“Can you blame her?” Vox demanded, sounding defensive.
“Not at all.” I unwove myself from Exos’s essence and opened my eyes. “And he won’t, either.” The harm to the foreign presence might be irreparable, but Exos would be fine. Once I helped him remove that entity, anyway. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I need to take Exos home to deal with this. We can’t risk that infection spreading to Claire.”
“Infection?” Sol repeated, his skin losing color. “Like the plague?”
I’d not really considered the similarities, but I supposed they were there.
Unknown essence.
Element devouring energy, rendering the body useless.
But it worked slower, didn’t deteriorate the shell so much as the soul within.
“Not quite,” I said slowly, still considering. “But I see what you’re saying.” I really needed Exos back up and running to bounce some ideas off of. He was the one who tended to see through puzzles; I merely dictated how to unravel them. “It’s not the same, because I can remove it,” I added. “But I need to do that away from Claire.”
Because I didn’t want to risk it seeking her out again.
Wait…
