Page 170 of Bitten By the Fae
Kols and I shared a look. I had nothing.
Aflora seemed just as lost. “Are you talking about Shadow?”
“Yes,” the stone demon hissed. “And his sword friend. The ti?—”
Shade appeared once more and shot a puff of purple dust at the gargoyle, causing the little hellion to sputter and cough, itsred eyes blinking repeatedly. Then he frowned and glared up at the Death Blood. “You.”
“Aww, did you miss me, li’l buddy? I’d be happy to tie you up again. I know how much you enjoyed that last time.”
Sir Kristoff growled and stalked off, returning to his duty at the door while mumbling something about killing Shade in his sleep.
The Death Blood just watched with deep amusement and shook his head. “I think your gargoyle is broken, Kols.”
The gargoyle in question raised his dagger like a middle finger and disappeared into the door.
“What the hell?” Kols snapped. “What did you blast him with?”
“A chill pill,” Shade drawled. “Seems to have worked.”
“Why was he going on about a sword-wielding friend?” Aflora asked, her brow furrowed.
Shade just shrugged. “Fuck if I know.”
I didn’t believe him. Not for a second. But I also knew Shade wouldn’t tell us unless he wanted to. Kols must have come to the same conclusion because he didn’t bother to argue. Knowing Shade, it was what he wanted anyway. Maybe he’d gone out into the hall to enchant the gargoyle into acting like an idiot. A distraction to the bigger picture.
“Oh, right. Not done yet. But I promise to be back soon,” Shade said, disappearing again.
“What the hell is he up to?” Kols demanded, staring at the place Shade had just vacated.
I just shook my head. “I’m going to make lunch. Then we’re having a quad meeting.”
“A quad meeting?” Aflora repeated.
“Yeah,” I replied, locking my gaze on her. “We’re a quad, pixie flower. And you had better get used to it because you’restuck with us. Now I’m going to go make you a burning thwomp sandwich. Would you like that with a side of fire gnat juice?”
Her lips twitched this time. Briefly, but I caught the little movement, and my heart gave a thump in response. “Sounds lovely,” she deadpanned.
“Good.” I winked at her and turned for the kitchen, leaving her to talk to Kols alone. He still had some groveling to do.
Hell, we all did.
But I’d let him go first.
I was honorable like that.
Chapter Thirteen
KOLS
Aflora watchedZeph through wary eyes, then shifted that look to me. She still stood against the wall, right where I’d put her, but she appeared a lot less feisty now. If anything, she reminded me of a wilted flower with her shoulders caving inward in insecurity and her arms curling around her middle.
I sighed, hating myself a little for making her feel this way. “I have a reputation for fucking around,” I told her softly. “I upheld that image during our break days to deter the others from asking any questions. But I used glamour spells to do it. Exos and Cyrus were there the entire time, if you want to ask them. They were immune to my enchantment, mostly because they knew I’d bonded to you and would have killed me otherwise.”
It’d been hard enough to calm them down when they sensed my new mating bond—something that had shocked the hell out of me.
Apparently, my wristband only applied to Midnight Fae links, not Elemental Fae ones. However, the Council didn’t seem to have the same ability to sense my connection to Aflora. Which made sense because, according to Exos, it was a link on the spirit plane that gave me away, something only Spirit Fae could see.
And Sol, apparently.
