Page 265 of Bitten By the Fae
To an extent, anyway.
With another sigh, I leave her on the bed and head out onto the balcony, my mind on the future ahead and what this war will require from us.
Sacrifice, certainly.
Blood as well.
Maybe even death.
We’ll know shortly. Just as soon as my little star wakes up. Then our journey together will begin…again.
“What do you mean, shedisappeared?”my father demanded, his golden irises on an unrepentant Shade.
A similar question swirled through my thoughts as I sat in my chair at the Council table.Where did you take her?I wanted to ask him. But, of course, I couldn’t. I had to feign nonchalance and act like none of this bothered me.
Not Emelyn’s little episode in Warrior Magic class.
Or the fact that Aflora had then disappeared into some paradigm with my soon-to-be former betrothed.
Or the aftermath of that paradigm being brought to the ground by a horde of Warrior Bloods, and Aflora vanishing with Shade at her side.
I couldn’t reach out to her because we weren’t bonded on that level yet.
I couldn’t talk to Zeph because he’d been knocked out by the magic.
And I couldn’t ask Shade any questions because the entire Council sat in a circle around us.
It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to react.
“Start from the beginning,” my father stated, his tone brooking no argument.
Shade’s icy gaze slid to mine. “Your Highness?” he prompted, the two words dripping with his usual disdain. I couldn’t tell if it was all just an act or if he meant that tone. This evening’s events had been mostly my fault, something I explained out loud as I recounted the events to the Council.
I told them how Emelyn had attacked me with WarFire, her ire a result of the upcoming Blood Gala. Which, seriously, what the fuck? Talk about a massive overreaction. Yes, I’d meant to talk to my father about our attendance weeks ago, but I’d been a little busy lately.
Of course, Emelyn didn’t know that. Because if she did, we had a much larger problem on our hands since I was betrothed to her, yet I’d mated Aflora.
I cleared my throat and continued with the aftermath of the fight, how Emelyn and Aflora were sucked up into some paradigm. We’d located the heart of it in the LethaForest, which was when the Warrior Bloods showed up because they’d been hunting a similar strand of magic. And then all hell broke loose, ending with Aflora’s disappearance.
Because Shade wrapped her up in shadows and they vanished,I added in my head.And he didn’t tell me what happened after that because he’s Shade and he doesn’t believe in positive communication. A problem I would be rectifying as soon as this Council adjourned.
“And how did she disappear?” my father pressed, his focus shifting between me and Shade.
I arched a brow at the Death Blood. This was his part to explain because I had no idea what he did with her.
“Don’t look at me,” the bastard drawled. “She vanished before my eyes, too.”
Right,I nearly replied, but I swallowed the comment. If he didn’t want the Council to know he’d spirited her away somewhere, then I would keep his secret.
“So where is she now?” Tadmir asked, his white eyebrow inching upward into his matching hairline. “Can’t you feel her in your bond?”
“She’s shut me out,” Shade replied, his easygoing tone taking on a harsher quality that hinted at his annoyance. As far as acting skills went, the Death Blood’s were top-notch. “I can’t sense her at all.”
“How the hell did she manage to block you?” Aswad snapped. The Death Blood King wasn’t known for his patience, nor was he known for being all that kind to his son. I’d never cared much before, but seeing the way he spoke to Shade now had my hackles rising for inexplicable reasons.
Well, perhaps not entirely inexplicable.
We were essentially bonded through Aflora, making him an integral part of our quad.
