Page 266 of Bitten By the Fae
So I supposed being defensive on his behalf came with the territory of our new relationship, but I couldn’t let the Council sense it. Shade and I notoriously hated each other—a consequence of our birthrights.
“When I find her, I’ll ask.” Shade uttered the reply through his teeth, then resumed leaning against the wall with his trademark devil-may-care attitude.
I envied his ability to appear so unfazed.
Because inside I was dying. I could sense something was wrong, but I was powerless to investigate the source of that unease. All I wanted to do was tell this Council—the same one that had hidden the truth about the Quandary Bloods from me for nearly twenty-five fucking years—to go to hell. However, instead, I remained poised and calm and waited for them to deliver a verdict.
Which proceeded to take two hours.
By the end of the discussion, I wanted to kill everyone.
They completely disregarded Emelyn’s behavior and focused entirely on Aflora.
“The Earth Fae Royal was obviously complicit.”
“Agreed. We need to find her. She’s the key to taking down the resistance.”
“We can use magic to bolster Shadow’s connection to her.”
Their words blended together after a while, but the final plan was to use Shade to track her through the bonds and to report back as soon as he sensed Aflora’s location. Then the Warrior Bloods would take her into custody and either kill her for running away or use her as bait again and kill her later.
Regardless, their plan was to destroy her.
My mate.
My beautiful, sweet Aflora, who had done nothing to deserve their callousness. She’d been set up to fail from the beginning by this very Council commanding that Shade bite her. All because they wanted to use her as bait.
And now that she’d been taken, they were quick to assume she was aiding the Quandary Bloods on their quest forresurrection. The Council claimed there was only one avenue that made sense—seek and destroy.
I tried to argue that it would cause political strife with the Elemental Fae. I also pointed out that she hadn’t shown a single inkling of supporting the Quandary Bloods and that perhaps she’d been kidnapped or taken against her will.
The Council and the circle of Midnight Fae Elders ignored the latter. Then my grandfather—who had taken Lima’s usual seat for the meeting—stated that the Elemental Fae wouldn’t be a problem. His offhanded commentary reminded me that this was the Council who had killed Aflora’s parents and kept it hidden for fifteen years. They didn’t care about fae politics. It was all just an act before, one meant to place Aflora at the center of a trap.
My blood boiled, and the inky lines on my arms writhed with discontent.
Thiswas my future—the council I was born to lead.
And I realized as I walked out of the room that I hated every single one of them, including my father, who called my name to stop me on the threshold.
I almost didn’t listen.
But a nudge from Shade had me turning around to face Malik Nacht, the Elite Blood King. My father. The man in charge of the Midnight Fae Council. The man I had idolized all my life. I’d spent years trying to win his favor and make him proud.
And for what?
To lead a council of murderers.
The sudden clarity clouded my thoughts, blackening my mood and causing the source to swirl inside me, anticipating my growing need for retaliation.
My father frowned as though he could sense it. “Are you all right?”
No, I am not fucking all right, I thought. “I’m fine,” I said instead. “Just irritated over the situation.”
My father snorted. “Aren’t we all?”
“You should be irritated,” my grandfather said, stark accusation darkening his tone. “Aflora is your ascension trial, yes?”
“Yes,” I agreed, my fingers curling into fists at my sides as he came to stand next to my father. The two men bore a similar resemblance, their ageless features the same as my own.
