Page 387 of Bitten By the Fae
Aflora rolled her eyes, but some of the tension in her stance melted at the playfulness of his words. “Spritemead, too. And a dragon steak.”
“Someone’s hungry. Did we not feed you properly last night?” He released me with a kiss to my neck, then walked around me to press his lips to her cheek. “Because I seem to recall feeding you quite well.”
Her cheeks turned a beautiful pink shade as she tried to glare up at him. “Zeph.”
The Warrior Blood brushed his mouth over hers, his palm wrapping around the back of her neck. “Come on, pixie flower. Let’s go explore this new Academy. Then I’ll ensure you’reproperlyfed. Again.”
She swallowed. “Then I want a salad patty.”
“I’ll give you everything and anything you want, Aflora,” he replied softly, his forehead resting against hers for a brief moment. “Includingmouseberries.”
Her expression brightened. “Yes, please.”
“I thought he was a Guardian turned headmaster,” Zakkai said conversationally. “Is he a chef, too?”
“He’s good with a wand,” Shade explained.
“Ah. The food spells make up for other weaker areas.” Zakkai nodded. “I understand.”
Zeph ignored him.
Aflora just shook her head.
Shade smirked.
And I started taking mental bets on how long Zakkai and Zeph would last in a room together before one of them tried to kill the other. Both men were alphas to their cores, neither inclined to bend.
I’d have to keep an eye on them.
Especially when alone with Aflora.
She might not survive a duel between them.
A concern for later, as we had much more pressing items to deal with—such as the issue with my grandfather telling all of fae kind that Aflora had manipulated her own ascension. Given the trial requirements, this would be a problem. Because one of those levels required her to gain approval from Midnight Fae kind.
And that wasn’t likely to happen if they all believed her to be a power-hungry abomination with the ability to ascend illegally.
I rubbed a hand over my face, exhausted just thinking about it.
Hopefully, venturing into the Hell Fae realm would give us a little more time to prepare. Or a lot more time. I’d been gifted twenty-plus years to ready myself for the trials.
Aflora… had had all of a few minutes to accept it.
No wonder she wanted to revert the ascension.
Shade stopped by the obsidian arch and pressed his hand to the right side of it to pull up a keypad. Then he demonstrated how to enter by giving us the codes to activate the swirl of power beneath the arch and the subsequent passcode meant to prove our allowance to proceed through the enchantment.
It felt like a show of faith from him—a way of confirming that we’d finally breached his inner circle.
About fucking time,I heard Zeph think.
I snorted in agreement.
While I understood Shade’s penchant for secrets all these months, it was nice to finally be on the other side.
However, as we stepped through the gate onto the Academy grounds, I realized there was a myriad of secrets yet to be revealed. Because holy fuck, the exterior resembled Midnight Fae Academy.
The stone walls were all covered in hissing snake-vines. A pair of gargoyles stood by the gates, their swords already drawn.
