Midnight Fae Academy Book Three - Lexi C. Foss Page 0,9
abilities, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was one of them. Aflora had never mentioned it, but I’d also never asked.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear her.
Which only added insult to misery in this situation.
“Who the fuck is Zakkai?” I demanded.
“Quandary Blood.” The words came out on a cough from the still-wounded Death Blood on the floor.
“Yeah, you said that already.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t repeat questions,” Kyros suggested, his dark eyes flickering open. “Would you like to wake up Zeph now?”
I flinched, startled by the abrupt subject change. “What did you do to him?”
“Why would I do anything?” he countered.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know why you’re here.”
“Hmm, no, I think you do,” he murmured.
Right. Not going to continue engaging him because he just made me want to blast a hole of dark magic through him. “Shade.”
The Death Blood grunted in acknowledgment, his limbs still spasming from residual gargoyle magic. I would pity him, except I couldn’t because I actually enjoyed seeing him in pain. He fucking deserved it.
“Wake up Zeph,” Tray said, speaking to no one in particular. “Whoever can wake him, fucking wake him up.”
“How?” I asked. “I don’t even know why he’s still asleep.”
Magic hummed through the air from Shade as he twirled his finger in a shaky zigzag, his lips moving over an incantation. I didn’t catch the spell, his words soundless.
Kyros cocked his head to the side, then nodded as though satisfied.
And the door to my room flew open with a raging Zeph, who stopped short in the hallway. His gaze immediately fell to Shade. “What. The. Fuck?” he demanded, charging toward the already crippled Death Blood.
I folded my arms in amusement as my Guardian unleashed a wave of defensive magic onto the prone male, causing Shade to growl in agony.
“Again?” Kyros asked.
“No!” Shade shouted.
Kyros sighed. “Fine.”
I pressed a palm to my Guardian’s shoulder, stilling him from continuing his assault on the Death Blood. “Zeph,” I said softly. “I need Shade to be able to speak.”
“Speak?” he repeated. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Okay. After he explains himself,” I offered. “Then you can do whatever the hell you want to him.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Kyros interjected, causing Zeph to spin toward him.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“More repetition,” the Paradox Fae sighed, relaxing his head against the wall behind him.
“Perhaps you should stop fucking with time, then,” I told him, folding my arms. “How many times have I lived this moment?”
His lips curled a little. “Now that is an interesting question.”
“And that’s not an answer,” I tossed back.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “I think they might just listen to you this time, Shade.”
The Death Blood sputtered out a sound of agreement, then spat blood onto the floor. Zeph’s enchantment had been the equivalent of a few stern kicks to the most painful parts on the torso. I knew from experience that it hurt like hell. And Zeph usually held back when magically sparring with me.
With Shade, he hadn’t held back at all.
“What the fuck is going on?” my Guardian demanded. “Where’s Aflora? Why can’t I feel her?”
“You can’t feel her?” I stood up straighter. “At all?”
He fell silent, his green eyes flashing as he concentrated. “No. I feel her. But there’s… a block. And I can sense her struggling.” He went to the ground to take hold of Shade’s button-down shirt. “Start fucking talking, or I swear to the Fae, I will—”
“Destroy me,” Shade rasped. “I know.”
Kyros smirked. “Seriously, Shadow. You’re going through a lot of pain for something we both know is inevitable.”
“Fuck you,” Shade spat out at him.
“Not my type,” Kyros drawled.
“Give him a second to breathe,” I said, touching Zeph’s shoulder again. “I want to hear what Shade has to say.” My instincts were firing on all cylinders, the sense of déjà vu a very real presence in my mind.
I’d lived this moment before.
An obvious expectation, given Kyros’s presence, but it went deeper than that. I could feel the familiarity of this situation.
Just like that time when Aflora threatened to undo our bonds. Sir Kristoff had gone off about a sword-wielding fae. I’d just brushed off his commentary as a consequence of whatever the fuck Shade had done to him that day.
But that hadn’t been it at all.
“You’ve been fucking with our lives for a while,” I said to the Paradox Fae.
“Have I?” he countered, his dark eyes glimmering with knowledge.
“You were there the day Aflora threatened to dismantle our mating bonds.”
He considered me for a long moment before looking at Shade. “I stand