“This.” He grabbed my face between his palms and pushed me up against the wall beside the locked door, his mouth claiming mine.
I melted on instinct, my insides turning to mush.
Because Tray’s lips? They were heaven.
My fingers wove through his hair, my body arching into his, needing to feel the heat of his body against every inch of my own. He was becoming my addiction—wrong and oh-so right. I shouldn’t enjoy this, should demand he explain the detention plan, but I couldn’t get a word in with his tongue in my mouth.
By the time he released me, I was panting in the best way, my skin overheated and tight.
“You look gorgeous,” he whispered, running his nose across my cheekbone. “I’ll see you in swim class.”
“Wait.” I caught his wrist before he could leave, tugging him back. “Why detention?”
“Gives us an excuse to see each other. Don’t worry; I plan to enchant Montgomery so we can talk freely.” He pressed his lips to my temple. “Then I’ll come by your place after to help with anything you need, as I’m sure the step-monster will have a list of overdue chores for you.”
When he said things like this, it became far too evident that he knew me better than I knew him. And considering we just met a week ago, that shouldn’t be the case. “How do you know that about Clarissa?”
“Because the Council has kept tabs on you for years, Ella. I was given an entire file about you before arriving.” He palmed my cheek. “I need to get to lunch. We’ll talk more later.”
“I want to see the file” were my first words after Tray knocked Montgomery out with a spell. She snored softly from her position at the desk, her head tipped back in a way that would leave her with a neck cramp later. Part of me wanted to go readjust her position. Then I recalled how quickly she’d acted earlier in assigning me detention when she was the reason I had to work with Tray to begin with.
Yeah, she more than deserved a neck cramp.
“Of course,” Tray said in response to my demand to see the file. “I’ll bring it over tonight.”
I blinked. “You will?”
He shrugged. “I’ll answer whatever you want to know, Ella. And that includes sharing the details I have on your past.”
“Oh.” For some reason, I’d expected him to fight me on this. “Er, thanks.” I flipped open my notebook, then closed it. “So what are we doing now?” Because interviewing him seemed frivolous at this point. Although, I would need some details for the assignment. “Do you have a file on your cover for the Human Realm?”
“I have some legal documents, if you want to see them. But as far as everyone knows, I moved here to live with my recluse of an uncle while my parents gallivant around the world on a yearlong adventure. They just couldn’t wait until I graduated.” He lifted a shoulder. “Pretty simple, really. My father is a finance firm investor from London, and my mother is a debutante from Chicago. They own FAE Enterprises. Which, if you google it, is a real company. And yes, my parents actually do own it. But they have humans who oversee the board.”
“Wait, why?”
“Because we’re Midnight Fae, darling. We commonly interact with mortals.”
“To feed,” I translated.
He dipped his chin in affirmation. “Yes. Many
of my kind have covers in the Human Realm. It helps explain our constant appearances. But we vary our interests throughout the world, so that way our feeding is spread out as well. My father has dominion over the United Kingdom and the East Coast of the United States. Anyone from a royal line—which we call Elite Magic—can feed in those areas. Aswad—a ruling monarch of the necromancy side—owns the southern United States. Thus, anyone with Death Magic can play down there, and so on.”
There was a lot of information in that statement.
So much so that I didn’t know where to start.
“Uh, okay.” I cleared my throat. “There are different types of magic within the Midnight Fae?” That seemed a reasonable place to begin.
He nodded. “There are several. Elite Magic, Death Magic, Blood Magic, Warrior Magic, and Malefic Magic are the primary sects. The Academy is actually divided based on those sections. I’ll reside on the Elite Quad with Kols in the fall. It’s also where you’ll live, if you join us.”
“At the Academy, you mean.”
Another nod.
“Because my mom was a royal?” I asked, clarifying.
“She was an Elite Magic user, yes.” He leaned his elbows on the desk, his seat directly across from mine. “Our Midnight Fae line is closest to the heart of our darker element. It’s why we’re considered Elite—we harbor the most power of all our kind. But the other sects have their own powers and abilities. Death Magic, for example, is what humans call necromancy.”