A forbidden bite led to my capture and recruitment.
There are no flowers here.
No life.
Only death.
I’m an Earth Fae who doesn’t belong here.
They can play their little mind games all they want, but I’m going to find a way back to my elemental world. Even if it kills me.
Except Headmaster Zephyrus is one step ahead of my every move.
Prince Kolstov won’t stop cornering me.
And Shadow—the reason I’m in this damn mess to begin with—haunts my dreams.
My affinity for the earth is dying and being replaced by something more sinister. Something powerful. Something deadly.
The Midnight Fae believe this is my fate.
They claim that I was “recruited” for a purpose.
To battle a rising presence.
Or to die trying.
I don’t owe them a damn thing. But if I have to pass their trials to find my way home, then so be it. I survived a plague and far worse in the Elemental Fae realm. An ominous energy? Please. What a joke.
Give it your best shot.
I’m waiting.
And don’t you dare bite me.
Or I’ll make you regret it.
Author’s Note: This is a dark paranormal reverse harem trilogy with bully romance (enemies-to-lovers) elements. Despite Aflora’s opinions on the matter, there will definitely be biting. Shadow, a.k.a. Shade, guarantees it. This book ends on a cliffhanger.
Chapter One
Aflora
Glacier was late.
Again.
This whole long-distance relationship thing where we met in the Human Realm for dates was just not working for me. The damn Water Fae never showed up on time.
Instead, he left me sitting in this coffee shop in the middle of Orlando with a mouse-shaped mug of inky liquid. How humans stomached this stuff was beyond me. One sip and I wanted to puke.
But I came here to make him happy. Because I hadn’t seen him in over a month due to summer solstice break.
Things would be fine when we went back to the Academy in a few weeks. Maybe. Except we would always have this elemental problem hanging over our heads, what with me being the heiress to the Earth Fae throne and him being a regular old Water Fae.
I blew on my steaming liquid, more to mask my frustrated sigh than to cool the liquid. Because yeah, I wasn’t going to drink this. I had some spritemead in my fridge back home, just waiting to be cracked open.
Another glance at the clock had me shaking my head.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered to myself. I should not have to wait over an hour for a boy to arrive. Especially one who proclaimed to adore me.
“It is,” a feminine voice replied as a puffy, blue-dotted, edible thing appeared beside my mug. “Have a muffin. On the house.”
I frowned at the muffin before glancing up at the woman who had delivered it.
My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “A Fortune Fae,” I said, glancing around to make sure no one heard my admission, before noting her vibrant green apron. “A Fortune Fae working in a human coffee shop?” It came out as a question because what kind of fae chose to reside in this realm? Particularly one of her heritage. “That must be a daunting job, what with people touching you all day.”
I took an entire course last year about Fortune Fae. While they loved to deal cards—to tell the future—they hated to be touched. It inspired visions, typically unwanted ones. And I imagined humans would have the same impact.