And with my luck, he’d probably go much further as soon as I closed my eyes.
“This world stinks,” I grumbled to myself.
“Sucks,” Zephyrus corrected. “Or you could say it’s shit.”
“What?”
“Consider it a vocabulary lesson,” he tossed over his shoulder. “I am a headmaster, after all.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you’re a brilliant teacher.”
For a brief second, he almost appeared entertained by my jibe. But it disappeared a second later behind his usual expression of stoicism. “Do me a favor, Aflora. Try not to explode in class tomorrow. Another display of power like that could be your death sentence.”
With that, he led me back to Kolstov’s suite without another word.
Ten minutes later, he left me in the living area, and I felt even more alone than I had every night this week.
Because his words had served as a not-so-subtle warning, one that told me my life was very much in danger here. Something I already knew, but the reality still stung.
How could I control a power I knew nothing about?
And worse, what if I couldn’t control it at all?
Chapter Thirteen
Kols
“Did she wonder how we found her?” I asked as I entered Zeph’s suite without knocking. His gargoyle hadn’t batted an eye, which told me I was welcome.
Zeph confirmed it by entering the living area with two bottles of beer,
one of which he tossed to me. I caught it by the neck.
“Aflora was too consumed by her explosion of power to ask questions,” he replied, collapsing into one of the room’s recliners. “If she thinks about it later, she’ll probably assume we followed her from the bonfire.”
That wouldn’t necessarily be too far from the truth. When her locator jumped positions, I knew something had happened. Tray’s text message confirmed it when he said Shade had used a smoke spell to remove her from the bonfire. The bastard clearly didn’t know how to abide by any rules. Not only had he removed his cuffs—something he should not have been able to do—but he’d also interacted with Aflora after being expressly told to leave her alone.
“I should report him,” I said out loud, referring to Shade.
Zeph popped the cap off his beer and took a long swig, his throat working with each swallow. “Wouldn’t do much.”
Leaning against the wall a few feet away from his chair, I sighed, “I know.” If I reported Shade, they might expel him. Then he’d just lurk around the shadowy edges of campus anyway. “What game is he playing with her?”
Zeph set his bottle off to the side, his expression thoughtful. I’d almost forgotten about this side of him, what with all the animosity he’d thrown my way these last few months. Part of me hoped our earlier brawl meant we were finally moving forward. The other part of me knew better.
Things between us would never be the same.
“You really saw purple flames?” He glanced at me.
“Yeah, the kind I’d expect from a Death Blood.” They were vibrant and violet flared.
“Well, I saw red, like the kind of flames you create.”
We frowned at each other. “And she called them bright blue,” I added. “Which is impossible. No Midnight Fae burn bright blue.”
“Maybe she meant navy, like the Sangré Bloods?”
“How the fuck would that even be possible?”