“Hmm, yes. Yes, she will fail,” the gargoyle agreed.
“Seriously?” I gaped between them both. “Bullying me on my first day of classes? How charming.” It didn’t escape my notice how many times I’d called Shade charming in a sarcastic sense.
“No bullying, just speaking practically,” Shade replied, his dimples flashing.
“What do you say, Sir Schmahl? Are you up for a bit of rebellious fun?”
“If she dies, I am not responsible” was the gargoyle’s dark reply.
The door swung open beside him, showcasing a tunnel lined with torches. Great. The inside matched the ominous exterior.
Shade pressed his palm to my lower back, giving me a nudge. “Don’t worry, Sir Schmahl. I’ll clean up any messes she creates.”
A snort followed that comment. Or maybe it was just the gargoyle shifting positions. I couldn’t really say, the sounds the being made hard to decipher.
“Come along, pet,” Shade whispered against my ear. “I’ll escort you to the lecture hall.”
I bristled but didn’t argue. Mostly because I had no idea where we were going. The schedule Zephyrus had given me didn’t list room numbers, just buildings. And on our tours this week, he said nothing about where to go once inside each castle-like structure.
Shade’s warmth seeped through my cloak, his peppermint scent swirling around me in a wave of refreshment. Every inhale increased my alertness, waking me up to this new world of Midnight Fae while also soothing me in a way it shouldn’t.
It’s the bite, I told myself. He’s hypnotized my blood.
“The halls change,” he said, his hand moving to my hip to stop me from taking another step. It placed his arm around my lower back in a decidedly intimate manner. When I tried to move away, his grasp tightened. “Hold on.”
“Stop manhandling—”
Shifting rocks cut off my statement, freezing me in place as the corridor warped into a new dimension of dungeon-esque walls. My throat went dry at the windowless wooden doors and the flames crawling along the different torches.
“Every student creates a different path,” Shade explained softly. “Our age dictates what course we should take and leads to the appropriate classroom. You can see ours outlined in purple fire down there.” He pointed ahead to the violet glow.
“Are all the buildings like this?” Because if they were, this was going to be a very long week of finding my courses.
“There are similarities, but every subject has its own nuances. Defensive arts, for example, requires you to battle a figment to enter. Your experience and skill are determined by how well you do, and you’re placed accordingly. So I suspect you’ll be in a beginner-level Warrior Blood course.” He winked down at me.
I scowled. “You know nothing about my abilities. And it’s not my fault your Council handicapped me.” I pointed to my collar, then recalled his statement last night about his cuffs. “Wait—”
“Oh, no. I know where you’re going, and no, I won’t help you remove it. Prove your own worth and figure it out yourself. I have faith in your failure, baby.”
Ugh! “You’re such an ignorant, impossible jerk of a willow stump!”
He laughed loudly, shaking his head. “I can’t take you seriously with words like that, Aflora. Try calling me an asshole and we’ll talk.”
“How about I call you a bloodsucker instead?” I threw at him, livid by his callousness and hot and cold behavior. “A manipulative, impulsive bloodsucker who uses cruelty as a flirtation tool.”
His smirk died. “Careful.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’ll piss off every Midnight Fae in this building. That term isn’t one we allow here.”
I scoffed at that. “Well, it’s what you are, so I’m not sure why you’d shy away from it. Bloodsucker.”
He studied me for a long moment, his evil grin returning. “You know what? I changed my mind. Go ahead and use that term. Let’s see what happens.”
With that, he turned and headed toward our supposed class. It was probably a pitfall directly into hell, yet I followed him anyway.
And paused on the threshold when I found a normal-looking lecture hall inside with desks and chairs and windows that overlooked a courtyard of burning thwomp trees.