This year could absolutely get worse.
As I found myself literally bound to Shade’s side in Headmaster Irwin’s version of detention, all I wanted to do was die. But we had an essay to write—together. He’d joined our hands with some sort of magical pen that required our agreement on the words for it to work.
The topic? Define partnership.
I gritted my teeth as Shade tried to write something about partnership falling to the stronger of the pair to lead.
When the script vanished, he sighed and glared down at me.
“You try.”
“Screw you,” I tossed back.
“He won’t let us leave until we’re done.”
“Then I guess we’re living here now.” A childish thing to say, but there was absolutely no way I could work with this monster. “You only have yourself to blame, really. Not like I asked you to bite me.”
He snorted. “Are we back to that old argument already?”
“It’s not old,” I countered. “It’s very fresh and new and wrong.”
His arm flexed against mine, the rope tying his left limb to my right limb tightening with the movement. There was another band of magic around our torsos, gluing my right side to his left side. Every time he breathed, I felt the strap pull against my chest.
This would have been intimate with anyone else.
With Shade, it only made me want to kill him.
But we were forbidden from drawing our wands.
Not that I knew how to use mine anyway. Today’s class had consisted of a series of insane tasks involving conjuring deathly objects like skulls and bones and hearts.
As Shade had predicted, I failed every task.
Mostly because I refused to try. Playing with the dead went against every principle I possessed as an Earth Fae. I conjured life, not death.
Shade, however, excelled in a frightening manner. Each spell he uttered resulted in perfection, his aura an essential cloak of darkness. If only I could turn him into a ghost and make him disappear.
“Look, if I promise to tutor you, will you stop acting like a brat?” he asked, his genuine tone almost comical.
Except his words had me seeing in shades of red.
“You are the absolute last fae in all the realms I’d seek tutoring from. And I am not acting like a brat.”
“That entire statement was the definition of brat, Aflora,” he replied, sounding tired. “I’m the best conjurer in this Academy. Hell, I’m one of the best, period. Saying no to my tutoring offer is both impractical and stupid. You’re only denying me because you’re mad at me. Hence, brat-like behavior.”
“Well, excuse me for being a little miffed by our current predicament. You put me here.”
“And what’s done is already done. It’s how we use the past to move forward that defines us, and so far, you’re not impressing me.”
“Aw, well then, it’s a good thing I’m not trying to impress you, Shade,” I replied sweetly, batting my eyes.
His jaw popped from clenching his teeth, the first sign of frustration I’d ever seen in him. “We need to finish this damn assignment, Aflora. Unless you intend to join me in more intimate locations like the bathroom or the shower.” His gaze dropped to the top button of my blouse. “Actually, that sounds like a beautiful plan. Shall we go?”
I tried to elbow him but couldn’t, thanks to the binds.
Instead, I growled at him low in my throat. “Not happening.”
His lips twitched as he bent to press his mouth against my ear. “That’s not what you say in your dreams, little rose.”