“We barely know her,” he pointed out.
While I agreed, I couldn’t help saying, “You’ve always prided yourself on being a good judge of character. Would you trust Exos’s and Cyrus’s opinions of her?”
He lowered his hands, clasping them between his legs as he continued to rest his elbows on his thighs. “Exos and Cyrus would do anything to protect their mate. And their mate is friends with Aflora. That alone means I can’t trust their opinions because they’re inherently biased.”
“All right, well what does your gut say about Aflora? Because mine says the girl grew up playing with flowers, not plotting world domination.”
He snorted. “Oh, she’s innocent. But not entirely. The way she used that heat spell on my cock spoke volumes about her lack of innocence.”
“Always thinking with your dick,” I mused, amused despite the serious subject matter. “Just because she knows her way around your pants doesn’t mean she wants to take over the Midnight Fae kingdom.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get your point. But I would have bet money a week ago that she was a virgin, and before you say that’s irrelevant, it’s not. If I misjudged her experience, then I could easily be misjudging her.”
“Fair,” I agreed. “However, I never picked up a virginal vibe from her, just a lack of experience with multiple partners. Which is still my assumption in that realm of conversation. Regarding the more important one, however, I don’t think Aflora could ever invoke harm intentionally. Hell, she looked ready to cry when you destroyed her burning thwomp last week.”
Kols chuckled. “Yeah, she wasn’t at all happy today when Headmaster Jenkins used a crow in her compulsion spell. There were tears in Aflora’s eyes when the poor thing died. I lied and told her the bird was a conjured being, not real.”
“She believed you?”
“Yeah.” His lips curled. “I made her a crow on our way back to the suite. She still has it in her room.”
“And this woman is a threat to our kind?” I scoffed. “You’re using that bird to spy on her right now, aren’t you?”
“Not presently, but yeah, I can see through its eyes.”
I smirked. “I’d call you brilliant, but your ego doesn’t need stroking.”
“You’re right. I already know I’m brilliant.” He finally cracked a smile. “So what are we going to do?”
“I should think that’s obvious,” I replied, lifting my ankle off my knee to sprawl lazily in my recliner. Despite hating the location of my suite, I couldn’t deny the comfort in the furnishings provided by Kols’s family. They kept my fridge stocked—except for beer—and provided me with all the luxuries I grew up with in the Nacht Estate. Not a bad life. I just hated the new teaching part of it.
“We’re going to protect her,” Kols said, referring to the future plan.
“Yeah. Until we figure out what the hell is going on with Shade.” And possibly glean some historical answers in the process. “He tasted her, so he has to know what she is.”
Kols bobbed his head in agreement. “The question is, did he know before he bit her?”
“That’s my guess.”
“Mine, too.”
“One thing that perplexes me—”
“Only one?” Kols joked.
I didn’t remark on it, just continued my thought. “He had to know we’d figure this out. Why hasn’t he tried to keep us away from her?”
“He hasn’t had a choice.”
“He’s Shade,” I reminded him. “He’s a dick who doesn’t play by the rules, yet he’s been waltzing the peaceful line all week. Why?”
Kols frowned. “I... I don’t know.”
Neither did I, hence the reason I brought it up. “We need to keep him away from Aflora.”
“Easier said than done. He keeps visiting her dreams.” Kols grimaced. “I overheard her moaning his name last night.”
I arched a brow. “Overheard?”