“Now you’re asking interesting questions,” he praised, his gaze alight with mischief. “If I told you yes, would you believe me?”
“Maybe.”
“Then maybe I do. I mean, I know you.”
“Other than me,” I clarified.
He merely smiled, his hand finding mine as he pulled me to him and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth. “Did you create a way to access your earth through the spell?”
I took a page out of his book and didn’t reply other than to grin.
“My perfect mate,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. “Hold on tight, little rose. I suspect we’re about to endure a rough Academy welcome.”
Chapter Five
Shade
If I wasn’t holding Aflora, I would have ducked.
For her, I took the punch waiting for me upon our arrival.
“Your actions are louder than your supposed truths,” she’d said.
How’s that for an action, princess? I thought now as I shifted my jaw to ease the pain.
When Kols went for round two with my face, I shadowed myself—and Aflora—to the other side of his royal suite.
The gargoyle chose that moment to appear with a screeching sound, his distaste at my Death Blood presence causing a shrieking alarm to blare throughout the audacious four-bedroom apartment. I blasted the damn thing with a silencing spell by issuing a command from my mind, causing it to sputter and collapse on the ground in a cluster of rocky wings.
Its red eyes breathed fire as it came for me in all its stone-filled glory.
Determined little badass, I thought, trapping it beneath a net of shadows I conjured with a flick of my wrist.
Its lips parted in a bellow that my silencing enchantment fortunately caught.
I smirked at the tiny idiot. “Not so tough now, are you?”
Rage blazed from its gaze, just as it did from Kols’s gold irises as he charged across the living area.
“This isn’t beneficial conversation,” I pointed out, ready to shadow again.
Only, Aflora stepped in front of me and slammed her fist into Kols’s jaw as soon as he was within distance.
My lips actually parted.
“Razzleberries,” she breathed, shaking out her hand with a hiss of pain.
Kols’s residual anger subsided beneath a wave of shock tinged with dismay as he prodded his jaw with two fingers. “You hit me.”
Her shoulders tightened and her chin lifted. “You threw me in a cell.”
“To protect you, Aflora,” he growled.
A laugh bubbled out of her as she shook her long waves of black hair. “I felt very safe there. Thanks, Prince Kolstov.” She turned on her heel to leave, and he caught her wrist.
“What was I supposed to do, Aflora?” he demanded. “Shade’s the one who gave them the recording, not me.”
I snorted. “Don’t bring me into this.”