I knew pain.
I knew death.
I knew torture.
And I allowed Emelyn to feel every ounce of it now, my anger singeing the air around me.
She deserved this. How dare she try to hurt me. To make me believe for even a second that my father might still be alive. It was wrong. Unacceptable. She—
“Aflora!” A wave of defensive magic accompanied my name, the source coming from beside me and knocking me off my feet.
I blinked, unsure of when I’d stood up to begin with, or even how I’d managed it. And at some point, I’d returned to the reality of the gymnasium-style classroom, but now I gaped up at a seriously pissed-off fae prince.
“That was fucking hot,” Shade praised as he stepped into my line of sight. Kols glowered at him, which only made Shade smirk. “What? Powerful females don’t turn you on?”
The fae prince didn’t appear at all amused. “I’ll handle it,” he said, the words confusing me.
“You’d better,” Headmaster Zankry stated. “Or she won’t be permitted in my class again.”
“Emelyn started it,” Shade drawled. “Can’t punish one fae and not the other.”
“I can when one is knocked out cold and the other is just dazed,” Headmaster Zankry retorted.
“I said, I’ll handle it,” Kols repeated through his teeth. He held out his hand, his gold irises narrowing down at me. “Come. Now.”
Part of me wanted to tell him to fuzz right off. But as I glanced around the room and noticed everyone staring at me, I decided not to make matters worse by fighting him.
Pressing my palm against his, I allowed him to yank me forward, my body tingling at his touch. What magic did he use to pull me out of that spell? I wondered, electricity humming beneath my skin. It felt like a web of heat encasing my body from head to toe. A static net of sorts, yet my legs moved without any trouble as he guided me out of the Malefic Blood Education Building and back to the Elite Residence.
I didn’t speak.
Neither did he.
But I felt Shade following, his presence a security blanket against my senses.
It was strange to realize I felt secure around the male who’d forced me into this mess to begin with and nervous around the one who claimed to want to help me.
They had all hurt me.
Betrayed me in some way.
Yet Shade was the one I sought now as I allowed Kols to guide me upstairs. I glanced behind me, needing to reassure myself that my Death Blood mate still trailed after us. His ice-blue eyes met mine as he winked, completely unfazed by the anger vibrating off the Midnight Fae Prince.
As soon as we were inside Kols’s suite, he released me, and the weblike sensation left, bringing me to my knees as a burst of energy puffed out of me.
“Dick,” Shade snapped before bending down beside me to press his palm to my lower back. “Are you okay, little rose?” he asked softly, his other hand going to my cheek to tilt my face toward him.
“What happened?” The words were hoarse, my throat suddenly parched.
“Kols cast a cocoon spell to trap your power beneath his. Then he released it without warning because he’s a fucking prick.”
Kols snorted at the summary from somewhere farther away. The kitchen, maybe? I couldn’t tell because my vision was clouded by a sea of enchantment dust. At least, it looked like magic dust. Whatever it was, it made me sneeze and fire off another bolt of electricity.
I shivered from the sudden coolness flooding my veins, the humming from before disappearing.
Shade wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to him, his hand moving up and down my arm while his opposite palm guided my face to his chest.
I melted into him on instinct, absorbing his comfort and allowing it to pull me back into the land of the living.