“Good.” She plopped down on the charcoal blades decorating the paved path rather than on the bench, then set the rock on the ground.
I glanced between her and the bench but decided to join her on the ground, because why not? She was an Earth Fae, after all. She probably preferred the grasslike substance more than a metal seat. So I indulged my little rose by sitting beside her with my legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles.
“What spell did Headmaster Irwin tell us to use?” I asked her.
“You really weren’t paying attention at all,” she muttered.
“Nope.” I stared at her mouth. “As I said, I had other things on my mind.” I couldn’t remember what those things were now, but I was reasonably certain they had something to do with her delectable assets. Zeph and Kols had played with her all week, while I’d barely touched her since the night she’d slept in my bed.
“Focus, Shade.”
“I’m very focused, Aflora.”
She huffed out a breath, but I caught the lingering amusement in her expression. She liked my teasing, which was good because I intended to tease her a hell of a lot more.
I reached out to brush her long black strands over her shoulder. Kols had been allowing her to sleep without her collar in his room, just as he removed his own band. I’d studied how he removed the mechanism the other night, just in case I needed to replicate the action. It was tempting to do so now, simply to expose her pretty throat, but I didn’t want to risk anyone sensing her bonds to Kols and Zeph.
They weren’t gifted enough to hide their links.
Unlike certain other fae.
“All right, princess. Show me what we’re doing,” I said, dropping my gaze from her mouth to the rock on the ground. Aflora already had her wand out, her lips moving over the spell without sayin
g it out loud. When she seemed confident in her words, she waved her wand over the rock and uttered the incantation aloud.
Perfect form. Perfect spell. Perfect female.
The way her eyes fluttered closed confirmed she’d executed the assignment accurately and was now deep in the history of the rock. I went back onto my elbows to wait. Depending on how much that little stone had to say, we could be here for a while.
I dipped my head back to admire the moon overhead, my thoughts starting to drift to more intriguing topics, when Aflora began to shake beside me. Frowning, I sat up. “Aflora?”
She didn’t reply, her teeth beginning to chatter as if she were freezing. I touched her arm and cursed at the droplets of ice water covering her skin.
“Aflora!” I snapped at her.
Nothing.
Just more shaking.
And then she collapsed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aflora
Several Minutes Earlier
“Arie Anni Tarikh Nuk,” I said, drawing a star in the air over the rock.
Energy hummed around me as the spell activated, drawing me into a world of heat and despair. I flinched at the sudden change, my lips parting on a scream that didn’t escape.
Where am I? I wondered, spinning in a circle and frowning as the Academy unfolded around me.
A raven clucked overhead.
Students giggled as they gossiped in the corner beside the Death Blood Education Building entrance.
“How did I…?” I trailed off, whirling around once more and searching for Shade.