“So whoever enchanted the rock wanted you to find it,” Kols continued, palming the back of his neck.
“And somehow convinced Headmaster Irwin to do a psychometry lesson,” Shade added.
Okay, clearly I’d missed something important. If I kept listening, maybe I’d figure it out.
“While ensuring Aflora picked it from the items,” Kols muttered, then whistled. “That’s…”
“Unnerving,” Aflora whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. “But that’s not all.”
“I’m afraid to ask,” Kols said.
Aflora looked at Shade for a moment, the two of them sharing some hidden message. “I recognized the magic during the attack,” she whispered as if uttering the secret out loud.
Shade didn’t look surprised, which meant he already knew this or had suspected it.
Which was big fucking news to me because I had no idea, nor had I come close to sensing Aflora’s connection to it. And given that I’d been the one spending time with her after the incident, I should have at least had an inkling about it.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I demanded, angry more at myself than at her. However, my tone came out scolding, causing her to flinch. Yet I couldn’t apologize, because she should have said something.
“I… I wasn’t sure if I should mention it,” she admitted softly. “I wasn’t even sure what I felt.”
“A simple comment stating you recognized the magic would have sufficed,” I chastised her.
“And when should I have told you?” she countered. “When the Warrior Bloods were searching the suite?”
“Oh, the two-hour wait before that would have been just fine. Or, I don’t know, before you sucked my cock. That would have worked, too.”
She bristled. “What? Do you think I hid it because I’m guilty?”
“I’m honestly not sure what to think, Aflora.”
“This isn’t helping,” Kols cut in, stepping forward as if to get between us. Only then did I realize I was pretty much squaring off with Aflora in the middle of her room.
Great, Zeph. Really taking that whole “wooing the female” thing to the next level, I thought sourly.
I backed off, my hand scrubbing over my face as I forced myself to cool down. My annoyance wasn’t with her but with myself. Taking it out on her wouldn’t fix the situation. “You should have told us,” I said, my voice softer now. Well, softer than before. It still came out sounding gruff and displeased.
“I told you now,” she replied, fire flashing in her eyes. “But your reaction makes me wish I hadn’t.”
Ouch.
And also deserved.
“I’m glad you did,” Kols interjected, stepping in front of her and forcing her to look at him and not me.
Always the hero.
He was a prince, after all.
I just served him and his entire family.
And now Aflora.
“When you say ‘familiar,’ do you mean it was elemental in nature?” Kols asked her. “Or maybe it felt similar to your Midnight Fae abilities?”
I couldn’t see her face, but I imagined she had a contemplative gleam in her gaze—the one that always conveyed her intelligence and ability to strategize. That look always intrigued me. But as much as I wanted to see it now, I stared at the back of Kols’s head instead.
He often grounded me.