Shade returnedseveral minutes later with clothes that rivaled our Academy wardrobe--slacks and button-downs for the men. Cloaks, too.
And a skirt with a blouse for Aflora. She pulled on the boots with a sigh, her fingers brushing the fine black material. It was a unique leather made from Midnight Fae magic rather than animal product. She seemed to approve, her Earth Fae side preferring enchantment over unnecessary death.
I finished buttoning up my shirt before wrapping my arm around her slender waist and pulling her to me for another kiss. She seemed to have calmed down now, her acceptance of fate growing with each passing second.
Yet I still sensed her trying to find a way to reverse the ascension.
She and Zakkai were having some sort of mental discussion about it. I couldn’t hear it, just felt the hum of their discussion brushing my psyche.
What will happen if she undoes the ascension? It had nearly killed me, but that was because of the manner by which my father had done it. My heart ached just thinking about it. But it wasn’t him. My grandfather…
I swallowed.
Phoenix fires.
I couldn’t even process it.
And Tray. I pulled away from Aflora on a jolt. Shit, Tray!
“Tray will be okay,” Zeph rushed to say, his hand reaching for my shoulder to give it a squeeze. “Once we’re somewhere safe, we’ll reach out to him.” His green eyes went to Shade. “Which, where are we going, Shadow? You never actually said.”
I tried to allow his distraction to pull me from my dark thoughts and concerns, but I felt to my soul that something was very wrong. Tray wasn’t okay at all. None of us were.
Aflora leaned into me, her head on my chest. She didn’t say anything, just offered me her emotional strength and support by cuddling me in a moment of intense need.
Zeph was at my back as well, his intensity a protective cape that billowed around me.
“To a place Constantine can’t go,” Shade said softly. “To the Academy he knows exists but can’t breach.”
I frowned. “He knows about this other Academy?” It’d never been mentioned to me. Of course, it seemed the council and the Elders had hidden several key items from me. So I supposed this wasn’t new information.
“Your grandfather knows everything,” Zakkai replied before Shade could speak. “I’m guessing your father does, too. But I find it fascinating they kept you in the dark. Did they do the same for your twin?”
“Kai,” Aflora interjected, her tone quiet yet stern. She still had her head against my chest, but her focus was on the Quandary Blood.
His silver-blue eyes went to her and his features softened marginally. “I know, little star.” He looked at Shade. “Does Lucifer want to meet me now or after we arrive?”
“He didn’t say,” Shade said before I could react to the infamous name of the Hell Fae King. “So I believe we have safe passage to the paradigm, at least until he decides otherwise.”
“We’re going to the Hell Fae Realm?” It came out as a question, but I meant it as more of a statement. Because that was the only explanation for what they were saying. “The other Midnight Fae Academy is hidden… in the Hell Fae Realm?”
Zakkai and Shade both looked at me with expressions that said, Obviously. But only Zakkai actually said the word out loud.
“How long has this paradigm existed?” I wondered out loud.
“Zenaida arranged it with Lucifer about seven hundred years ago, right?” Zakkai casually asked the question, like this wasn’t a big reveal or life-altering information.
“Roughly,” Shade replied.
“That’s where you disappear to,” Zeph said. “You shadow off to the other Academy.”
Shade lifted a shoulder. “On occasion. But not for classes.”
“And my grandfather knew.” The words came out slowly, my mind failing to believe them even as I voiced them.
“Yes. My grandmother lives nearby.” His icy eyes went to Aflora. “It’s where Aflora’s meadow is, too.”
“In the Hell Fae Realm?” she whispered, her head leaving my chest so she could look at the Death Blood. “That’s where the paradigms are for the Quandary Bloods who prefer reformation over retribution?”