Zeph ignored him.
Aflora just shook her head.
Shade smirked.
And I started taking mental bets on how long Zakkai and Zeph would last in a room together before one of them tried to kill the other. Both men were alphas to their cores, neither inclined to bend.
I’d have to keep an eye on them.
Especially when alone with Aflora.
She might not survive a duel between them.
A concern for later as we had much more pressing items to deal with—such as the issue with my grandfather telling all of fae kind that Aflora had manipulated her own ascension. Given the trial requirements, this would be a problem. Because one of those levels required her to gain approval from Midnight Fae kind.
And that wasn’t likely to happen if they all believed her to be a power-hungry abomination with the ability to ascend illegally.
I rubbed a hand over my face, exhausted just thinking about it.
Hopefully, venturing into the Hell Fae Realm would give us a little more time to prepare. Or a lot more time. I’d been gifted twenty plus years to ready myself for the trials.
Aflora… had all of a few minutes to accept it.
No wonder she wanted to revert the ascension.
Shade stopped by the obsidian arch and pressed his hand to the right side of it to pull up a keypad. Then he demonstrated how to enter by giving us the codes to activate the swirl of power beneath the arch and the subsequent passcode meant to prove our allowance to proceed through the enchantment.
It felt like a show of faith from him—a way of confirming that we’d finally breached his inner circle.
About fucking time,I heard Zeph think.
I snorted in agreement.
While I understood Shade’s penchant for secrets all these months, it was nice to finally be on the other side.
However, as we stepped through the gate onto the Academy grounds, I realized there were a myriad of secrets yet to be revealed. Because holy fuck, the exterior resembled Midnight Fae Academy.
The stone walls were all covered in hissing snake-vines. A pair of gargoyles stood by the gates, their swords already drawn.
My brow furrowed. “You said we were welcome?”
“We are,” Shade replied, confusion evident in his tone as the snake-vines began to writhe angrily.
A series of charcoal crows cawed in fury above.
Burning thwomps shot fire into the sky.
Gargoyles inside all took arms, rushing the gates.
Stonepeckers snarled.
A phoenix landed a few feet away to expand his feathers in a furious show of color.
Fire gnats began to swarm.
And a sinking sensation churned in my stomach.
“Shit,” I breathed, locking gazes with Zeph. His expression told me he’d figured it out as well.
“What?” Aflora demanded. “What’s happening?”
“It’s your next ascension trial.” With Constantine running the show, he hadn’t bothered to give her a break. And of course he chose to engage this one next. “You remember how I told you all Midnight Fae creatures were mine to command?” I asked softly, stepping up beside her.
“Yes,” she whispered, her fear palpable.
“Well, you’re the incoming monarch now. The second ascension is about taming the Midnight Fae creatures to your will. Show them you’re their Queen and they’ll kneel at your feet.”
Fail… and they’ll eat you alive.