Page 7 of Angel Lost (Fates Academy #3)

Chapter Seven: Lorelei

Letting the boys sleep was a mistake. I figured we’d discuss Hewie’s idea over breakfast—wrong. We were summoned to the Great Hall instead. I sip the dishwater masquerading as coffee and glare at the stage. The vending machine’s sludge is no match for Mrs. Cocci’s brews, and these plastic chairs get more unbearable every year. Now, caffeine-deprived and starving, we’re stuck waiting for the stupid fae—late, of course. Typical. My stomach growls loud enough for Chano to hear. He shifts awkwardly, lifting one cheek, then the other, patting his pockets.

“Here, eat this.” He thrusts a squashed, half-melted chocolate bar at me. “Eat before someone dies.”

Grumbling, I snatch it from him, stuffing the whole thing into my mouth before he can ask to share.

“So, you just need to be unattractive?” Zephyr asks from my other side.

I nod, sipping the lukewarm piss. “What makes me attractive, Zephyr?”

“Presumptuous of you,” he says, tapping my nose.

I bat him away. “Okay, what would make me unattractive?”

He hesitates. “We could glamour you ugly…?”

I shake my head. “No use, I can’t hold a glamour for long enough.”

“Could we use a spell to change your sex?” He grimaces.

“Again, I couldn’t hold that for long. Plus, I bet he’d see through both of those.”

“I’ve got it! Surgical correction!”

Chano leans across me and grips Zephyr’s knee so tightly his knuckles turn white.

“Ow! Chano…”

“You’re not going anywhere near her with a knife.”

Zephyr winces, yanking his leg away. “I was just making a suggestion.”

“Well, don’t, angel. Or I’ll suggest surgically removing your dick.”

Zephyr crosses his legs.

I chew my lip. “Could I just get rid of my aether?”

Farrell tuts from the row behind. “That’s black magic, Lorelei,” he hisses. “Spells like that cost. And you wouldn’t get it back—it’s still surgery, just the magical kind.”

The Great Hall’s double doors swing open, and the fae shuffle in, filling the row ahead—except Jess. She marches into our row, jabbing Zephyr’s side. He grumbles something about small women and their superhuman strength, and scoots over. Dropping into the seat beside me, Jess grips my forearm tightly, her face strained.

I glance between the boys. “We’ll, uh, table this for now, yeah?”

The rest of the fae students are as uptight as Jess. They fidget, knees bouncing, gazes darting everywhere. All except Kai. Head down, he scribbles away in his notebook, ignoring me. Dammit, I’m the one who should be cross with him, ignoring him . Chano’s still prickly about the whole feeding debacle. About finding out that way.

Extricating my arm from Jess, I lean over to the row in front, sneaking a peak at Kai’s drawing. Despite myself, I’m impressed. Intricate runes take up every inch of the paper, snaking curves and detailed shading makes the whole thing come alive.

“That’s pretty cool,” I say, and he jumps, slamming his notebook shut. He shoots me a look, but whatever he says is drowned out by the boom of the gong.

Dean Emrick strides across the stage, chest puffed out, stupid glasses perched on the end of his nose .

“Time for the spectacle,” Kai grumbles. There’s a tightness around his eyes that belies his relaxed, sprawled posture. He turns his pencil over and over in his fingers, stabbing it occasionally into his own thigh.

I squeeze his shoulder, my anger fading a little at his worry. “It’s normal. All students have an elemental reveal when they start at Fates. Although, for me, it was in class, not in the Great Hall…but I was late starting.”

“Not normal. Not normal for fae ,” he snaps. “We know our elements, so this isn’t the same. There’s no need. Fae keep this shit private. The more others know, the more they have to use against you.”

“Cheery.”

“Realistic,” Jess whispers, fingers clutching my sleeve again.

Patting her hand, I offer my best sympathetic smile. Mistake. She leans in, head resting on my shoulder, eyes screwed shut. Holy Hecate. It’s not that bad. All the students at Fates have been through a reveal. I catch Farrell’s eye. “As soon as this is over, we reconvene, my room.”

“Cursed moons,” Jess moans beside me. “I wish this was over.”

The first fae is called to the stage and the giant screen hung off to the side flickers to life. It’s the photo that catches my attention first. A mugshot of the student, showing the gray jumpsuit of the correctional unit, making them look like a convict. Is that necessary? The details listed next are invasive; bullet points of height, weight, allergies, elements, weaknesses. Details of their families. This is definitely not necessary.

And it’s the same for every fae.

Jess trails back from the stage, eyes glassy.

“They put my bra size up on the screen,” she hisses.

Kai rounds on her. “You didn’t cry when you got punched in the face, you didn’t cry when your kin died, and you didn’t cry the entire time we were in rehabilitation. Fae up. You’re only upset because it said you’re an A cup.”

Jess launches herself at Kai, and they tussle until his name is called. His turn. They still, all of them. To a man, the fae seem to take a collective breath as Kai makes his slow way up to the stage. Their anxiety hums in the air, a weird kind of static I can almost taste.

Kai Grigori, son of Campbell Grigori and Davina Grigori, the Princess Royal.

“Stepson,” hisses Jess, tugging at her hair.

Weaknesses: mental health—multiple personality disorder

Weight: 220lbs

Class: fae

The headmaster stands. “Kai will now use the element box to discover his elements.” He looks far too pleased with himself, rocking forward onto his toes, hands pressed together. Jess groans. The screen flickers as Kai slips his hands inside the velvety black box.

Fae Type: light

Elements: earth, air, water, aether

I’m still reeling over the fact they gave out his medical history when the word aether flashes up on the screen. The room erupts, and Kai is left to stomp off the stage with every student talking about him. His shoulders hunch as he takes his seat.

Silently, I pass his notebook back. He takes it without a word, his hand briefly covering mine, squeezing in thanks.

Zephyr leans over the row, hands dangling over the chair in front of him. “Aether, huh?”

Kai’s eyes narrow. “Didn’t want to talk about it before.” His jaw works like he’s chewing his tongue.

Zephyr stretches farther over. “A fae with aether. I didn’t think that was a thing.”

Kai’s jaw clenches and Zephyr offers him a half smile. “You can’t talk about it, can you?”

Kai shakes his head.

“I knew it. I knew I saw something else in that vision. Not only are you our— ”

“Give it up, Zephyr, he’s not one of us,” Chano growls.

Zephyr flings himself back in his chair, crossing his arms. “I know what I saw.”

“Wake up,” Val hisses in my ear, and I start, surreptitiously wiping drool from the corner of my mouth, and from the desk. I stare up at the whiteboard. This is my last class before…My heart pounds and, suddenly, I’m wide awake. Less than twenty-four hours left before my week is up. And I’m no closer to a way out. I drum my fingers on the desk.

“How can you lack rhythm that badly?” Val grumbles, clamping her hand over mine.

“I have slightly more pressing things to worry about,” I hiss back, yanking my hand away, staring straight at the professor. Shit. He’s finishing up already. I have no notes. None.

Val pats my arm. “You have to suck it up. Kai didn’t do anything wrong. Talk to him. Ask for help.”

I scowl, packing up in a rush and turning my back on her and her stupid smirk. Why does she have to be right?

What I thought was a breakthrough is really a dead end. The Angel King has kept married and unmarried aethers alike, bonded Aeternums, disfigured supes, young girls… Nothing has put him off. Nothing except weak aethers, or those unable to give him heirs. So, short of surgically removing my ovaries or my aether, we’ve hit a brick wall. Again.

Val’s words are on repeat as I trudge toward Kai’s dorm, pointedly ignoring the grumbling trailing behind me. The guys don’t need to like it, they just have to accept it. They didn’t even have to come.

I pound on Kai’s door, sneaking a glance at Farrell out of the corner of my eye. This must be weird, standing outside his old room. If the Angel King can get his fae nephew the best room on campus, then maybe they’re closer than Kai makes out…

The massive oak door swings open. Kai stands in the doorway, a pencil tucked behind an ear, his hair up in a man bun, a few loose purple strands framing his face. My fingers twitch to tuck them back.

“Did I throw a party and forget about it?” he drawls, leaning against his door post.

“Party for one,” Farrell snaps, grabbing my elbow. “This is a mistake.”

I plant my feet and wriggle out of Farrell’s grasp. I can swallow my pride when I have to. I open my mouth…but the words dry up.

Kai taps a finger on the wood. “Here to feed?”

Behind me, Chano growls.

“You’re not allegiance,” I blurt.

Smooth. Real smooth.

I swallow and try again. “No matter what Zephyr thought he saw. You’re not allegiance.”

Kai stands straighter, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Okay.”

“You might even be the enemy,” I say.

His eyebrows hit his hairline, and he laughs. Actually laughs. “Your enemies save you often, do they?”

Still laughing, he steps back, gesturing us inside. He slopes down the hallway toward his living room. Farrell’s paintings stare back from the walls as we traipse after him.

Chano elbows Farrell in the ribs. “Didn’t pack your shit when you moved, Farrell?”

“No. Dean made me a deal—my hoard for my school fees,” Farrell growls. “Mine and Zephyr’s fees. Said the Angel King would appreciate the…furnishings.”

Oh shit. His stuff. He had to make his dragon leave all his stuff. Farrell loves his extravagant dragon art, the stupid sculptures, the tableaux of the ancient rulers. Loved it. When he could afford it. And now he can’t even afford school, apparently? Dammit, Lorelei, you need to start paying more attention.

Chano pulls a face and claps his shoulder. Farrell takes a couple of deep breaths, smoke trickling from his nose, and I edge away slightly.

Kai looks over his shoulder. “These were your rooms?”

Farrell merely grunts.

“Let me guess, you were moved out on my uncle’s orders?”

A belch of black smoke escapes Farrell and Kai frowns. “Weird. But I’ll take that as an affirmative.”

Farrell stalks to the ancient dark wood table and stands, fingers gripping the back of the ornately carved chair. His pupils are dangerous slits. Holy hags, he has to make his dragon step down.

“Interesting.” Kai moves around the room erratically, pausing to poke at the sculptures and paintings as if he’d never noticed them before, pulling a face in the giant gilt mirror over the fireplace. “Well…why don’t we share?”

The chair back cracks in Farrell’s hands.

“The rooms, I mean. I don’t care for your trinkets.”

Farrell’s shoulders relax, his pupils dilating to normal. Carefully, he lets go of the chair, pulling it out to inspect the damage. “Why would you care?”

“I’m learning diplomacy.” Kai smiles wryly at us in the mirror.

“What would you get out of it?” Farrell asks cautiously.

“My uncle wants me to associate with other students, to be seen mixing with those other than fae. Who better than someone with a powerful seeing angel as a pet?” He pulls another face in the glass.

“Pet?” Zephyr steps between Kai and the mirror, scowling. “What are you scheming, fae?” he spits. “Or are you too wacko even for that?”

Kai ignores Zephyr, spinning slowly, taking in the room. “I should redecorate. Make it plainer. The other fae have nothing. And let’s face it, the dragon theme is just weird.”

“If I move in, the dragons stay,” Farrell says, his eyes slitting again.

“I’m not sure you’re in a place to bargain?” Kai retorts before holding his hands up. “Fine, fine. Just to demonstrate how much I’m not the enemy, the furnishings can stay. But I’m telling the other fae it all belongs to you!”

“It does all belong to me!” Farrell snorts.

“No, Farrell, it did. Now it’s mine…” Kai cackles as Farrell turns an angry red.

He turns to Zephyr, throwing himself onto the sofa with a smug look. “Want to know the real reason he can stay, angel? If I share, there’s less difference between me and the other fae. I’m not some golden boy on a pedestal, I’m one of them.” His face darkens. “Although the dean managed to reinforce that unwittingly with his stupid element reveal. No special treatment there. The only thing that made that tolerable was knowing my step-uncle will be pissed my aether has been revealed.”

He shudders before brightening up again, a wicked smile on his face. “If Farrell moves in then, technically, I’d be following my uncle’s orders to mingle with ‘better’ company, but also flipping him off while I do it.”

I sigh and flop beside him, catching his hand as he pulls at his hair, stilling it. “Kai, can you sort living situations and flipping the king off later? I need you to help. Please. Tell me what to expect.”

Kai yanks an overstuffed brocade cushion from under his ass and flings it in Chano’s direction. “Fine. Only if we keep up our feeding arrangement.” He waits until I nod. “My uncle—step-uncle, let me stress—is collecting aethers. Whether or not they have Aeternums.”

Chano catches the cushion in one hand and growls—a deep, threatening sound. Kai continues as if he hasn’t heard. “He wants a bride with aether, Lorelei. He has a…selection. He’ll run a battery of tests at registration to classify your power. It’s brutal, but once registration’s done, well, I wouldn’t worry. He has a very strong aether bride selected, by all accounts. Strictly under wraps, of course. If you really want to return to your joke of a mate, he’ll let you. Don’t stress.” He throws his head back and winks at Chano .

My fingers tighten and he glances down at my death grip on his hand, confusion written on his face.

“I-I…”

I whip my head to the others but they look as panicked as I feel. Kai gently prizes my fingers from his, rubbing the little crescent indents I’ve left in his skin.

“You’re a second aether?” he guesses. “You’re worried he’ll keep you? He’s got a second already groomed. I know that much. He wouldn’t start all over again unless there was a disaster. Time is pressing now.”

I shake my head really, really slowly. This is bad. Worse than bad.

“I—”

“Under no circumstances should you open your mouth, princess,” Farrell interrupts.

I look slowly around at the others. Chano shakes his head vehemently, and Zephyr glows a silent warning, his aura lit up a brilliant, blue-tinged white. Biting my lip, I turn back to Kai, taking his hand again. He eyes our clasped hands warily.

“He saved me—for a week, at least. Not that it’ll matter tomorrow.” I meet Kai’s gaze. Nothing but curiosity stares back.

Farrell growls. “Do not—”

“No—” Chano says.

“This isn’t a vote,” I cut in. “It’s my decision. Not yours—even as my Aeternum, Chano.”

Kai eyes Chano up and down. “Some Aeternum,” he mutters.

Chano rumbles a warning, but I press on. “Stop picking fights! Kai, I’m a true aether—my first element is aether.”