Page 288 of Bitten By the Fae

“I’m the Source Architect. That makes me your king.” The patience underlining his tone would have been admirable had I been able to admire him.

“A title doesn’t command respect,” I informed him in a similar tone. “Actions do.”

He arched a brow. “Meaning?”

“You attacked an academy full of students and a village of innocent Midnight Fae. Those are actions I’ll never bow to.”Not to mention altering my memories,I added mentally with a narrowing of my gaze.I’m not some delicate little flower you can manipulate with your Quandary magic.

Silence met my words, the entire room seeming to have frozen around me.

Zakkai studied me for a long moment, his silver-blue irises swirling with power. “Respect is an important value here, Aflora. One you seem to be lacking.” He took a step backward, his stance one I recognized from Zeph’s warrior courses. “Lesson numbertwo, sweetheart. Ask questions before you lay accusations at the feet of others. It’s insulting to do otherwise. Now, name your first spell.”

“Ask questions,” I repeated on a humorless laugh. “I’ve asked you several questions,Kai. Your method of answering them leaves a lot to be desired.”

“As does your current attitude,” he countered, cerulean flames dancing along his fingertips.I can’t allow this to go unanswered, Aflora. You’re insulting me in front of our people.

Your people,I snapped.

Our people, he said again.You’re one of us.

I’m an Earth Fae. A Royal.“I will not bow.You are not my king.”

His jaw ticked. “Vacate the tables.”

Chairs scraped across the ground as the fae jumped to his command. They all moved to the glass wall, their gazes riveted on the sparring match unfolding in the center of the room. Magic whipped through the air as the tables all folded onto one another to create a neat pile in the corner, giving us ample floor space to work with.

“Such confidence, Aflora. I just wanted to see what you could do, but now, I intend to show you whatIcan do.” He moved into his defensive stance again. “You have five seconds to utter a spell before I go first.”

Fuck,she was magnificent.

I wanted to fist my fingers through her hair and kiss her, then bite her in reprimand for her disobedience. No one ever challenged me; they all knew better. But Aflora stood before me in all her royal glory, daring me to react.

“Four seconds,” I told her, counting down my warning.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed, her energy flaring to life. I tasted all her mates on the wind and the addictive undercurrentof her elemental birthright. It provided an intoxicatingly potent mixture that I wanted to devour.

But I uttered, “Three seconds,” instead.

She’d insulted me countless times. To allow it would make me appear weak, and I couldn’t afford that as the Source Architect. I could accept her as my equal, but not as an adversary. Not when our people relied on us to lead.

“Two seconds, Aflora.” I already knew the incantation I intended to use. Nothing harsh, just a warn?—

Green fire shot across the floor to circle my ankles. The ropes gave a tug, threatening to drag me to the ground as a tree root burst up through the floor to snag my calf. My brow furrowed at the bizarre mixture of magic. She hadn’t spoken, just used her mind to unleash the power.

I would have been impressed if that hadn’t been such a strict breach of protocol. “Who the hell taught you how to duel?”

“Zephyrus,” she replied, sending another blast of magic at my torso that resembled red flames. “And Kols.” She disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke, only to appear behind me with a ball of fiery violet energy. “AndShade.” She unleashed the WarFire directly at my head.

Right.

She wasn’t dueling.

She was trying to kill me.

I ducked, then caught the WarFire before it could hit anyone else, smothering it beneath a wave of my own power. Then I snapped the shackles around my ankles and calf with another thought and leapt away from her freshly created sphere of colorful flames.

I caught it with my hand—coated in cerulean magic—and crushed it like one would a physical ball and tossed it away. “My turn.”

Her eyes widened a fraction as I flung an electric web her way, similar to the one I’d covered her in earlier.