Page 391 of Bitten By the Fae

She walked along beside me as I provided the tour my grandmother suggested. “It’s similar to the other Academy, at least in terms of architecture. But this campus doesn’t have a Death Blood dorm or building, or an Elite Blood, or anything categorized. All the classes are combined because the majority of the fae are Quandary Bloods. However, there are a few from every type. There are also a handful of other fae, like HellFae, who attend. It’s part of Lucifer’s arrangement with my grandmother.”

Among other things.

I didn’t understand everything they’d worked out, as their deal predated my existence by several centuries, but I’d gathered educational opportunities had been involved.

“These are the dorms,” I said, gesturing to a series of gothic-style buildings. They were reminiscent of the other Academy grounds, framed with darkness and a high moon, but they weren’t exclusive to a single Midnight Fae type. And they didn’t require spells for entry.

Gargoyles moved around more here, walking or flying to different locations, rather than residing behind doors.

They bowed to Aflora as she passed, their reverence palpable. But she was too busy studying the campus to notice.

“You don’t have charcoal blades,” she noted, gazing out over an obsidian courtyard of sharp rocks and dangerous grooves.

I caught her elbow as she bent to touch the ground. “Don’t.”

She frowned at me, then gasped as a swirl of fire erupted from the center into a geyser of furious flames. “Mother Earth…”

A few passing fae tossed sparks into the pit, their cerulean embers dancing with the red and yellow flickers. Then it all whirled together into a tornado of heat and sucked the air around it right back down into the hole, disappearing.

“It’s like… like a burning thwomp?” she guessed.

“Only worse,” I replied. “There are certain aspects of the Hell Fae realm that couldn’t be erased, so my grandmother altered the paradigm to accept the nuances.”

“That’s fascinating.” Kols had gone to his haunches on the cobblestone path, his burnt-gold gaze on the black rocks. “I can feel the merging of magic.”

I nodded. “Yeah, certain areas of the paradigm are stronger than others.”

“The meadow?” Aflora wondered.

“Is in a neutral area. Not all of the Hell Fae realm is fire and heat. It’s… sporadic.” And why other fae refused to visit.

Well, that and the Hell Fae didn’t take kindly to visitors. They were all shunned abominations, with Constantine Nacht being enemy number one among them.

“Where will we be staying?” Zeph asked, his arms folded over his chest as he analyzed the field with a speculative expression.

“In one of the dorms near the back of the campus grounds,” I told him.

Aflora appeared disappointed. “Not in your cabin?”

“Our cabin,” I corrected her with a squeeze of her hand. “And no. It’s too far from the Academy grounds. We need room to practice and learn, and we can’t do that in our meadow. These buildings are meant for training and mastering magic. So it’s best for us to stay here.”

“Oh.” Her lips pinched to the side, then she slowly tilted her head in agreement.

I urged us along, showing them a few of the academic areas and recommended enclosures for practicing offensive and defensive arts. Zakkai and Zeph took interest in those, their calculative natures taking over. Kols just seemed to take it all in stride, observing all the Midnight Fae we passed and studying the general makeup of the paradigm.

It was all very real—as paradigms should be—but the underlying presence of Hell Fae lurked in the area around campus. Mostly because of the protection charms. Since some of Lucifer’s most powerful fae attended the Academy, he helped bolster the natural defenses around us.

The village where my grandmother resided didn’t have the same feel because it was on neutral ground.

I used a spell to bring up a map for Aflora, explaining where the different sections of the paradigm resided and how each one interacted with the Hell Fae realm. She gaped at it, fascinated.

Zeph appeared to be memorizing it.

Zakkai merely gave an appreciative grin. “Zenaida’s clever.” He admired the sky and the buildings, his approval evident. “I never considered mingling elements the way she has. It bolsters the structure while helping it blend.”

“Going to pass notes to your dad?” I wondered out loud.

Zakkai snorted. “I doubt he’ll want to talk to me anytime soon. I saved a Nacht, after all.”