Page 25 of Fortune Fae Academy

It felt blasphemous somehow.

And yet, maybe it was because I’d never listened to my instincts that I felt so lost.

Sighing, I flexed my fingers as heat that concentrated from my triquetra flame tattoo spread throughout my body.

I always suppressed the urge, but maybe it was time to stop fighting what my body wanted me to do.

No matter how wrong my mind thought it was.

I closed my eyes and focused on the heat that seemed to originate from the mark on my arm. Something inside my chest unlocked, allowing it to course through me.

Heat rippled over my skin as my mouth parted on a silent breath of awe.

It felt… amazing.

A rumble at my feet sent my eyes flinging open.

With a glance over my shoulder, I cursed when I spotted the strands transforming into the waterfall I’d left behind.

And it was coming after me.

The Water Source ruled this territory and it did not appreciate me using its opposite element, even here in the Web.

“Fuck me,” I ground out as I secured the loop around my waist and dropped through the cracks.

My stomach flipped as I fell. Deftly, I bounded through bundles of time that sprayed Dust around my feet as I rushed down the illuminated path.

My energy was quickly absorbed by every strand I touched. Fire raced through them, sending them curling and overlapping until my path was finally clear.

That way,I thought with a victorious sense of relief.

The icy spray of water on the back of my neck warned me that it wasn’t time to celebrate yet. If the waterfall reached me, I’d be stuck here, or worse.

The adrenaline of excitement helped guide my steps as I hopped from one cluster to the next.

“Woo-hoo!” I shouted, laughing as I finally let myself go.

It was reckless.

Zeke would have killed me, but he would have been smiling, too.

Because, at last, I was following my instincts instead of trying to pretend I was something I wasn’t.

Deep down, I’d always known I wasn’t just a Fortune Fae Beta.

I was somethingmore.

Fires sprouted up all around me, welcoming me and guiding me down the broken path as the truth glared in front of my face.

Somehow, I had a connection with the Fire Source that my mother had rejected.

Making me an abomination.

I leftthe angry waterfall behind and followed the path of flames to a silver portal.

It glimmered with invitation and I stepped through its cool depths, emerging back into the real world with a sigh of relief.

Humidity pressed in and sent steam wafting from my skin. My eyes worked to adjust to the contrasting darkness of the room, suggesting that my travels inside the Web had cost me an entire day.