Page 76 of Never Kiss a Fae

Now I saw it. He and the Halfling had initiated a courtship bond. That was what allowed them to speak to one another beyond my intrusion. Fascinating.

An odd surge of jealousy burst through me, causing me to frown. I had no interest in starting a courtship bond with any fae, much less the fabled Halfling. But there was something about her air that called to me.

“Vox,” Professor Helios barked, the slice to his words cutting across my ears and making me wince. “You will partner with the Halfling for today’s exercise.”

A collective gasp, both of shock and relief, swept through the rest of the class.

I hadn’t realized I was staring, but the Halfling caught my gaze and offered me a slight smile.Wait, does she know who I am already? That the professor had just assigned me to her?

“Vox?” Professor Helios repeated, impatience coloring his tone. “Do you think you can bring our new student up to speed?”

“Yes,” I said, clearing my throat as I undid the top button to my suit jacket, hoping I’d feel less suffocated. “Of course.”

Professor Helios stabbed his staff into the ground twice, signaling that today’s exercises were to begin. “We will pick up where we left off last time. Conjuring figments of our imaginations are great displays of power, and useful, but it all starts with a flicker of our element. Today you will conjure controlled spirals of air at your desk.” The creature complained as it flitted around his staff. The professor ignored it. “Keep them controlled, or else this little figment of my imagination will punish you.” The air sprite cheered its approval at being involved.

The Halfling’s eyes went wide. “Punish?”

I smirked. “Don’t mind him,” I said, turning to face her as I tried my best to ignore the narrow-eyed royal behind her. “Professor Helios just likes to rule by fear. Thinks that’s what’ll motivate the students. If you mess up, the worst the air sprite can do is bite you.”

She let out a soft gasp. “Bite? Like a mosquito?”

I raised a brow. “Not sure what that is, but yeah, let’s go with that.”

“Vox,” the royal said, startling me. I shifted on my floating pedestal to give him more of my attention. Sunlight struggled to shine in through the translucent barrier to the classroom, but it seemed to bow and waver uncertainly around him, his power a little toowrongfor this place. He shivered as if sensing how much he didn’t fit in here.

“I asked the professor to pair you with Claire. Consider this an audition.”

Claire.I’d only heard her referred to as “Halfling” on campus, but I rather liked her unique name.

However, what I didn’t care for were Exos’s words.

“An audition?” I frowned. “For what?”

He didn’t elaborate, instead reaching out to the Halfling to stroke her wrist. “Air was one of the first elements she manifested. After fire, of course. We’ve been working on controlling her elements, but with her access to all five…” He shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid.

Gods. All five elements in one beautiful, fragile package? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how this Halfling had managed to stay in one piece this long.

He couldn’t possibly mean for me to be her mentor during her classes on the Air Quad. I must have inferred that wrong. After mentoring Sol for so long, I should have felt like I was capable of anything, but this? Surely not.

My hesitation didn’t go unnoticed. Claire moved away from me, just the slightest fraction that most wouldn’t have caught, but I did.

“Exos, if he’s not comfortable partnering with me, we can find another,” Claire mumbled. “Or I can work alone.”

Her uncertainty and distrust gave me pause. I didn’t know what she’d been through, but I’d never seen such torment in someone’s eyes.

Okay. I could handle one class. Maybe not an audition for the future, but today was fine. We’d discuss the rest afterward.

“Claire, is it?” I asked, closing the gap she’d created and rolling my hands on my knees so that they were palm up. A nonthreatening posture to help her feel at ease. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

Heat flared on an invisible breeze that made her golden hair fly back over her shoulders, and her vibrant blue eyes danced with the dangerous spirit powers that sang with the royal’s. I sensed that she couldn’t manipulate will—or perhaps the royal kept that part of her powers dampened—but a wave of nausea swept over me as she shared a taste of her emotions through the fragile look she gave me.

Pain.

Guilt.

So muchguilt.