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Find A New Series To Love…

About the Author

Other Titles by Erin R Flynn

A Supernatural Script Inc. Book

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My name is Tamsin Vale and… Uuuuggghhhh! I’m so tired of saying the same things over and over again without enough changing. I get the dirty councils out of the way, and new villains pop up in the form of fairy elders and ancients.

I get them handled and the commanders are the problem.

I smack them into line and the nobles are my issue.

I catch a bunch of them red-handed trying to commit treason, and people are still listening to the lies of the remaining ones.

Why do I even bother? Every time they push me too far, the line of what I’ll suffer just gets further and further from what is acceptable. I yell and they don’t listen. I plead with them and they are unmoved. I rationally lay things out and it falls on deaf ears.

So if they’re going to keep acting like children who push their limits and throw fits, I’m going to punish them like a parent should. It’s time to show everyone that they have no chance to control me and the game we’re playing is mine. Maybe then we can actually fix our society and world before we implode.

Artemis University is an ongoing, hot burning reverse harem, university-age paranormal academy series with darker elements, strong language, violence, and a heroine who follows her own moral compass of what is right… And who she ends up giving her heart to.

1

I was angry.

I was so fucking angry I couldn’t contain what I was feeling. Hell, I was seeing red I was so fucking angry.

I was so angry I wanted to bring pain and make others hurt, be as angry as I was.

And I had no fucking clue what to do about it.

The day after my livestream I went back to training. Dalyor didn’t show up, not knowing I was going to, and I didn’t livestream it. It was about me. What I needed… And apparently getting out a lot of fucking anger.

When I had to take a break and I was dripping with sweat, panting even as I used healing runes, I knew what to do. I set up my phone and played Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.” I rapped and shouted the words, full out in the zone of the song and not holding back.

My stomach was obnoxious when I finished, and I knew I had to fuel up. I uploaded the video to Marisol on the server she had set up for this. I didn’t want to be around people right then so that was easier, but my stomach ruled me, and I believed Irma that she would cut me off if I didn’t check in.

Plus, I knew her well enough that she would make it easy on me.

The facility I’d set up was in Colorado. I’d figured that if people competing in the Olympics trained there because of the mountains and to push themselves, that was the best place for me too. But the time difference with Italy was a problem, and it wasn’t even where I was staying right then.

So, yeah, things were a mess.

Which was actually my normal.

My life was shit.

Teleporting to Italy, I saw a bunch of containers on the counter for me. I went over and kissed Irma on the head and grabbed them. Then I realized Darby was there eating dinner and with a cloud of worry surrounding him. I kissed him and was about to invite him to come study while I trained when Taeral came hurrying through the back door.

“Your Highness, we’ve all been—”

“Back off!” I blasted, horror filling me when my magic lashed out and shocked him with an electricity rune when I didn’t even think to.

Or did I?

He went down hard, unconscious before he hit the floor, but alive. I backed away as my blood thundered in my ears. This was what I’d been afraid of. I was a mess, and I couldn’t get control. Everyone was so worried about Faerie and me behaving as they wanted, they never worried about me or heard me that I was breaking.

I grabbed the food and teleported to my studio. I opened the much larger, divided paint container and let out my wings before screaming and allowing my magic to do what I needed. I wasn’t surprised when the canvases had the faces of the nobles who had attacked me to try and take over.

But there was one that surprised me. I blinked at the painting of me. It was of me in my full Faerie Guardian uniform holding fae fire. I realized I must have caught the image from someone else’s mind, and it was coming out now.

And I looked damn good. I looked powerful and beautifully terrifying if I was honest.

I cloaked my wings and let the camera over my shoulder see the canvases since Marisol now had access to that footage too. I was pretty sure she also had set something up to be motion-censored and let her know when I was there. She’d had me switch out the cameras I’d mounted, and that was the only thing I could think of.

A portal opened in the kitchen, and only one person could do that. I moved over there and saw Katrina with worry in her eyes.

“I hurt Taeral,” I rasped.

“He’s fine,” she promised. “And don’t be mad at your friend Marisol. She’s worried. Izzy and I are the only ones who know when you set off certain cameras.”

“Thank you.” I nodded when she seemed shocked. They were worried about me, not trying to hover to be jerks. “I think some hobgoblins should live here. I can pay them to help handle all of this, and they can keep track of the dogs.”

She opened her mouth but then closed it. “It is so fucking sad you can’t hire fairies to help you and can only rely on fair folk, but I understand that too.”

Except maybe I could. “I don’t know, Katrina. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

“I know you don’t. Right now, you need to eat.”

I agreed with that and went over to the kitchen table that was now there. I snorted. Of course, she’d put some actual furniture in the place and was making it useful. I stuffed my face and came to a decision. “Can you see if there are any orphaned fairies? Like my age? Maybe a few could manage this place with hobgoblins and keep them busy in their grief.”

“Perfect. That’s perfect, darling.” She cleared her throat and started cleaning up after me. “I know this is therapy for you, but I would like to suggest you also go to the groves and let this out too. That’s also productive towards your end goals. I think taking the negative and turning it into a positive that helps your people will work well too.”

I snorted. “Yeah, my people. Those people who hate me, want to overthrow me, and think I belong to them. Yeah, I should do more for them.”

“You love fair folk even if you’re pissed at fairies. You love a lot of fairies. You know you do.”

I nodded but then let out a dark laugh. “I can’t. I don’t fucking know how. I had to skip that part of botany because I was on lockdown, or the healers were listening to the ancients or nobles and they didn’t want me doing more.”

“Or getting cleansed with nature,” she sighed. “And I can’t teach you as a witch because I bet it’s different for fairies.”

I tapped my nose in between stuffing my face. I got angrier the more I thought about it until thunder and lightning exploded in the sky. I muttered a thanks to Katrina when I finished.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna handle the shit with my education before I hurt someone else,” I answered before teleporting to Professor Sontar. He was the dark fairy that had been “teaching” me supplementary lessons. It was all book stuff, and I was over that. I could learn that too. The only subject that I had learned to skip ahead as fairies did was Latin and that was only because I’d thrown a fit.

“Your Highness,” he gasped as he jumped to his feet, people reacting all over the packed cafeteria that I was there.

I put up a barrier around just us and ignored the others. “Do you know the deal I made with Dalyor?”

He swallowed loudly. “I’ve heard rumors, but no one has confirmed it.”

I studied him as I turned on my telepathy. “Why do you want to teach me?”

His eyes filled with shock but then he focused. “I want to help our world recover. You will be queen of all Faerie, and there is lots you need to learn if that is to happen.”

“Do you want me to lead?”

“Yes.” His answer was firm and immediate, even in his mind. “At first I thought it insanity, but what happened to us was insane, so we need an unconventional option to fix centuries-old problems and move past what we have suffered.”

I bobbed my head, listening to his thoughts spinning out. Then I told him my deal with Dalyor. “I’m offering you the same. I think it’s important that I allow—visibly trust—a dark fairy to handle such crucial matters. So if you want to teach me, then no more fucking training wheels. No more holding back, and you worry about me. Me first. That’s it. Nothing else.”

“I don’t know how that will be possible, Your Highness.”

“It’s worked for Dalyor. I will make it work.” I waited until he nodded. “But if I do, you are all in. You betray me, and I will not only strip you of your position, but ban you and your family from Faerie.”

Shock rocked me when his thoughts weren’t worried about that, not one bit. He was very much on my team, but he hadn’t been allowed to do what he thought was right.

“Good. Pack your family up, Professor, because you will be moving to the house some of the nobles just vacated. I will have the hobgoblins there help you in your sole goal of teaching me as much as you can as fast as you can. That means allowing me to download whatever I can to leap ahead instead of always being the idiot running behind.”

“It will take me a bit to get everything set up as you need, but we can handle pressing matters.” It was his turn to study me. “What made you focus on this when you have too much else burdening you, Your Highness?”

I answered by opening a portal and pulling him along with me so we came out by the groves. “Katrina told me to use my rolling energy and upset out on nature. I had to admit I have no fucking clue how to do that. I’ve only been destructive in my magic, not anything else. I’m tired of that always being the answer because people are keeping me ignorant.”

“Okay, then let’s get started here,” he agreed. He moved closer to a tree and knelt down in front of it, waving me to do the same. He smiled and put his hands on the tree. “You know how to scan magic.”

“It’s just a tree, there’s no magic,” I muttered.

“There is magic in everything, Your Highness,” he corrected. “You learned how we see portals now, right?” He waited until I nodded. “It’s a matter of seeing the magic in the world and simply touching it. Other supes have to use magic to access that. We don’t as fairies.” He gave me a moment with that. “Scan the tree and feel the magic of life.”

I nodded, closing my eyes and touching the trunk of the tree. I listened to his calm guidance and finally, I felt it. I felt the life of that tree, the spark of it that made that seed turn into a tree when others wouldn’t. The energy of that tree thrummed through it and touched my fingers.

“Excellent, Your Highness. Now slowly give it more energy. Let out a tiny bit of what roars in you into this life. Just as you would charge up a person but think something much more fragile.”

I nodded again, visualizing just a trickle from my left pinky. Only that.

“Well done, Your Highness!” he praised. “Well done indeed.”

I blinked my eyes open and then they went bug wide as I saw the tree that had been harvested recently was now full of fruit. And bigger. I wasn’t kneeling at the base of it, but my knees were moved up and against the trunk.

“Holy fucking shit,” I whispered as I jumped to stand and moved away to see it all. I was in awe with what I’d done.

And I wanted to do more.

Holding out my hands in front of me, I closed my eyes and searched for that energy of the tree even if I wasn’t touching it. I got it easy, but then I went through the tree to the roots. From there I let my searching spread to other trees since their roots were all in the ground. I jumped from tree to tree until I had a few dozen linked.

Opening my eyes so I could see it this time, I slowly let out that trickle of power into all of them. I swallowed a squeal as I saw them grow and explode with fruit.

“I did it,” I gasped when I finished. I beamed at Professor Sontar. “I did it. I can do growing magic. I mean, that’s it, right?” I squealed when he nodded. “I gotta show Darby.”

“Apparently, you really wanted to because you teleported me here, agra,” he chuckled from behind me.

I spun around and raced to him, hugging him with all I had. “Did you see what I did? Oh my gods, that was so fucking cool!”

“It was,” he agreed, lifting me up and twirling me around. “You’re amazing, my mate.”

I let out another squeal before he set me on my feet and pulled him to the first tree. “How many could this feed? I mean, that’s a lot of breakfast and juice, right? Even for the fae dogs. I can’t believe I did this!”

“You did well, Your Highness,” Shael praised from behind me.

I turned, and my good mood was instantly lost when I saw a bunch of the commanders were standing there. I flinched when I saw Taeral. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Tamsin,” he whispered, smiling when everyone made disbelieving noises. “I’ve gotten worse in training. You are not the only one who has accidents like this.” He gestured to the trees. “And this will feed lots. It’s amazing.”

“Too bad no one would have taught it to me sooner, huh?” I said, chuckling darkly.

“We all need to get on the same fucking page because I absolutely thought you knew this, and I’m fucking teaching at Artemis,” Iolas seethed.

“We said no new magic so she didn’t explode,” Shael grumbled. “This wasn’t what we meant.” She waited until I looked at her. “This is our fault. We—your training with school was supposed to be full access to keep you on a controlled path instead of trying to cram twenty fucking years into your head immediately.”

“It is your fault,” I accepted, trying to chill out a bit. “There are too many cooks in the kitchen. It ends.”

“It has to,” Onas of all people agreed, his arms crossed over his chest and staring at his feet. “We already learned the nobles were involved with your studies and we didn’t see it.”

“Glad you guys finally caught up on that,” I drawled, trying to control my anger.

But I couldn’t. My head felt ready to explode.

“Let it out, Your Highness,” Stefanie worried. “Yell at us. We can take it. We deserve it.”

“I yelled a lot and no one listened,” I snapped. “Even I’m tired of my own fucking voice because of it.” I agreed I had to let it out though. I turned back to the grove and formed that energy to grow like a barrier. I kept it a soft one but then pushed it out from me for as far as I could. Basically, it was as if it had a full tank but crumbled when the power I put into it gave out.

“How—you—that’s—” Stefanie stuttered as all the other commanders tried to find their voices.

“Your Highness, how did you just do that?” Professor Sontar finally asked so I could understand instead of everyone tripping over their words.

I growled at them. “No, no more freaking out when I do something weird. I’m tired of that! No more fucking handicapping me and keeping me fucking stupid!”

Just to make me feel better, thunder and lightning crackled overhead.

Awesome. Seriously, just fucking awesome.

“Wait, agra,” Darby cut in, hugging me before I could teleport. He turned me to face him. “Focus on me. Ignore them, okay? Stay with me and we will handle this.”

“I can’t keep doing this, Darby.”

“Then tell me. Tell me what you just pictured and did. I think it’s awesome and I’m not scared. I want to know.”

I let out a slow breath and bobbed my head, leaning my forehead to his even and gathering strength. Leaning back, I kept his hands. “Have you ever seen those huge irrigation systems for crops? They’re on wheels and go down the lines of crops?”

“Yes, but show us,” he muttered. “I know you’re upset, but they’re not scared. They’re excited.” He nodded when I shot him a look I didn’t believe him.

Fine, I owed Darby my trust. I thought of what I was talking about and projected it to everyone there. “See that tank? There was a farm near one of the families I was put with that had a system like that. It had a cab, but the water was finite. That’s what I thought of. I wanted all the excess energy in that tank, and it went for as long as that energy would.”

“That’s awesome, agra, truly,” he praised when I stopped showing them. “The way you use visuals no one else does is amazing.”

“It is,” Iolas agreed, several of the commanders muttering the same.

I let out another slow breath and turned to them. “Enough with the fucking shit about my education. No more. Professor Sontar has the same deal as Dalyor now.”

“We need updates at least then,” Onas countered, clearing his throat when the tension shot up. “Please. Please, Your Highness. Lageos was handling more than we thought, but he doesn’t—his magic seems to come pre-fucking-installed. We didn’t understand that.”

“Fine, whoever is the most magically gifted among you will be read in like Shael with Dalyor.”

Shael cleared her throat, relief filling her expression when I nodded at her to go ahead. “We are promoted to commanders because…”

“As a group, we’re well rounded,” Stefanie explained for her. “I’m most fascinated with what you just did because of the commanders—at least in the dark realm—I have the best affinity for magic with nature. Shael has way more in the arts than I think any of us. She should oversee that section and I should this. Onas in attack magic.”

I looked at Shael. “Is that how you did it with my mother?”

Sadness filled her eyes. “No, because your grandmother was alive. That—I swear that was what we were trying to do, but we severely missed the mark. We didn’t realize—I didn’t see how much we were—” Her voice cracked, and she stared at the ground while taking in a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry, Tamsin. More than you can ever know.”

“I believe you,” I whispered after a moment. “But the damage done was deep, so I can’t just flip the switch to go back. Protect Professor Sontar from anyone else trying to fuck with my education—for real this time—and I’ll agree to each of you working with him for whoever is the best in that area.”

“Truly?” Onas asked, not hiding his shock well.

I teleported to him without even realizing it, getting in his face even if he was slightly taller than me. I bared my teeth at him. “It’s what I’ve been fucking trying for, you moron. I didn’t know who to trust because I saw all the corruption you guys didn’t. I’ve begged for real help, but you all focused on my godsdamn training wheels.”

“You scared us,” he admitted.

I smiled at him, and I knew it wasn’t a good one. “I should. You’ve fucking pushed me too far and now you should abso-fucking-lutely be scared of me. So get on the godsdamn team so we can be scary as a team instead of this clown car we’ve been showing everyone else.”

“Okay, we’ll try the best we can,” he said, swallowing loudly.

I gave a nod and turned to Iolas. “You’re the best in hand-to-hand, right? You wanted to take over my training?”

“Yes, yes, I do.”

“Can you do it without bringing up my mother ten times a session?” I pushed.

“Five?” he offered, smiling when I growled. “I’m trying. I know I’m a twit, but so are you, Tamsin.” He chuckled when I couldn’t hide my shock they were all using my name. “You never heard me that I’m your godsfather? Yes, you’re a twit.”

“Hey, you’re too much, and I started tuning you out. That’s not my fault.” I wasn’t wrong but neither was he, so I did smile when he snorted. I glanced around at everyone. “So we’re in agreement? You’ll pull your heads out of your asses on this?”

“We will see it done,” Shael promised as others nodded.

“Tell me if they don’t,” I instructed Professor Sontar. “I’m done screwing around.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he agreed. “I have questions about your next semester at Artemis.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t registered yet. I didn’t agree to this being summer break that I took off. I’m tired of people not hearing me on that and lots.”

“We’ll behave on campus,” Stefanie blurted. “If I have to beat people into submission, we will. We cannot take the hit right now that we’re so incompetent our ruler cannot finish her education.”

“I have a week to register and pick classes. Let’s see how you do over that week and with what I’ve said now.”

They did not like that answer.

Too bad. Seriously, too fucking bad when they hadn’t worked with me. Now they could get pissed and deal with the outcome for a bit.

2

I went back to training, but Dalyor actually filled me in on what Taeral had been trying to tell me. I felt extra guilty that I hurt him when he’d been trying to help me. I thanked him before picking up food from Keya. She managed the estate of Wardrobe Recast and after talking to Irma, was in charge of my dinner and evening food. It made sense with the time difference.

Plus, it really took an army to feed me. Seriously, it did.

But there was hope in that area. Dalyor’s friends had jumped on the ideas to help and had already interrogated and cleared three women from the havens that Izzy wanted to hire as personal shoppers for Irma. She looped in Katrina, and her staff were actually working with the three women and a few Faerie Guardians to figure out the plan.

It was in the early stages, but they’d already made a few trips for Irma and Keya. I loved when things worked out. It was so rare in my life after all.

I grabbed it all and cloaked myself before teleporting to one of the light fairy hotels. I sat off to the side and listened to the woman holding court about how horrible I was. Odile was a piece of fucking work and horrid to her core. After I’d busted twenty-seven nobles in their plot to overthrow me and had taken over their areas, she was now the most powerful noble.

Funny how that was relative when I kept knocking people out of the running, but now she was it. And she was stepping up in a big, big way to fill the void.

Snakes were always slithering after all.

I kept eating and letting her rile people up, promising that she was the truth and I was the evil no matter what people saw with their own eyes. I waited until I was about done with dinner and then laid some magic under her before uncloaking myself.

“I also cheat at strip poker, eat the last of everything in the house, and hate most math with a passion,” I said loudly, letting everyone know I was there. I smirked at her when she turned to face me, rage thick in her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought it was Shit On Tamsin Day. I wanted to get in on the fun as well.”

“I’m glad you are amused and have the time to spy on us instead of waking fairies like you should be, Your Highness,” she practically hissed at me. “But the rest of us have more important things to do than to entertain you.”

“You do?” I snorted, glancing around at all the people doing nothing before focusing on her. “I gotta admit, Odile, I was surprised you weren’t in on the plot. I would have put a lot of money on you getting in on it.”

“It was a stupid plan headed by an idiot who couldn’t even figure out you would spy on us because you have no respect for tradition or the nobles,” she threw right back.

“Well, that tradition has worked out well for my family,” I drawled. “So no, and none of you have earned my respect. You have your titles because my family granted them.” I clucked my tongue when she opened her mouth. “Don’t sound as stupid as the others. You know how a monarchy works.”

“I do, but they were not given by you. You need to earn our respect and confidence so we can name you queen. We already earned the respect we deserve. We were awarded our positions.”

I grinned at her. “You’re much more fun to spar with than Rennyn. He was too full of himself and just lied about everything. You’re not actually wrong there. You’re not right, but you’re not really wrong.”

“That’s not how logic works. You’re either right or wrong,” she argued.

I snorted. “Children think that way, Odile. Adults know there’s lots of things that work as I said.” I leaned back in my chair and took a long drink of my juice. “You are correct in what you said, but there are gaping holes in your logic big enough for me to walk through.” I held up my hand to silence her. “Like you were awarded your positions by people guilty of treason.”

She snorted at me. “None of them tried to overthrow your idiot mother. That’s not treason then.”

I smirked at her when she flinched. “Yeah, that’s why I thought you would absolutely be involved in anything to take me over. You hated my mother. You were so fucking jealous of her you should be green. For real, it’s—your thoughts are terrifying. You loathe me because I came from her and I’ll be more powerful.”

“You might be more powerful, but you don’t have the education or little intelligence Meira even had,” she seethed, horror filling her expression.

I added magic to what I’d already put under her and smirked. “Really? Because I was smart enough to listen to your whole lecture about me and trap you in some fun magic while you were distracted.” I stood and moved closer to her, sitting on the table next to her. I gestured out to the people gathered. “What do you think of these fairies, Odile?”

“They’re sheep,” she blurted, trying to stop herself but she couldn’t. “They’re uneducated sheep who will believe anything I say because I rule one of the best cities.”

“Best” was debatable, but she was in charge of the poshest city in the light realm. It was like the Hamptons of that realm from what I understood. It was all the richest non-noble families without even a middle-class area much less a poor neighborhood.

Even Neldor said it had some of the most breathtaking views and landscaping with the nicest houses. He’d always wanted to visit it when his father had talked about it.

So she was in charge of the city with most of the richest families in the light realm. Except there was a problem with what she said.

“Rule?” I purred, smirking when she flinched. “You rule any part of the light realm? I don’t think that’s how it works. I think even saying you rule an area in a monarchy is considered treason. An argument could be made for it at least.”

“You made me say that,” she accused.

I snorted, leaning my arms on my knees. “Did I?”

“No, no, you didn’t,” she blurted.

“This is a fun game,” I chuckled darkly. “How much of what you said to these people were lies?”

She actually tried to move her hand over her mouth, but my magic made her stop. “All of it. I knew of their plans to attack you. They tried to get me involved, but I wanted Rennyn out of the way. A lot of the men.”

I threw back my head and laughed when I heard what was in her mind. I opened a portal to Commander Morgan. He was a light fairy who didn’t like me much. His stomach actually rolled when he thought of me being queen of all Faerie.

But he actually kept his mouth shut. He had been ridiculously loyal to my mother. Letting her suffer at all was his greatest failure, and when he became a Faerie Guardian, he swore himself to protect her daughter—even if he thought I wasn’t fit—as a way to make it up to her so she could rest in the afterlife. It was actually incredibly dedicated, and I respected him for not jumping on me.

I didn’t particularly like him either, but we could work together. I respected someone who saw those lines and moved past personal issues.

He sensed my magic and came through, bowing to me. “What can I do for you, Your Highness?”

“Thank you for coming,” I greeted, dipping my head to him. I glanced around at everyone gathered as I silenced Odile magically. “I know the new rumor is Commander Shael is compromised because her guilt eats her and even some saying my magic affects her judgment. Does everyone here still trust this man to be objective?”

There was a chorus of agreements and I heard it in their minds.

“Thank you for being honest,” I said to the group before focusing on Morgan. “Could you please tell everyone here what magic I’ve used on Odile?”

He cleared his throat and glanced at the woman before back to me. “Your Highness, I’m uncomfortable with you using magic on a noble.” He glanced away when I did a double take. “Forgive me, but you’re asking me to be involved. I normally keep my opinions to myself.”

“You do, and I actually respect you a lot for that. I know you don’t like me, Commander.” I smiled when he winced. “It’s fine. People don’t have to like me. I don’t like everyone either, but I’ve always treated you with respect because you have me. That’s how life should be.”

“I agree, but in my world, using magic on a noble is unforgivable.”

I swallowed a sigh. “I know you feel that way, but you’re proving my point that the system and how people look at the royals in our world are messed up, Commander. I’m the princess. I should be allowed to keep my nobles in line.”

“Do it, Morgan,” Shael ordered from behind me.

“No, I’m not forcing this,” I argued, glad when Morgan seemed happy with that. “Please tell everyone here what magic I used already, and if you object to the type I’m using after I tell you why, I will stop. I swear it.”

He studied me a moment. “That’s fair, and I thank you for allowing me to keep my integrity in this moment.”

“Thank you for discussing this with me as you should instead of snapping or ordering me what to do.” I noted the way people took this in and how reasonable I was being. Wow, people had really lied to them about me.

How sad they just listened without paying attention or getting to know me. I hated to throw what I’d done for them in their faces, but I thought saving their asses was a pretty big thing to just ignore.

Morgan moved closer and held his hands out to scan the magic. “You’re preventing her from opening a portal.”

“Okay, that wasn’t intentional,” I sighed, scrubbing my neck. “It’s not a bad idea, but I didn’t mean that. I just wanted to keep her on that spot.”

“It’s the same magic but the next level,” he explained to me. “If you kept her there and allowed her to open a portal under herself, that would go against your goal. A lot of magic is intent.”

“Thank you, that makes sense.”

He nodded and kept studying her. “It’s a confession rune. A silence rune.”

“Yes, to both. I put the second on just now so she didn’t pull anything.”

He did a double take this time. “You locked her magic to her. That’s advanced and—why would you do that, Your Highness?”

“Because she hates me enough that if I poked her, I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t attack me. I’d be fine but…” I trailed off and gestured to all the people around us in the confined space. “Anything else?”

“Immobility rune.”

“Yes, she tried to cover her mouth so she wouldn’t confess.”

“That’s all I sense,” he said after another minute or two.

“That’s all I used.”

“Why, Your Highness? I’m sorry, I must know.”

I took the silence rune off Odile and asked the question I needed to so she confessed what I heard in her mind. “What was your plan to usurp me, Odile?”

Horror filled her eyes as she opened her mouth. “I was going to out the nobles plotting treason and take over their areas. I have enough Light Guardians loyal to me that I could get to my ancestors you’re holding. They were going to give me more power, and I was going to take them at your house. I had no idea you’d be such a greedy bitch and take them all yourself.

“I had everything planned. A battalion of Light Guardians in my back pocket, and with that power, I would have done it. But you actually paid attention for once and took them out first. Now I can’t, but I can ruin you and turn as many against you as I can. I’ll sow enough dissent that the sheep will come for you. If I rile them up enough, the idiots will tear you apart.”

I held up a finger to stop everyone else from jumping on her. “And how did you know you could make that happen? Where did you learn this behavior?”

“From my father,” she bit out. “He did a number on your grandmother, as I did to your mother. I rule the wealthiest area of the light realm, maybe all of Faerie. That’s a lot of power. I crippled your mother and her power many times.”

“That’s why, Commander,” I said as I adjusted my neck. “I’m tired of me hearing the truth in their minds and lies coming out of their mouths.” I focused on him. “Still think I went over the line?”

“No, no, I don’t, Your Highness.”

“Thank you for being honest and getting involved when I asked.” I looked at the gathered group. “Have any of you learned your lesson now?”

“There’s nothing wrong with listening to our nobles,” someone called out from the back.

I shook my head, my magic ramping up in my anger. I took a few minutes and met the gazes of several people there. “Have any of you even thanked me?” I snorted when they seemed confused. “You’re standing here listening to someone talk about me like she knows me when this is the first time we’ve even talked.

“You all see who I roll with and it’s never her. But you trust her and listen to her shit all over me. What has she done for you? Why does she have your trust? You all act like this is me when you behave this way. So many of you criticize how I behave when the vast majority of you haven’t even thanked me. Not for waking you and not for providing all of this.

“You live here because I bought it. I pay the hobgoblins to cook for you. I pay for the food. I’m housing everyone I wake up and keep order so there’s not chaos.” I let out a dark chuckle. “And yet you all demand more. You can’t appreciate what I’ve done, but you want to dictate my life and judge me. Why do you feel you have that right when you lack basic civility?”

I might have said more, but someone’s thoughts to the left of me screamed for me to die. There was only one reason for that to be shouted and come so fast.

Not even changing where I was looking so I could see any other threats, I held out my left hand and caught what was coming at me in a barrier so it didn’t touch me… But also so it didn’t touch or hurt anyone else around me.

People flipped out around me, Morgan moving to block me from anything else and putting up a barrier around me. I felt Shael’s magic flare as she froze people.

“Got him,” Iolas called out.

“I didn’t see it,” Shael growled. “Are you sure?”

I finally looked that way and at who Iolas had restrained. I focused on the man and nodded. “That’s him. His thoughts are the same.” I couldn’t hide my shock at what I heard next. “Odile’s mate, huh?”

“Yes, he is,” Iolas seethed.

“What am I doing with what I caught, Shael?” I called over, relieved when she came into the barrier Morgan had.

She held out her hands and I felt a barrier under mine. “Let go and I’ll take it, Your Highness.”

I did as she asked, relieved when she caught it but didn’t touch it. I trusted she knew what she was doing, but it wasn’t like I had experience with any of it. I still worried I’d mess up teleporting or opening a portal to the right place, and I did that all of the time.

It was as if magic hadn’t been in most of my life. I’d only known about this world for three years and it kept changing on me. I didn’t think people remembered that enough or gave me deserved allowances.

“This is death magic,” Shael whispered, horror all over her face.

“Of course, that’s a thing and no one told me,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

“We should have warned you, but it’s not only against the law in Faerie, but banned by the gods,” Morgan explained. “One cannot enter Paradise if they have ever touched death magic.” He frowned. “Well, not the ones who die from it. The fairy who made the magic.”

“I got it,” I promised. “There are a lot of people who that wouldn’t stop or who wouldn’t care.”

Morgan sighed. “Like everything in life, it has a balance. For supes that aren’t fairies, it would kill them to use. Us, it marks our souls with an evil some can sense.”

“It also cannot go through the most basic barriers,” Shael added. “No matter how desperate, most wouldn’t try it around you since people know you always have your barrier up.”

“I don’t around fairies most of the time,” I admitted. “Great, now I’m so hated that I have to keep barriers up around fairies. That’s just fucking awesome.” I stared daggers at the people gathered. “So I kill myself to wake you, very few ever thank me, you all bitch about me and to me constantly, and now more and more of you want to kill me.

“Why the fuck do I keep trying? I’m an idiot to wake more of you to do this to me. I’m seriously at my limit.” My magic was about to explode and my wings come out, so I moved to the edge of Morgan’s barrier, nodding in thanks when he lowered it. I kept my gaze on the group. “Yeah, I think I’m taking a break from waking fairies for a while.”

“You can’t do that!” someone yelled from the back. “You were born to wake us.”

“I was born because my parents wanted a child to love, you selfish dick,” I snapped. “I wasn’t born as a tool for you or anyone.” I was done with repeating myself, turning to Shael. “You can dispose of that?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” she whispered, staring all around me as if knowing I was about to explode.

“I want Odile and her mate interrogated. I want names of these traitors ready to commit treason.” I bared my teeth at Morgan when he looked like he might object to the word choice. “Find them before I do because I won’t just arrest them when they planned this shit. Are we clear, Commander?”

“Very, Your Highness,” he accepted, seeming just as worried as Shael now.

“I’m going to go let this out on the groves that feed everyone. Every noble will start working the groves and helping or no more food.” I nodded when their faces went pale. “They have the energy to start all of this trouble and aren’t fucking helping? Yeah, that’s over. I’m busting my ass all over the place, and I’m supposed to be the fucking leader. Why do they get a pass?”

There was more I was going to say, wanting to just blast everyone, but I was out of time holding myself together.

Plus, no one ever listened to me anyways.

I teleported to the grove I had worked on earlier and moved to a different section. I visualized what I needed to and then jogged along the trees. I let out a bit of magic into each tree I touched, getting some training, and handling my emotions at the same time. It seemed smart to me at least.

Once that grove was done, I moved on to another, then another location. I kept going until all the anger was gone and all of the trees were ready to be harvested ahead of schedule.

Or just overflowing in a way I didn’t think they should. Whoops!

Yeah, that was my bad. I should have paid attention more. Then again, the fae dogs ate the fruit on the ground, so that could be fine.

That’s what I told myself before going back to the light fairy hotel and getting the rest of my food. I finished it and brought the containers back to Keya.

I went to get more to eat. I had a lot of it, but then I didn’t want to be alone, teleporting to Hudson to share my haul. He wasn’t in his room though. I was about to sit on his bed when I froze, Taeral’s face when I’d hurt him flashing in my mind. Backing away from the bed, I felt tears in my eyes. I wasn’t stable.

I could hurt Hudson and badly because he wasn’t a fairy. I had no idea how big that shock was or what it could have done to anyone. This was what I’d been so scared of and why I’d left. Things weren’t getting better; they were getting worse.

And it was time to accept that and they always would be bad. It was my life now and there was no hope or happiness.

I tried to shake off my dark thoughts, I really did. I fueled up, I went to see something pretty and just about anything else I could think of. It didn’t help.

I set up my camera and pulled up SAYGRACE’s “You Don’t Own Me” featuring G-Eazy on my phone. I sang it as I let the music flow through my body. When it was over, I faced the camera.

“Odile confessed to a plot to destroy everything I’m working on to help Faerie. Her mate had death magic ready and tried to use it on me. Many of the commanders were there and witnessed it. Odile was completely confident she could do it because of the corruption in our realm, our world. And some of you are still blind to it.

“Wake the fuck up before we’re all dead. Enough being stupid or blaming the shock of what happened to you for how you’re behaving.” I adjusted my neck. “And some of you start fucking thanking me for what I’m doing because it is not owed to you. You thank the hobgoblins and fairies who help them for making your food, but you don’t thank me for providing it.

“Does that seriously sound okay to anyone? Anyone with a fucking brain? No, it’s insane. So is giving you all my faith when few of you have given it to me. Think about that. Seriously, because I’m not waking more fairies to assume I’m a given, listening to all the lies instead of having faith in me, and killing myself to do it.”

I grabbed a chair and moved closer to the camera.

“Look into my eyes and see how deadly serious I am about this. I don’t need all of you. You need me. Start acting like it and appreciating what I do or I walk.” I gave them a few moments to see my gaze was unflinching. “I ordered all the nobles to help in the groves that I used magic on tonight. Don’t push me. No more free passes or thinking you’re special.

“You’re not. None of us are so special we don’t have to help in this crisis. It’s all I do. Get off your asses and help, or I will not only find you unfit to lead an area but banish you from Faerie. All you do is cause trouble and lie. Now you will help our people, or you will no longer be one of us. If that’s unclear, talk to the commanders who heard my orders.”

Again, I gave a moment for that to sink in.

“Oh, and I’m officially disbanding the Light Guardians. As of this moment, they are no more. And yes, I can do that as the heir to the light realm. I was born into that and my birth allows it. Any Light Guardian is still eligible to become a Faerie Guardian with their service records transferring, and we welcome you to do it.

“You’re not being punished for not being first, and I truly mean that I hope you transfer. I’m simply cutting out the corruption because too many of the nobles have this idea there will still be Light Guardians who can be bought and used against me like Light Guardians were always their police force. No, you idiots, that was just your fantasy. No more.”

I leaned in and ended the recording. I decided to upload that raw.

What else was there really to say?

3

“Seriously?” I sighed the next morning when I sensed someone as I woke. I angled my head and gave Lucca a death glare. “How?”

He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I looked for you this time.”

“Why?”

He opened his mouth but then closed it. “To give you this.” He grabbed something off the dresser and came closer.

I blinked at the stuffed toy and my annoyance melted away. Clearing my throat, I sat up and reached for it. “A plushy?”

“They’re called Squishmallows. My baby sister wanted one that just came out, so I went to get it for her. I saw this guy and thought of you.”

I tried to smother a smile but failed. It was clearly not just that since he gave me a bear one. “You’re not a polar bear.”

“No, but it’s still a brother bear,” he muttered. “He can keep you company since we don’t like you always alone.”

“We?”

“Well, everyone who cares, but I meant me and my bear.”

I nodded and hugged the little guy. “So soft!” I gasped at how nice it was, rubbing my cheek against it. “Oh my gods, I love him.” A giggle actually slipped out as I curled up around the bear.

“I knew it,” he breathed, flinching when I glanced up at him so he knew I heard him.

“Knew what?”

“You’ve never had a stuffed animal or anything before, have you, Tams?”

It was my turn to flinch. I sat up and moved the bear to my lap, unable to stop playing with it even as I tried to be serious. “Um, no.” I went to sit him next to me. “Thanks. I can give it to one of the fairy kids. I’m an adult.”

“Bullshit,” he growled, grabbing it and plopping it back on my lap. “You’re not a hundred or something, Tams. And even if you were, so what? I mean, so what? They’re for fun and cute. They help stress and provide comfort. Why should that only be for kids?”

“Yeah?” I smiled when he nodded and pulled the bear closer to me. I let out a squeal and hugged the soft ball of cute. “This is like the best present ever. He’s so cute.” I beamed up at Lucca. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he chuckled. “Don’t be mad at me for trying to find you. You blocked everyone and people were freaking.”

I rolled my eyes. “People always freak.”

“Izzy called me crying asking me to find you because someone tried to kill you.”

I sighed. “I’m used to that. So many people have tried to kill me. Why is she scared this time?”

“Because it was a powerful fairy.”

I snorted. “He wasn’t the first.” I huffed and squeezed the bear tighter. “Fine, most of the problems have been focused on controlling me, forcing me to mate, or who to have kids with. That’s worse to me than death.”

“Yeah, but it’s something you can be saved from,” he rasped, his voice cracking. “If you die, we lose you for good.”

I blinked at him when a tear ran down his cheek. “I’m sorry. It was fine.”

“It wasn’t,” he argued, even more emotion in his voice. “The commanders didn’t even sense it. Iolas and Shael were a mess.” He nodded when I frowned. “Shael got pissed drunk and told the remaining nobles that she would bury them if they tried to take you over. Onas warned the dark nobles that he would turn them over to Lageos if they tried to control you.”

“Holy fuck,” I whispered. “Wow.”

“Yeah, they’re coming out of their bullshit.” He snorted. “I should know. I was in mine for so long.”

I didn’t know what to say then. I didn’t want to fight or problems.

Honestly, I just wanted to stay in bed all day with my new little buddy.

“I have an idea for something fun if you’ll trust me,” he muttered after a few minutes.

“Do what you want, Lucca.”

“No, I mean, I would need to speak on your behalf.” He huffed when I tried to push. “I can’t surprise you if I tell you. If I can make it work, I promise you’ll like it.”

“Talk to Izzy,” I said after a bit of thought. “If she’s on board, I’m fine with it. She could use the fun too.”

“Yeah, we all could.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead before I could even blink. “Don’t die on us, Tams.”

“I’m working on it.” I glanced at the clock and sighed. “I need to get to training.”

“Maybe different training today. What about some swimming cardio?” He pulled out his phone and tapped it a few times.

I shrugged, definitely not against it. I just didn’t know how to swing that or make it work… And I was distracted with the bear.

That seemed to amuse Lucca to no end, and it was hard not to blush.

“Hey, you up?” Lucca greeted someone.

“Yeah, of course,” Hudson replied.

And I could hear him pretty clearly. I couldn’t hide my shock at that. Wow, so my senses and physicality really changed the more my magic grew.

“Got time to run on the mountain? Can we swim in your lake for training?”

“You can do whatever you want, Lucca,” he grumbled. “Who is ‘we?’ Actually, I don’t care. Everyone’s trying to find Tams. Do what you need to.”

“I found her,” he said. “She is the we.”

“Get her ass here now,” my dragon growled into the phone. “I want to see she’s okay.”

“I’m okay, Hudson,” I promised knowing he could hear me.

“River doesn’t believe you. Here. Now.”

I blinked when he simply hung up. “What was that?”

“People were scared. King Xavier had to practically sit on Hudson to keep him from going after the noble fairies.”

“I don’t get why this set off people,” I mumbled.

“I think it was the last straw. For me it was the cherry on top of the fucked up sundae that I just can’t handle anymore.”

“So you got me a stuffed bear?”

“I did whatever I could to make you smile,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I was so selfish before that I didn’t see all of this sooner. I’m sorry I was such a shitty lover that it took me all this time to realize you’ve never had a fucking toy given to you. You deserved so much better than what I gave you, what most of us do.”

“Thanks, Lucca.” I got up and unlocked my phone. “Can you swing this with Dalyor? Training hard but maybe not crazy? I did maybe too much magic last night when I was ready to explode.”

“Oh, it’s all over the news that you blew up every grove the havens have and even the co-op stuff. All their crops went nuts overnight.”

I winced. “I only meant the trees they planted there so they had extra food. Shit. I really have no control.”

“Control comes, I promise.”

I shook my head. “I’m too powerful to ever not have control. I wish people cared enough for my mental health to realize that and have taught it to me sooner. I’m gutted that I hurt Taeral. That should never have happened.”

Of course, he didn’t know anything about that, so I had to fill him in, accepting the hug he offered. Yeah, it was a tough situation for sure.

I just didn’t know how to climb out of it.

Then I realized that I was hugging the man who wasn’t my mate anymore. Shit.

I jumped away from him and muttered an apology.

“Friends still hug,” he whispered. “You were clear with me, Tams. I know what we are and aren’t.”

Glad he did because Lucca had always confused me on many levels.

I got changed and what I needed while Lucca talked with Dalyor. I didn’t hear it, sort of lost in my own head, but he said it was set. Okay then.

I opened a portal to Hudson, grunting when I was immediately hugged when I walked through.

“Not again, shorty,” he growled, holding me so tightly my back adjusted. “Seriously, I’m out of my mind.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered, tapping his arm. “Unless you crush me.”

He loosened up a bit but didn’t let me go. “You’re not fine. No one could reach you. I was—I can’t do this again!”

My barrier went up without even meaning to, forcing him off of me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ground. “I’m sorry. I understand.”

Hudson thumping on my barrier startled me, and he was able to come through it. He cupped my face and kissed me, barely brushing our lips together. “I’m not leaving, Tamsin. I’m never leaving you. Okay? Please stop thinking that could happen.”

“I don’t understand what you mean then, beastie. You gotta use your words.” I flinched when he growled and turned on my telepathy. It took several moments of his spinning thoughts for me to get through the crazy. “I got it.”

“Do you? Do you really this time? I thought you understood.”

“I do—I did,” I promised, moving my hand over his mouth. “I hurt Taeral, Hudson. I came to you last night and left because I was scared I’d hurt you. Please, understand. It was my worst nightmare because people won’t teach me what I need to know. I hurt someone I care for. He could take it. What if you can’t? What if I kill you or Darby?”

I broke down sobbing. I hadn’t even realized I’d been crying but then I was sobbing.

“We’ll fix this, shorty. I know we can,” he promised when he got me to calm down some. “What about Lageos? There’s got to be some sort of protection he can put on us to absorb the magic, right? You know how to absorb attacks. You said that.”

“I love you,” I whispered, hugging him as tight as I could this time. I stopped blocking myself from Lageos, knowing full well he would sense that.

“Are you okay?” Lageos demanded as he appeared.

“Your castle is never boring, Xavier,” someone said from behind us.

I froze before slowly pulling away from Hudson. I glanced around and saw there was a meeting going on and met King Xavier’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. Like, I’m really sorry for this one.”

He gave me a soft smile. “I gave you permission to portal or teleport in as you wanted. Hudson was the one who didn’t let you see the room.”

“Still, that’s super rude.” I felt better when people chuckled, seeing it was the Courtenays and their knights.

“We won’t say no to some extra fae fruit since we heard what happened,” Queen Sasha teased me.

But I felt like a bitch. “You can have all the fruit you want. Of course, you can. Always. Has someone not been giving it to you?” I glanced up at Hudson. “I have my own grove at the house and the greenhouse I put in. You know you can have it always. I’ve told you that. You guys have access to the portal.”

He moved his fingers over my mouth this time. “You’re down on the tank, shorty. Mother was just teasing you. Yes, I will go with some of my cousins and check everything at your house and snag as much as we want.”

I bobbed my head, kissing his fingers. “Sorry. I gotta get my food from Dalyor. I shouldn’t have pushed so much last night after…”

“After you almost died?”

I frowned up at him. “I didn’t even get hurt. Who said I almost died?”

“Some of the news is reporting that,” Queen Sasha informed me. “You said death magic and then word leaked no one could find you. People tried to put it together you were being healed in Faerie.”

I cursed under my breath but then glanced at Hudson. “They told you the truth though, right?”

“No, they won’t tell me anything about you,” he bit out. “That’s what I can’t take anymore, Tams. I’m always on the outside, even more than Darby because we’re not public.”

“Shit, okay, really my bad,” I whispered, rubbing my hands over his chest. “I didn’t—I will fix this. Right now. I had no idea—I’m sorry.”

He let out a slow breath and lowered his forehead to mine. “I know there’s too much crazy. I’m sorry to blow but I was so scared.”

And he was scared someone went so far as to try death magic with me. It was in his head and he was spiraling. Badly. He was ready to grab me and run off so no one could get to me.

“I’m fine, my dragon,” I murmured as I snuggled up to him. “Let’s go get this out and beat some idiots up, okay?”

“Please.”

I glanced over at King Fergus. “You guys want your own grove of fae fruit trees or anything?”

“No one can get them now that you put the dust collectors out of business,” he told me. “We had a few, but they were burned down when we were attacked. One of the times we were.”

I bobbed my head. Wow. “Okay, I will get with all of the queens before school, and we can think of something fancy or fun. You guys should have your own stuff for family.”

“Why would you ever do that?” he whispered, everyone in the room shocked.

I smiled up at Hudson. “Because my mate, the man I will mate one day is one of you. I’m on the team just like you guys are on mine. I think my eating and pooping machines can handle some fun gardens or whatever on glamoured mountains.”

“Thanks, shorty,” Hudson whispered before kissing me again. “Okay, let’s feed your bottomless pit.”

“It amuses us all to no end you can put away more than all the kings combined,” King Xavier told me.

“It is funny but seriously, there are only so many hours in the day, and I’m shoveling food in my face too many of them.” I shrugged when they gave me shocked looks. It was the absolute truth. Oh well.

“Captain Dalyor has arrived with a few people at the outside security,” one of the Rothchilds informed us.

“Thank you,” I said, not sure if he was really talking to me or Hudson… Or whoever would just handle it. I opened a portal to down there and walked through holding Hudson’s hand. I glanced over to Lucca once we were through. “You still have my phone, right?”

“Yeah, do you want me to handle some things while you’re running?” he asked.

I blinked at him. “That sounds shitty.”

He chuckled. “We won’t be as winded as you will.”

“Oh, you might be,” Hudson practically purred. “You’ve been super lazy with the drama, and she’s kicked it up.” He snatched my phone from Lucca. “I can be your aide for this run. I think I’m going to like what you’re doing.”

I rolled my eyes at his antics. “Fine, just tell Darby and Izzy where we are, and they can join us if they want.” I turned to Lageos who had come with, feeling bad I basically summoned him and then ignored him.

He simply leaned in and kissed my hair, fully understanding it was a morning of chasing my tail.

“Fuel up,” Dalyor immediately said. “I can feel you’re down on the tank.”

“Thanks,” I sighed, taking the juice and fruit bowl from him.

A very large one that felt heavy. I simply raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s like fae granola and our nut butter. It’s good.”

“But the ingredients can only be grown in Faerie, so it’s taken a while for it to come back,” Rafe told me. “Irma put her foot down on your rule. She told us to tell you that, but we weren’t sure what it meant.”

I sighed as I leaned against the mountain and opened it up. “I told everyone that I’m not—there’s no real way to say it without picking on Neldor and I don’t mean to.”

“Plus, you’re hangry, so spit it out,” Hudson chuckled as I drank my juice.

I didn’t need to. A portal opened and Neldor came through with Izzy, Darby… And a few of the commanders. Seriously?

“We were talking about other things,” Neldor explained. “We all just wanted to lay eyes on you. Join you for your run and discuss a few things if that’s okay?”

I shrugged. “I’m not against updates during training. I can’t talk much because Dalyor is a sadist.”

“You told me to push full throttle, Your Highness,” he reminded me.

I bit back a smile. Everyone needed a hobby, and one of my new ones was poking Dalyor. Hey, he made me suffer. That should be a two-way street for sure. I held up my hand to everyone for a moment. “Dad, Hudson had an idea that I was hoping you could pull off?”

“I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Thanks.” I turned and hugged Darby and Izzy together. “Guys, I’m fine. I’m sorry the news reported bullshit, but this was nothing.”

“Death magic isn’t nothing, Tams,” Izzy bitched.

I glanced from Stefanie to Shael. “What am I missing here?”

“The commanders all agreed to finally shut our mouths with updates about you,” Stefanie answered. “No Faerie Guardian is allowed to answer any questions about you to anyone—not the nobles, ancients, or even the gods themselves.”

I put the pieces together fast. “And now people overcorrected. Got it.”

“We were going to talk about this with you to get actual clarification but…” Stefanie shrugged.

I couldn’t even blame her. The crazy was real.

I went back to fueling up as I thought about how to handle this. I couldn’t hold back the moan at how good everything was.

As if trying to prove my point about the crazy, another portal opened, and more commanders came through.

“Are you okay, Your Highness?” Onas demanded, fear thick in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I glanced around at his party, noting Iolas looked near panicked. “What happened now?”

“There were reports on human media you were accosted while kitesurfing. The supe media picked it up as an Underground attack because there was an issue near there,” Iolas explained.

“I’m fine,” I cut in before he could tell me more. “I didn’t even go this morning. I needed sleep after last night.”

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t need fuel and sleep,” Izzy bitched.

I clarified what I was referring to, glad when she eased down. I hugged her and pressed my lips to her ear. “I hear you that this is bigger than I realized. I’m used to fights where my life is on the line. I can kill with my magic and it’s not a death rune or whatever. Some of this is built up in taboo. Don’t let it sweep you up.”

“That is incredibly dismissive, Your Highness,” Onas complained.

I sighed, turning to face him and the other frowning commanders… Plus Darby and Neldor.

“I don’t mean it to be. I get this is something I need to learn about and watch for. I take that seriously.” I growled when people argued. “I’ve been shot, and they weren’t aiming for my leg. I swerved my bike and it caught my leg. When I was shot in the shoulder? You think they aimed for that? No, they wanted my heart or head. Bad people go for killing. I get it.”

“That’s a better perspective, but these are instances that are so much more severe,” Neldor interjected.

I snorted. I pointed to where I’d been shot in the thigh. “It was an inch off from clipping a major artery according to the ER doc. Do you know how fast you die if you bleed out that way? Same in the chest.” I turned and showed him my other leg even if he couldn’t see my skin, and the scar had healed the first time someone used a healing rune on me.

“I can’t take you listing all of your wounds because I wasn’t there to protect you,” Lageos whispered.

Shit. I moved over to him and caught his gaze. “I hate what happened too, but I became a fighter because of it. My battle wounds aren’t on you. Do you really think I wouldn’t have gone looking to help someone even if you were with me?”

“No, probably not,” he sighed, glancing at my leg. “What was that one?”

“Stab wound that nicked something bad. Luckily, an EMT was right there for something else and held me together until we got to the hospital.” I looked at Izzy. “I’m not brushing it off. I pay attention to all of it. It’s hard for me to understand the levels of what you’re used to because it’s all fucking terrifying to me. I’ve dealt with death traps before too.”

They explained to me how that was different because the intent wasn’t death and giving a piece of the person to achieve it. I thought that was a bit naive when killing someone was clearly the end goal. I could kill someone with my magic, but the goal was to save my own life. But those traps that I came across saving hobgoblins were meant to kill.

So no, I didn’t see a difference. I did take it seriously though and bobbed my head along. What else was there to say? I wasn’t raised like them, and this perspective didn’t make sense to me.

Most of mine didn’t make sense to them.

I couldn’t imagine why I always felt so alone?

4

Darby and Izzy went to the dock on the Vogel’s lake to hang out while everyone else joined us to run. Assholes. Most of the commanders didn’t even bother changing into workout gear.

Seriously, assholes. Way to make a woman feel like she sucks.

“How did Mom have this?” I asked Lageos to start.

He sighed, giving me a look like he didn’t want to bring it up in front of others. “It was overbearing. She hated it. Do what you feel is right.”

Fair enough. “Darby, Hudson, Izzy, and my dad get everything. Any questions they have unless fairy runes or secrets, they get answers or updates. Full stop.” I smiled when Hudson leaned in and hugged me in thanks.

Even better? No one argued.

Something hit me and I sighed. “Anything magical, Lucca and Julian still get. Even if the bond is broken or we’re blocking Julian, it’s only fair since there is a link or could be an issue. Not my progress, but if it’s a situation like when Julian’s magic tried to use mine, or I’m having issues. That’s fair to warn them, at least check on them.”

I realized there was a problem with that since I was leaving someone out because no one knew. Crap.

Well, he was going to be involved anyways, so maybe that wouldn’t matter?

“Irma gets everything,” I added. “Neldor, Shael, and Stefanie too. Don’t push it but yeah.”

“I do?” Neldor asked, not hiding his shock.

“Yeah, dummy,” I chuckled. “The vice president always knows what’s going on with the president in case they have to step in. I should have all access to what’s going on with you too.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he agreed.

People started discussing the lines and limits. I nodded along and pushed as hard as I could. Everything was fine until Onas moved in front of me and reached out to touch me.

I tried to stop so fast that I started to slide on the rocks. Luckily, Hudson caught on too since he was next to me and grabbed me out of the way. He practically picked me up and tossed me to Lucca before I could even gasp.

“You ever touch my mate without her permission and I will figure out how to use her magic like Craftsman does and end you,” Hudson warned, his dragon riding him hard from the way he was chuffing.

Lageos was suddenly there blocking my mate and lifting the commander by the neck. “And I told you that you don’t touch her ever. Remember?”

“Fuck, calm down,” Onas hissed, holding his hands up in surrender. “I wasn’t even going to touch her. I felt pain pulse from her. I was going to scan her.”

“Use. Your. Words,” Lageos bit out before setting him down. Then he turned to me. “You’re in pain?”

“Of course, I am,” I wheezed, tapping Lucca’s arm to put me down. “The air is getting thinner, and we’re racing up a mountain trail. My lungs and legs are on fire.”

“She needs closer work on when to use runes,” Shael muttered.

“We’re getting there,” Dalyor cut in before there was debate. “She needs to learn her pace.”

Shael sighed. “Yes, but—”

“No but,” I cut in. “We’re leaving Dalyor alone, remember? If you have a suggestion, talk to him on the side. This isn’t an open vote event.”

“There was a rune your mother wore to link her physical condition to her trainer,” Iolas cut in. “It helped her learn. It should be in the journals of the trainers.”

“Which I’m barely through because there are a lot of them,” Dalyor said.

“For now, I can link you to her to do the same,” Lageos said. “I have to be around to do it.”

“You have a life besides watching my workouts,” I argued.

He simply shrugged. “I’ve been lazy for a while now. It would be good for me as well and we can have fun.”

I was all for that. I nodded, glad Lucca actually set me on my feet then. I glanced over at Onas. “Thank you for caring. I need to learn though and understand the process. People just do whatever and it doesn’t teach me anything. Plus, my magic blocks it all.”

“Not scanning,” he told me but then froze when I didn’t say anything. “Are you saying we can’t scan you?”

“Not unless I allow it,” I admitted, shrugging when I got a lot of surprised looks. “People try it all the time to get information on me or before, my species. The ancients did it constantly around me for—I can’t even imagine the reasons. I shut it down. It’s part of my natural barrier now.”

“May I test it, Your Highness?” Shael asked, relief in her eyes when I nodded. She held out her hand and studied me, frowning after several moments. “I get nothing. She’s blank.” She glanced at her hand and then rubbed her neck. “I don’t understand. I’ve scanned you before.”

“You warned me and I allowed it.” I shrugged, not wanting to focus on it, and got back to my run. Everyone was shocked quiet for a while, and it took everything I had to not constantly sigh.

“Now,” Dalyor said five minutes later. “This is what Onas sensed. Use a healing rune.”

“I’m fine,” I argued. “Muscles burn during a run.”

“Do it,” he demanded, moving slightly in front of me and nodding when I did. “You think of healing runes as healing like wounds or when you’re bleeding.”

“You need to think of them as bettering your health, Your Highness,” Stefanie explained. “You learned about this as a witch. They don’t have the limits we do. So it’s fixing a problem where for us, it’s as natural as needing hydration. The moment my stress goes too high, I use a healing rune.”

“When I have to eat too fast and that’s not good for you, I use a healing rune,” Shael agreed. “I have trouble sleeping, I use a healing rune.”

“I do that,” I admitted. There were several other examples and I nodded as I listened. “I get it. I grew up in a world where people are tired, so they have caffeine. That really only deals with the symptoms, and you’re saying heal the issue and get back on track to do better.”

“Yes, exactly,” Stefanie said. “You won’t need it all the time when you get to the level you should. This is intense training meant to push you too far. That can hurt you, so do it before you hurt. Like humans wearing knee braces and such.”

That made a lot more sense and took the feeling of being weak from me.

And it made my run much, much easier. Seriously, it was next-level.

We hashed out some other questions and updates, getting a lot done in one trip up. That was a nice change.

“Father says the way to keep control is to clear what you can when you can because your plate will always be overloaded in life,” Hudson said after a few minutes of silence. “You got a lot done that was needed. What do you want done and to get off your plate?”

My stomach was trying to answer it wanted more food, but that was actually an issue to address. Later though. I had a lot that felt overwhelming, and maybe if I could come up with a plan for at least something, it would really help instead of always pushing things back.

“Glad my suggestion has you calling a wolf,” Hudson grumbled. “A mated one no less.”

“What?” I gasped, turning and looking at him like he was nuts. Hudson simply pointed in front of us to a wolf sliding to a stop and glancing all around. My eyes about popped out of my head as the wolf shifted into a naked Alpha Geoff.

“What the fuck?” he demanded, shaking his head and focusing on us. “That was—I’m in the middle of a chase!”

I raced over there. “Shit, shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“That wasn’t like a portal. I have to get back.”

Yeah, he really did. I heard his thoughts and how panicked he was. I grabbed him and focused on where he had just been. I brought us there and recognized someone of his pack flying by us in a four-wheeler.

“Who?” I demanded.

“Rogue wolves,” Geoff answered, looking a bit green around the gills.

I took off in the direction the four-wheeler had gone, using the fairy rune for speed, and easily passing it by. I kept going until I saw six people ahead. Shooting off my combined rune, I easily took them down. It was hard for me to tell if there was more or what I was really looking for. Instead, I opened a portal to Shael but kept going.

I found one more and took care of him, not sensing anyone else. Teleporting back to the four-wheeler, it skidded to a stop.

“How many? I got seven.”

“Seven in human form, two shifted,” he yelled.

Fuck. I didn’t know how to handle that.

And the shifted ones would have been much faster. The woods around Geoff’s pack were huge though, and there was no telling which way they could have gone.

A portal opened and Onas walked through… Dragging two shifted wolves behind him.

“Thank fuck,” I sighed.

He simply raised an eyebrow at me. “I never thought you’d be so happy to see me.”

“Hey, I take any good help when I mess up,” I muttered. I focused on Geoff’s wolf. “Those the guys?”

“Yes, thank you, Princess Tamsin.”

Shael handled getting the seven I’d knocked out to us, and then we met up with Geoff.

“I’m so, so sorry, Geoff,” I said again. “I didn’t mean to. Things have been—”

“I get it,” he cut in. “Just don’t fucking teleport me again. Especially shifted. Fuck.” He was holding his stomach and leaning against a tree.

“Rogue wolves tried to poison our Alpha,” one of Geoff’s guys informed us when Shael looked like she was chewing nails. “He’s not himself.”

“It’s fine,” I promised, waving the fairies off. “This was my mistake and he’s a friend.”

Shael gave a swift nod and went over to Geoff. “It’s an herb toxic to wolves.” She waved me over as she moved her hand to his arm. “Feel with your magic. You know how to heal injuries, but poisons and things specific to a species are different.” She gave me a look, and I heard in her mind that she was hinting about caffeine, spices, and normal alcohol to us.

Right, that made sense.

It also helped me picture how to heal him. Runes were a lot of visualizing. Yeah, I could do some healing with basic, but the levels were complicated, and everything wasn’t always covered by a rune and magic unless someone could focus it.

I listened to Shael’s instruction and guidance as I helped Geoff.

“Well done, Your Highness,” she praised. “Every shifter species has issues like this. It’s nature’s balance.”

I nodded. “They can withstand what humans can’t or won’t die from the ailments they do, so something has to hurt them in other ways.”

“Yes, very good. Knowing what can be toxic or hurt them helps us heal, but it also aids us when we are called in to control a situation.” She pressed her lips together when I gave her a questioning look.

“Fairies were the ones we used to call in if there were any feral wolves or a group of rogues got too big,” Geoff explained. He reached over and clapped my shoulder. “Thanks. That was a bad one, and I was falling too far behind the shifted ones.”

“Glad I teleported you then,” I muttered. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“Several got smaller doses,” he answered. “If you could stay a bit and heal them, I would really appreciate it. It would take our healers much longer, and it was at least a few kids.”

“What the fuck were they doing trying to poison kids?” I growled.

“They weren’t,” he sighed. “I’m just not a normal Alpha who eats or hits the buffet first. I let the kids go before me a lot.”

And this time it hurt the kids. “I’m sorry, Geoff.”

“This wasn’t your fault.”

“No, I know, but just… I’m sorry your people were hurt and this happened to you. Do you know why?”

He shrugged. “I’m in charge of one of the most powerful packs. There will always be people who want my head no matter what.”

Boy, that was the fucking truth.

We brought the rogues and everyone else through portals to where Geoff wanted, and then I went with him and Shael to heal the others.

“What did you need me for?” Geoff asked when we were done.

I turned to him—able to look at him now that he was wearing pants—to answer him when panic slammed into me. Then my magic ramped up along with what felt like bugs crawling all over me. Every cell of my body was on high alert.

And I had no fucking clue why.

I raced over to the nearest window, but I wasn’t facing the danger. Somehow I knew that. I teleported outside to where we had come in, and the crawling sensation suddenly was only on my back and much, much worse. I spun around and bolted in that direction.

Understanding filled me as the main gate came into view… And a truck from the main road was revving up faster instead of slowing down.

Shit.

I didn’t hesitate, teleporting my sword to me and letting my wings out so I had use of my full power. I gathered energy as I brought my sword overhead and then launched it at the truck with everything I had like when I did a power clap. It went flying faster than I could see and was suddenly through the windshield and stuck in the truck.

The smashed truck. My magic had folded it up to a quarter of its original size.

Woah.

I could pat myself on the back later, but my body and magic were still ready for a fight. Opening two portals, I called Chief and his pack to me.

“Three trucks are coming up fast behind the first,” I told Chief after he leapt through. “Burn them. Don’t let them reach the gate. Do not get hurt.”

The pack gave barks of acknowledgment.

I realized my mistake as I felt the trucks and their glamours instead of going off my crazy spidey senses. The trucks were rigged to detonate with the magic inside if anything touched them, getting something out of the attack even if it wasn’t the max results desired.

I teleported in front of the pack. “Stand down!”

Luckily, they did, Chief whimpering in defiance… And because the first truck was barreling down on me.

The anger I felt towards the evil of attacking children and innocents was easy to call on. I had fae fire in my hands before I even realized it. Yes, the dogs could have done the same.

But I could throw mine and not touch the trucks. So I did. I hit the first and dove out of the way. I rolled to my feet and got the second before the third. The first was nothing but ash in the wind by the time I nailed the third truck

After the third burned to nothing, I glanced all around, trying to get a feel for what was happening.

Instead, I was grabbed into a bear hug. I knew who it was, hugging my dad back.

“What were you thinking?” he demanded as he leaned away. “I was right here, Tamsin!”

“I just reacted,” I admitted, trying to move away more.

Everyone else arrived, and I was being slammed with questions while still trying to sense what was going on. Finally, I got annoyed and more importantly, scared over it all. I froze everyone besides the fae dogs, going over by them.

I knelt down next to Chief—since he and the others all had their fire off—and leaned my forehead to his. “I’m so, so sorry, my friend. I didn’t mean to be so dismissive with your life. I was scared. I won’t risk you all again like that.”

He lectured me in his mind that the reason fae dogs served me was so I wasn’t at risk, and I needed to understand that. They would gladly die to protect me and Faerie, so let them if need be.

But I couldn’t. No matter how society saw them, they were my dogs. Chief and his pack especially were my damn babies that I bought toys for and spoiled rotten.

He knew I was lying through my teeth when I promised I would if I ever had to.

I felt pushing at my magic, knowing who it was, but only releasing Lageos. “I don’t know what happened or if we’re safe. The dogs go off my signal, so they’re calm. I don’t know what to sense.”

“Okay, okay, Tamsin,” he whispered, clearly understanding what I’d done had fried me.

Somehow, at least.

I nodded and glanced at the others, knowing they could hear me. I released them but much to their shock, I stayed kneeling next to Chief. Petting him was comforting me or something, but I felt… Shocky?

“I don’t know what I did,” I said for the hundredth time as people kept asking me questions.

“Stop!” Onas shouted at all of them. He waited for them to quiet down, and then to the shock of everyone there—myself included—knelt in front of me. “Tell us what happened, Princess.”

“I don’t know,” I whispered again, feeling cold.

“What you did scared you,” he said gently. “It scared us too. That’s okay.”

“It’s not,” I rasped. “Everyone freaks out when I do weird stuff. I can’t take that anymore, Onas. I don’t know what I did, and I don’t want to tell what I felt because you’ll all freak out. It will be more problems and another way I’m not like any of you. It hurts me when that happens. It hurts me to never feel like one of you.”

Neldor moved next to me, plopping on his butt to shock everyone again and giving me a comfort rune. “You’re fried. I can feel an echo of it. It’s like every nerve in your body shorted out.”

I thought about that and nodded. “Yeah, it did.”

“I’m on your team. Tell me and I will beat anyone who freaks out, okay? Then we can have some fun and skip afternoon training?”

“Promise?” I hated how young and wounded I sounded to my ears, but I felt like that. What had happened scared me.

“I promise. We’ll get those buckets of cookies you liked. You did something awesome, and that comes with treats.”

For some reason I believed him, comforted because he was my mate. So I ignored everyone else—even my dad which I knew hurt him—and focused on Neldor. “My magic was freaking out. I don’t know what happened. It was like… Remember when you were talking to Clum after you first woke up? I just knew I had to be there.”

He nodded. “Your magic interlaces with your spidey senses in a way mine doesn’t even. It makes sense because the more we listen to our instincts, just like when we train our bodies for our other senses, our magic locks with those too.”

I glanced away from Chief and into his light green eyes. “No one’s ever told me that. I mean, about my gut reactions and stuff. That helps. Thanks.”

“I think people don’t know what to tell you sometimes because no one likes to be wrong. If you had asked me, I would have told you teleporting wasn’t possible. Fairies can’t call fae fire. So it’s hard to help.”

I sat with that a moment and nodded. “But hearing that helps. It’s nicer to hear that instead of just being dismissed or acting like I’m a freak.”

“We’re all freaks, right?” he pushed when I went quiet.

I nodded. “It was like bugs crawling all over me. I knew something was wrong.” I told him the rest, trying to explain it as best as I could, but it sounded stupid in my own head. “The magic was bad. I could sense that behind the cloaking and other devices. I have no idea what it was because those trucks were loaded. It was bad.”

“It was and not just cloaked, but cloaked to feel like something else,” Shael muttered.

“Well, something was definitely going on because my guys at the gate said the truck wasn’t slowing down but going to ram it,” Geoff confirmed. “It looked like it to me too.” He waited until I looked at him. “We raced right after you. I didn’t even know you glamoured your sword like that.”

“I didn’t. I learned to teleport it to me.” I shrugged when the Alpha and several of his people stared at me in shock or disbelief. I stood and went over to Geoff. “Touch my shirt and skin. You can’t glamour touch, right?”

He slowly nodded and touched my tank top over my sports bra and then my shoulder, muttering it was my skin for sure.

I took a step back and double-tapped my chest as I focused the magic I used to teleport. I kept Geoff’s gaze as I teleported my Faerie Guardian uniform onto my body at the same time I teleported away my workout clothes. I smiled when his eyes went bug wide. “Wicked, right?” I moved closer and let him touch it.

“This—I can’t believe it’s possible.”

I shrugged. “I still can’t believe any of it is possible, Geoff. I was having a really rough time, and Izzy told me to figure out something fun with my powers instead of always what people want from me because of them. I wanted to be like Ironman. He’s always hated by a lot, but they still want more from him, and he does the best he can even when he’s wrong.”

“Because Tony Stark learns from his mistakes,” one of Geoff’s guys said, smiling when I glanced at him. “That’s what the guy who does those behind-the-film clips always says. You got that from when Ironman upgrades to the nanotech suit, right?”

“Yeah, it was the coolest transformation that would fit with me.”

He nodded. “It was sick. But Stark upgraded to a nanotech suit after Antman sneaks into his suit. That’s the clip, ‘because Tony Stark learns from his mistakes,’ or something like that.”

“Yeah, it would be nice to learn from mine,” I whispered, staring down at my uniform. “I wish people would definitely try that more often.”

5

I didn’t want my uniform on anymore, feeling like it was fake somehow with the way people treated me. I focused again and changed back.

Neldor was in front of me before I could blink and had a barrier up. He stared up at the sky. “The top did not return to you correctly.”

I glanced down and winced, my sports bra half under and half over my tank top and my right breast almost exposed because of it. Most of it was besides the nipple but honestly, it wasn’t as bad as the tiny bikinis I wore modeling.

It was actually really sweet how he covered me though. I quickly turned around and fixed it.

“Thanks, I’m set,” I told him.

He cleared his throat and nodded, taking down the barrier and moving back to where he’d been.

“I haven’t perfected it yet,” I admitted to the others. “It’s harder when it’s formfitting clothing and like layers.” I turned to Neldor. “I feel fragile. Can you bring Darby and Hudson here? Please? Oh, Izzy. Don’t let her be scared.”

“Are you okay?” he worried.

I shrugged. “I feel fried.” I frowned. “I feel like when I used to touch outlets for my foster dad and one shocked me. Yeah, just fried.”

“Wait, what?” Shael gasped.

I nodded. “I had a foster dad who was in construction. A jobsite boss. He had a few of us and he’d always bring us with to the houses as they were being finished and we had to touch all the outlets to make sure there weren’t problems. If we got shocked, he’d laugh that kids are idiots and act like he cared but if we didn’t do it, we got spanked and denied meals.”

“Humans are monsters,” one of the wolves whispered.

I shrugged again. “I doubt it was humans that just tried to magically blow up your pack, so there are monsters all around.”

“I think you need energy,” Stefanie worried.

I shook my head. “I don’t want anything outside.” I gave myself a healing rune and sighed. “A healing rune helped.” I felt worlds better when Hudson came storming through a portal that someone must have opened to get him. Immediately, I was in his arms.

“You’re killing me, shorty,” he whispered as he hugged me.

“Holy shit, Prince Hudson is your other mate?” one of the wolves hissed.

“Not one word to anyone,” Geoff warned darkly.

“Of course, of course,” the woman agreed. “I would never. I just… I feel like an idiot. Of course, it’s him. You’re always together and not just like friends.”

I shrugged while still hugging Hudson. “I’m also always around Izzy and she’s not my mate.”

“I worry like one,” she said before getting in on our hug. “You took out four trucks? Did I just hear that right? What was on them?”

I hurried to tell them so they were caught up, sighing when Darby pulled me away and gave me the best bear hug ever.

And then I got a hug from a bear. Lucca must have snuck in with all the crazy, and I was somehow hugging him after Darby. I honestly didn’t have the energy to argue.

Plus, it was a really good hug.

“Try another healing rune,” he muttered before kissing my hair.

Good idea. I did it and nodded it helped.

I went over to Geoff who was upset about the trucks and not even knowing who was after him and his pack this time. Something hit me, and my mouth worked with my brain too fast to blurt out what I was thinking instead of waiting. “We need to get you a barrier. Not over all of your woods, but the main compound depending on how big.”

“That’s more power than you should be dealing with right now,” Lageos argued.

“Not right now, but it’s not bad with the key,” I muttered, already having played with them a bunch. “If we combine power, it should be a cakewalk. I’m worried about humans though. We can’t just block everyone. Humans like to check into places like that because they think they’re cults or militias.”

“We have magic at the main gate that walks them through feeling better about whatever they arrive for,” Geoff told us. “It’s how we deal with everything from nosy state police to UPS delivering tons of Amazon packages.”

“That’s smart,” Lageos muttered.

“But the fairy barriers I’ve seen have flaws,” I muttered. “If I let Darby through, he could let through anyone. Then those people could let through anyone. That’s a slippery slope and how traitors could still get in.”

“You got around that before,” Darby muttered. “You built in a door in the barrier at your house, right? Could you do that again?”

“Yes, but I could open and close it in a fairy barrier of fairy magic because I’m a fairy,” I answered. “I don’t know that I’m remotely knowledgeable enough to pull off anything else and not risk it failing.”

“Let us help, Your Highness,” Onas muttered as he came into my view. He moved closer but stopped when Lageos grabbed his arm. “You’re fried and need to refuel. What are you wanting?”

I huffed at him, feeling whiney and maybe hangry, definitely just wanting snuggles. “I want everyone here not to die. Duh, Onas.”

He simply blinked at me a moment. “Okay, well, what did you originally want to talk to the Alpha about? I have a feeling the topics can be combined in the right way.” He shrugged when several people gave him hesitant looks. “I listen to my gut as well.”

“Mother said his instincts were right much more than he was wrong,” Neldor agreed. “Unfortunately, he can be a stubborn ass and dig in his heels.”

“Unkind but not untrue,” Onas accepted, searching my eyes. “Why did you want to talk to the Alpha?”

I sighed, scrubbing my head with my hand. “We’ve rescued like fifty grandchildren of fairies, but they’re all shifters. And they’re just sitting around watching our chaos and in limbo. I hate it. I hate I can’t fix that and they aren’t getting any normal or love.”

“We all do,” he muttered.

“No, you don’t!” I yelled. “I lived that, Onas. It’s horrible. Do you have any idea what it’s like to not know where you’re going to be sleeping next or if your stuff will get stolen again at a new home? If the next place you’re sent will hurt you? Or never feel like you can sleep safely? You don’t know, and it’s hell for a kid!”

And then to the shock of everyone—myself included—I broke down sobbing. I went to Hudson and just curled into myself, crying out whatever the fuck was going on with me.

Lageos rubbed my back and gave me a healing rune. So did Neldor, and then I felt like I could have a grip.

“My healing runes weren’t doing much,” I realized when I calmed down. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“You’re feeling like a stretched-out rubber band, Your Highness,” Stefanie explained. “That’s your life right now, and it’s too much for anyone. It’s okay.”

Everyone seemed to accept that, so I didn’t focus on it or push it, glad at least that they seemed fine with ignoring my random crying.

I turned to Geoff. “Your pack are good people. They care. I wanted to ask if you could take them in and give them a real home. We aren’t what’s best for them as fairies. I have no idea how to help a kid get ready to shift later. And their Alphas are dirty since they sold them.

“That’s what I wanted to ask. I know you guys need more jobs. I’ll pay people to take care of them like a safe foster care center. Or if good people take them into their homes for now, I’ll give them stipends like the human system. Or whatever. What we’re doing isn’t working, and we have so many problems that the kids will fall through the cracks. They always do!”

“This is seriously triggering you, agra,” Darby whispered, pulling me away from the Alpha and hugging me to him. “We should have realized this.”

“How could you when I didn’t even realize it at first?” I said with a sigh. “There’s just too much, Darby. And yeah, I feel fried. Whiney. Maybe hangry.” I snuggled up to him. “I’m not sure it will even work now that Geoff’s extra targeted and that’s probably my fault too and everyone will hate me for it.”

“No, no, we won’t,” Geoff cut in. “We were always a target. It’s gotten worse with more corruption and issues, but we—we fight off too many issues too, Tamsin. Long before I met you.”

“I see the way this fits,” Onas announced before anyone else could speak. “If we put up a barrier like we know as fairies, we can station a few Faerie Guardians here. A battalion can take one extra guard duty a week at their main gate, nap even, but be on location for any problems. They can open the door into the barrier that you learned if you teach us how to do it.

“Or I think I even know how to do that, but I haven’t played with barriers in years. But that way, this place is ridiculously safe. Then they can take the extra risk of housing grandchildren of fairies that are shifters. The orphaned ones or even ones that need it for now while we’re waking more fairies. I’ll use my own damn magic on growing magic to get more food here.”

I stared over Darby’s shoulder as I thought of how that could all fit. Then I pulled away from him and without even realizing what I was doing, walked over to Onas and hugged him. “Yes. Yes, please, let’s do that. Just please figure that out.”

Everyone was stunned for several moments, but Onas snapped out of it first and hugged me back. “You’re doing better than you think, Your Highness. I can work with the Alpha if he allows it.”

“Someone will pull the guard like on Marisol.”

Shael snorted. “No, they won’t. We burned the ground around that and you disbanded the Light Guardians, so no more chain of command issues. Not for Faerie Guardians.”

“We threatened to kick out any who took faulty orders or didn’t double check with their chain of command to be sure,” Stefanie added… As she came over and pulled me away from Onas. The look on her face was a mix of shock and worry.

Yeah, I felt the same that I’d willingly gone to Onas like that.

Something I think Darby realized because he hugged me again so my back was against his chest and I could keep talking to everyone. Perfect.

I focused on Geoff. “We’ll do the barrier no matter what. I won’t trade the lives of your people for help.”

“You just don’t know how to make it work, and guarding grandchildren of fairies is a reason to station a Guardian here,” Geoff surmised. “Otherwise, you’re going to get shit for playing favorites and other groups jumping on you to give them the same.”

“Fuck, I didn’t even get to that part yet,” I groaned.

“We will take that deal,” Geoff said firmly before I could get upset. “Gladly and glad we can help. Hell, we’ve got a bunch of empty-nester grandparents who would love to spoil some young shifters. I don’t know how it will work to start, but if you give us some help with people, we can get everything set in the main party room.

“Cots won’t be fun, but the kids will all be together. Help with food, and people can start to meet them. That’s enough for now. We can talk about building a foster center or whatever for them later. We’ve got a crew who can more than do that if we get materials. And yes, we have people who would like the jobs. Maybe even some of the people you have at the havens could help.”

Done. Just done and done.

I wanted to cry all over again but this time in relief. Instead, I went and hugged Geoff, mumbling my thanks and taking it off my plate.

To which he thanked me for saving his pack multiple times now.

Fair enough.

Onas promised he would handle the details and make it work immediately. I was shocked, but then I caught a thought that he was a big fan of wolves… And he’d once had a fling with the Alpha Mate’s mother before she was mated. Okay then. That was some loyalty that he worried for Geoff’s mate because of a fondness for her mother.

I actually liked him a lot better for that and knew I could leave the project in his hands at least.

Shael insisted I eat and I didn’t disagree. Hudson canceled some things in his schedule and promised we could swim and have an easy time after lunch. I felt bad and invited him, Darby, Izzy, and Lageos to a fun meal. Then I added Lucca.

Dalyor and his friends had joined our group at one point—or they honestly might have been there from the beginning I was so out of it—and they invited themselves because I didn’t have guards. Which was hysterical given it was lunch with a demigod but still, I agreed.

Which meant all the commanders were coming with as well. Fine, whatever, just give me food.

Izzy was amazing on many levels, but her organizational abilities were a superpower that many should aspire to. For real.

And her way of getting me to agree to take over things that didn’t make me feel like I was being a horrible friend. She said that was mostly because of how I always made sure to appreciate her and I did. I honestly had no idea how I would have survived without her and Darby.

Which was why I focused on her. “What are you in the mood for? Where can I be seen or should we glamour?”

“People are still talking about how you were attacked, remember?”

I blew a raspberry. “Fuck, that seems like last week. My life is too much. Okay, so be seen? We can post something like, ‘I’m fine, sorry there was confusion?’”

“Perfect.” But then she sighed. “I know you don’t want people to know your training facility is by Colorado Springs, but eventually it will get out.”

“Yeah, but I ran up a mountain today and didn’t livestream it. Those days we can do whatever and like say I stopped on a layover or refueling?”

“Yeah, that works.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why? What are you thinking?”

I blew her a kiss. “What you keep talking about lately. What have you been in the mood for?”

She groaned and I chuckled, hearing in her mind I got it correct. Yup, I was oblivious on lots, but I paid attention when it mattered.

Fine, food cravings weren’t exactly a priority, but I paid attention because I cared. I might not be able to fix everything, but I could get Izzy some Memphis barbeque when she had a damn craving.

I opened a cloaked portal behind the restaurant I wanted. Grabbing Izzy’s hand, we went through, and I smiled when we came out. “Welcome to some banging Memphis barbeque.”

“Lead the way,” she chuckled, squeezing my hand to let me know… I wasn’t sure. She was with me? Loved me? I took it as all of that and comfort.

I glanced around and made sure no one was there and there weren’t suddenly extra cameras. Relief filled me when I saw we were in the clear, but I noticed Onas watched me after he came through the portal and was doing the same. His thoughts told me he was impressed that no matter how fried I was, I always made sure to check stuff like that.

And that my training for that was good. Training? Sure, Mel showed me some tricks, but there wasn’t any training. That was self-taught mostly with trial and error.

I told him that in his mind, wincing when I did it to everyone and too loudly from the way they grabbed their heads. “Sorry, I really am fried.”

“It’s fine, Your Highness,” he said.

“No, Tamsin,” I corrected. “Don’t risk someone with a phone out or an echo point someone could catch. Barriers can waver or have issues. Get in the habit around humans of using my name. Pass it on. I’m too visible now with social media to get the company going.”

To my shock, not only Onas but the other fairies seemed to finally accept that. Rock on. Maybe my day was looking up?

“No, no way,” a man said when I walked into the restaurant. “You got to go. You’re not welcome here.”

“Why?” I demanded, letting go of Izzy’s hand and moving in front of her protectively in case there was a problem.

“You ate us out last time,” he blasted, clearly the owner or at least store manager. “People were talking that you’re a competitive eater. That’s not okay here.”

“I’m not,” I drawled. “I’ve done some challenges when I travel, but it’s not like I train. And I sure as hell didn’t eat all the food here last time. I had four fucking plates. That’s totally within reason at a buffet restaurant.”

“You had four plates of ribs,” he snapped, backing down when Lageos stepped up next to us. “You had like a dozen racks of ribs.”

“I don’t remember having that many but yeah, it was four plates,” I grumbled. “Either way, don’t label yourself all-you-can-eat and then bitch people eat too much. So not fair that you call yourself a buffet but kick people out who get their money’s worth.”

“We can eat somewhere else,” Neldor muttered when we started getting attention. “Let this idiot explain why he lost out on the money from our large party.”

It was hard not to laugh when all of us would have gotten our money’s worth. I agreed though and spun on my heel to find somewhere else. Asshole.

“Big mistake that might cost you your job,” Izzy said to the guy. “Not only are you food shaming someone, but people are offering to pay a ton for her to promote them. She was going to post something saying she loved the food here while we were refueling for our trip, but now I think she should post that you’re a jerk and not to eat here.”

She stormed out of there before I even reached the door. She was fuming when I reached her in the parking lot.

“Thanks, Izzy.”

“If you were a guy, he would have laughed that you could put away so much. But because you’re a woman, he causes a scene and tries to embarrass you how much you ate. Isn’t there some code they can’t take note of that and yell to the whole restaurant what you ate? Jerk.”

“I so love you,” I chuckled and hugged her. I wasn’t sure it was a sexist thing, but I adored her for being so protective of me. “I have another place. This one had better ribs, but the other has the best fries which we love.”

“We do,” she agreed, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to the spot where the portal was.

This time Shael went in first after she promised she would go in cloaked. Neldor went next with Dalyor and his friends, his thoughts on working with them since they were going to be around me a lot. He had actual training from his father but had also worked with a few of the Rothchilds after bribing them for help. Smart, really smart.

Well, Neldor always was. He could be an idiot, but I never had any complaints of him being stupid. There was a difference in my mind.

Once we were all through the portal and at the restaurant, we could actually get a few tables together in the back. It was right at the start of lunch and things were being put out fresh. I mentally sighed. My day had been so crazy and chaotic that this morning seemed like last week.

“Part of what’s going on with you is that you only had that fruit bowl,” Dalyor reminded me when we got in line. “You might be too powerful for us to read that you’re down on the tank like other trainees. Your ‘tank’ is so much bigger than most. You might not be registering empty but think of it like fuel efficiency.”

I nodded. “If there’s a leak in the oil or gas tank on my bike, it’s not performing as well. Or it acts wonky from pressure dropping too fast.”

“Exactly.”

“Thanks, that helps.”

“I’m glad.”

I was about to check with him he was really okay with ditching training, but I noticed panic on Rafe’s face. Quickly focusing on his thoughts, I almost laughed but instead made my way over to him.

“Thanks, our party is all set,” I told the server who was flirting with the fairy. “We’ve got a server and drinks coming.”

“Oh good, just checking,” she said… While her thoughts were nasty as fuck, and she wanted to smack me out of the way of the hot guy.

“Okay, don’t accept anything from her,” I said under my breath. “Damn, she’s an angry one.” I focused on Rafe. “You good?”

“Sorry, Your—Tamsin. I froze. I’m not sure I’ve ever had someone like her talk to me.”

A human.

I nodded. “Just act like you would one of us flirting with you when you don’t want it.”

Dalyor snorted. “He acts like a deer in headlights then too. Rafe’s a bookworm and women mostly scare him.”

“Dick,” Rafe bitched, but then cleared his throat. “He’s not wrong though. Thank you.”

I smiled when Darby moved closer and started talking to Rafe about how men brushed off annoying people nowadays. I didn’t think it had really changed too much, but it was sweet that my prickly pear would work with him on that. To be fair, he was really, really good at it. When we met, he practically had “fuck off” stamped on his forehead.

Well, for everyone but me.

Mostly.

Lunch was amazing and it was just fun. Everyone relaxed, and the fairies got a chance to dip their toes into being around humans and more. We ate and ate, seriously almost cleaning them out. It amused the staff and no one was rude about it. It didn’t seem to be a busy day for them, but they would probably have extra stocked in the back.

Right? I was pretty sure that was how restaurants worked.

With every plate I started to feel better but when we were finishing up, I really had reason to be happy. Lageos had figured out the issue I’d asked him for. He created a charm to absorb my excess magic and throw it in a reservoir. He modeled it after the magic of Faerie that pulled anything over the top from fairies after they stepped through the portal.

It didn’t do that to me because I was using excess power to wake fairies. I had a moment to wonder if it would once that was done or if the world left me alone? At least on that but something to think about for another time.

Right then, I was over the moon.

“How does it work?” I asked out loud, so excited that I forgot we had been speaking in our minds. Whoops!

He told me that it only worked for someone I loved, and they simply had to activate the charm and touch me. Perfect, that included Izzy as well. He promised he’d get it all set up. I was thrilled, that was a huge worry off my list. For real.

Finally, a win in the fight for my sanity. Maybe two given what Geoff had agreed to.

Yeah, definitely two.

6

We finally made it to the Vogel’s lake and got a chance to swim. I was tired and ended up on the rocky shore next to Izzy after a bit.

“You just wanted the cookies Neldor told someone to get,” Izzy teased me.

“I think I scared him,” I muttered, taking in the buckets of cookies. Like for real buckets. They came in like three-pound buckets, and he got at least twenty buckets. Even I couldn’t eat that much. Sure, we would share with the others but when they arrived, he kept bringing them all right to me.

“His aura was full of fear that even I could see when we arrived.”

“I scared myself,” I admitted under my breath so only she could hear. “I think most of it was in my head though.”

“We all have those moments. I do. I’m not sure what you mean though.”

“I’m terrified I’ll have visions like my mom. My magic telling me to get to the gate and that three other trucks needed to be handled seems really fucking like starting visions. I just knew. That’s a bit specific.”

“I’m not downplaying what you did and your spidey senses but knowing right then isn’t the same. Yes, you might get visions and I would be scared too. For real, but your spidey senses have done much weirder things. You’ve felt dread for a whole day when something was coming. That’s telling. Not visions, but this was a bit too last-minute for my liking.”

I actually felt relieved when she said that, glad I’d brought it up to her. “Thanks, Izzy.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” she chuckled as she turned over to read her book.

And promptly fell asleep. Apparently, I wasn’t the only tired one. We were in the shade, so a nap actually sounded great and I was debating it.

Until I saw Hudson pop back out of the water.

Then I just wanted to watch the spectacular view in front of me.

Jesus, he was hot. He shoved his longer, floppy dark brown hair out of his face and all I could do was stare. Maybe drool a bit as I checked out my mate. The muscles of his thick arms flexed and he just looked so fucking good. Water ran down his pecs and abs and I wanted to just lick it up.

Once a panty soaker, always a panty soaker. His vibrant blue eyes locked onto my gaze, and I wondered if he was reading my mind when the color changed to dark purple to let me know he was turned on. That, or he was about to shift, but I didn’t think it was that.

No, it was probably the tiny bikini I was wearing.

He looked so big even from as far away as I was. He was almost seven feet so yeah, big didn’t really cover it enough. Hudson was clean-shaven too—which was my favorite way for him to be—and it made his strong jaw and chiseled features stand out even more.

Seriously, what a fucking panty soaker.

Splashing distracted me, and I saw Darby pull himself up on the dock, licking my lips as I took in the view of him too. Darby wasn’t bulky, but every inch of him was sculpted like perfect art or live Photoshop. It was honestly unreal the amount of lines my sexy vampire had on his body.

His dark red hair was sticking up all over after he rubbed his hand over his head to get some of the water off. It was so weird to me that I liked his hair shorter and Hudson’s longer, but it just worked for them. Darby’s hair like that made him look sterner, sexier with his gray eyes and when he had his glasses on.

Right then he didn’t, and they sparkled in the sunlight in a way I wasn’t sure I’d seen before. He was enjoying the day and swim which apparently, he really needed.

And I needed him, so whatever it took to make him happy I would do it.

I got distracted when Lucca grabbed Hudson around the neck and tried to dunk him. I swallowed down my worry that Hudson would leave me for his friend. I knew Hudson wouldn’t, but we’d had issues because of my problems with Lucca, and fear wasn’t logical.

But I also loved watching them together. They were best friends, and I wanted them happy… Even if my mind drifted to the naked times of them together. It was hot but also caused my heart to hurt remembering it. They had been so beautiful together and made me feel so unloved and unappreciated because of how Lucca had let Hudson be boss.

Something he could never do with me.

Still, I appreciated the sexy bear. He was mixed race, White from his dad and Black from his mom. His mom was a beauty, and he got a lot of his best genes from her… And unfortunately, too much of his personality from his asshole father.

His light mocha skin looked delicious in the sun with water dripping all over it. Hudson grabbed him around the chest and went to flip him over, showing just how ripped Lucca had become. The V dipping into his shorts made me check if I was drooling, and the eight-pack he was sporting didn’t help.

He went under the water but popped right back up laughing. I bit back a groan as he pushed his chocolate hair out of his face. Every inch of him was yummy, muscley goodness that I wanted to gobble up.

Except that would lead to a lot of complications. I could deal with us being friends again, but I didn’t want Lucca in my life for anything else.

Apparently, my hormones did though.

Duh.

Neldor pulled himself up onto the dock next to Darby and no matter my feelings about the fairy, as a woman I had to appreciate the view. His longer hair was down without any braids and in its full glory as it dripped with water all over him. I had a moment to wonder if that was why my men liked my hair so much because it could look as sexy when wet.

Granted, mine was much, much longer.

Like seriously, it was time for a trim.

I mentally sighed when Neldor laughed at something Darby said, his fucking dimples showing. The fact that the Prince of Darkness had sexy dimples killed me, and I was sure I wasn’t the only one.

Or took notice of his sexy physique. He was exactly what I would think of a fairy warrior if I was casting for a movie. Lean but with impressive muscle that was sculpted to airbrushed perfection.

And he also had those butt dimples. Damn him.

It was like a sexy buffet of male excellence and for some reason, fate had matched me with all of them. Granted, it wasn’t going to work out with all of them but even if it wasn’t, I could appreciate that I was a lucky woman in that area.

There was more splashing, and I saw Hudson almost to the shore… And his eyes were dark purple still. Lucca might have distracted him for the moment, but my dragon clearly knew what was on my mind. From his expression, I didn’t need three guesses of what he was planning to do to me.

Yes. Please.

“There’s something interesting I need to show you, shorty,” he said as he reached me.

“Oh, I just bet,” I chuckled as he plucked me off the ground and threw me over his shoulder. I was so wound up I didn’t even mind for once, the mating bond dancing all over my skin and getting me even hotter. I saw fairies moving like they were going to follow us, and I bared my teeth at them. “Don’t even think of following. Seriously, just don’t.”

Kerym actually burst out laughing while a few of the commanders seemed amused or conflicted. Lageos was covering his ears with his eyes closed.

Yeah, like that would help.

“Stay!” I ordered the Rothchilds who were also there guarding their prince. “I’ll protect him.”

“You’re gonna do something to him,” one of Mel’s cousins drawled.

“Are you complaining? He’s much happier after she does, and that makes our job easier,” a different one threw back.

I wasn’t the only one who laughed then.

Hudson carried me several hundred feet into the woods nowhere near the trails I knew of there before setting me on my feet… On his so my feet didn’t get cut. Geez, a woman could swoon with such consideration.

Then he seemed to think better of it and moved me over to some boulders hidden behind a curtain of trees.

I glanced around and raised an eyebrow. “This seems well chosen. Is this your normal make out spot?”

He chuckled as he ran his nose along my cheek and nipped at my earlobe. “I’ve never brought anyone to my family lands. I’ve told you that.”

“Actually, you said no one’s been in your room or had sex in your bed,” I reminded him.

“I’ve never touched a woman on any of my family lands or property,” he promised. “That was always going to be for whoever I mated. Dragons get too jealous to want to share.”

I flinched. “You share me.”

“That’s different. I get jealous when they get parts of you that I don’t or you don’t let me in. You do. Better than I do most times. You’re also very considerate of my jealousy issues.” He kissed me before I could reply. “I have no complaints about that, shorty. Let it go.”

But he did have complaints. As someone who overthought everything, it was hard not to poke at that, but my gut told me that his complaints were mostly about the situations I was in, not so much our relationship. Fine, I could leave that for the moment.

“I do know the spot most people have hookups at off the side dock, yes. I’ve always wanted to be naughty and enjoy this hidden place. I just needed you here to do it.” He kissed me again. “But you’re loud, so put up a barrier.”

I did, frowning at him. “Way to make a woman feel self-conscious.”

“I love that you’re loud, you know that.”

“I know, your thoughts say so too, but I hate it. I always feel…”

“Yeah, I have stuff I feel like that for too.” He was done with the talking though because he kissed me in a way that made it clear I was on the menu. He wasn’t gentle or teasing. No, Hudson’s tongue immediately plunged into my mouth and tried to map it out in a way that said all of me belonged to him.

And I did.

His hands moved everywhere too fast and titillated every inch of me. He pushed aside the material of my bikini and was playing with my breasts, then a hand was squeezing my ass. Then the other, and one was on my back. Seriously, he either had six hands or just moved faster than I could keep up with.

“It had better have been me that was turning you on,” he warned before bringing his head down and sucking on my nipple. “I smelled you getting wet, shorty. Were you being a perv watching your men half naked?”

“Yes, yes, I was.”

“Is that all?” He sighed when I flinched. “You’re not dead and can look, Tams. I just need to know what’s going on.”

“Lucca being around confuses me,” I sighed as I laid back on the rock. “I liked you guys being together, but you know what I fear. It’s my shit, I know that. You’ve done nothing to deserve it and I’m trying, I really am. But I liked you guys being happy, and it made me think of you guys naked together.”

“Which brought up hurtful stuff because he was an ass.” He nodded when I did, kissing my stomach as he stared up at me. “And Neldor.”

I shrugged. “He’s nice to look at. So is Dalyor.” I snorted. “Hell, I’m more attracted to them.”

“Not sure I wanted to hear that,” Hudson growled.

“I don’t know what to say about this. Yes, there’s attraction with Neldor, but I don’t want him.” I sighed when he tried to argue. “I don’t. If I was single, sure, we might hook up. But I don’t want him in my life like that, Hudson.” I got frustrated when that didn’t seem to be enough. “I have faith in you. Could you have some in me and stop poking on this?”

It was his turn to flinch. He gave a long kiss lower on my stomach. “I have all the faith in you. He’s your mate. I just want us to keep talking about it.”

I pushed up on my elbows and frowned at him. “Yeah, we talk about him more than we do us. Kinda like with Lucca who you love. I push my shit aside about that and trust you. I don’t like Neldor even in that way. He is not someone I would want to date, mate or not. Screw? Sure, if I was single. I don’t know how else to say this to you or everyone who badgers me about it!”

He let out a slow breath. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right and I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“We’re not public, and it seems our whole world and Faerie wants to push us together. I get it. Believe me, I get it. I’m just tired of it always being what—I need a break from it, Hudson. I wanted to just be here with you, and even you keep bringing it up. I’m not going to be with Neldor, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

I was near tears when I finished and moved my bikini to cover up, no longer in the mood. I was so sick of people pushing me towards Neldor or acting like I was silly for not giving in to us being mates. I was maybe friends with him now, but I didn’t want to date him, much less mate him.

“I’m sorry, Tams,” he whispered when I sat up and tried to get off of the boulder. “I’m sorry. There’s just so much going on.”

“There’s too much going on, and I need people to hear me that I’m overwhelmed and not to push.”

“I’m scared,” he breathed, saying maybe the only thing that made me chill out. “He wants to be with you and if that happens, I will be pushed out. I know it. I will be… I’m scared.”

“One, I would never let anyone push you aside. I wouldn’t, so have faith in me on that. Yes, all of Faerie will push me to have a fairy mate. Maybe one day or at least a consort to father an heir. I’m not blind. I’m also nowhere near that, and we live a long fucking time. Plus, I love you.”

“I believe you in all of that, I do. But things change, Tams. You have to understand he wants you.”

“He wants to screw me, not be with me,” I drawled. I shook my head when he tried to argue. “Please just trust me? I know more than you do, and that’s why this topic hurts me.”

He searched my eyes for several moments. “And whatever you know will make me want to kill him if you tell me.” He sighed when I shrugged. “Okay, I believe you, and I’m sorry I’m being pushy. I see the other side where he smells of lust around you too often or is thrilled when you turn to him, agree with him, or anything that shows you’re a team.”

I snorted. “Neldor doesn’t want to be a team like we are. Trust me. I know that as much as I know how much you like me to show you my nape and you fuck me as hard as you can.”

“I know you’re telling me the truth, but that’s a bit hard to believe.”

“It’s not if you’re really paying attention instead of just getting jealous,” I whispered. “Pay attention to when people refer to him as my second or VP. Even I sense the disappointment. He took the deal because it was better than being completely shut out. It’s not what Neldor wants, and he certainly doesn’t want me for real, but to use us being mates against me.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured after a few moments. “I’m really sorry.”

“Why? Because three of my mates have been toxic relationships to me and could never work out? Because I have a single good one of four?” I sniffled and shrugged. “I’m fine with it. Darby fell in love with me, and I’m happy with the two of you. I just want the others to leave me be and move on.”

“I don’t know that Lucca will,” Hudson worried.

I shrugged again. “I’ll try to be his friend, but I can’t see a way to ever try again. I just can’t. Not with the way things are.” I hugged myself and looked away. “Let’s go back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you so scared I wouldn’t be better to you,” I whispered, internally wincing at how passive-aggressive that sounded. There was no good way to say it, but that was harsh. Maybe?

“Don’t, don’t do that,” he whispered as he hugged me to him. “You gotta stop blaming yourself for everything, Tams. It’s not your fault that I get insecure just like it’s not mine when you do. We do our best, okay? I didn’t realize it was such a thing with me that I keep bringing it up.”

“Sorry,” I rasped, rolling my eyes at myself. “I mean I’m sorry I’m making it all about me. I wasn’t trying to. I just don’t know… Did I do something to make you think I was into him?”

He didn’t answer for several moments. “No, no, you didn’t and I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.”

“I swear to you that I will tell you if anything changes. I just—please don’t bring it up to me when everyone else does. I’m so fucking tired of it, like seriously bury him alive so I can stop hearing about him.”

“The Prince of Darkness would find a way to come back,” he grumbled, kissing my shoulder when I snorted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin our fun.”

“It’s fine. I hate when you’re upset and worry about something you shouldn’t.” I kissed his nose but then went to pull away.

“No, you can’t go yet. This was our fun time.”

“The mood’s kinda gone,” I muttered, amused someone so big could pout like that though. I frowned when he snorted. “I’m not looking to pick a fight or have issues, I’m really not, but any sane woman would get pissy you just implied I’m easy.”

He snorted again, kissing me quiet before I could blast him. “No, shorty, I’m just that gooood.”

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. Hudson was a total panty soaker but smooth? No, not even. He was hot because he was confident and knew what he had going for him. He wasn’t a player or a guy with the best lines.

I wouldn’t have loved him if he was. That wasn’t something I found attractive.

“Now my feelings are hurt,” he grumbled as he kissed under my ear. “You know I’m good. You love what I do to you.”

“Yeah, I do, but you’re not that douche guy who thinks he’s all that.”

“I do with you,” he argued. He nibbled on my earlobe and cupped my ass, pulling me closer. “You love what I do to you. You love how I make you feel when I’m inside you. I drive you crazy.”

“I drive you crazy,” I gasped as he rubbed against me.

“Fuck, you so do. You drive me nuts, and I’m always so hard for you.”

“Are you now?” I teased as I slid my hand in his shorts. “Oh yeah, you’re definitely hard.”

“I need inside of you,” he growled against my lips.

“We’re not having sex, goof,” I argued, freezing when he did. “Hudson, how are we going to clean up? Did you grab a towel or anything? My dad is on the shore, and you want me to go back sexed up and dripping with—he’ll kill you. There are limits.”

“Fine, then I’m going to eat you out like you need, and you’re going to sneak into my bed tonight and give me what I need.” He swallowed loudly. “No more ducking me. Smelling you in my room and then you not being there scared the shit out of me, shorty.”

“I’m trying. I’ll do better,” I promised. I shook my head when he frowned. “I won’t ever risk you, Hudson. My magic could freak again. If it does, yeah, I’m going to duck you. I swear I won’t do it without contacting you. I’ll do better.”

“Deal.” He kissed me breathless and then moved me to lie down on the boulder. I moaned when he brought my thighs to his shoulders and pushed my bikini aside.

The evil dragon started slow, licking over my clit and then around my lips. He thrust his tongue inside of me in a way that made it very, very clear there was something else he wanted to put in me.

Duh.

Still, it was sexy and so was his desperation. He lost patience when I begged him for more and ate me like he couldn’t get enough of me.

Glad that feeling was mutual.

I was like a noodle when we were done. He swooped me up in his arms, and I practically purred for him which amused him to no end.

“I love you, Tams,” he whispered as he nuzzled my hair. “I’m sorry I added to your stress. I’ll do better.”

I ducked closer to him and smiled. “I get it. None of this is easy. Thanks for hearing me.”

“I’ll get it right eventually. We give each other all the chances we need. That’s love.”

“Yeah, it is because we try to do better. If you weren’t trying—neither of us can be doormats.” I kissed his neck. “I love you too, beastie.”

“Good.” He chuffed a bit to let me know River was riding him.

Yeah, well, later River could ride me how he wanted… As long as he stayed as Hudson’s form.

It made sense in my head.

7

I started to doze on the walk back, but Hudson’s growl made me wide awake even if I didn’t know what it was about. “Have some respect.”

I glanced over and rolled my eyes when people were giving us a range of looks. “Oh fuck off. We didn’t have sex in the woods when my dad is right there. Let us have some summer break fun and mind your business.”

“Glad you had fun, agra,” Darby chuckled as he grabbed me away from Hudson. “I was simply sad I wasn’t invited.” His eyes were full of mirth, obviously knowing it was the good kind of fun. He gave me a quick kiss before pressing his lower body against me as he nuzzled my neck. “How about we have some fun in the water?”

I went to tease him that I was tired, but he ran his fangs over my neck and made me shiver. Apparently, I was still in the mood for fun.

Until Darby suddenly wasn’t there.

I gasped when my vision was full of Dalyor and the thick, thick rage in his eyes. I’d never seen the captain so pissed.

“You ever touch her with your fangs again and we will end you,” Agis bit out.

I glanced over and saw he was holding Darby. “Release him this instant!” I bellowed, shocking the fairies. “Now!”

Agis did but kept close to Darby. “Your Highness, he cannot—”

“We know,” Darby seethed, his hands held up in surrender, not having struggled against Agis. “Captain, release my mate before we have a problem. I don’t like you touching her like that and taking her from me.”

Dalyor cleared his throat and gently set me on my feet. “He—we thought he—his fangs should never be by your neck, Your Highness.”

I snorted, giving him a pissed glance before hurrying over to Darby. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he promised. “I saw them coming and figured it out.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, cupping his face.

“How can you apologize to him when his fangs came out around you, Your Highness?” Agis worried.

I shot him a look that would scare most people. “I love when his fangs come out and I turn him on. That’s what happens to vampires. It’s exhilarating to know we trust each other so much I would allow it. He won’t bite me. He knows. Neldor’s taken all the time and more to explain it to both of us. You fucking overreacted and upset my mate. Of course, I would apologize.”

“It’s a hard concept for us to adjust to,” Shael cut in. “You need to learn to adapt.”

Pain laced through my heart that she would say that to me… Except I realized she was talking to Dalyor, Agis, Kerym, and Rafe.

Wow, things really were different after all. Finally.

The fairies apologized to Darby who actually took it in stride. I was shocked by that, but he simply shrugged and said he was glad they were finally taking my safety seriously even if from him. I thought that was sweet, but I really melted when he added it was the first step to them seeing me as a person instead of something Faerie owned.

Damn. Like dayumn.

The mood of the outing was gone though, and the last little bit of drama zapped my energy. I asked Darby and Hudson if they wanted to nap at my hotel before we had dinner. That shocked them but honestly, I just needed the fucking night off. I felt bad for messing with Darby and Izzy’s sleep because of the time zones, but they needed the fun too.

School was going to start soon after all.

Izzy was also going to post about our lunch and the place not to go to. She was fine pretending to be me and asking about the lady who was attacked.

I was practically out the moment I hit my bed. I swallowed a squeal when I felt for the squishy bear and cuddled around it, not caring that my bikini was riding up and flashing ass or more. I was too tired.

For real, I was exhausted. That was how I could tune out some arguing in the background. Whatever it was, I didn’t care. They could figure it out, or Hudson would make sure no one got beat.

Unless he was the one doing the pounding. They would probably deserve it.

I woke still tired, but really hungry. I hadn’t swam much because I wasn’t as good at it as like Darby, and it was different than running. It was also the stress but if I slept too much then, I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night.

“Give me that,” Hudson grumbled as I came around.

I gave a yelp as the pillow I was using was pulled out from under my head. No, the Squishmallow. I had been using the bear as a pillow. “Hey, that was a gift.”

He chuffed and dropped something big on my lap. “River wanted you to have that. He can’t snuggle with you, but now he can.”

My eyes went wide as I took in the massive dragon Squishmallow on my lap. I squealed as I tackled it. I groaned at the softness and curled up all around it. “This is my favorite thing ever.”

“Good,” Hudson huffed. “River didn’t like you snuggling with another animal.”

I swallowed a giggle as I glanced up at him. “River didn’t, huh?”

“No.” His eyes said to let it go… But I couldn’t.

“So you went out and bought this from wherever?”

“He had one of the Rothchilds run to Costco,” Lucca grumbled from the corner of my hotel room. “Apparently, that was where they had it in stock. And a bigger one.”

I moved faster than Hudson was ready for and snagged back my bear. I snuggled into the dragon and hugged the bear. “Yeah, this is perfect.”

“Let her play with the bear,” Lucca growled when Hudson moved closer.

“No, the bear got kicked out for mistreating her,” Hudson snapped. “She snuggles only with a dragon now.”

“It’s a polar bear, not one like me,” Lucca drawled.

The look Hudson gave Lucca would have scared a smart man, especially when he started chuffing. “I’m not a blue dragon but clearly the dragon is for me. She doesn’t need a bear that won’t be as good to her.”

“You wouldn’t know that she loves those and to get her one without the bear,” Lucca threw right back.

“True, but the fucking bear apparently can track down my mate and shows up in her hotel room when she’s sleeping. So the fucking bear can piss off.”

Oh wow. Just wow. I wasn’t sure Hudson had ever gotten so upset at Lucca on my behalf like that. Or he had but not really jealous?

“I need more snuggles,” I told Hudson, reaching up and grabbing his hand. I couldn’t yank him down to the bed with me. He was too strong for that. I swallowed a laugh when he didn’t give in, staring at the bear lying on me.

He caved when I tossed it to the ground, hugging me and the dragon together. “These are really fucking soft and smushy.”

“Right?” I chuckled, rubbing my face against his chest. “I love my gift. River is so thoughtful.”

“I bought it,” he mumbled after a few minutes, confessing like I didn’t already know that. I had the mental image of River actually going to a Costco and trying to do anything other than destroy the place.

I lived a weird, weird life.

And yes, I did sneak into Hudson’s bed that night, and a lot of fun was had by all. Plus a few healing runes for me.

Nice.

The next morning, training was interrupted with another problem. Not shocking, but what did shock me was how long it took for people to get their shit together. They probably thought they were smart delaying until just before the cutoff and would take advantage of the situation but honestly, I had been waiting for this.

I had a few quick phone calls to make and one person to drop in on, but I had everything ready for the meeting that was now going to be on my lunch break.

“Your Highness, what are you doing?” Onas hissed when I showed up in workout clothes and with a lot of food.

I smiled. “These people think they’re important because of the importance people give them. In reality, they rank as a matter to handle on my lunch break. Let them see that.”

His thoughts were exploding as I brushed past him. It was probably best I turned off my telepathy for the meeting anyways. Glancing over at Taeral, I knew he agreed and would be handling it.

I moved right to the middle of the room, pushing aside memories of the first time I’d been there. Without realizing it at first, I glanced over to the spot Julian had been the night I’d been found. I mentally shook it off and sat down at the same seat I had then, glad there was a table for me to set all my food on.

Something that seemed to amuse Headmaster Edelman. “I would apologize, but I’m fairly sure you’re smart enough to expect this of me by now. I have a lot of pressing matters, and the royal healers are clear my health needs to be a bigger priority.”

His lips slightly twitched, but he didn’t show any other signs of amusement. “I’m honestly shocked there’s not more going on than you bringing your lunch when it was demanded at the last minute that you appear in front of the school board.”

I clucked my tongue as I sat down. “You know me better than that.” I smirked at Lucca’s dad before looking over at the others gathered off to the side. A handful of councilmen that were to represent the councils at this meeting. “It’s adorable that you all don’t expect this of me and always think you got the drop on me.”

“This meeting was called—” Mr. Von Thann started, but I cut in.

“Yeah, and it took you long enough,” I sighed, shocking several people there. “But first, there are a few procedural issues to handle. For one, Artemis now has two fairy students that attend. As such, they will have a voice on the school board going forwards and a seat allowed us as the other species have advisors.” I gestured over to the councilmen.

“That is allowed,” Von Thann admitted. “I think it would depend on who you were thinking.”

I thought it was a sexist jab until Lageos snorted. Ahhh, they didn’t want the demigod. Chickens.

“It should be me, but I feel that’s a conflict. Iolas is still planning on teaching here so he can hover over me, so I think Commander Onas is best.”

“More than acceptable,” Edelman agreed. “Thank you for sparing your time to help our school be the best it can be, Commander.”

“Of course.” He gave me another shocked glance and then went to sit by the council area.

“Now then, we can start—” Von Thann tried again.

“Wait, I said a few things,” I chuckled darkly. “I’ve spoken with the head of the Dragon Council and going forward, they will be abstaining from their advisory roles to this or any school. They agree it best given the amount of mistakes they’ve made in recent years. They really shouldn’t handle such important situations like our schools.”

“So another fairy will?” one of the councilmen drawled.

“No, one of the royals,” I replied, my tone very much implying the duh there. “As it was such short notice, Queen Sasha will be stepping in for her mate today, and I thank her for rearranging her busy schedule. Apparently, other leaders have nothing pressing to pull meetings like this.”

Queen Sasha came in on cue and was as lovely as ever, not even waiting for Von Thann to agree or not.

He wasn’t stupid enough to disagree. No one was that stupid.

“Anything else?” Von Thann sighed, at least wising up to check before I trampled all over him.

I smiled brightly as I decided to drop the big bombs. “Yes, as the council members of the Witches and Warlocks Council are still being detained by us along with the Vampire Council, Commander Shael and Commander Stefanie will be filling in for them. I would have said Dean White, but she’s here already so her students have the voice they need.”

Again, the women didn’t wait for approval, going and sitting over by the others. It was hard not to laugh at the shock on their faces.

I thought it was rather stupid of them not to assume this sort of behavior from me. For real, they were still underestimating me. Idiots.

“Now, before I decide if I’m going to continue my education here, there needs to be—”

“You decide if you will attend here?” Von Thann demanded. “This meeting is to decide if we’ll allow you to continue here.”

I smirked up at him. I tried my best to contain my amusement, but I really couldn’t. A chuckle slipped out before I could smother it, but I did pretty well otherwise. “Yes, thank you, I realize that was why you thought the meeting would be that. I’m fully caught up on what is going on here. The part you’re not hearing is I was waiting for this meeting. I said that.”

“Sure, we believe that,” one of the councilmen grumbled.

I smirked over at that area. “You guys aren’t that deep. Councilman Brooks isn’t here along with a few others who actually like me. You’re making a move to get what you wanted before and are using the school board because Von Thann hates me. He mostly hates that he could never control me—nor could any of you, but he does hate me. How close am I?”

“Very, Your Highness,” Taeral drawled. “They want to shut down your social media popularity before it becomes any more of a problem and hide behind the attention it would draw the school as an excuse.”

I winked at Von Thann. “Yeah, I saw that coming. Took you guys long enough.” I let that sink in. “But please, go announce to everyone in our world and the humans that I wasn’t allowed back here. Why? My grades were bad? No, they weren’t, and I’ve placed out of classes. I didn’t pay my tuition? I not only do that but am the largest contributor to the school.”

“The reason doesn’t matter, the optics do,” Von Thann snapped.

“Yes, yes, they do,” I purred. “You still think attending here is the gold standard and ultimate prize that I need.” I snorted. “I have Harvard begging me to transfer to bring attention to them. All of the Ivy League schools.”

“Oxford called yesterday,” Shael added. “I was shocked why.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been college shopping because I saw this coming. This is the only ‘authority’ over me, and people abuse their power every damn day.” I glanced over at Taeral. “So what were the demands they were going to try and give me to block me from registering for classes the day before the cutoff?”

I whistled when steam practically came out of his ears and I saw the death of several people there.

“You piss off my dad and that’s on you, idiots,” I sighed when Lageos looked as if he was chewing glass.

“Von Thann apparently thinks the nobles’ plot to release the ancients to control you a good idea and thought to leverage your schooling so that you would release them into his care for investigations. He will make the right deals from there,” Lageos explained.

Yeah, I was really glad I kept my telepathy off because I might kill the asshole.

I stared the bear down with the hate he gave me. “You are not remotely as important as you think yourself. The ancients wouldn’t have any need for you.”

His eyes filled with greed. “I have—”

“You’re a monster,” I seethed, knowing he was thinking of Lucca before he could even say it. “People are not your pawns. You’re not even a councilman. You’re one sloth leader and while big for the bears, you’re not remotely even the size or prestige of Alpha Geoff. Most nod to your face and blast you behind your back. I’m caught up enough on that now.”

“And I would have never allowed that,” Edelman cut in before too many ears heard something bad. “There were valid issues, so I didn’t fight this. It was supposed to be a conversation on how to do better going forward.”

I accepted that with a nod. “The commanders have promised not to be so over the top. No more just portaling in for whatever they want. Emergencies only, and they will notify you as they do along with security. No exceptions.”

Relief filled his eyes. “Thank you. Yes, that would be great.”

I figured as much given how well Shael’s press conference had gone. “They will also be paying a penance for all of the disruptions and freaking out.”

“We will?” one of them asked from behind me.

“Yes, you will,” I chuckled darkly. They were smart enough to figure out what I was up to, so would Edelman, but the others would forever think I was just an idiot woman. “They will each take a guard shift duty during the day free to the school who never has the budget for everything they need. It can give a different guard a chance to check cameras or handle maintenance.”

“Which you learned was an issue from Zack or Ray,” Edelman muttered.

“Before that even,” I admitted. “Sean said cameras kept going down because idiots don’t pay attention when they’re shifted and running. But there was never enough time or funds to fix that while maintaining and handling their duties. So now the guards will have some backup. It will also help with the issue you will now face and I’m sure the reason you thought to talk.”

Again, his lips twitched. “The attention the school is getting with your popularity and people knowing you go here.”

“Yes.” I smirked at the council members and then the school board before focusing on Von Thann. “But go ahead and deny me attending. Honestly, I hope you do.” I snorted when the tension shot up from the fairies. “If you deny me, then I’m not the jerk for breaking my word I would be here. Granted, I think that’s completely unfair given how in the dark I was.

“But fairies keep their word. I hear it all the damn time and it’s annoying. So please, free me from that. I would love for you to be the villains and get the hell out of this school. I would be grateful to not have to attend here anymore and get tutored instead. You think I care about the degree like it’s the brass ring. It never was for me.

“And now you can’t even teach me what I originally agreed to. You aren’t powerful enough to teach a fairy control, and you probably always knew that. Fine, you were my best option then, and you wanted the prestige of the last fairy graduating here, the only fairy to truly attend Artemis. You have the brass ring with me finishing here.

“For me, it’s a pain in the fucking ass. Half the campus are complete assholes, and that might be generous. I have spent so many hours with that bullshit I’ve lost track. You are not my best option. Not even close, and fairies laugh how this is your best school after all I’ve been through. I mean, you guys tied Edelman up so bad he couldn’t do anything.”

“This is the best school for supes,” one councilman argued. “You are blessed we allow you here.”

I didn’t even get a chance to laugh, every fairy there laughing, along with Queen Sasha, Dean White… And Headmaster Edelman.

“The fact you can not only say that with a straight face but believe it is seriously messed up,” I chastised. “Do you need the list of issues I’ve had here in three years? The problems I’ve drawn attention to? Let’s start with how the scholarship students were being used by the previous headmaster. Oh, I was attacked by a student who tried to force me to mate and almost killed me.

“Coach Khan was pretty much useless, and Mel fixed that all up because I came here. There was Professor Koch who was intentionally reading the thoughts of people and using them against them. Mentally molesting all the females here, and people would then cheat with charms. Honestly, everyone here and those recently graduated needs to retake those classes to be safe.

“Don’t forget the cheating for the Power Playoffs. That was just freshman year. Then there was Instructor McGrath the warlock elders put here. And he was replaced with Kramer who was just as big of a crazy. That was awesome. Oh, rigging that tournament so Blake Ward could figure out what species I was and get the councils to own me. More cheating at the best university. People here for that trading program attacking me.

“And we can never forget the estate management class bullshit with the vampire councilman’s psycho wife who was hassling lots of people that you all allowed. My magical art class, I basically had to figure out on my own like lots of my studies because none of it was meant for a fairy and the teachers are lazy. I’m sure I’m missing something but yeah, I’m blessed.”

“Campbell,” Taeral sighed. “You forgot about Professor Campbell intentionally trying to derail your studies and then offered to sell you to a warlock family.”

I glanced over to the councilman who had spoken. “Maybe you should shut up while you’re behind. Seriously. I’ve done more for this school cleaning shit up and finding problems than I’ve gotten from here. By. Far.”

He had the decency not to try to argue, but he wasn’t happy with me.

Well, the feeling was mutual, so he could suck it.

I looked back at Von Thann. “So go ahead and toss me. Good luck having any credibility after all that’s happened here and then you toss the student.”

“There is so little left in Artemis that it wouldn’t be difficult,” Queen Sasha drawled. “Clearly, it has a lot to do with the non-faculty involvement and their selfish priorities that have nothing to do what’s best for the school. I think a meeting of all the trustees and current parents is needed to elect a new representative to speak for us.”

Oh shit, she was pissed. I didn’t blame her and thought it was time to throw down too. It would make things more awkward between Lucca and Hudson, but I honestly saw Lucca agreeing with this.

Nothing shocked me more when Von Thann ignored her and kept his focus on me. “You’re bluffing. You don’t smell of a lie, but you’re bluffing or completely delusional. The last shred of credibility you have with some fairies would be gone if you abandoned your pledge to attend here.”

“Do you have like a death wish?” I whispered, glancing between him and Queen Sasha who could destroy him before her mate even got involved.

“My apologies, Queen Sasha, but I wish to address what Alpha Ronald just said,” Onas cut in.

“Please, maybe you can smack some sense into him and dislodge his head from his ass so my mate doesn’t eat him,” she said, her tone mocking and amused.

She was amazing. I would have had steam coming out of my ears.

And I normally did.

“Thank you.” Onas turned to Von Thann. “You are delusional on this topic especially. Even the nobles don’t want her or Prince Neldor here after how she has been treated. They do not care for the promise given before the heir to Faerie knew of the corruption and more here. There have been protests against her returning after another teacher was a threat to her.

“They want her safe in her castle in Faerie and the best and brightest scholars we have at her beck and call. You cannot be so misguided to think that is better than what Artemis can offer? Even from what I’ve seen I’m saddened that any fairy had to endure three years of this much less our remaining royals.”

I didn’t know about the protests, but it made sense. I smirked at Von Thann, annoyed when he seemed to actually listen because well, Onas had a penis.

Dick.

For real. What a fucking asshole.

I fully agreed he needed to be removed, but I didn’t foresee that being the end of him butting into my life. I couldn’t think of anything to stop that but an unthinkable option.

Fuck my life.

8

“Not going to call my bluff?” I checked when everyone was silent for several moments.

“No, apparently they believe Commander Onas,” Taeral grumbled.

“Well, as long as they believe someone, at least the meeting can move forward even if they show how idiotic they are,” I said in a syrupy sweet voice. Then I focused on Edelman. “As I said, the commanders will behave and will keep other fairies in line. For us to continue here when there have been so many issues, there are matters to work out.”

“Of course,” he accepted, giving me a nod to go ahead.

“Professor Sontar—or someone answering to him—will be allowed in all of our classes—”

“There is no problem with Prince Neldor’s instruction,” one of the councilmen cut in. “Don’t make this an issue that you both have when you are the problem here and a cancer we can’t seem to ever cut out.”

I slowly turned to the hawk elder as I held up my hand to hold off the fairies. “I’d be very careful how you speak to me going forwards, you little pissant. I haven’t forgotten about the hobgoblins you held in captivity, nor the cache of fairy magic you stole in the first year they were gone. You want me gone because you think that will end anyone paying attention to supes.

“You are, once again, wrong. You are on a very, very long list of so many we have to handle. We will get to you, so stop acting like you hold any sway and maybe start getting your affairs in order. There is no statute of limitations on these crimes no matter what you blowhards are all saying. And most of your council is dying to get in good with us, so you will be roadkill.

“Several of your council. And the deer shifter council who tried to abduct me and hand me over to an illegitimate dragon ruler. The bear council and I are cool today. I’m not sure what’s going on with the wolf council and the power grab they’re struggling with, but over half of them adore me. Oh and the fox council should be careful around every fairy. Always.”

“So quit while you’re behind is what our wise princess is telling you,” Stefanie warned, her tone ice cold.

I glanced at everyone on the other side of the meeting in turn before focusing on Edelman. “Neldor’s here because of me. Let’s be clear about that. He hasn’t made any kind of commitment, and he’s so well educated he could teach classes here. We both know it. He’s here because the situation I’m in amuses him.

“I also provide him with cover from our own politics and crap going on. Plus, being close to me is the wisest place for him to be and he knows it. But he could pay whoever to train him or have the best scholars tripping over themselves to teach him. He’s not in any need of this place or leverage to use against me.”

“His teachers have said about the same,” Edelman chuckled but then clarified. “That he could teach the classes. Most of us believe he’s here for the novelty. You’ve opened an option for him he—nor any royal—has never had. Given his competitive nature, I would gather he’s smart enough to use this chance to his advantage.”

“You are a very good judge of character, Kyle,” my dad said with a chuckle.

Woah. When did that happen? I wasn’t the only one shocked when I glanced around.

“Staying a step ahead of my corrupt father and grandfather was the only way to undo anything I could,” Edelman replied. “We’re still on for dinner tonight, yes?”

“Depends if you give my daughter what she wants. I do have treats reserved from the bakery so be nice.”

Edelman snorted as if that was all it took to buy him off. I still didn’t understand what Lageos was doing hanging out with Edelman.

Then it hit me. Right, that magical item my mom had made that I’d found. Lageos was going to talk to the headmaster about doing inventory in the vault and looping him in. Smart to make friends with him first, very smart.

“As I was saying, Professor Sontar, or whatever instructor he assigns, will have full access to the teacher and lesson plans,” I said to Edelman, bringing the conversation back around. “No one could deny I was ignorant to magic coming in here and again, I know you, and others did the best they could, especially Dean White.

“I don’t want this to be a slight on Artemis because I’m fair, but it’s been made clear to me that I learned too much like a witch would. Except I’m not a witch, and that was part of what tied me into so many balls and caused problems. We don’t want problems going forward, especially given we will have more eyes now.”

“That’s more than acceptable, but we do need to talk about these eyes,” he said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “We’ve been getting requests for transfer applications.”

“Good.” I nodded when people gave me shocked looks. “You guys were on the FBI’s radar as a cult or something. You need to get that stink off of you. It’s going to be a pain, but it also gives you some better credibility with the whole big world out there. Also, it’s eyes on this place that some of the students never get, but not eyes in here.

“Like I told the councils at that other impromptu meeting, people need to not post that they’re going to Paris for dinner after a rough exam. Most assume they’re idiots or full of shit, but that’s a red flag. Plus, do we really want the elites looking like they’re full of shit to the rest of the world? No, that won’t end well in the future.

“People need to take this all more seriously. For real. No one listened to me about this before, but now I’ve forced the issue. It wasn’t the goal. It wasn’t remotely the goal, but it’s now something that can’t be ignored. People will start having to use the landing strip more or actually plot out where they are supposed to be like Izzy does for me.

“Others will need more practice with glamours or charms. It’s smart training that I’m going to have all fairies go through and not simply because they are decades behind. Technology has gotten more advanced in the three years I’ve been here. We have to advance with it, or we will be outed and in labs. I’d prefer that not be our future.”

“You should have discussed this with us first and received our permission,” one of the councilmen snapped.

I felt a migraine forming, so I did what they did to me all of the time… Ignored him. “I won’t have livestreams here on campus or do anything live at all. So I’m sorry if it’s going to be an inconvenience for people and force them to care about what they’re doing, but they should have been before.”

“Agreed,” Dean White said, several echoing her. “There might need to be some sort of help for scholarship students to facilitate their transit so our numbers match up since they can’t use portals to arrive.”

Now why would that be on me to handle? I adored Dean White, but even she fell into the mindset that if I caused the problem, I should clean it up. The reality was they were making mistakes I pointed out and they should handle.

I was relieved when Stefanie seemed of the same opinion from the look we shared.

“Does Artemis even have a bus or anything for cover?” she asked. “I know it’s a college that doesn’t compete in normal collegiate sports which is incredibly odd for the human world, but you have to have something that’s normal, yes?”

No, not remotely. They all seemed gobsmacked at the idea even.

Idiots.

“Commander, can you talk to Katrina? She can facilitate a bus being bought for—”

“We can have it handled by the morning, Princess,” Queen Sasha cut in. “Not everything should be left to the fairies when they point out our shortcomings.”

Yeah, she was at her limit.

“Thank you,” I accepted. “If we could get one painted bus for trips, we could get a team of fairies to do cloaked portals from the nearest airport or something. People could think they were seeing several buses and could account for everyone, but it’s just one time warping the trip here.”

“Smart,” she praised. “People would be seen at the airport which they should get used to and learn how to handle that. Come through a cloaked portal near a restroom for local flights.”

“Yes, exactly.” I pulled out my phone and brought up a map. “Maybe even two places like Omaha and Kansas City? Or one from Omaha, one from Wichita, and a few from Kansas City.”

“Yes, that might be best. I’ll bring it up with the other trustees in the meeting we’ll be calling. This should have been handled already, and it’s sad that our representative has been so obsessed with controlling you and your power instead of protecting our children as he was elected to do.”

Nice. Seriously, nice.

“Good, Commander Iolas can coordinate with whomever since he’s still going to be faculty here,” I decided, glad when people seemed to agree. “Now, on to the matter of accommodations. I’m going—”

“You are not running this meeting,” that same councilman interrupted. “You were called in here to answer to us, and you will or we—”

“If you don’t stop disrespecting our future queen by speaking to her that way, I will make you bite your tongue off and repeat it every time you shift and it regrows,” Onas warned with a tone so cold even I almost shivered. “Even I can keep up with this better than you have. She tricked you into calling this meeting so she could handle things.”

“What?” someone else gasped. “She couldn’t have known we would.”

“She has already said she did,” Taeral growled. “Yes, she knew you wouldn’t allow her to call this needed meeting because you don’t listen to anyone female. She already explained she’s hijacking it because you have no leverage against her. Keep up and stop making us all repeat ourselves!”

Well, he was at his wits’ end as well. Glad they were and not just me.

Or in a better world, it would be nice to not have anyone be this big of jerks.

“The royal healers have made it clear that I need to fuel up even more than I have been, and it needs to be more fae food,” I continued as if I hadn’t been interrupted. “As odd as it sounds to my own ears, I need a medical exemption to be allowed to eat in class. I will be quiet and nothing crunchy, but I need it.”

“Of course,” Edelman granted. “We will inform your teachers. Some have asked if you need a special desk for your wings to be out.”

“No, but she will need a chair she can sit backwards on for the days she’ll have her wings out for training,” Shael said, wincing when I glanced at her. “You’re not there yet, Your Highness, but the headmaster is referring to his knowledge of fairies having their wings out as long as possible. It’s part of appreciating our magic to cloak them and fully settling with your magic.”

“When it jumps levels,” Stefanie clarified. Nodding when I winced. “Not the little jumps, but when you have a big one that Dalyor senses, the healers will instruct you to keep your wings out.”

“Well, I need some new clothes then,” I sighed, but still thanked them for the information. “I apologize but yes, I will need that exception as well.”

“Of course. What else?”

“The princess has outgrown the training facilities you have here and as such—”

“Thank you, Commander, but I have that on my list,” I told Onas.

“Of course. I apologize, Your Highness. I simply didn’t want it to be missed.”

“You can add anything needed once I’m done speaking instead of assuming I don’t know what’s best for me since I am not a moron,” I lightly chastised, several people smothering a chuckle. I felt a flare of pride though and glanced over my shoulder to see Lageos beaming at me. I raised an eyebrow at that, but then I noticed Iolas had the same reaction.

It was about my mom then. I must have reminded them of her.

I focused on Edelman again. “I doubt you’ve watched my livestreams but—”

“Many of us have, and your solo training was impressive,” Dean Collins praised. “It’s extraordinary now that Dalyor is training you and very informative.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the vampire. He would never be my favorite, but it was nice that he now had his life back. There had been so much turmoil and crazy that I honestly had worried if we could get to this point, but we had and I needed to remember that progress.

“Thank you. Captain Dalyor is extremely dedicated and was the right choice. But my training has progressed past the facilities here. Neldor and I will continue our training at night as well, but it will no longer be the circus we first allowed.”

I held up my hand to ward off any objections because that had been ridiculously popular.

It was also ridiculous it was ever agreed to like we were there for their entertainment and they had a leg up over us. I couldn’t even fault the commanders—except not checking with me first—since they’d done it as a goodwill gesture.

Except that was something the elite supes didn’t do, and they saw it as a concession.

“As much as everyone blames me for everything, this school’s training program has vastly improved because of me. Yes, Mel teaches it and rocks the classes now, but I started it. However, I’m not a zoo animal, and the fact I was ever allowed to be viewed that way was a joke. It’s not about being princess but a person. An unknown isn’t a sideshow freak either.

“But I know how popular it was to watch us with popcorn like we were here for their amusement. We’re not doing that. What we will do is allow them nights to join in the training. We’ll allow the master’s students to try and fight us like the tournament this summer.”

“Your Highness, I must object,” Iolas gasped.

“Noted,” I chuckled… And continued right on. “I can absorb magic. I’m sure Neldor can too or learn how in a second. We’re in no danger, and I’m sure there can be safety bubbles put into place. However, it’s good training for us as well since—as you can see—fairies don’t approve of their royals in danger. Other supes won’t have a problem with that.

“But I’m livestreaming it. So if they come at us, it’s on the record and nothing shady later. I might do donations to watch the training and split it with the school, or we can work out the details later. It’s mostly going towards paying for the Faerie Guardian headquarters we will be designing and building. It’s a long-term goal but one we can get started on.”

“Well done,” Queen Sasha praised.

“Thank you.” I winked at her which amused the dragon. “Also, as Commander Onas interjected, the facilities here aren’t up to what I need. I have a place I train, and I need permission to use it without the main portal here. I already have unlimited portal passes, but people were bitching I just open a portal wherever and don’t get punished.

“They’re not wrong, but there are extenuating circumstances, and it needs to be addressed. I need permission. So does Neldor. It’s not me being a brat but a huge security risk as people try to follow us everywhere. It’s also dangerous for the students who work the portal for passes. I’ve seen people hassle them demanding to know where I go. I was protecting them too.”

“We didn’t know that,” Edelman admitted, jotting down some notes.

“You have a lot on your plate, and you can’t know everything. I would recommend cameras at the portal because people didn’t hassle the attendants just about me. It’s over the line, but they’re normally scholarship students and until last year, had no real rights. So that’s why I need the exemption and permission.”

“Granted,” he agreed before anyone could object. Even Von Thann didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

“Good. Lucca Von Thann and a few of his friends used the facility and worked with some of Captain Dalyor’s colleagues for additional training. They all said it was very helpful to raise their own goals. Plus, they seemed to enjoy trying to do what I did.” I smothered a snort. Yeah, that was an understatement.

I couldn’t even pick on them for being competitive. It was practically my middle name.

“So I’m willing to continue that as a gift for the students of Artemis. One they must appreciate and take seriously. It’s not a chance to find the location of the facility or be assholes. I would suggest the sports teams being the ones allowed to train early morning or scheduled free times. If it’s open access—well, I’m not going to allow that. We know it would be chaos.”

“That’s a very generous offer. One I’m shocked you would make,” the Dean of Hawks admitted. “I’m sure you have several reasons to make it, but I doubt you will tell us.”

I smiled at her. “I always thought you were wise.”

That amused several people. Edelman accepted the offer.

“Now, on to safety,” I sighed, scrubbing my hand over the back of my neck. “There is an ongoing issue of miscommunication, most recently Mason being on campus without anyone telling me.” I hurried on when I knew how this topic would be received. “I know the world doesn’t revolve around me, but he almost killed me.

“It is not asking too much to think someone would have informed me. I get it, you guys aren’t used to fairy royals being here or these circumstances. I’m not either. A lot of crap just happens. However, because it has, there will be a pack of fae dogs on campus at all times. One that is bonded to me. They will also help the garbage bills.”

I was ready for the shock and some amusement with how I ended it, but several were pissed. That was a big allowance, and people were scared of fae dogs.

They should be. That was also the point so Neldor and I were safer.

“Your main Alpha, Chief, demanded this, yes?” Dean White asked, breaking the silence.

I gave her an amused look. “It was made clear to me that I get permission, or he would still do it and not care about stupid rules. Or he would get the permission and didn’t care if he scared people to do it.” I looked at Edelman when he didn’t reply. “They won’t sleep in my room. One might chill outside the dorm, but they know how to behave.”

“I simply worry about them being visible with us having more eyes on us.”

“They won’t be,” I snickered, several of the fairies amused as well.

“Headmaster, there was never a need for the dust collectors,” Shael informed him when the other supes were confused. “Fae dogs know how to clean up after themselves and hide. There were lots of packs the collectors didn’t follow, and they were never found out. They were never going to be.”

“But there were instances of plants and trees from Faerie being found,” one of the councilmen objected.

“Yes, because they chased off the fae dogs,” I drawled. “Fae dogs have fae fire. They will burn any evidence of their being there. It was all lies for people to use and abuse fae dogs and make money. Fae dogs could have stayed hidden the whole time or gone with allies like the Vogels. But there were people chasing them so lots never could.”

“That’s highly unlikely and not at all believable,” a different councilman argued. He cleared his throat and added a mumbled “princess” after a moment.

Yeah, Onas was that scary.

“I don’t care if you believe me. It’s the truth. People conned you into thinking they were needed, and you paid them to get what you wanted. There are still packs of fae dogs that haven’t come back to us or been found. There aren’t dust collectors anymore, and yet the humans haven’t found anything. So which really seems like the truth?”

Idiots.

“And you thought I would have nothing without Artemis, no other options, and my businesses would fail. It would embarrass me to the humans that I was a college dropout. Some of the most successful humans have never gone to college, so your whole theory was shit. Your mind is diluted crap, and you don’t live in reality. Your opinion means nothing to me.”

The room went eerily quiet after I said that. I ignored it.

“Now keep the fucking stupid to yourself so the adults can actually get shit done instead of how too many of you spin your wheels.” I focused on Edelman. “If things chill, the dogs can go. They will stand a foot off the property if you say no, and there will be problems with the wolf Alpha here, Glen, if you don’t make the call.”

“I’ll allow it for a few weeks’ trial, so make that clear to your dogs that they need to be on their best behavior.”

I nodded, not surprised but also done with this crap. I knew I’d backed him into a corner to say yes or it was still going to happen, but fuck, like enough.

There were a few other things to discuss while I finally got some eating done. For one, I didn’t want Darby with a roommate anymore. His had been kind of a jerk, but fine really… Until last year when he started getting it into his head that doors would open for him if he used his access to Darby and thus me. It was best to sidestep that kind of crap.

Plus, I would pay for the single room over what his scholarship allowed. I was bringing it directly to him because it was last-minute. Done and done.

“The curriculum needs some overhauling and less propaganda taught instead of truth,” I said, getting to my last issue. “It’s too late to add a new class, but I propose adding a weekly Saturday seminar for one course credit. I will fund it, a fairy can even teach it.”

People immediately started saying that was too difficult.

“We managed it just fine when it was the seminars for the groves and advanced learning,” I reminded them. “And that was organizing a class off campus and building greenhouses, so I think an instructional course would be just fine.”

“What class?” Dean Collins asked, glancing around at the objectors before I’d even said it.

Yeah, but I’d hinted it would be bad for the councils. That was always enough to get objections.

“The inception of the councils and their charters,” I answered, biting back a smirk at not only the objections but the people who winced at the topic.

“Enough,” Edelman cut in when people ramped up. “You are here to advise, not lead this meeting. So just enough.” He waited a few moments before focusing on me. “We had a class like that, but it was dropped because of the low numbers it had.”

And then he looked at the council members gathered.

“So did they just hover to see who attended, or did their names get put on lists that affected their family?” I drawled.

“A bit of both,” White chuckled. “A councilman from each council taught the section of their council and many attended the class.”

“Oh yeah, no one would want to go then. It was all bullshit.” I glanced over at the council members. “But things are different now. People were shocked to know the Witches and Warlock Council wasn’t legitimate. So this will happen. But you know I want more in the future unless you’re a total idiot.”

“A whole class of council laws,” one of them guessed. “And the genealogy of our seats. A history of council members who have been unseated in the past?”

I smiled evilly at them. “All of the above. But I’m a fair woman. If there’s no real interest when you don’t interfere, I’ll let this go. I’ll let the sheep be sheep.”

“You’ll entice them to take the class. You push and push and people cave then too.”

“I won’t,” I promised, holding up my hand as if that mattered. “I will not coerce one person to take this last-minute, extra seminar for one credit. You have my word.

“Don’t,” Taeral bit out. “Don’t even say what most of you are thinking. She has always been honest. You simply didn’t believe her.”

“And you will not interfere. No outlawing it or warning people they’ll get in trouble. We’ll know.”

“It’s not done unless we vote,” someone objected. “In matters of the council or law education, we aren’t advisors only. It has to be approved by the councils.”

“Or their present representatives,” I finished, smiling brightly at them when they winced. “Yes, I know. So vote.”

“Of course, you knew that,” Onas chuckled. “Which is why you not only made it clear which votes we will have, but sat us right here with them. Only the biggest idiots will go against you now for something so small and get on our radar. Hell, most are, but we’ve been too busy.”

“I think we can be less busy now that a pack of fae dogs will be guarding the prince and princess,” Shael said, her tone threatening.

I wasn’t shocked when they all agreed to allow it. Chickens. They had so much dirt in their closets that they would go against what they “believed in” to save their own asses.

Seriously, chickens.

9

I went to my house in Italy to tell Neldor things had gone well, and we had a meeting with all the commanders for a second lunch. I asked Izzy to come as my aide, and I was going to invite Darby as counsel on the workload.

Except he walked out of the shower in nothing but a towel, water dripping all over his toned body… And suddenly school was the last thing on my mind.

“Did the meeting go okay?” he asked, studying me closely as if looking for any hints to my mood.

“I got what I wanted, but now I want something else.” I walked over to him with a smirk before moving my finger to catch a bead of water off of his chest. I brought it to my lips and licked it off my skin. “Yummy.”

“Shit, do that again, agra,” he whispered, his eyes full of heat.

Instead, I hooked a few of my fingers in his towel. Then I leaned in and licked a few drops off his shoulder by his neck. “I had to put so many of those fuckers in their place. It was more of the same and so much bullshit. I’m so tired of the bullshit.”

“I don’t blame you,” he whispered, moaning when I leaned in and licked more water off of him. “What can I do?”

“You just being you helps,” I promised. “I was going to come here and ask you to come to a meeting with me. I wanted to take five minutes and get this mood out, blow off some steam, and bitch a bunch.”

“Whatever you need.”

“Now I think I’m going to blow you instead.” I licked up his neck and bit his ear. “On my knees. Yeah, I’m going blow my man like that after I was the fucking boss and beat them all into place.”

I dropped to my knees and took the towel with me. His dick was hard and standing proud for me. I nuzzled him for a few moments before grabbing it and moving it to my mouth. For the first time, I didn’t hesitate. I was hesitant, but I didn’t act like a goober. It wasn’t like I deep-throated him, but yeah, it felt okay.

“Wait,” he hissed after the fourth time I bobbed my head.

I pulled off of him and glanced up… Right as he finished. I blinked in shock, not caring that spunk landed on my neck and a bit on my cheek. I was too surprised.

And of course, I said the worst thing possible.

“That still counted, right?”

His chest was heaving, and it was his turn to blink at me. “Counted?”

“I mean, it counts as me giving you a blow job even if…” I mentally winced.

But amusement filled his eyes. “Yes, agra, you still get credit for it.”

“It came out wrong,” I sighed, physically wincing when he did because, well… Yeah, I doubted he meant to come on my neck.

Fuck.

I got flustered and just started rambling. “I didn’t mean it to be mean. It’s just, I’m trying, and this is still—I’m not good at it and I wanted to be sexy, but I can’t ever seem to be like sexy, and my seductions blow up or go right and then things blow up, so I just wanted to do something fun now, and maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘blow’ so much right now.”

Darby moved his fingers over my lips when I was about to ramp back up. “Thank you for not caring I blew like a teenager getting his cock touched for the first time. I know what you meant, and I was thoroughly seduced, agra. That’s why I blew so fast. This was sexy as fuck and I appreciate it. A lot. So yes, it counts. You even get double points for making me go so fast.”

I burst out laughing as I stood. Of course, that was what he said. Gods, I loved him. Only he could make this so easy on me when so much was a mess, and I was trying so hard not to lose my shit every day.

Sighing when I realized I’d projected all of that to him because I was frazzled, I used his towel to clean up. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know it’s an accident, but I love when you’re so open and honest with me. I feel the same way when you’re easy on me. It’s what we should do when we love someone.” He leaned in and kissed me softly before taking the towel and getting a few spots I’d either missed or didn’t do well enough. “What meeting?”

I explained as he got dressed, feeling my soul ache because it was really something Julian would have helped me with. It was another time I felt a void and pain because of the jerk, and it was hard to handle with the piles of everything else.

Something I once again projected to Darby.

Fuck.

“Sorry,” I whispered as he hugged me. “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to—everything gets ruined when I try to be better.” I pulled away and walked out of the room, ignoring when he called after me. I smiled at Izzy in the kitchen and thanked Irma for the food she prepared for me.

I could feel Neldor’s eyes on me but ignored them. Opening a portal when Darby joined us, I muttered an apology for bothering them and thanking them in the same breath. I went to step through the portal, but Darby grabbed my hand, telling the others to go first.

“I love you, agra, and that was perfect. I like when you share what’s really going on with me. Please don’t worry.”

I nodded and we went through the portal, but then I realized there was something I wanted to say. “I just have no control, nothing is stable and my life—I hate how everything is chaos, Darby. We dated thinking I was no one, maybe I had a noble parent because of my power, but nothing big. You went out with me thinking one thing, and it’s nothing like what I told you and—”

He cupped my face and kissed me breathless. “I don’t care. You didn’t lie to me or hide things. You told me you couldn’t tell me everything, but you didn’t keep your birth from me. Yes, it’s been difficult. I won’t even try to deny that. But I love you and this is real. I don’t care that you’re the princess or an alien or the daughter of a demi-god. You’re my agra.”

“Thank you,” I breathed, hugging him with everything I had.

Until he groaned. “You’ve gotten much stronger, Tams.”

“Shit, sorry,” I gasped, pulling away. I blinked when I saw his eyes dancing with mirth. “You ass!”

“You needed to snap out of your upset,” he murmured, brushing his lips over my cheek. “You are much stronger.”

But not nearly strong enough to hurt him from a hug. What a goof.

And then I remembered we were attending a meeting and tons of people were there.

Fuck.

“Not remotely the most embarrassing thing I’ve done,” I reminded myself and moved to sit at an empty seat at the teachers’ conference room table. I glanced around and snorted. “Von Thann didn’t demand to join this too?”

“He did,” Edelman informed me. “He fully intends to use Lucca against you.”

“I know, but he also tried to mate Lucca off in some alliance for him. His mate left him and took the kids.” I nodded when several people couldn’t hide their shock. “Okay, well, on to our classes because everyone here has a lot to do besides this.”

Dean White took the lead. “As we have discussed, we don’t have an education program set for fairies. You’ve been following the path for a witch, and we’ve made adjustments as needed. Headmaster Edelman and I are on the same page working with Professor Sontar to tailor your educations as best as we can.”

“Several of the deans might audit the fairy classes from time to time but simply as a formality,” Edelman added. “We can’t just allow any class thrown in or it would cause chaos.”

“That’s more than fair as long as it’s not a problem for Professor Sontar.”

“Good,” White accepted as she looked over some papers. “Now, as a senior, you would normally start diving into magics more than runes. Nature magics and crystals.”

“So growing magic?” I checked.

“Yes, but also any magic that doesn’t need anything other than you and what magic is in nature. It’s an expansion of how to use your magic and applications instead of simply testing you can manifest the runes.”

Made sense. I nodded, glad when we checked off two classes at least.

“Now, I will personally be overseeing your mental shielding class we pushed off. It’s a break in the day for me and that’s fine. You and Prince Neldor won’t be a problem. It is required and as you’ve had no practice in attacking mental shields, a necessary skill. Especially given your positions.”

“You weren’t trained in that?” I asked Neldor.

“No, most fairies don’t have any sort of instruction until after their wings, Your Highness,” Professor Sontar explained. “Prince Neldor might not have full abilities, but it is a standard class no matter what species of supe. Dean White is very talented in the subject and learned well from her father.”

“We want you both to have as much of a normal educational experience as we can,” Edelman added.

“I appreciate that, thank you.” I snorted. “Just no more fucking Latin.”

“That bad?” Neldor chuckled.

“It was the one thing she’s ever thrown a fit over,” Shael admitted. “If we didn’t teach her how to absorb the language faster and she had to deal with that class more, she was going to explode. I believed her.”

“Yes, well, it was also the memories of who I started learning Latin with,” I admitted, crossing my arms over my chest and staring down at the table. I didn’t want to talk about Julian anymore. “Are you okay with the mental shielding, Neldor? This shouldn’t just be all about me.”

“It’s not,” he accepted. “I won’t be joining you for nature magics. I’ve had it. Crystals as well, so you’re free of me then, and I can see what else tickles me.”

It was hard not to snort.

We went over several other things and settled a lot which was good since it was so last-minute. I’d honestly been worried that holding out would have meant there were no spots in the classes I needed.

“Now, there is something that has been brought to our attention,” White said, clearing her throat and glancing over at Shael. I followed the gaze and was curious when the commander nodded. “That you are not the most agile fairy.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “I take offense to that. I do all kinds of everything fighting. I’m not a bad dancer at all.”

“No, no, you’re not,” Shael agreed. “And yes, your fighting is remarkable. We’re not talking about athleticism, but agility.”

“I did those obstacle courses with ease,” I reminded her.

Neldor sighed. “And how many times have you flipped out of bed onto your head when you’re scared or startled?” He shrugged when I gave him a look like he was a traitor. “I could have been in the same position, rolled off the bed in shock, flipped off my fingertips, and landed on my feet. That’s how agile fairies are.”

“It’s true,” Shael cut in. “Most can do handstands on their fingertips. I can on the fingertips of one hand with ease.”

Darby shocked all of them by bursting out laughing… But not me.

“Dick,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, agra,” he chuckled, leaning over and hugging me. “Maybe it’s your demigod side, but that is not how you behave. I think it’s adorable when you’re startled and tumble out of bed or when you doze on your library sofa.”

“Remember when she kept trying to reach for all the donuts we got from that place and kept falling out of her chair?” Izzy added.

“I was tired,” I defended.

“Of course, but I still wouldn’t have done that,” Neldor told me. “I would have easily spun and kept my feet.” He sighed when I gave him another look. “No one is picking on you, Tamsin. Would you rather no one told you and it was something else people talked about?”

“No, but this could have been a private conversation to warn me instead of making me feel ganged up on and isolated again,” I muttered, wincing mentally that I admitted that was how I felt. I focused on White before anyone could reply. “So how do we ‘fix’ me then?”

Amusement danced in her eyes, and I realized that she hadn’t appreciated this tactic either. “Your training facility has a lot of room to expand. You will have a gymnastics class there once the equipment is purchased. Your instructor will be a talented fairy.”

“Ara’s the best and exceptional,” Shael agreed.

My heart thudded in my ears, and I had a hard time keeping my composure. I hadn’t seen Ara really since the blowup with Professor Kramer. She had been one of the people I’d been hurt by most since I’d really liked her. I knew she was just following orders, but if the situation had been reversed, I would have fought harder for her.

I know I would have.

I simply nodded when I realized people were waiting for my agreement. Darby grabbed my hand under the table, and I felt worlds better that someone understood at least.

The meeting didn’t last much longer, but it was exhausting. Mostly because I ended up with another packed semester schedule.

And I had to write a senior thesis that year. Awesome.

Can at least one of my classes not eat me or kill me?

White finalized everything and printed out our schedules. I collapsed against Darby when I saw it all in writing.

“What’s wrong?” he worried.

“Nothing,” I chuckled. “Not a damn thing. I know all the instructors and—there won’t be any more of the crazy teacher shtick. I’m so over that. Every semester has been something and I’m just over it, you know?”

“Yeah, I know, agra,” he sighed, kissing my hair.

Yeah, he really did.

He smiled when he looked it over and I leaned into him. It was a packed schedule, but it really did promise to be drama free.

As much as college could be.

Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays my classes were:

Nature Magics 301

8-9:30

Professor Pillay

Local Government and Regulations of Faerie

9:45-10:45

Professor Sontar

Gymnastics

11-12

Ara

Lunch

12:15-1:15

Magical Art and Singing

1:30-3

Self-Study

Power Training

7-9

Tuesday and Thursdays were just as packed.

Physical Training

8-9:30

Captain Dalyor

Leadership Development I

9:45-10:45

Professor Collins

Mental Shielding 201

11 – 12

Professor White

Lunch

12:15-1:15

Crystals I

1:30-3

Professor Nelson

“You liked power training and having more a of challenge,” Darby muttered. “I’m glad they’re going to start rolling back your physical training too.”

Dalyor snorted as he walked towards the portal someone had opened. “She still has training before classes the days it’s not a class, and her ass is mine all weekend.”

And he walked through the portal.

“Yeah, I figured that,” I sighed. “I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to make me push every second he can.” I shrugged when Darby frowned. “Most fairies are done with school when their wings come in. The whole system is set up to accommodate that. I wasn’t kidding with Von Thann that being here is a serious pain in my ass.”

“We’ll get through it,” he whispered, kissing me on the head again.

I hoped so. I really, really did, but I was out of faith I would.

Shocking.

10

“I have an idea, but I could use your help,” I told Lageos once we were back to our house in Italy.

“Of course.” He studied me for a moment and nodded. “Let’s get some of those burritos you introduced me to and handle it.”

I wasn’t shocked Lageos wanted food as often as I did, but the fact he caught on that we needed food we could eat while moving was impressive. He was always impressive and I could rely on him. It was about the best way for a dad to be, and I didn’t think I’d be the only one who thought like that just because of the way I’d grown up.

We got a dozen of the burritos, so I wasn’t surprised we received several funny looks from the workers of the food truck. They probably assumed we were bringing them back, but most didn’t order that much or have such a big bill at a food truck. They were giant burritos, and most humans would probably split one with someone else.

And here we were going to have six each and still go for dessert.

Being a supe was expensive just because of the food we ate.

We took a portal to Faerie, and then I opened another one to the main “downtown” area of Theripolis. I glanced around at work going on and then at Lageos. “Things have to change now that I’ve won. Well, for now.”

He nodded, fully understanding what I meant. “You can’t keep the cities closed anymore.”

“No. Theripolis is basically open, but no one is back home yet. There are more than enough Faerie Guardians here but once we start, it’s started, and it will snowball fast. So I need to figure out… A process?”

“Smart.” He took a few bites of his first burrito while we walked and glanced around.

Meaning it was gone. It really only took him a handful of bites to demolish something that big. Mostly because he was that big. Well, maybe because he was a demigod too. I didn’t think Hudson could eat the huge burrito so fast.

But close.

“We need like a DMV setup,” I muttered before taking my own huge bite.

The sigh Lageos let out could probably be heard from anywhere in the city. “I’m glad you’re finally getting what you need to govern.” He sighed again when I looked up at him. “Tamsin, you put things into your own view and while you are incredibly intelligent, you don’t have the right view of Faerie.”

“I’m trying.”

“I’m not criticizing you. I’m trying to teach you.” He waited until I nodded. “Your mind sees Faerie as behind and outdated like humans in the Middle Ages or something.”

“You’re not wrong, but a lot has been framed that way for me as well. Even Stefanie keeps referring to the way Faerie works with the old feudal system or whatever.”

“Yes, but you keep ignoring the magic of this place.” He stopped and pointed to a multi-level house where several families probably lived. “How would humans handle keeping track of who lived here?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “The deed would be recorded with a county’s office. The assessor’s office for taxes. Every state is different on the names, but it’s like that. The township or city. The police have access to it, so does the DMV.”

“Right, now that’s not illogical, just a hassle. Think like the impatient fairy you are. How would they do it?”

“One office?” I checked.

“Yes.” He took a bite of his second burrito but then shook his head. “Two, technically. There is a local one the noble of this area handles and the federal sort of one that was kept at the castle. Your mother would constantly get the reports of changes of land ownership and more. She had a whole team to handle it for checks and balances.”

“Smart,” I praised.

“Now, factor in the magic element. How would you handle another way to verify who owned what or had the rights?”

“I have no idea, Dad,” I sighed. Then it hit me. “Magic? Forms were magically signed or something?”

“Exactly. They’re the same for rental agreements.” He reached over and rubbed my hair. “Look, Faerie had its faults, and no one was ever blind to that. You simply have to see the smart side of it as well.”

“Tell me.” I nodded as he explained that each region controlled by a noble had an office of land or rental registration. Both parties would arrive at an arranged time and handle payment and transfer, sort of like a title office. However, before they arrived, the office would evaluate the property itself so there wasn’t trickery.

It was sort of like an appraisal but all done by an outside party that couldn’t be influenced one way or the other. Or by builders that gave them all their business which even I knew was a problem from buying a few places. Also, it cut out any biases or resentments. They didn’t meet with the seller or owner, simply checked out the property.

It was a smart setup. I had experienced so much corruption with the ancients, elders, and nobles that I hadn’t expected any part of the government to actually work well.

“It’s been that way since ancient times. When your ancestors incepted this whole concept of a realm,” he explained. “And you can’t think your mother and you were the only sharp ones ever in the Vale family, right?”

I snorted. I was never that arrogant.

“Okay, so what if we put barriers over everything, but individually?” I snorted when Lageos gave me a look how annoying that would be. “Hear me out.”

“Always,” he promised, and I couldn’t help but smile because I knew he meant it.

“So we put up all the individual barriers, and people use their magic to prove to us they’re the person to be allowed in there. That’s how we start opening things up. That way no one is burglarizing whole blocks.”

He gave me a dry look. “Fairies have IDs, Tamsin.”

I rolled my eyes. “No shit, Dad. I’m not being that harsh on Faerie or my mom. You’re a bit defensive because it was Mom in charge of everything.”

“That’s fair. I don’t understand where your mind is then.”

“It was a war. People weren’t out on a stroll with their purses or bags. I’m assuming most of the people we find aren’t actually from the area they were near. We also haven’t been finding many in their houses hunkered down. Mostly those with kids, but they seemed to have hidden at places more like community centers. There were hundreds at the one place I saw.”

“Yes, that is exactly what was ordered. Also, healer buildings like hospitals and schools. Fairies never touch those places no matter the conflict or issue. It’s incredibly over the line.”

“Humans say the same, but there’s always some asshole who targets them to lower morale or drive up the devastation. It’s what dictators and monsters do because less people will fight next time and simply behave.”

“It doesn’t happen in Faerie. Not in all of their many years of warring. Nor hurting fair folk. It’s why the fae dogs are rarely used in conflicts and were sent out this time. Now, chasing down criminals is different, and they are a great weapon for the Guardians.”

It made sense.

We worked out plans for a while and decided we would need help to handle this logistically. The people from that land registration office.

After a bit more discussion, we decided to bring in the commanders and Neldor. If it was going to be how we handled things across both realms, we needed the input for feasibility at least.

Except we couldn’t reach most of them which meant they were in Faerie. I went back through the portal and teleported to Neldor… Who was meeting with all of the dark fairy commanders.

I simply raised an eyebrow and made it clear he’d better explain.

His lips twitched, but he ignored my attitude otherwise. “We’re trying to figure out how to legally disband the Dark Guardians as you have the Light Guardians. We’re just going with it.” He sighed. “All the commanders agree, and I’m the last dark royal. We’ve been going back and forth but seriously, we can just do it. The ancients and elders are still being held and—”

“Even the innocent ones,” someone grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, the small handful of them. Even the few decent ones agreed that all of them should be held until all the investigations could be handled. I am one person, so do you want me to handle that, awakening more fairies, or reopening the cities? Seriously, it’s not like any of those are weekend jobs.”

“You’re right,” Neldor quickly agreed. “So we’re just going to declare it and the people who object are obviously problems, so it will help us identify them if we gather the remaining Dark Guardians together.”

“Smart. Let Lageos know if you need help checking them all out. I think he needs to pound some assholes.” I snickered when Neldor shot me a dry look. “Besides you.”

“He hasn’t hit me in a while, thank you very much.”

“Give him time,” I threw right back yet. “Right, we think we’ve figured out the way to start officially opening the cities and the next steps.”

He frowned. “You already opened Theripolis.”

“Not officially,” I corrected. “I’ve allowed people in for work and the farmers to go home. The everyday fairies still can’t get into their homes. Lageos and I might have a plan for that so it’s not chaos. We want to explain to all of you and see if it can work in most of the regions.”

“Most?” Onas caught.

“Yeah, like the ones I’m in charge of,” I chuckled darkly. “I’m not opening the others just because the nobles who were actively planning treason are gone. The others are still holding out. So fuck them, and they can explain to their people why I woke them last.”

“You’ve been going round-robin,” Taeral said, exchanging a look with a few other confused commanders.

“She’s saying she’s done being fair,” Neldor mumbled. “Right?”

“Give the prince a cookie,” I teased. I didn’t want to hear them bitch about that, so I opened a portal back to Lageos and the others we’d gathered.

We barely got into the idea before Iolas had us hold on and walked through a portal. I enjoyed doing that to people, but I had to admit it was super annoying from the other end. I noticed the other fairies were more accepting of it, temporarily moving on to other business like it was simply a quick time-out.

I glanced at Lageos, and he seemed to know where my mind was, nodding that it was the perspective of fairies to look at it that way. It made sense given how good fairies were at multi-tasking and handling issues, but it just reminded me of people talking over me. I had a hard enough time being the center of attention, so I could also admit that I was sensitive to it.

Iolas came back with a light fairy named Charlie… Who was the head of the Land Rights Registration office in Theripolis. That was the official name for the division that Lageos had explained.

Excellent. It made sense he just left to grab the guy instead of taking time to explain it all and then getting him and then more dancing. I did the same thing all of the time.

I simply wasn’t trained how to manage things and be a leader, deal with this side. It wasn’t easy for me to be the boss. I didn’t want to be the boss. I simply knew I had the power and knowledge needed of the human world to be the best at the job.

Charlie offered a way to change our ideas, making it easier even, and doing whole sections of the city. It was how they divided up the city for a lot of everything from when they used to collect taxes, to searches for criminals, and more.

People seemed shocked when I agreed, and I swallowed a sigh. I was more than open to adjusting my ideas if there was something useful in place. There hadn’t been a lot of that, but I did still listen.

Whatever. I ignored that and listened to Charlie outline how it was most feasible. He even knew where my mom had kept the master lists and how she would update them. After a bit of back and forth, I was going to ask Katrina to oversee that project with Irma and a few of the people at the havens I was now employing to handle issues for me to get them off my plate.

Mostly to do with Faerie so it fit. They could get to know the fairies they would help in the future if they were working from the start to get them back in their homes.

The plan was simple. The commanders would announce that Theripolis was officially reopening and any light fairies who had lived there needed to check in with Charlie. He would verify them, get the main list updated, and in one morning or afternoon, we would take the barrier off those specific residences that were blocked off.

Lageos, Neldor, the commanders, and I all agreed that it was too much just for me, and we would handle it together. Fabulous. From there, once a month we could take the barrier off of more locations in that area. That would give fairies the chance to catch up a bit at the hotels and rotate who was there before they were just dropped back in their homes.

Perfect. Seriously, that was perfect. We could plot which residences to update first from there and more.

Word must have gotten out about what we were doing because nobles started showing up. I would have thought more of them would arrive if word got out, but then I realized it was because of the ban I still had up in Theripolis. Too many of them had pissed me off, and my magic kept them from entering the city.

It was about half of the ones left. Well, the leaders and their mates. I wasn’t counting all the nobles because a lot of them had big families, so it was actually a lot of people following and then poised to confront me.

So what else was new? I was so tired of this shtick.

“This is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard and will never work, Your Highness,” one of the nobles informed me, looking me over like I was an embarrassment.

“Let me hear your great idea then?” I snickered, giving him the same look back. “Oh, right, open all the cities for you guys to do whatever, and now a bunch of you think you should take over the ones under my control. Sound about right?” I rolled my eyes when he flinched.

Of course, that was their idea now.

“The commanders and Prince Neldor all agree with this idea and its plausibility,” I continued. “There will need to be tweaks, of course there will, but we all agree on it. And you think it’s the stupidest idea ever? I mean ever? Wow, so we’re all idiots compared to the mighty you? I don’t think that’s correct so watch your words and selfishness.”

Steam about came out of his ears as a few commanders snorted.

“This is for us to handle how we see fit in our areas,” he seethed. “And your role is to awaken fairies.”

I turned and moved right up to him, smirking that we were the same height so he couldn’t try to use that against me. Not that I would have cared, but I preferred it this way.

I leaned in like I was telling him a secret. “If it was your area and not under my control, you would have already done it, dipshit. But you can’t. You are impotent to do much of anything without my say-so. You can’t even wake the people of your area.” I moved away and smirked. “How has the harvesting been going? I’m glad you’re finally doing something.”

“You won’t allow us to,” he bit out.

“I won’t allow you to take over. There’s lots you’ve had a chance to do, you simply didn’t take the opportunity. We both know it so enough with the bullshit.” I turned to ask Charlie what the next area was that we were putting barriers on.

“You will be hated by all fairies if you keep down this path,” the noble warned. “You can pretend to care all you want by jumping around to wake them but—”

“But I’m not doing that anymore,” I cut in, shrugging at the shock of the nobles. “As you said, I’ve been playing fair and I’m still hated. I’ve been killing myself and it’s never enough, so I’m fucking over it. I’m waking the ones in the areas I control, and we’re doing it how I say because I’m the one waking them.

“Done and done. It’s certainly not up for debate with a noble whose name I don’t even fucking know and I only recognize because of how often you bitch, whine, and moan instead of doing something to help. There is tons you could be doing, but you’re pouting until I cave. I don’t cave, asshole, so get with the program.”

“You will fail without the power the elders and ancients can give. You might be the heir, but you are one person. Your selfishness to be the ultimate queen of all instead of listening to the wisdom of those who actually know about this world will be the downfall of all of us. No one will follow you without them and their approval.”

“Your thoughts don’t even believe that,” I sighed. “Are you really so dense you don’t know that I’m a telepath? Your magic isn’t stronger, and you can’t keep me out. You’re an idiot if you think just because you’re making a last-ditch effort to push my buttons that I’ll cave. The ancients won’t take me over. They won’t. Accept that and move on.”

“I won’t,” a different noble said, her eyes full of hate. “I pray to the gods the ancients will come back and rein you in. That was how our laws were set up. They are the counterweight to the queens having ultimate power so neither realm became enslaved to the conduits to Faerie. You will become worse than Prince Neldor’s mother if you will not be fair.”

“Don’t bring my mother into this when the ancients and elders pushed her into unraveling,” Neldor seethed. “We have their confessions so enough of this. I won’t listen to it anymore.”

She gave Neldor an amused look. “No one cares what you think, Prince Neldor. You have no real power and don’t matter even if you are a royal. You’re useless to the dark realm.”

My feet moved before I even realized it, and I backhanded the woman hard enough that she fell to the ground. People couldn’t hide their shock as she held her cheek.

“The people with the power care what he thinks. I listen to him all the time. You bark at us because you have none. I don’t know what crazy you are all smoking but get your shit together because I’ve already taken over the top cities. Why do you think I would stop there if you behave in this insane manner without a single grasp on reality?”

And with that, I banished the rest of the nobles there from Theripolis. We finished the barriers and people kept a wide birth, realizing I was really at my limit.

“You can get the right answers from the strangest places,” Lageos said under his breath as he hugged me.

I had no idea what that meant, but I still kissed his cheek before leaving. I thought he probably meant Katrina or Queen Sasha. They helped me figure things out, but most would think fairies would have the best answers about Faerie. But I was living proof that wasn’t always true.

I was me though, and I went the complete opposite direction.

Instead of someone who would listen to me vent and work me through how to handle it all, I called on an “enemy.”

One that wouldn’t hold back and clearly wanted me to know more than I did about lots.

Teleporting to somewhere no one would think to look, I made sure I was blocked from everyone and locked the area from portals being opened before focusing on the wolf shifter Luke. Most of the people in my life would probably blow a gasket if they knew I teleported someone from the Underground to me, but well… Desperate times and all of that.

I couldn’t hide my shock when he appeared in the middle of doing a one-handed pushup, dripping with sweat and looking like he’d been exercising for a while. He simply blinked at the grass below him before slowly lifting his head to meet my gaze.

“Now what would your mates say if you told them you brought a half-naked man to you?” he teased before pushing up all the way and sitting back on his feet.

I snorted. “You’re not even the first one.” I smirked when his eyes flashed shock. “I tend to teleport without meaning to or sometimes people to me if I’m worrying about them. Shit happens when you have a power few have and no time to learn it as you should.”

“True, but that begs the question if you wanted to call me here or not.”

I raised an eyebrow at that, gesturing around us. “I’m not that wild where I didn’t want this.” I felt his magic and smirked. “I have tricks you’re not used to as well, Mr. Wolf.”

He snorted and rolled to his feet. “Does that make you Red Riding Hood?”

I sighed, rubbing my hand over my head. “I fucking walked right into that one.”

“You did, but how the fuck did you lock me from opening a portal?”

“I’m special.”

“Then why haven’t you used it to bring me in?” he asked, studying me as he crossed his arms over his massive chest. He shivered. “We’re on top of a mountain and I’m drenched in sweat. Can you bring us somewhere else?”

“Fine, but I have to go first to lock the area from you being able to open portals,” I said with a sigh. I teleported to a remote beach that was more than warm enough. After checking that no one was around, I locked the area down and brought him to me again.

“I’m not a fan of the teleporting, but thanks for the change in location,” he muttered, rubbing his stomach. “I should have asked for somewhere with food, but I don’t want to do that again.”

“I’m also not a fucking genie,” I snapped, clearing my throat when he froze.

He let out a slow breath. “What did they do to you this time, Princess?”

“Why do you care?” I whispered. “So many don’t care, but you’re worried about me. Again.”

“You’re hot.” He shrugged like that said it all.

But it didn’t and we both knew it. “Bullshit. You said last time I had to get the idiots under control. I don’t think you meant just the commanders. I think you know a lot more than most supes.”

“I do because, unlike most supes, I listen instead of talk more.” He smiled when I gave him a hesitant look. “I knew Vale was the name of the royal family.” He frowned when I flinched. “I would have found you if I had realized you didn’t know shit. You seemed too confident and ahead of everyone. I would never have guessed you were so in the dark.”

That was fair, decent of him even. More so than a lot of people I’d met and some on my side. “Ignorance is never bliss, but a lot of times it’s a shield against fear. I was scared and faked a lot of that confidence. I also didn’t know if I died that every fairy would be locked in magic forever. I was playing a different game with different stakes and had no idea.”

He rubbed his hand over his neck. “Yeah, I’ve lived that too.”

I believed him. “What do you know that you think I’m missing?”

“A lot, and I don’t say that as a slight or shit against you. You’re still in the dark on too much.”

“I know that. Everyone keeps fucking telling me that and I know it. What they don’t tell me is what I need to know. So just for once, do me a fucking solid most don’t and spit it the fuck out. What were you trying to tell me at the tournament? Who are the idiots besides the commanders?”

He studied me and licked his lips, not in a lusty way but nervous like he was worried to burn a bridge. “You a big Green Goblin fan?”

I frowned. “Is that Spiderman stuff?”

“Yeah, have you seen the movies?”

“Yes, but I’m one behind.”

“No, not the new Marvel stuff, the older Sony ones.” He frowned. “Or I think Sony. Whatever, not the new Spiderman.”

“No,” I sighed.

He opened his mouth but then closed it. “Crap, it might have been Ultron. I can’t remember now.”

I stared at him and realized I wasn’t going to get any real information out of him. This whole meeting was a bust. Fuck.

11

“Dude, point,” I growled.

“Right, not the point. The point is the message.” He rubbed his neck harder. “There’s a scene where Green Goblin tells Spiderman he’s fighting a losing battle and being a hero is stupid. People love a hero, but they love to see them fall more. People are selfish, Princess. The better a hero looks, the worse people feel about their own lives. They hate that and the one—”

“Who holds up the mirror to show them themselves. I know.” I nodded when it was his turn to give me a skeptical look. “I know that, Luke. It’s why I’m not the hero. I’m not close to a hero.” I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Plus, I don’t think heroes are really selfless. I mean, comic book or movie ones. They get—it’s not important.”

“No, it’s not,” he grumbled. “I was making a point. And you are a hero, Tamsin. You’re so good and clean that—”

“I have a lot of blood on my ledger, Luke. I’m not blind to that and I’m certainly not clean.” I frowned. “That was the reference to Black Widow, right?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he admitted. “Ignore the movies. I’m sorry I brought it up when apparently neither of us is all that well versed. My point was you have to stop being the hero because they won’t appreciate it.”

“Yeah, no shit. I’m still not going to be the bad guy.”

“No, it’s not in you,” he agreed. “But stop playing fair with people who won’t ever be fair to you. You don’t owe them shit.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’m making changes.”

“Not fast enough,” he snapped. “You’ll be dead if you don’t start playing the game better.”

“Fine, what changes should I make?” I snapped.

“Stop playing the game on the defense. Get on the fucking offense. You’re supposed to be the godsdamn QB, coach, and owner, Princess. Stop dodging and blocking to keep them from scoring and put some points on the fucking board before it’s too late.”

“How?” I yelled, shocking him. “I don’t disagree and you’re not the first person to tell me this, but no one gives me anything concrete. Give me your advice, not fucking riddles, or piss off, mate.”

He growled in a way a human couldn’t and stormed over to me. I saw that he was impressed from what was in his eyes, but he was too upset right then. He leaned down until we were almost nose to nose.

And for some reason that I would never be able to put my finger on or figure out, I didn’t move or flinch. I really was messed in the head that I trusted a big guy in the Underground enough to let him get that close to me.

Then again, the loyal people weren’t always that great to get near me either.

“You have serious fucking threats against you that are still on the board. Get them off the fucking board, Princess. That’s what I’m saying. The people against you keep making moves because they think they have a divine move they can play. Over and over again they think that’s the play and push it.

“Your commanders are too incompetent and stuck in their own heads to see it, but I do. I see them finally breaking through your flawed defense and pulling a Hail Mary to win. And the consequences might not be death with what I’ve heard they want to do to you. To me, being controlled and puppeted like that is a fate worse than death.”

“Yeah, it is,” I whispered, my heart racing at simply the idea of it.

“Good, be afraid and fucking do something about it. Take them off the fucking board, Tamsin.”

“I don’t know how,” I admitted.

He backed down a bit. “Would you do it if you knew how?”

“People would never forgive me if I killed them. They can’t forgive me for arresting them no matter what they’ve done. They have a god-like status that blinds people.”

“And what do you want to do with them?”

I frowned at him. “What I’ve said from the start. I want to tie them to the power supplies I’m building. They’ve done so much damage to Faerie and still won’t help. It’s time for them to stop being parasites and use that massive amount of magic to help.”

“Good. Then do it.”

It was my turn to growl. “It’s not that fucking easy. I can’t just tie them all to reservoirs. You have to be willing to link to a reservoir, especially joint ones all parties can access. And them having access to the reservoirs is about the stupidest idea ever. So I’m fucking stuck. What I want can’t be done, and people won’t help me make it a reality because it goes too far.”

“Which is why you need a bad guy in your life, Princess,” he said with a dark chuckle. “Are you sure it can’t be done, or you simply haven’t found it yet?”

I frowned. “If it was possible or known, there would be a lot of people who forced people to be tied to their magic and reservoirs. It would have to be evil or blood magic, and I’m not staining myself for them. I’d rather walk away.”

He backed off even more then. “I believe that.” He glanced around and took several steps back before holding out his hand away from me. “There is something most people miss about the Underground. Yes, the councils are horrible and that gave them the chance to pull in lots of idiots looking for any other option without thinking.”

“Don’t blame the victims of conmen,” I grumbled.

“Fine, that’s fair, but ask yourself—why don’t more people leave?”

“They will be killed. They won’t be accepted back into the supe society. White told me that. There’s probably a lot of reasons.”

“Yes, all logical and true, but there’s another one.”

It hit me hard. “You have to give some sort of access to your magic to join, don’t you?”

“Very good.” He shot magic into a boulder and runes appeared in it. “Has anyone taught you yet to sense what a rune can do?”

“No.”

“Of course not because that would teach you too much,” he bitched.

Preaching to the choir.

“Scan those runes like you would searching for magic but instead of looking for it, ask what it does. It might take you a few tries, but I have faith you’ll get it.”

I glanced from him to the runes. “Swear to me that it’s not black magic or anything that would mark me.”

“I swear it because it would break you to cross into the darkness. You might ride the line pretty close, but you won’t ever risk going over it. It’s magic that most would frown upon but so are a lot of things you do.”

“Thanks?”

He snickered. “Just make sure you take this help before they make their divine move work.”

I licked my lips as I met his gaze. “Why do you keep using that phrase? How do you know it?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s a reference to the ‘winning move’ in a few Asian games. I know it from that.”

I almost let out a sigh of relief, but then his next words left me cold.

“But I’m using it in reference to what those fucking nobles were planning. They were calling it a divine move because not only would it win against you, but they were going to say it was what the gods wanted. It was part of the plan to take you over that the oldest ancient had a vision that it should be so.”

I shivered knowing full well that Ancient Simimar would have done that and more. “You were watching the nobles.”

His eyes flashed shock. “You knew this.”

“No, not as you said it. I haven’t watched all the hours of surveillance I’ve recorded. The Guardians are still reviewing it all and interrogating them. I heard them think the phrase a lot and I looked it up. I didn’t know that last part.”

“But you believe it now?”

I snorted. “I would believe them willing to do a lot more. You haven’t heard all of what they want to do to me. I know they’re evil, but I’m limited to what I can do.”

“Because you’re playing fair. They’re not, Tamsin. Everyone keeps pressing you to be in this mold, and you are too exceptional to be in that mold. Break free of it before they break you.”

“I’m working on it,” I grumbled, waving off what he was going to say next. “I want to know why you were watching the nobles. It wasn’t for the Underground.”

“No, it wasn’t, but my reasons are my own.”

“So your team is you, not them or mine?”

He studied me, licking his lips as if thinking carefully. “Yes, my team is my own. If you had been born fifty years earlier, then my team would have been yours. I feel it in my gut, no matter how you were raised, your soul would have turned out this same warrior. So my faith is in you, but the world is not in a position for all of us to be good guys.”

“And when it is?”

He gave me a sad smile. “Some of us can’t come back from our darkness. I knew what I was committing myself to and the path I would take. The ends might not justify the means, I know this, but if it stopped this world from going over the edge, I accept my fate. It was too close to risk doing anything else, and it started long before fairies were gone.”

“That’s why you say you’re the bad guy,” I muttered. “You haven’t simply killed for self-defense.”

“No, no, I have not. So to many, my means could never be justified since they lost loved ones, but if you look at the bigger picture and the path we were on, it was the only route I could take. You can take a different one and keep your morality. I have no bitterness towards you for that. I hope you can make it work, I truly do, but I know either way, my soul is lost.”

I wasn’t sure what I would have said to that, but he didn’t give me a chance. He shifted and sprinted down the beach faster than I could really keep up with. I stared after him for a while, thinking over what he’d said. He wasn’t lying. I knew that.

But he wasn’t telling me the whole truth. There was something going on with that guy, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it when I got to the bottom of it. Not because of him—though it would hurt to learn all he’d done—but whatever he was fighting for. I knew it was something dark and probably on me to have to clean up.

So what else was new?

I glanced at the runes and decided to play this smart. I could ask someone to just tell me they were safe even if they wouldn’t explain what they were. Even if I believed Luke, I hadn’t made it this far by being stupid.

Yeah, that was the right move.

I put up a barrier over the rock to protect and hide it before teleporting to Stefanie. She was going to be the best person to ask.

Or so I thought.

I had just been with the commanders not long ago, but I felt like the whole world had shifted. All of them were there and drinking.

Heavily.

They hadn’t been in their uniforms but nicer clothes, and all of them were disheveled in some way. Onas and Taeral had lost their ties and jackets. Iolas hadn’t been wearing those, but his shirt was unbuttoned and so his undershirt was showing.

The women were the same. Shael had her jacket off, and even the always perfect Talila was without her shoes and had one foot up on her chair. Stefanie looked the worst of them, and I couldn’t imagine why.

Until I remembered she was of a noble family. Fuck, I had totally forgotten that her father had been an elder. I wasn’t sure who was currently in charge of her family’s area. It hadn’t really mattered with it all of them closed until I reopened them.

Apparently, it now did.

I switched on my telepathy and listened in on their thoughts. Something major was going on if I’d teleported into the room and no one noticed me. I wasn’t cloaked or even had a barrier up. They were all so lost in their own thoughts they were that distracted.

Not great for their safety.

“How could they be willing to go this far?”

“Our whole world and way of life was a lie.”

“There’s no way to recover from this. It will be a new type of war.”

“Not a single noble running their area is clean. They all knew.”

“How many were really a part of this? How many have I served with who had blood on their hands and were involved?”

Once I got through a lot of those thoughts from them, I found the route of their upset. I listened a few minutes and then moved by Morgan since he was the closest to me. Snatching up the file in front of him, I hurried to read the specifics before anyone could stop me.

“Your Highness,” he gasped, jumping to his feet. He didn’t try to take the file from me, but his mind was full of thoughts to get it.

But to spare me. That was kind but stupid.

“Is this possible?” I whispered, my temper spiking when no one answered. “Is it?”

“If you had asked me before the war or even right after you woke me, I would have said no,” Onas responded. “I want to say no, but maybe I’m finally learning and not assuming so many certainties.”

“Anything is possible—you have taught us that, but we don’t know how. I would never have thought—it goes against everything we believe,” Shael whispered.

I read some more and wanted to growl. “All they need is a power gathering like we were doing to heal Faerie. They wouldn’t have Lageos, but all of those ancients could do a lot.”

“I can’t see how, Your Highness,” Taeral muttered as he spun a large glass of clear liquid… That I doubted was water. “You read the text yourself. It’s magic meant to protect. You made us realize that healing Faerie was protecting all her people, and that was why we could use it.”

Yeah, that was why I wanted to growl. “And you don’t think the ancients wouldn’t think the same?” I sighed when several of them focused on me. “Stop thinking like the righteous good guys. Start thinking like the bad guys.” I waved the file folder as I got more upset. “They’re protecting their way of life and reputations. They’re protecting Faerie from me.

“I can see dozens of ways they would twist this up in their heads. They’re protecting the next generation from crossbreeding if they think that’s wrong, and a lot of them do. They’re protecting the people of Faerie from my ideas about this world which they don’t trust. I’m sure I could come up with more. Even I know magic isn’t about truth but perception.”

“Magic is supposed to be about morality,” Iolas weakly argued. “That’s why it can be a double-edged sword and stab us back.”

I couldn’t hold back the sigh this time. “You are assuming you’re dealing with rational players, Iolas. There are lots of psychos that believe in their morals which are far from what’s right. Stop thinking like a moral person or even an average person and start thinking like the extremists, the crazies or we’re all in deep shit.”

“We’ve been trying, Your Highness,” Stefanie whispered. “I have listened and kept myself open to all of this from the beginning, but I could never have guessed it was this bad. I have grown up with some of these people, these families as allies of mine for generations, and it’s all of them.”

Meaning it had probably been her family too, and she simply hadn’t known it.

“I want to tell you that I’m sorry that you’re seeing the reality and how horrible it is but honestly, it’s hard not to be resentful.” I ignored their shock and kept talking, glancing between Onas and Talila. “I never had that bubble of ignorance to think things could be good and fair. I know how many fairies think I’m jaded and broken. It’s because I’ve always lived this.”

“It shouldn’t be that way, Your Highness,” Talila rasped, glancing at the table instead of whatever she saw in my gaze. “I’m embarrassed your view was the right one and mine was so ignorant. I’m so much older than you and I kept the blinders on.”

“I don’t think my view is the right one,” I clarified. “I’m not sure there is a right one. We work with what we’ve been given, and it’s simply time to do better.” I was done holding their hands after that because she was correct, and they were all so much older than me. “How would they do this? How can you think they would if you were the bad guys?”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out,” Iolas answered as he rubbed his shoulder. “You can’t force someone to link to a reservoir; they have to be willing.”

“So beating me until I give in?” I asked, ignoring their shock. “They wanted to do a lot more than that, and a lot of them rape me for the power of a demigod into their bloodlines. Focus, okay? Nothing is out of bounds. How could they do it?”

“Coercion might not even work,” Onas muttered. “I’ve seen it not work even. I saw a fairy go off the rails when she lost her mate and her sister trying to push her into channeling her power into the reservoir since she cut herself off from Faerie. There was no cleansing for her then and she was losing herself. Her sister threatened the children but—”

“Disgusting,” someone gasped.

Onas shook his head. “She wouldn’t have done it. She was—it was a difficult situation. My point is the fairy agreed, but the magic wouldn’t work because she was being coerced.”

I felt steam come out of my ears when I realized what the answer was.

They had to be willing… And there was magic in this world. How could they still be so blind to that?

“I’m ending this,” I seethed as I tossed the file onto the table.

“No one will ever forgive you if you do what they planned to them,” Stefanie warned me.

I snorted. “You think I give a shit about that? I’m trying to survive, Commander, and as I’ve said before, I’m all about survival. And I will fight dirty without hesitation. You should try it, or none of us will survive the evil in both worlds because I doubt their plans were just for me.”

Before anyone could try to interfere, I used a rune to knock out all of the commanders for a few hours. I could apologize for that later—and I would—but I wasn’t taking any more risks.

I teleported to my hotel and grabbed what I needed before going back to the rock where Luke had engraved the runes. I had a feeling I knew what they were now, but I had to check myself. Part of me wanted to call Lageos, but that report was full of ways they were going to blame my dad and say he was the son of dark gods, and that was how I was led astray.

And my mother. Funny, because she had saved all of their asses just as I had. How did that seem dark?

I took off the barrier and held my hands out, scanning the runes like I would magic while I kept asking the same question—what do you do? The first was easy as if when Luke engraved it, he was screaming in his magic for me to learn it.

The next was a type of lock for a barrier, almost a way to piggyback an existing barrier and take it over. No, not almost, but exactly that.

And I knew why.

All the ancients and elders were locked down at Ankthus, the massive vacation castle that belonged to Neldor’s mother. The grounds were expansive and had several buildings for guests, additions made to make it a resort and destination for “friends” of the dark royals. It was even on a peninsula which worked well for the magic needed to keep them there.

But that was the only thing done. They were in a large barrier that would dampen their power and keep them there. That was what the commanders and nobles had agreed on until all the investigations and trials were done.

So basically, they were all on house arrest at one of the most lavish places in all of Faerie and being treated like royalty. It had completely chapped my ass after all that had happened and a lot of it had been Onas and Shael. They had decided much of it with nobles who were related to the people in trouble.

How would that ever go over in the real world? The families of criminals had input and decision-making power over how their family was treated. The idea was too insane to think.

And yet that was what the fairies did, not even asking Neldor and me.

No. More.

I figured out the last runes and just because I was smart, I double-checked them. My gut told me I was correct, and it didn’t take me long to know how all the pieces fit in place.

Honestly, it was my favorite puzzle to ever put together.

Ever.

And it was time to show everyone that I would always win the game no matter who played it.

12

I clipped the smallest camera I had to my belt and set it to record after turning it on. Then I put on one of the runes Luke had given me. Taking several deep breaths that I let out slowly, I teleported to the nearest portal to Faerie. I activated it and walked through, steeling myself for what must be done.

I teleported to Ancient Simimar, and luck was on my side when I found him alone. I thought the rune to knock people out and took care of everyone else inside the barrier for the “prison.”

I’d apologize to the Guardians later.

“Your ‘divine move’ was finally outlined to all the commanders in this latest round of interrogations,” I said in way of greeting.

“I doubt that,” he chuckled darkly, not even looking up from what he was reading.

“I bet you doubted that you would ever be here and I would be the one to do it,” I threw right back. “None of you are as deep as you think. It’s been like watching a bad Bond villain plot.”

He glanced up at me then. “You are not as deep as you think you are either, child. You are but a speck compared to your mother, and at least she was of pure character even if—”

“She mated a demigod?” I purred, smirking when he slowly lowered the book. “Well, of course, he’s going to be the scapegoat for this. Everything went wrong when Mom mated a demigod and you slowly started losing power. You were forced to fight back and undermine her, but you did it all for Faerie. I bet you even prayed on it.

“You couldn’t have known that Neldor’s mother would fully succumb to the darkness inside of her, all women fragile and too volatile. And the fact I was born of a demigod and nothing like a light royal should be from my unseemly red, wild hair all the way to my disgraceful behavior of not bowing to you. The gods chose my family correctly, but everything has changed.

“That is clear, and as the oldest and most respected ancient of both realms, they spoke to you while you were unfairly locked away by the power-hungry heir who has been horribly influenced by humans. Now you know the truth from them that Lageos is the son of a dark god, sent here to destroy Faerie, and must be stopped.

“And I have been tainted with his evil blood. I was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, setting you all free, but defying tradition that would lead to the ruin of all. So with a heavy heart, but in line with your duty, you must take over my power and control of all Faerie.” My smirk grew as I spoke and his frown deepened. “That sounds about right, yeah? Pretty accurate for sure.”

He stood and slapped the book against the table. “You dare to come mock me? This was my realm. I ruled it while your mother, your grandmother, and even your great-grandmother stood out front and wooed the people with their beauty. You don’t even have their beauty but sultry, cheap attributes that match your foul mouth and dim wit.

“You think you’ve thwarted my divine move? You haven’t because this is my game, and you are simply a pawn I will play as I have everyone else. You have neither the intelligence nor strength to beat me at my game. You have no moves at all. You can charm the hobgoblins and the wretched that are poor enough to try anything for a better life, but not those who matter.

“You think that you can charm the commanders or the nobles? You come here thinking you can overtake or handle me? Me? I’m thousands of years old and the most respected ancient there has ever been. You cannot beat me unless you prove to everyone that you are a savage and kill me, and even you are not stupid enough to try that!”

I sighed. “And women get hysterical? I think my ears are bleeding from that, but I’m not going to waste my breath explaining how killing you would be the smartest thing I could do given the threat you are to me. We both know it, so there’s no point. I’ve also already said that I don’t care what people think of me.

“I will not let the opinions of sheep ruin or end my life. You plan to completely break me and take my power. That’s worse than fucking death. If people are so blind to not see that I give zero fucks what they think. Supes think they’re better than humans, and fairies think they’re better at supes, but they are all alike.

“You have the same percentage of idiots who won’t take off the blinders. Or the same who will hide their evil wearing the pope’s hat. You still have everything bad and are no better than any other species. So I don’t care about those opinions. I do what I do because it’s right, and those with any sense will see that.

“I do what I do because I agree that I’m not that deep. Hell, I’m a basic bitch in a lot of respects. But what I am is honest. I don’t want to be heir. I want to drop this role and sometimes this planet like it’s dead weight killing me. However, there are people that I care for who would suffer if I did that.

“So you can say my side is weak because I have the hobgoblins with me, but if they weren’t in the picture, I probably would already have been gone. I don’t want power, I want fairness, and if I have to peel the skin off your bones for every fairy to see that I’m serious, then so be it. Hell, I’m dying to after all you’ve done to my mother and now plan to do to me.”

“You would have mutiny like you could never have imagined, and there would be a battle with a better leader that—”

I was almost giddy to burst his bubble, and all it took was three little words. “Rennyn is dead.” I smiled when he froze. “I killed him. Didn’t you wonder why your little coupe was delayed, or did you never know the timeline for it?” I snorted when the answer was clear in his eyes. “You thought to call this your divine move, and you didn’t even have that on lock.”

“You lie,” he whispered, setting the book down and moving closer.

“Nope,” I said, popping the P loudly. “And that’s not all I have up my sleeve.”

“You have nothing without your magic here,” he hissed. “This whole place is dampened. You might have trained, but you did with mere dragons, and I was once a decorated Light Guardian commander.”

I kept his gaze and thought the rune to break bones, chuckling when his legs shattered and he crumbled to the ground. “Well, well, that’s interesting. It seems Faerie doesn’t agree with you that I’m a pawn in your game because it blocked the magic here for me, not you, Simimar.” I moved closer but stayed out of reach of him and squatted down. “Did you plan that turn of events in your divine move?”

“You would risk connecting to Faerie just so you had the strength to come at me? You fool! You will break as Neldor’s mother did.”

I snorted and stood again. “I wouldn’t risk connecting to Faerie even if it was to save my own ass. Hell, I’ve told everyone in my life that I wouldn’t connect to Faerie even to save them because I know it would cost me my soul like it did Neldor’s mother and they agree. Faerie’s giving me an exception. It does that a lot.”

“No, no, it would never allow you full power and keep me weakened.”

“You’re not as special as you think, Simimar. You’re just fucking old.”

That was true but the part about Faerie? Yeah, that was total bullshit.

I was lying. I didn’t feel bad about that at all.

It was a rune. One of the runes Luke had given me and I’d put on myself before I teleported there. The funny thing about runes and most magic was they only worked on those weaker than the person doing them.

And the people who set up the barriers weren’t more powerful than me. So I could put on the rune and block the barrier’s effects. It was like the glamours I could see through if I focused, but the rune made it so I didn’t have to pay attention the whole time.

The kicker? The scary fucking kicker that these super intelligent, better than all of us idiots didn’t realize?

They could have done it too! I would bet several of the ancients were more powerful than the commanders who put the barrier up. That was why I had no faith in too many people. Simimar and his buddies underestimated everyone because they had been able to get away with everything they wanted for centuries.

Sure, that made people super confident.

And easy to pull the rug from under too.

I waved my hand and healed him… Just to break his bones again, legs and hips this time. Then I healed him again.

“Your game?” I chuckled darkly. “Your realm? Bitch, please, you’ve been a rat running through my maze and you didn’t even know it.” I picked him up magically and threw him against the wall, keeping him there as I broke a single bone every five seconds. I held open my hand and called fae fire to me, letting it dance around my fingers.

“That’s not possible,” he whispered, flinching away in fear. “No fairy can touch, much less call, fae fire, only fair folk.”

I chuckled darkly, very much channeling my inner Maleficent. “That’s why it was never your game after I stepped onto the board. It’s been mine. The gods picked my family. Faerie only recognizes the heirs and queens as the ones to use as a conduit.

“And you think you’re the important one here? You have no moves here, divine or otherwise. I don’t care how long you’ve lived or what you have seen because you haven’t suffered like I did, and you certainly haven’t bled for fairies the way I have to wake them.” I moved closer and smirked. “You may be an ancient, but I’m the only heir to Faerie.

“There is no card you can play higher than that. You are the fool if you think otherwise. You and all the others, and I’m done letting stupidity prevail in my realm and the world I will rule.” I snuffed out the fire and sped up the process, shattered his major joints. “I am the one that matters here, not you.

“I am Tamsin Fucking Vale, the most powerful heir to ever have lived. I’m not only the first to ever get their wings early but also to explode the power gauges. I’m the only one who can wake more fairies. You know why? I’m the daughter of a demigod and Queen Meira who gave her life to save all of your lives. And if none of you will respect that, I’m done letting you shit on it.”

And then I shattered his body. Every bone, every inch—everything that could be broken I did.

I released him of my magic, watching with a smile when he crumbled to the floor and wailed in pain. I knelt down in front of him. “I can’t make you be a decent person, no one can. There’s no hope for you and many of the others, Simimar. But what I can do is make you want to help this world and her people. No one will stop me this time.”

I used one of the other runes Luke had given me to cloud Simimar’s mind. It was a lot like what I had done to the vampire I’d driven crazy, Elder Shurr. But this was controlled and with a clear intent… To give me what I wanted as long as it wasn’t selfish.

And wanting him to help Faerie was far from selfish. From what I had sensed, it was actually meant as a way to punish people, show them the error of their ways, but I was taking it to the extreme. I normally did, but this time I could because of my power.

I made him desperate to want to give everything to help Faerie and her people recover. I healed him so his pain didn’t cloud the magic and then sweetly asked him to make a conduit charm with me so I could use his power for Faerie how I needed.

He did it with a smile, beaming at me, and thanking me for allowing him to help.

I knocked him out then and tapped into the barrier, taking it over and making it mine. I layered it so it couldn’t be broken even if people gathered power and then, just to be a bitch, I weaved in something else. The barrier could only be broken by someone with the help of Faerie, meaning they had to connect to the planet.

And I was the only one alive who could do that. Funny how loopholes could be used to my advantage now and again.

The last rune Luke had given me was to lock someone to a barrier. There were always ways to sneak around a barrier, like the problem of me letting Julian into the barrier around the Townsend estate. He could be forced to let others through. Same with the Guardians that I would allow to come and go through the barrier.

This allowed me to layer the protection and no more sneaky cheats. Now the ancients couldn’t escape through the barrier. It would kill them if they tried.

Honestly, I hoped they would test it. I would shed no tears that they were gone, and I was annoyed they weren’t put to death yet. I knew there was more to the investigations and what people wanted to learn from them, but I thought that stupid when they were such a threat to me. Maybe it was the last line people couldn’t cross.

Maybe they couldn’t do it because it basically admitted how messed up everything had been and they’d been ignorant to it.

There were probably dozens of reasons, but none of them mattered to me when it put my safety and life at risk.

I worked through the ancients I knew to be guilty as shit. There were dozens for now, and that would be more than enough. The rest would have to deal with being locked down until I could sort through more or at least tied them all to the barrier until the investigations and trials were over.

I teleported to the vast farms of Theripolis that had just been harvested and focused on using growing magic to cover all of the fields. It took a while and a lot of power.

But it wasn’t my power this time. Sure, I was focusing it and that wasn’t easy, but it was much, much easier to do this way… And I deserved some fucking easy.

Lageos and the commanders found me a bit later doing the same to the groves.

“What did you do, Your Highness?” Shael asked gently.

“Probably what you worry I did but not what I should have,” I answered before turning to Lageos and handing him the charms. “These are tied to my blood, so only you can use them as well. They still have a lot of juice in them and will get more as they’re fed. You can do more with them than I can, so I ask you use them to help rebuild.”

He accepted them, leaning in, and cupping the back of my head as he kissed my hair. “I’m proud of you. Enough is enough, and it’s well past time you stopped accepting what’s been going on.”

“You read my damn mind,” I sighed.

“They’ll get in less trouble if their magic’s being used and they don’t have control over it.”

“That’s my hope,” I muttered as I leaned in for a hug which he gave. “I took over the barrier. I tied them to it so no more plans of escape with dirty guards or forcing a Guardian. I took them off the damn board so there are no more plays.”

“And?”

I smirked up at him as I pulled away. “And they’ll die if they pass the barrier on some loophole. If they aren’t inside of it, they will start to die like drowning.”

“It surprises me that you would go that far,” he admitted.

I snorted. “It’s stupid that I don’t take out at least Simimar and his closest buddies. I know I’ll regret that later.”

“Probably.” He grabbed me back into a hug and kissed my hair again. “Take the night off, Tamsin. You’ve been through too much and handled a lot today. Don’t forget to live life too, not simply survive it.”

“Yeah, okay, thanks, Dad.”

He was right and I wanted to do what he said.

But how?

It hit me after I teleported away. I wanted to have fun and see some real progress, something magical I hadn’t before. First, I connected the video I took to my livestreaming channel and played it so people could see it. I went through the portal and teleported to Darby, glad when I found Izzy there as well.

“Wanna help me with something nice?”

“I could use more nice in my life,” Izzy agreed. “It’s actually really nice we’re basically on the same time zone now. We’re not doing that again on breaks.”

“Yes, dear,” I chuckled. She was right, and it had been silly in a lot of ways. I was super rich, and they could have stayed anywhere and probably would have wanted to. I had wanted them to have a calm, stable summer.

But that wasn’t ever an option in their lives if they were going to keep being in mine. They seemed happy to be back home even if it was just for a bit before we headed to campus.

I opened a few portals and called several packs of fae dogs to me. Then I teleported to the sorbet factory and asked them for what I needed. Once I was loaded up, I teleported back home, and we headed downstairs for the portal. It always amused Darby and Izzy when a lot of the huge fae dogs came into the house like it was completely normal.

Once we were all in Faerie, I opened another portal to where I wanted and we all headed through it. Finally, everything was ready, and we were there so we could get started.

“I have no idea where we are,” Izzy muttered as she glanced around. “Everywhere in Faerie is super pretty so it’s like there’s no way to tell it apart.”

I nodded, feeling the same and everything was so foreign. “This Hennaba, the second-largest city in the light realm.”

“Where Rennyn was in charge of?” Darby asked, swallowing loudly when I nodded. “What happened tonight, agra?”

“I did something I should have a while ago,” I whispered. “Now I want to make progress and see something magical.”

“Whatever you need,” he whispered as he slid his arm around me.

“Are you here to comfort me or because you want blue cherries?” I teased.

“Blue cherries. You’re just the perk.”

His response amused me, but what Izzy said next just pushed me over the edge.

“Nice knowing you, mate,” she sighed.

We all glanced at each other and burst out laughing. It wasn’t really funny, but there had been so much stress lately that anything like that seemed to just make us feel lighter.

“Why are you bringing out one of my favorite fae fruits but not letting me have any?” he asked when I pulled the large pail of them away.

Blue cherries were larger than the cherries we were used to… Plus, they were blue. They could be a light sky blue all the way to a deep lapis blue and then they were ripe. The darker the color, the tarter they were which was why they weren’t actually all that popular among fairies.

However, they were with other supes. The tartness went great with a lot of bakery recipes and even sorbets. Darby loved a blue cherry bread the bakery made now and again which was sort of like cranberry bread but much, much better.

“This estate and the others in the areas I’ve taken over are now mine. And I think they need groves that can be easily harvested and used by any Guardians who either guard the place or just want extra money.”

“I heard the grunt enlist Guardians don’t actually make all that much,” Izzy muttered.

“No, it’s worse than the human miliary for sure.” I bounced my head back and forth. “Well, in America. I don’t actually know about other countries. If I factor that in, I doubt we’re the worst. Most enlist to help their families and would love the chance to make extra money.” There was more I was going to say, but I froze when I felt someone else near us.

And no one was supposed to be.

I handed over everything to Darby and raced towards the person on the back of the estate.

“Your Highness!” she gasped, jumping off the low wall she’d been sitting on… And almost falling on her face. She caught herself and then tried to kneel. Eventually, she managed it, lowering her head as well. “I apologize, Your Highness. I know I broke the rules, and I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”

Then she cursed in several interesting ways and tried to save the bottle of booze she’d knocked over.

Okaaaaaaay then.

“Well, she’s sauced,” Darby chuckled as he and Izzy joined us. The fae dogs had kept up with me, so he wasn’t worried about me running off.

Any more than normal at least.

“Who are you?” I asked, thinking that was the best place to start at least.

She winced before trying to compose herself. “Mallory, Your Highness.”

I blinked at her. She said that like I should know the name or something, but I didn’t.

No, I did. I took a step back when it hit me, clearing my throat when the others noticed my change. I smiled when Darby immediately blocked me from the woman. “There are dozens of fae dogs here and they’re fine, my sexy Irishman. I just…” I cleared my throat. I’d reacted badly, but there was no way he could take a fairy, so I moved him behind me.

Izzy too.

“I’m not a threat to you, Your Highness,” Mallory rasped, hanging her head as she stayed kneeling in front of me. “I think you’re amazing and I thank you for freeing me. I know it’s against the rules, but I just needed to come here and say goodbye. Maybe pray to the gods that I’m so relieved my brother is dead.”

“She’s Rennyn’s sister,” Izzy gasped, catching on fast as always.

“Yes, his older sister.”

Izzy moved up next to me. “Wait, how come she wasn’t the boss then?”

“It doesn’t work like that. There’s a lot to it, but in the end, the best of the possible candidates is chosen.”

Mallory snorted before full out laughing. She wiped tears as she raised her head. “You’re much too intelligent to really believe that, Your Highness.”

“I have faith in very little, but that’s how it’s supposed to go, and people hate me when I doubt that.”

“Not those of us with brains,” she whispered, plopping back on her butt. “I was the best choice. I was in the lead on all of it. None of it mattered and I always knew that. I just wanted people to see that I not only could do it but would top Rennyn before he was chosen. It was for nothing.”

“I don’t know how it’s supposed to go,” Darby muttered.

“It doesn’t matter. They cheated,” I said with a sigh. “Just assume there’s always corruption and cheating.”

“Sad, but yeah, that seems the smartest way.” Izzy cleared her throat. “Is she in big trouble?”

I snorted. “Like I give a shit she snuck in here. She wanted to drink and grieve. We saw nothing.”

“Grieve,” Mallory repeated, her voice seeming hollow. “Do you know what ‘Mallory’ means, Your Highness?”

“No, what?”

“It means ‘unfortunate’ and ‘ill-fated,’” she chuckled darkly. “I was named for being an annoyance and not the male they wanted. My own fucking parents. That monster I’m descended from, Simimar.” She took a swig of the booze and looked at me with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Do you know what that bastard said to me after you awoke us?”

“I can only imagine,” I sighed. “I’m sure nothing good.”

“That if I got in the way and tried to make friends with you, tried to support you, that my unfortunate life would come to an end and make his life easier.”

Well, this wasn’t how I thought the night would go. I was surprised but I also wasn’t.

And I really wasn’t surprised that there was more evil to Simimar than I’d known.

13

“Fuck me,” Darby whispered even as he relaxed since Mallory clearly wasn’t a threat to us.

“Yeah.” She stared out the land. “Your mother apologized to me.”

“What? Why?”

“That I wasn’t chosen,” Mallory answered quietly. “She found me after and said she believed I was best, but she was overruled. She told me that she was sorry she wasn’t stronger and couldn’t help me do what was best for Hennaba and to please forgive her. Forgive her? It was my family doing so much to her, and she told me she was sorry. I was sorry.”

“Why?” Izzy asked.

But I already knew the answer. “For not being stronger to help her when she needed it most.”

“Yes, yes, for that, I was always truly sorry. Sorrier than you could ever know and when you woke us, I promised I wouldn’t make that same mistake. I wouldn’t be quiet anymore and help.” She let out a soft sob. “Rennyn gagged me. He used Father’s power even if he was being held at Ankthus and gagged me.”

I whistled. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You’ve done everything for us!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t know and you suffered. It’s not my fault, but I’m sorry you went through it.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” She winced. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“It’s fine.” I gestured out to the land in front of us. “I want to put a grove here to help the sorbet business and factory. What do you think?”

She didn’t answer right away, taking another long drink of the bottle. “I think it would be perfect, Your Highness. I think it would be beautiful where so much darkness has happened. I think it would be new life and something to give to Faerie instead of always taking.” She laughed again. “But make it tart so we don’t forget the sour past.”

“You saw the blue cherries, right?” Darby chuckled.

She did a double take and then glanced around, focusing on the pail Izzy was holding. Then she burst out laughing, wiping more tears as she tried to pull it together. “No, but Rennyn hated them. He said only commoners should be allowed to eat them so they don’t get too spoiled but stay healthy for the work they need to do for us.”

“I’m really glad that asshole is dead,” Izzy muttered but then winced. “Sorry.”

Mallory shrugged. “I am too.” She offered the bottle to Izzy who simply shrugged as well and took it after setting down the pail.

She plopped down next to Mallory. “I get having a shitty family who doesn’t care about you. My father and eldest brother will be locked up for like ever because they were plotting to force Tams into mating. At least you’re smart enough to appreciate the freedom. My mom can’t and keeps hassling me through people to get them released.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” I sighed as I surveyed the area. “You’re really okay with that grove?”

“I think it’s the best plan for this place in a long time, Your Highness,” Mallory promised.

I nodded, muttering a thanks for the blessing even if I didn’t really need it now that it was all mine. I gave instructions to the fae dogs to the shock of the others, but it would take them nothing to dig a small hole deep enough for a seed. After all of the research in the extra seminar I sponsored at Artemis and adding to the groves, I’d learned a lot.

But I’d always known to work smarter, not harder.

Plus, it amused the fae dogs like it was a game.

It tickled me when Chief told me to widen the spaces so there was less overlap between the rows. If people only knew how smart the fae dogs really were, they would have a better view on how dumb some people were.

There were dozens and dozens of holes after a few minutes, and we took our outing on the move. It cracked me up how Darby quickly ate cherries before putting the seeds in the ground. Izzy elbowed me and nodded over to Mallory doing the same. It was actually endearing since Izzy and I were focused on getting the job done.

“Cover the holes, please,” I told the dogs after we had a whole row done.

“We can push the dirt back, agra,” Darby told me as he moved the small pile with his foot.

“It’s playing with them,” I explained. “I’m not being a brat. They want to help and get more fresh fruit when it falls. They want to help Faerie too. Plus, it—they’re so used to being huge and vicious.”

“They never get called in for something simple, and it’s good for them to work on being gentle,” Izzy surmised.

“Exactly.”

“Smart,” she praised.

“It’s my one smart move of the day.” I winced. “Well, I hope that’s not actually true. I want earlier to be my smartness.”

“One, you’re allowed more than one,” Mallory told me. “And I’m sure you thought about this before, so it was actually a different day’s idea.” She snorted. “I can’t imagine you having only one smart idea of a day.”

“At least she’s a fun drunk,” Izzy muttered under her breath.

“I admire you,” Mallory said loudly, both of us jumping like she’d busted us. I thought she meant Izzy for surviving her shitty family, but she was looking at me. “You tell everyone to piss off and keep a vampire at your side. You have the biggest balls ever, Your Highness. Truly.” She let out a shaky breath. “I was not so brave and still, I was kicked in the end.”

“What happened?” Izzy asked, always better at this sort of thing. I would have left it because I normally felt I did more damage than good.

Mallory chuckled darkly and took the bottle back from Izzy. “I was deeply in love with my friend I met taking classes at one of their supe schools. He was everything my family was not. And grateful. He was always so grateful, and he worked so damn hard. Everyone I’d grown up with just complained and hated. They were entitled.

“He didn’t come from a wealthy family, but he wasn’t poor. No, he was from the wrong side of the tracks because he was a vampire. No one in my family has ever befriended one of those fiends much less dated them. But I wanted to. I wanted to so badly and just to walk away.” She took another swig. “I didn’t. I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t leave my life and be like you.”

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” I said honestly after a few moments. I nodded when she gave me a shocked look. “I fell for Darby before I knew any of this, Mallory. If I knew it now, I’m not sure I would have touched that stove.” I gave Darby an apologetic look and loved him even more when he simply nodded.

Mostly because he felt the same about my situation. He would never have wanted to date the heir of Faerie. He had wanted a much calmer life.

And I was anything but that.

“You knew the cost to your life and family but not if it would even work out,” I continued. “I don’t know I would have done that. That’s a lot to risk because of someone you hadn’t even dated yet. Plus, I have a feeling you could never have looked yourself in the mirror if you hadn’t fought to win over Rennyn and simply left the people of Hennaba to him.”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Part of me wants to think that was the main reason, but part of me isn’t sure. I knew I would lose. Does that make me one of those people to set themselves up as the victim for life? The world was unfair to me—my family, and this realm mostly—and I chose to let them? Why didn’t I walk away? Why wasn’t I stronger?”

“If you ever figure that out, please let me know,” I said with a dark chuckle. “Seriously, because I don’t have a fucking clue either, and I’m doing the same, feel it always.”

She winced. “There is only one of you though, Your Highness. That is very different.”

“Yeah, but I don’t believe Faerie will die without me and all that stuff,” I admitted. “It sounds like a bunch of horseshit to trap the royal bloodlines and excuses to treat us like expendable shit.” I got bummed just saying it and grabbed the bottle from her, putting the rune I needed on myself before taking a huge gulp.

“I don’t believe it either,” she sighed. “I think your families were just the first created from the gods. Or one was, and then they split off.”

“Yeah, that disturbs me when so many want you to mate Neldor,” Izzy grumbled.

“Me too.”

Mallory chuckled. “We’re talking thousands of years and hundreds of generations, Your Highness. Most Europeans have a much closer relation to kings who spread their seed around. Someone was always finding a link in their genealogy.”

“That’s true,” Izzy agreed. “Yeah, that’s really a thing. I saw it on some YouTube documentary that was meant to be like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon but more, of King Edward with all the wives.” She frowned. “I think he was Edward. The guy who chopped off heads.”

“Henry VIII,” Darby corrected at the same time I said, “So off topic.”

Which made it all the more amusing.

“But I get what you’re saying. It’s just… The whole thing is weird.”

“Yes, and shocking so many pushing for it because the idea of mating between light and dark is still illegal and said to be against the founding laws, so I thought many were trying to trap you in that,” Mallory muttered.

“A few, but mostly they knew their ancient magic could take over Neldor. They knew they couldn’t me, but that he would be able to with my heart because women are that weak and stupid.”

I smirked when there was an echo of snorts. Yeah, I generally felt the same.

We worked for another hour and by then Mallory had sobered up. She seemed a bit floored we just let her join us or didn’t kick her out. Maybe that she didn’t get in trouble.

On the contrary, I liked her. Especially after she helped me with my magic.

“Your Highness, I don’t mean to criticize, but you don’t always need to use your full power,” she hedged.

I glanced at her, holding off what I’d been about to do. “I know. I mean, I’ve mostly had to use my magic like that because I’m always attacked or things are chaotic. But Professor Sontar showed me how to use less for one tree. I mean, I ramped that up and did a whole grove.”

“Yes, but those were grown trees that could endure a lot. Using even half of the magic I felt you about to unleash won’t grow those seeds but pop them.”

“Well, fuck,” I sighed. “Guess I can’t have an easy night of small no matter how I try.”

She moved in front of me and licked her lips as she studied me. “You have a very, very powerful engine. It’s amazing. You have to appreciate something magnificent that is so powerful.”

“I know,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and getting defensive.

“From what I understand, you ripped off the chains of the human vaccines we cannot have, and your magic has been a roaring river since.”

“That’s fairly accurate, but everyone says that’s just fairies,” Izzy defended.

“At her age? Yes, but start simpler,” she hurried on when it was clear I was going to snap at her. People told me that kind of crap all of the time, but now how. “Simply turn on the engine but do not hit the gas, Your Highness. Don’t even put it in drive.”

“Smart,” Darby praised, his lips twitched when I gave him an annoyed look he was taking her side over mine. “Remember how White had her magic in her aura and we could see it? When she went against Julian’s uncle, it was just there. That’s what she’s saying. You let it out, and even a tiny bit of that when it comes from you is too powerful.”

“Yes, that works,” Mallory agreed. “Let me show you, Your Highness. Scan me while I simply turn on my engine.”

Which required trust. That was why she’d been nervous. I glanced at Chief since he could sense a lot more than I could. Relief filled me when the Alpha nodded it was fine.

“Okay.” I held out a hand and scanned Mallory for magic.

And found none. No, not none, but simply that she had magic. She wasn’t gathering it, there was no change in her. It was as if she simply stopped blocking that she had magic… Like she was letting the plants into her barrier? I really wasn’t sure how to explain it, but I understood it.

Somehow.

Mostly?

I opened my eyes to see the results, but there weren’t any. I couldn’t hide my confusion as I met Mallory’s gaze.

“I only made the seeds germinate,” she explained. “They’re not even big enough to come out of the dirt. It’s like healing, Your Highness. Sometimes it’s not best to do it all at once. For the strongest foundations, the healthiest roots, you have to allow everything to settle before the next step.”

It made sense, and I thanked her for showing me.

We talked for a while and enjoyed the night, giving small magical help like that to the seeds every so often. Izzy wanted to help and used a water rune to give them all a sprinkling.

It was peaceful. No one was yelling or upset. There wasn’t any arguing or issues. No, it was simply enjoying the night and doing something calm.

And for once, I was the one to ruin that.

“What would you think of managing Hennaba for me?” I asked Mallory as we were wrapping up.

“Excuse me?” she whispered, her eyes going bug wide.

While filling with hope.

Shit.

I cleared my throat and looked away. “Not take over but manage it. I can’t put someone in your family in charge like before, not after what your brother did. That would be stupid and dangerous.”

“No, no, of course, and I understood what you meant,” she promised. “I was just—I would love to manage it. Like a mayor of a city under a monarchy. I understand.”

“The nobles won’t see it as just that, agra,” Darby worried. “You trapped some of the rats, and they will assume you will go about as normal and start multiplying again.”

I smirked at him. “Sounds like a good way to draw out the rest of the rats.” I shrugged when he sighed. “Tell me you wouldn’t give her a chance after hanging out with her?”

“No, I would, and I agree that she shouldn’t be punished for what her brother did.”

Izzy snorted. “I wouldn’t want to be for what my family did. Yours either.”

“I know, I do,” Darby sighed.

“But you love her, and you don’t want to be fair and reasonable when it comes to her,” Mallory said for him. He didn’t even try to deny it, scrubbing his neck and looking out at the landscape. “Your fear is making you miss how smart your mate is.”

“She’s the smartest person I know,” Darby snapped. “I never miss that.”

“What?” I gasped. “No, I’m not. I’m not even close to that, and you’re way smarter than me.”

He leaned over and kissed me softly. “Agra, I’m more educated than you. That doesn’t make me smarter. I’m book smart. I know this. You have an intelligence like I’ve never seen before.”

“I agree, but I won’t kiss you,” Izzy teased. “But what are we missing that you caught, Mallory?”

“That Princess Tamsin has figured out I’m not the only one who was cheated out of my spot,” Mallory said with a purr. “She’ll make a lot of friends among the nobles who were mistreated as well. If we had someone to help us, we are powerful, and we would be completely loyal after that help.”

“I hadn’t gotten that far,” I admitted. “I was thinking of how much was on my plate, and it won’t get better the more areas I reopen. It will get worse, and I need help that isn’t corrupt.”

“It’s smart,” she praised, Darby and Izzy agreeing. “And yes, I would love to manage it for you.”

“Good. Izzy knows who is handling everything for the changes in Theripolis and can… Never mind.” I sighed when portals opened behind us. I flinched when my father’s booming laugh filled the quiet night, slowly glancing over my shoulder to see Lageos grabbing his stomach. I was confused until I saw the tablet in his hand. “Glad you liked it.”

He burst out all over again.

“You will make enemies by doing this,” Onas grumbled.

I gave him the look he deserved… Like he was an idiot. “Oh no, not enemies! Whatever will I do if suddenly there are some people who don’t like me? I mean, that’s never happened before. Will they come after me and try to kill me? Or maybe try to control all my power and puppet me?”

My dad died, for real, just couldn’t control his laughter.

“Thank you, Onas. Would you like to tell me that the sky is blue next?”

“Brat, you are an absolute brat,” he sighed under his breath.

But we all still heard him.

Shael smacked him in the chest. “We came to tell you that we support your decision and most of us agree with the move. Even if we don’t, it’s not a bad move and we are behind you.”

“Some of us thought it should have been done much, much sooner,” Taeral added.

“Well, just to completely push you guys over the edge then, I’m making Mallory the manager of Hennaba. I like her and apparently, Simimar and Rennyn cheated. Shocking, I know.”

Lageos instantly lost his amusement. “Your mother tried—”

“I know, she told me,” I interrupted, not wanting to bring that up for him. “It’s not about her or what happened. I like her and I’m giving her a chance. She didn’t ask for it or demand it, accepting what happened, so she gets it. Plus, she’s willing to work for the opportunity.”

“But you hate the nobility,” Commander Morgan blurted, shocking all of us.

“No, I don’t,” I snickered.

“Forgive my bluntness and rudeness, Your Highness, but there is a lot of evidence contrary to that,” he argued.

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Is there?” I pointed over at Stefanie. “She’s a noble. I know it’s on hold because of her service, but she’s still one. I like Lady Jean. I’ve interacted well with a lot of the nobles.” I gave him a chance to argue that, but he wisely didn’t. “I hate assholes, Commander. I hate corruption and shitty entitlement off no merit.”

“She was nice to that noble who came around before,” Izzy added. “But he caved to the bullying and stopped. He didn’t join the other side, and Tams didn’t go after him because he wasn’t cheering for her. She’s gone after the ones who want her controlled, beaten, or you know, dead. So don’t be mean to her and assume the worst of her when the truth is right in front of your eyes.”

I wasn’t the only one who slowly looked at her in shock.

“We’re both tired of how so many assume the worst of you always,” Darby muttered. “A lot of us are and are disappointed in how fairies really are when all I’ve ever heard was how awesome they were.” He winced. “Not that I should judge given what my family did, but I meant in school or from others.”

“You are not your family, Mr. Moore,” Morgan said firmly, dipping his head to Darby. “Your assessment is fair and I understand it even.” He focused on me then and bowed. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I will work on my assessments and try to keep my opinions from them in the future.”

“We’re good, Commander.” I shrugged when that seemed to shock him. “You’re a noble too. I know that. And you took what I was doing personally. Shit happens. You don’t voice your criticisms or are a jerk about them. We’re good.”

“I think he should be the one to be directly involved in the reopening of Hennaba and working with Mallory so he can see firsthand how much you truly do and how hard you work as Commander Shael has for Theripolis,” Lageos said, his tone dark. “Maybe if he jumped in more instead of judging from the outskirts, he would truly see his mistakes. About a lot.”

“I agree completely, Prince Lageos,” Morgan accepted after a few moments. “It would be my honor to help reopen the second-largest city in the realm so our people can rebuild their lives.”

“Done,” I agreed before anyone could argue or there were any more problems.

And I was done with that night.

Or so I thought.

14

“I love you, agra,” Darby murmured as he hugged me from behind. “You know that, right?”

I sighed happily and leaned back against him. “I do.”

“Do you have any idea how much?”

I knew it was more a rhetorical question, but I decided to wave the red flag in front of him that I was open for naked fun time. “Show me.”

“Gladly,” he growled as he easily swooped me up in his arms.

A slight yelp escaped when he tossed me on my bed from too far away. After I stopped bouncing, I turned to face him and wanted to lick my fucking lips. Darby was so damn sexy it should have been a crime.

And I was fairly sure he was finally starting to see that about himself.

He slowly peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the floor. “Don’t be looking at me like that unless ya want me to gobble ya up, agra.”

“I’m not against it,” I purred as I snuggled back into the comforter. “I wanna see my sexy Irishman naked for me. Are you hard?”

“Aye. Always around ya.”

I did lick my lips then. “Show me.”

“Ya feckin’ playing with fire,” he warned.

Yeah, sure, burn me up. I liked that kind of fire.

“Get naked, agra.”

“Naw, you do it.” I stretched and gave him a challenging look.

His fangs slid out. “Gladly.” He was on me before I even blinked. My tank top was gone, and he kissed along my neck as he reached behind me to unsnap my bra. “I smell how excited you are.”

“You sure? You sure you don’t want to check?” I panted as he freed my breasts and cupped them. “With your tongue?”

“Aye, ya be sitting on my face in just a bit.” He chuckled when I just moaned.

It was still embarrassing to me to do that, but he loved it, and the orgasms he gave me were unreal.

He praised my chest while pinching my nipples and playing with them. I moaned and hurried to get his jeans open, confused when he stopped me.

“I want to take my time, so be good and let me love on you.”

Shit, that was hot. I nodded and then smirked. I scooted up and grabbed the headboard. “I’m all yours.”

“Damn right, ya are,” he groaned before kissing me breathless.

I was so into the kiss that I didn’t even realize he was also focused on getting me fully naked until cool air hit my thighs. Then my pants and panties were just gone.

“So much for going slow,” I teased him.

“I didn’t say slow, I said I wanted to take my time, not just fuck you,” he mumbled as he kissed along my skin. “You should always be naked around me.”

I moaned as he sucked on my right nipple, arching my back as if to get more of that. “Not sure how that would work, but I’m open to suggestions. Glamour clothes for everyone else?”

He licked my left nipple and chuckled. “I think that would hurt these perfect tits when you did all of your training.”

“Yeah, that would be a disaster. Sometimes the sports bras aren’t enough. Most times.” I shut my rambling mouth as he sucked on it while massaging my other breast. His other hand moved down my ribs, his touch light and his fingertips tickling my skin in a way that made me shiver.

“Keep talking. I like listening to you talk.”

“Not about stupid stuff,” I grumbled.

“Even then. I think it’s adorable when you ramble. You’re so honest then.”

“I’ll be honest and not make an ass of myself later.”

“Ya arse is perfect, agra.”

Just to make his point that he felt that way, he grabbed it with his other hand. Then he bit my nipple hard enough to make me gasp. Damn, he was good. He kissed down my ribs on one side, then back up the other side before teasing and biting my other nipple.

Yup, I was completely turned on and ready for more.

He gave me more, but he didn’t up the level. He moved over me so we were staring into each other’s eyes and slowly ran his fingers up and down my arm before switching. “I love you, Tamsin Vale. Always.”

“Me too. Thanks for staying through all of this, Darby.”

He chuckled softly. “I knew my life would never be boring again from the day you opened your door in your underwear.”

“Says the guy who dropped his towel when I walked in the door to mess with me.”

“Gods, don’t even feckin’ remind me,” he groaned. “I just…”

I let go of the headboard and pushed up onto my elbows. “What?”

He searched my eyes. “You know.”

“No, I don’t.” I frowned at him. “No, don’t pull the telepathy thing. Tell me. I don’t just listen in or—”

He leaned in and kissed me quiet. “Not what I meant. I meant you just seem to always know what’s in my head and not in that way. I shouldn’t have phrased it like that when I kept being chicken and saying you should listen in.”

I flinched. Yeah, that had truly upset me and that I wasn’t worth him taking the chance on. “What did you mean then? I mean, what were you going to say then.” I mentally sighed wondering how much worse I was making it.

He lowered his forehead between my breasts. I might have gotten upset that he wouldn’t look me in the eyes and say it, but I saw his ears were bright red, so he was embarrassed. “I wanted to be smooth. I was trying to be… Clearly, I’m not the best at flirting. I thought it would be more… I don’t know. I was honestly too nervous to really think clearly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Tams,” he chuckled. “You are a force to be reckoned with. I thought there were sparks, and I was trying to play it cool. I wanted to scope out how you felt, and it came off as treating you like you were cheap. I felt like a complete dipshit, and I was shocked you still agreed to go out with me.”

“I like that you can be a bit dorky,” I admitted. “I can be too. I think it makes us matched well.”

“You’re never dorky. You have awkward moments, but you’re normally sexy as fuck thinking you’re being a dork. You have no idea how adorable you really are.”

Now it was my turn to blush.

A lot.

“What do you want tonight, my prickly pear? I’ll give you whatever you want.”

He slowly raised his head, and I watched as his fangs slid back out. He licked them, chuckling when I shivered. The idea of him biting me still scared me, but it was sexy as fuck when they ran over my skin. The sensation was unreal and didn’t hurt at all. It was like… I wasn’t really sure how to describe it. It wasn’t a scratch that could slice.

More like how sensitive skin could be after a burn. Cold felt colder. Hot felt hotter. It was like that. The area felt more and a lot more sensitive.

“Anything I want?”

I swallowed loudly and nodded. He wanted anal sex. I knew that. He and Hudson were dying to do it, but I was terrified because they were both huge.

Someday.

“I wanna pin you down and get you dirty, agra. I want you to use that rune and let me make you a mess before you come around my cock. Then I want to take you in the shower. Then I want you to sit on my face while sucking my cock. And finally, you’re going to sit on it because you own it and do whatever you want to me.”

“Done,” I panted, completely turned on with the range and fun. Shit, I so loved this man to instantly get wet giving him his fantasy.

For real.

“Do it,” he growled, chuckling when I bobbed my head and used the rune. His hand moved over both of my wrists before his fingers found my pussy lips. “Shit, you are so fucking wet. It drives me mad when this cunt drips for me.”

Kinky Irishman. I loved it. I arched into his touch and spread wider when he told me to. He fingered me for a while before shoving fingers in me. I was begging and pleading for him to finishing me even though I knew I couldn’t. It felt like forever before he finally lost his pants and plunged in me.

He brought up his other hand to mine and interlocked our fingers as he held me down.

“Take it off,” he grunted a few minutes in. He nodded when I couldn’t hide my shock. “Your body is—take it off, agra!”

I pulled my magic off of the rune and orgasmed immediately. He kissed me and swallowed my screams of pleasure as he came with me.

My magic burst out of me as I gave every ounce of myself to Darby. A piece of my soul was now his. I knew it as much as I knew my name. Part of me wanted to cry because doing that before had hurt me so much, but part of me was also relieved since I knew it hurt Darby that I hadn’t done it yet. He still believed I didn’t love him the way I had Julian.

I did. I loved him just as much even if it was different. Julian hurting me so much had made me cut off from doing it again. I fully believed it was because I was mates with Hudson that I couldn’t block that part of me from him. I could Darby.

Apparently, not anymore. Did that mean our bond was as strong as natural mates now?

A question to overthink and stress over another time.

“Don’t be sad,” he panted when we finally finished. “Please don’t be sad, Tams.”

“I’m not,” I promised, not willing to play it off or ignore the topic when he was brave enough to bring it up. “Just scared. I know you won’t hurt me like him, but I still hurt, so fresh wounds aren’t logical.” I pulled my hand away and tried to wipe my tears. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it sooner. I’m sorry I’m crying in bed with you about another man when we shared—”

He kissed me within an inch of my life as he sat back on his feet and pulled me onto his lap. “I don’t care, agra. I don’t care that you cry over him or you thought of him. I just want you to not regret this or me. I want to share this with you.”

“No regrets,” I swore knowing in my heart that it was the truth. I hugged him and buried my face in his neck. “Just don’t leave me. I know it’s not fair, but I always have this deep fear you’re going to leave me. I don’t have it with Hudson, and I don’t know what it is. Sometimes I look at you, and it’s like I see a whisper of you making me feel like you’re gonna leave.”

“Thank you for explaining it,” he murmured against my hair. “It worried me I was doing something wrong. I won’t leave. I swear I won’t leave. You’re it for me. Forever.” He gave a watery chuckle. “Hell, I can’t even hate Julian because I would be the same and never leave you alone if you tried to leave me.”

Yeah, I would probably do the same.

I still hated Julian.

He carried me to the shower and we washed each other. Then apparently, Darby got possessive and super turned on by the magic. I had no idea, but I was about to get out when he pressed me up against the glass wall and moved his hand to my neck.

“Let me?” he growled in my ear. “I want to fuck what’s mine the way your mate does.”

“My other mate,” I corrected. I turned my head so I could catch his gaze. “I never loved Hudson more, Darby. I couldn’t hold back with him because he’s my mate no matter how much I hurt. I still hurt and yet I did the same with you. What did Lageos say about our bond?”

His eyes filled with understanding. “You’re really mine then. Our bond has to be as strong.”

“It makes sense.”

“Now ya really fucked, agra. Say yes.”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat and turned my head again. “As long as maybe you start thinking about rings so we’re engaged before you graduate.”

He pressed his lips against my ear and chuckled. “If you don’t think I already have one picked out, I finally found the one area you can be a twit.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond, slamming into me with all he had. “Did you like that?”

“Did you like doing it?” I threw right back as I tightened my body around him. Reaching behind me, I looped my arm around his neck and kept my other hand on the glass. “Is that all you can give me?”

That pushed him over the edge. He fucked me while grunting in my ear all kinds of kinky and dirty things that drove me higher and higher. He had such a thing for wanting to screw me in front of others and letting them see how he pleased me. I knew he got jealous, but 99% of the men who wanted me wanted my power.

Or to fuck the redheaded slut because that was what I was to so many.

But not Darby. Not Hudson. Even though I’d hooked up with Hudson the day we met. He never treated me with anything but respect and like his treasure.

I moved my head to Darby’s shoulder and pressed my lips to his ear. “I’d let you. I’d let you fuck me like your slut in front of anyone. I’d do it and beg for more.”

He roared my name as he came deep inside of me. He shook from the force of his orgasm for several moments. I gasped as he pulled out of me and spun me around, pressing me into the glass. My eyes went wide at the anger in his eyes as he kept his hand on my neck.

“You are never a slut. I don’t ever want to hear that from your mouth again even if it’s play. I feel how those hits land on you, and I’m not having it.”

I turned my head away and into the water so he didn’t see my reaction.

He moved under the spray with me and kissed the skin of my neck where his hand had been. “We play dirty. I’m a perv for wanting to show people how good I am to you. That’s my issue after being torn down by everyone before I met you. That is not—you are never cheap to me.”

“I know that.” I smiled when he didn’t move. “I believe you. I want to do it for you. I’m saying I would go over the line as far as you want.” I cleared my throat when he kept kissing me. “But you’re right. That word cuts me even when I try to use it for play. I… I want to be normal about it.”

“I think you are. I don’t know most people tell their boyfriends they want to be their slut, agra. I think—fuck, I can’t think when you’re being this sexy. I think screw what others do, and this is our normal.”

“I’d like that.” I slid my arms around his neck and hugged him with everything I had. “Yeah, I’d really like that. It’s us and our normal. I can’t take any more judgments or worry if everything I’m doing is wrong. It’s all I do and it’s—I can’t anymore. I want to give you everything, but I know I’m lacking, and all I do is beat myself up over it.”

“Hey, hey, you are not lacking,” he whispered when I started shaking. “Neither of us is perfect. No one is. They’re pushing you too much. I’m happy, Tams. We have so much more than I ever thought any relationship could ever have. That’s all that matters.”

I wanted to believe that; I really did.

But I didn’t think it was that simple.

I left it for the moment, nodding and letting him clean me up again. We ended up on the bed and not jumping into the next round.

“There’s something I think you need to see before we go back to campus tomorrow,” he said gently as we snuggled together.

“No, it’s our night,” I grumbled, getting it was upsetting.

“Please? I can’t take you being sideswiped anymore, and I want us to have the time to deal with it together.”

Well, shit. There was no way I would deny him then.

He rolled off of the bed and walked over to my dresser where my tablet was plugged in. He came back and slid under the covers with me. Darby was propped up on the pillows, so I moved to lay on his chest so we could both watch whatever was coming next.

I should have guessed given what I’d brought up in the shower, but I flinched when I saw it was Julian’s supe social media.

The first video Darby played was Julian singing Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man.” It was in response to my last video, and it actually took me a few moments to remember what I had done. My life was so crazy that even that short time felt like forever ago.

Right, Charlie Puth’s “Attention,” and I showed everyone I was unsubscribing from Julian.

“He cannot fucking sing,” Darby muttered, sounding amused and pleased.

I was a bit evil for enjoying it as well. I finally found something that Dr. Julian Craftsman was crap at. Fine, he wasn’t that bad, and I’d heard him sing softly to me at times. But this was totally different, and he didn’t have the right chops for the song.

Still, I understood the choice given the song was all about regret.

“There’s more?” I rasped when Darby tapped the screen after the video finished.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I don’t know I can keep doing this. I stopped replying so he wouldn’t be encouraged. I was making it worse.”

“No, you weren’t. You were saying your piece and—you weren’t—none of it is on you, Tams. His response is his. You’re not encouraging him when you’re telling him to fuck off. Idiots think things like that. He’s doing this kind of shit to get your attention and public opinion on his side. Do what feels right, and we’ll ignore the idiots.”

“I have no idea what’s right anymore or how to do any of this.”

“That’s okay too.”

I nodded as he loaded what was next, my soul hurting when I saw Julian’s gorgeous face as Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” played. The sign he held said, “Please don’t cut me off and ignore me. I won’t stop. I won’t ever stop trying to get you back. Tell me what I can do to fix this.”

“If you could answer that, would you?” Darby asked me softly.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know the answer either.”

“Could you ever forgive him?”

“I can’t see how this time,” I whispered as I looked away from Julian’s gorgeous eyes. “I can’t keep being the one people expect to fix things and also the one they blame for everything. I can’t. And I really can’t deal with that from someone who says he loves me. It’s horrible.”

“It is,” he agreed before kissing my hair.

It was like Julian heard me even if the video had been posted for a bit already. It was another Lewis Capaldi song next, “Someone You Loved.” It was like a knife through my heart even without the signs. The song was all about someone making them fall in love and then leaving, fading away.

Yeah, I was pretty sure that was a song I should have used, not him.

“Asshole,” Darby seethed, clearly hearing how the song framed Julian as the victim. “I know he thinks it’s just him missing you and asking for you back, but others are salivating over this. He keeps being the victim.”

I nodded, tears blurring my vision.

“Please come back to me, my sweet fairy,” Julian’s first sign said as tears filled his eyes. One rolled down his cheek and cut my soul.

And they got worse from there.

“I cannot do this without you anymore. None of this matters without you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, and I’ll figure out a way to make it all better. Please stop ignoring me. I’m dying without you.”

I had to close my eyes when he started crying. The video ended that way.

“There’s a bit of a gap,” Darby muttered. “Then I think he got some bad advice.”

I didn’t understand what that meant until he loaded the next video. I blinked a few times as a much more upbeat song started and Julian was in view dressed in a way that couldn’t be chance. He was wearing nice gray slacks, a white V-neck, off-white jacket, and… A black fedora?

Since when did Julian wear a damn fedora?

Even worse? It fucking worked for the asshole and his sexy curls.

“It’s from the video,” Darby muttered, pausing what we were watching before pulling up Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself).”

Sure enough, it was what the singer was wearing in the early shots and dancing in.

I grabbed the tablet and sat up, switching back to Julian’s video. Yeah, it was the outfit… Except for the bracelet Julian was wearing. That was the one I’d given him, my prize from the Power Playoffs.

Un-fucking-real.

Seriously.

I was shocked again when the video was more than him using his phone on a stand. It cut away to him doing pushups and training. Then he was dancing in that outfit again. Not the choreography but like he was getting into it.

“Let me take you dancing. I love dancing with you. I’ll take you wherever you want,” his sign said.

“Seriously?” I asked Darby when it was over. “He’s just going to act like he’s asking me out now? I let him love me and he destroyed me. Twice.”

“That’s why I said he got bad advice,” Darby muttered, taking the tablet from me before I threw it across the room. “He went for sexy like that’s all you cared about.”

That was seriously stupid. I was about to ramp up again, but Darby muttering he was a stupid feckin’ Englishman cut through my upset. Yeah, he knew Julian could turn me on and I was attracted to him, but he wouldn’t hold that against me.

Honestly, I only made it through the other videos without blowing my top and beating Julian up because Darby was there holding me.

Next was the Jonas Brothers’s “What A Man Gotta Do” and Julian dancing around in a Risky Business spoof. What a fucking moron! He was dancing around without pants for the whole internet to see after he hurt me by taking dates with other women.

Black magic or not, that hurt me.

How stupid was this idiot?

Then he held up a sign at the end asking if he could take me away to Paris for a break before school started.

Un-fucking-real.

“I would give anything to see you do the dance in the same outfit like Priyanka Chopra and hold up a sign that he’s a fucking git,” Darby muttered at the end.

I burst out laughing. “Done. I even know the song.”

“That’s my agra,” he teased, kissing my hair.

Next was Ed Sheeran’s “Put It All On Me” featuring Ella Mai. He actually had the balls to lip-sync the song with a sign that said “We can start over and be like the couples in the video. I can make you happy, my sweet fairy.”

Well, of course he could. Who wouldn’t believe that after two tries?

Dick.

Charlie Puth’s “Light Switch” with Julian working out shirtless really didn’t help. At the end, he held up a sign saying he was more than willing to do what it took to keep up with me.

“He can’t as a warlock. Does he just not know how to not make empty promises to you?” Darby grumbled when it was over.

“We both know he doesn’t mean in the gym,” I drawled. “And you look just as hot with your shirt off. Don’t get jealous over the jerks.” I ran my fingers over his chiseled abs to make my point clear. “I hate when you go running around campus shirtless. Maybe don’t do that at law school.”

“Don’t be sexist,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes when I looked up at him. “If I told you to wear a shirt when you train, I would be a complete asshole blaming you for how men are dogs. You hate that bullshit.”

I opened my mouth but then closed it. “You’re absolutely right. I apologize. My mind went to women not knowing the line better and thinking they could touch guys whenever when at least guys know that’s wrong. They tend to do it anyways too often, but more are calling them on it.”

“True. I only do it because I hate the tank top tan lines that make me feel like a dork. I normally go early since someone got me in the habit.”

“It’s all my fault you’re hot, sure it is.” I felt better when he chuckled. I hated when I acted like a hypocrite. I was glad Darby would call me on it. That was the way it should be and without any issues if we behaved like adults.

The last one landed the worst with me. The music started for Ed Sheeran’s “Beautiful People” featuring Khalid.

“What is wrong with him?” Darby growled. “You are stunning.”

“It’s not what he means,” I rasped, swallowing tears as Julian held up pints of ice cream while standing in his bathtub. Then it was sitting on the floor with piles of books. I couldn’t keep the tears back when he was sitting with a full English breakfast and huge roses he’d clearly made with his magic.

“I’m confused and pissed at him for making you cry again. What am I missing?”

“He’s saying we’re not like other elites and spoiled people,” I explained my voice cracking. “That we didn’t come into money and buy yachts or party. It’s about being real instead of living pretty lives.”

“Why are you so upset then? That’s accurate.”

“We did all of that because we had to keep our relationship secret,” I choked out. “The relationship he wouldn’t make public and denied. Fine, he denied it when he was under the magic, but he just told the world he’s never taken me out, like a proper date in public. He’s that fucking tone-deaf while saying he needs me back. He’s so selfish.”

I broke down crying, hating myself for doing it and how he could still hurt me so much. We had been apart most of the time I’d known Julian, and it was ridiculous that I still cared.

It disgusted me that I did.

Still Darby held me and promised I’d be okay, that I could make it through this. All I cared about was that he kept saying he wouldn’t leave me and would always be with me.

That was what truly mattered. The rest I could handle.

Mostly.

Maybe?

15

The next morning, I woke alone and went to check the time on my phone… Only to find it had blown up with notifications. I had missed calls and text messages in crazy numbers.

What. The. Fuck?

I sat up as my heart beat too fast. Izzy was always the smartest bet for spitting things out and warning me, so I went right to her messages.

Izzy: Was this really you? Have you been hacked?

The message also had a link. There was a lot more after that, but I decided to find out what she was so worried about first.

It was my video channel. I saw that right away… And the video was from last night?

Huh?

I played it and immediately recognized Nickelback’s “This Means War” intro starting. I thought my eyes might actually pop out of my head when Darby came into view holding up a sign.

“You’re pathetic. You keep playing the victim when you’re the villain, and I’m fucking done with it.”

He moved aside to show me lying in bed.

Naked. No one saw anything they shouldn’t, but it was clear I was naked under the sheet. I was curled up on my side and the sheet covered my front, but my back was exposed as if Darby had moved out from behind me to do this.

And he had. I had fallen asleep with him spooning me.

“She watched your videos, and you were so off the mark that all you did was hurt her. You should have stuck to begging.”

The next was even better.

“Whoever told you to switch tactics either hates her or just wants to ruin any chance you have with her. So did you run to Mommy again?”

Damn. Drop the mic moment for sure.

“I felt bad for you because of the black magic. I hated how you froze her out before that even started, but I pitied you even as I died from watching you crush MY MATE.”

My heart thudded as he said that for everyone. Finally. He wasn’t backing down anymore about me.

“But you’re not under that magic anymore. Now you’re just an emotionally abusive asshole being selfish with her again. I’m done being quiet about it.”

Yes, clearly, he was. Wow.

“You made her cry again, and that’s the last I’m allowing it. Each tear she sheds I’m punching you for, teacher at Artemis or not. So be warned and know that’s what you risk with your next stupid video. Besides her hating you more.”

Oh boy. That would get him into trouble with the school. I couldn’t allow him to deck Julian.

At least not until I made sure he got some kind of immunity. I could pull that as the heir of Faerie.

Right?

“I comforted her and promised she was worth more than you’re treating her because she is. Then I made love to her. In our bed.”

I wouldn’t disagree with that. He didn’t keep his stuff in the other room anymore on breaks. Yes, he had the closets if he needed stuff when I was with Hudson but really, it was our room now.

“You undoubtedly remember how amazing it is to be with her. You were given heaven, and now you’re in hell because you didn’t appreciate what you had.”

Woah.

“That’s what you lost. You deserve that so accept it. You gave me shit about not being man enough to deserve her when I wouldn’t tell her how I felt. I deserved that, but I stayed at her side even through the rough times, so which of us really deserves to be her man?”

He smirked at the camera as the song ended and tossed the last sign to the floor before crawling into bed with me. I rolled over towards him, giving the camera my back.

“I love you, Darby,” I muttered in my sleep as he wrapped his arm around me.

“I love you too, agra,” he whispered against my hair.

And flicked off the camera.

The video ended, and I simply stared at my phone for a while. I jumped when my door opened… And a very guilty looking Darby walked in with a tray.

He winced when he saw I was awake and what was in my hands. “Shit. I wanted to talk to you first.”

I simply raised an eyebrow. “Do you feel better after doing this?”

He moved closer and set down the tray that was overloaded with food. “I want to answer honestly, but I don’t want to upset you more.”

I snorted. “I already know the answer, so just be honest with me.”

“Yeah, I feel loads better. I get how that’s been helping you,” he admitted.

I leaned in and kissed his nose. “Glad it helped, my prickly pear.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to beat me?”

I shrugged, tossing my phone on the pillow. “You hit your limit and blew. I get it. You didn’t show me showering and rub it in his face you get to do that. Yes, you said we had sex. We did. We’re adults. I don’t care. You were focused on me letting you in enough that it’s our bed.”

“You’re not mad at all?” he checked after a moment.

“I’m not thrilled you did it from my account without checking first, but no, not mad. I trust you. I can understand stepping over the line a bit because you were so angry I was hurt. I do. It’s mostly that I don’t lock my phone around you, and I don’t want to feel you take advantage of that.”

“I don’t. I swear I don’t,” he whispered. “I just saw red and it was… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” I thought about that a moment and changed my answer. “No, it’s good that you apologized. It’s my phone and account, and you abused that. I would apologize for the same. But I get it.” I let out a slow breath. “You can’t make a habit of it or it will bring more shit on us. People are probably already talking I’m a pushover or stupid.”

He winced. “I didn’t think of that, but they’re not. Not yet at least. People are focused on me finally having a spine and saying something about it all.”

I sighed. Heavily. “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know they were shitting on you for that as well.”

“They shit on us for everything they can,” he grumbled. He sat on the bed and moved the tray over my lap. “I am sorry, and it was over the line. Hard stop.”

“But?”

“No but. Next sentence. I did mean what I said, and I’m done just letting Julian hurt you. It felt wrong to stand in the way of your mate trying to win you back, but if he’s going to be such an idiot in doing it and not caring enough to think, I’m done.”

“Okay,” I accepted after a few moments.

“Okay?”

“You do you, boo,” I chuckled, saying the same to Izzy all the time. “This isn’t only my crap. If that’s what you need, please, feel free to punch my idiot mate as soon as I figure out how to make sure you don’t get kicked out of school for it. Or worse.”

“Deal. I’ll wait for that.” He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss. “Thank you for not beating my ass and understanding.”

“I can’t always be a pain.” I snuck a kiss before digging into breakfast.

Which I didn’t let him have any of. That shocked him when I smacked his fork away, but I figured that was enough of a punishment. He didn’t get a cute breakfast in bed after misbehaving.

He got to watch me have one.

“Only three years left, agra,” he said to me an hour later as we were heading to campus.

I turned to look at him. “It’s your last year. Are you excited?”

“No, ready to get it over with,” he admitted, smiling when I couldn’t hide my shock. “I want it over for all of us. Things won’t be this bad after you graduate. I believe that.”

“It will probably be worse,” I muttered, staring into his pretty gray eyes.

“No, I don’t believe that. People won’t see you every day. You won’t be so front and center. They won’t have access to you as a student. They push this hard because they idiotically see you as vulnerable. You’re only a student. You don’t have the future yet.”

“He’s right, and you’re not the only one who goes through it,” Irma said as she fretted over our lunches for the trip.

Yeah, that whole hour trip. Wait, no, we were… I forgot the plan but not the point. I focused on her.

“The bullying—while horrible—has a reason in the eyes of the elites. If you cannot handle that, you won’t survive the real trials of being an adult.”

“I actually understand that,” I muttered. “That’s why I said it won’t get better.”

“But it will,” Irma argued. “You will have the power then you don’t now. People will be more afraid of you and the damage you could do to them. Right now, they still see you as a possible contender just like the others. It’s different for fairies, you are the one chosen by the gods. But others have a younger sibling or cousin who could easily take their place.”

I nodded, hearing her but not really getting it. It all seemed stupid and arbitrary, like something out of a bad drama for the right to succeed the family business.

While most of our stuff would be brought by the truck that was loaded up, we were taking a portal to a private airport. Right, we were going back to campus by one of my planes. That was how we now had to do everything since the attention I’d been getting affected the school.

Or they should have done it all along to be safe but whatever.

“Your dress for the ball tonight is already at campus in your new room,” Shael told me. She sighed when I raised an eyebrow. “The freshman ball is tonight. You have to attend as the biggest donor and to not have people say you’re a rude brat again, remember?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I sighed, hating this crap. We were arriving at the last possible moment before classes which people would talk enough about, but I didn’t care.

In my defense, normally the ball was on the Friday night before classes, and it was Saturday. I hadn’t thought on it much, but it seemed more like something I got to skip then.

Nope, apparently, it was just changed because of scheduling crap. Awesome.

The flight was fine, and there were vehicles waiting to shuttle us to campus. That was new as well, and I was glad they could at least handle that part. It made more sense when there was a handful of photographers and people at the main gate trying to figure out who was arriving next.

I was already tired and ready for a nap instead of unpacking and a ball. But I still got out and went to help.

“It’s so fucking annoying we have to jump through all these hoops because of one slut who wants to show her body all over the internet,” a warlock said from in front of us. “And we have to treat her like she matters now that she has a crown instead of the trash she is. I’m so over this bullshit.”

I held up my hand to my security and chuckled darkly. “Have the balls to say it to my face instead of bitching about it behind my back like a coward.”

He spun around with fear thick in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but I didn’t give him time to respond, teleporting him away.

“What did you do?” a man who had been standing near the guy demanded.

“I took out the trash who shames women and demeans people behind their backs,” I said easily as I grabbed my bag from Darby.

“Your control is improving, Your Highness,” Shael praised before glancing at the other group. “I suppose there is a purpose for idiots after all. Too bad the school has such low standards to let them in, but it’s impressive you can make the best of the situation.”

Damn. Like dayumn. The people were sputtering and practically had steam coming out of their ears hearing that.

And yet they weren’t going to do anything. Chicken shits.

Somehow, I was trash though. Whatever.

We unloaded and got things set before I headed out to go see my dragon. Izzy called after me what time I needed to be back to get ready, but I didn’t slow down. I heard her and I’d be good.

First, I had a dragon to tame.

He was waiting for me even though I was cloaked. Climbing the wall was easier than ever with all the training I’d been doing. His hand was just there when I reached the top. I grabbed it and let him swing me into his window.

“Crafty dragon,” I said after taking off the cloaking. “How did you know?”

“I felt you,” he drawled. That made sense since the energy between us was going nuts. It hadn’t been that long, but it was like the need grew the closer we got.

Probably not and it was all in my head, but it felt that way.

We had ridiculously hot sex that quelled the need but even as we took a break, it was clear we both wanted more.

“Let’s go to the ball together, shorty,” he whispered as he moved his fingers along my ribs. “I don’t like that you’re going together with Neldor.”

I flinched and sat up, covering myself with the sheet. “I’m not going with him.” I huffed when he gave me a look I was being silly. “I’m not. Don’t put that on me when it’s not fair.”

“It is fair,” he grumbled as he sat up as well.

“No, it’s not. Are you on a date with Juan when you attend stuff together?”

“No, but he’s from another area.”

“Yeah, like Neldor’s from another realm. So kind of like that?”

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “But you’re working towards one realm with him ruling with you.”

“You know how a president and vice president work,” I chastised.

“It’s different because he’s your mate.”

“People want us to mate without knowing that. It doesn’t change the facts. I’m not going with him. We’re both attending an event with the commanders to play nice and be the leaders of Faerie. You act like we’re coordinating my dress and his tux or something. Yes, we will talk to people as the royals, but you do with Juan and it’s not a date. Don’t put that on me.”

He didn’t respond for several moments. “Who are you trying to convince of that, Tams?”

Ouch. Just ouch. I got out of bed and brought the sheet with me.

“What about going together then?” he sighed, realizing the hit had landed.

“You want to announce we’re mates at the Artemis ball for the new school year?” Just saying that sounded stupid, and I was hoping he would hear it too.

“That’s not—”

“Do you only want to go so other people don’t assume I’m going as Neldor’s date like you just did?”

He grabbed my arm and spun me to face him before letting go. Anger was thick in his eyes. “I’ve asked for us to go public lots. That wasn’t fair.”

I opened my mouth but then closed it, shaking my head. “No, I actually think that’s fair, Hudson. I know you want to go public, but the last time we talked about it, we agreed it wasn’t a good time. I want to go public too. Don’t act like this is easy on me either.”

“But you have Darby at your side. That does make it easier.” He backed down a bit when I nodded. That was fair. “People know I’m in love with someone. I’ve said it and I won’t date. That was a while ago, Tams. People think I’m ashamed of her or my parents don’t approve the match. There’s so much shit that it’s not better to hide it anymore.”

“I didn’t know that. You could have told me that in a calm way instead of acting jealous over Neldor.”

“When would I have been able to? Before you took off and had so much going on or after you took off and have had too much going on?”

Ouch. Seriously, ouch.

Again.

I grabbed my clothes and went into his bathroom. I quickly cleaned up and redressed before tossing the sheet back on his bed. “I have to go.”

“You mean run. Yeah, I get that’s your answer for everything,” he grumbled.

I froze at the window. “We could have talked instead of having sex, but we always do that the moment you see me, so maybe don’t put this all on me. I’m not running. I don’t want to fight, and it’s like you’re trying to upset me instead of talking to me.” I shut my mouth before I said something to hurt him back because I wanted to.

I felt the air moving behind me and knew he was reaching for me. Right then I wasn’t having any of that, so I teleported to my room instead.

“So that didn’t go well,” Izzy worried as she eyed me over. “What happened?”

I opened my mouth but then closed it a few times. “Hudson wants to go public and didn’t handle it appropriately.”

She frowned at me. “Didn’t you just say you wanted to go public too but didn’t know how?”

I nodded. “Apparently, things have been going on and building that I didn’t understand.”

“Well, if he didn’t take all your limited time together with the sexy sex, you could have talked about it. You always answer when we text. If I tell you we need to talk, you make the time no matter what. I can’t think you’re any different with him.”

“I’m not.” I let out a long breath. “Thanks, Izzy. I just felt sideswiped and I’m already not dealing well.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I won’t beat Dr. Craftsman when I see him too.”

It sounded funny, but she was so upset about all he’d done that I wouldn’t put it past her.

I would pay to see it though.

16

My dress for the ball was breathtaking. It was the first one I was wearing by a fairy designer, and it was a work of art. It was elegant and not flashy but also intricate and brilliant.

Apparently, it was a common style in Faerie for gowns. I didn’t mean it was overdone but more that was just how fairies rolled. The halter neckline for instance was so my back was open to accommodate my wings should that be part of the event.

The intricate edging had my family crest embroidered on it. That too was very common. It wasn’t flashy or prideful. It was white material with silver thread so you could see it, but it wasn’t the focal point. I understood the concept and why it would be a lasting classic with fairies.

My shoulders were bare, but there were long, flowing sleeves that attached to the bodice and had extra material hanging. Those were white and so was my bodice, but the underskirt that showed was a light blue that matched some of the flecks of my blue eyes. The design was really great even if it had a bit of a train which always made me nervous.

Really nervous.

I had teleported right back home to get ready, and the fairies who got me all dolled up did it in no time. Izzy had pouted about that since she always handled it… Until she found out she got her own royal treatment too. Then she was on board.

Still, she kept jumping in to tell them certain things. For instance, that I didn’t like hanging pieces of hair right in my face. I didn’t like too much and heavy on my head. There had to be somewhere for me to hide a weapon.

“I love you too,” I told her when she jumped in yet again to tell them something. And I really did. She paid such attention and made me feel loved.

“We care enough to notice,” she muttered as she took her seat again. “Like I don’t know, you said we had to have similar dresses so I didn’t feel lacking.”

I couldn’t deny it because I had. I had let Stefanie do whatever as long as it involved a dress for Izzy that made it clear she was on the team and not just some witch we had along with us. Everyone loved Izzy, so it wasn’t a problem at all.

And she looked gorgeous. I couldn’t even hide my shock.

“I can clean up too, Tams,” she muttered when I kept staring.

“Izzy, you have always been pretty. I’ve always felt that. You were cute but young when we met, but I knew you would be a looker. Your personality shines through too much to ever be anything but. However, you are stunning. You have—wow, Izzy. For real.”

That honestly didn’t do her justice. Her brown hair had streaks of blonde from getting so much sun over the summer. Her skin was beautifully tanned, and it made her golden eyes pop even more. The light yellow of her dress highlighted her hair and eyes and was perfect.

“Thanks, Tams.” She cleared her throat and her cheeks flushed which made her just totes adorbs.

“You will be the prettiest witch there by far, Lady Isabella,” one of the fairies getting us ready praised.

“I couldn’t agree more,” a voice said from behind me that I hadn’t heard in a while.

I turned with a smile. “Claudia, nice to see you.”

She bowed to me. “I apologize for dropping in when you’re busy, but you always are, and I know how you like good news.”

“It’s so rare I get any.” I moved closer and noticed how she still looked at Izzy as if she’d never seen her.

And how Izzy blushed all the way up to her ears. Right, she thought Claudia was hot.

“Yes, well, Mr. Geiger likes to break that streak,” Claudia said as she seemed to shake herself out of shock. “That attorney who started trouble with you when you visited McGrath in prison has been disbarred. It has nothing to do with you or tied to you on paper. The man was as slimy as you sensed and was also arrested for embezzling and more.”

“Well, that worked out easier than I would have thought. It normally goes far south before I get any peace.”

“We’re trying to work it that we don’t wait for the problems anymore,” Claudia agreed. “All the auditing is over, and now the entire firm can focus on protecting you and fairies. Our latest meeting was about being more proactive and handling things that fell to the side.”

“Music to my damn ears. Thank you so much and for bringing this to me when I needed something good.” I mentally winced and turned to the designer. “Besides the dress. It’s amazing. I didn’t mean—”

She dipped her head to me. “I fully understand, Your Highness. Please don’t worry. The burden on you is too much for anyone.” She cleared her throat. “Especially the way some act towards you as if you belong to us instead of the blessing we aren’t worthy of.”

Wow. Okay, people were just trying to shock me into fainting today apparently. Still, it was nice to hear, especially when several of the other fairies agreed.

I didn’t realize what I was doing until I was already hugging the woman.

Whoops. So unprincess-like of me.

I let her go and turned to see Izzy and Claudia talking quietly off to the side. I pretended not to notice and sat down to let the woman doing my makeup finish.

Onas showed up and ignored all the primping. He addressed me but not anyone else and went right into his updates without even asking me if I was busy or wanted them.

Or, you know, in the headspace to listen to his whole list of issues and shit.

I let him go though, seeing he was frustrated. All while my hair was being finished as well and the final touches were put on my outfit. Once the tiara was tucked into my curls that were all up in a gorgeous way I could never have managed, I hit my limit.

“Seriously, get fucking laid, mate,” I interrupted. “Like for real have sex. Just go have sex and ease the fuck up.” The room went eerily quiet and I internally winced.

“Excuse me?” he sputtered.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’re not the only one who feels as you do, Your Highness,” Shael interjected with a chuckle. “Let’s get back to campus.”

I nodded and thanked everyone. “Oh, and if I could get those updates again later, that would be great. I couldn’t filter out what I needed to among all the bitching and annoyance since someone was acting like I was his therapist.” I turned and gave Onas an annoyed look. “Or subordinate who should listen to crap.”

And with that, I left.

Well, Onas was coming with, so it wasn’t like I could be done with him, but in my mind, I left that situation at my house. Sure, I could make that work.

I smiled when I saw Dalyor and his friends, Rafe, Kerym, and Agis. They’d been invited since they were going to be in charge of the extra training people could have because of my generosity… And they were going to make sure people said it that way instead of crediting the college.

I walked right up to him and reached for his tie. “You clean up nicely, Captain.”

“You are a vision, Your Highness,” he whispered.

“The dress does all the work,” I chuckled as I fixed his tie. “Remember, the elegant style now is the wider knot. It’s also much sexier to the ladies.” I checked his suit pocket and cufflinks, impressed how they all matched. “Well done.”

He cleared his throat. “Thank you.” He turned and offered me his arm.

“Thank you, but enough people whisper bull about me that I don’t want to feed the rumors.” I gave him a wink and went over to Izzy. “Besides, we started this together, and we ride or die in this family.”

“Damn right we do, Tams,” she whispered as she grabbed my hand. “Gosh, could you imagine how my head would have exploded if you had told me all of this would happen when we first met?”

I snorted. “You can’t imagine that, but my head did explode learning all of this. Several times.”

“Well, at least it didn’t leave scars on your pretty face,” she cooed, making most of us laugh.

Neldor was standing in front of the building with a few of the commanders and his security. Someone let him know we’d arrived, and he turned to greet us. His eyes flashed shock when he saw me, but he recovered fast. Bowing to me, he moved his hand over his heart.

“The words in this language or even Faerie are not adequate to describe your loveliness, Princess.”

I wanted to ask him if he was high, but then I remembered all the people around us. I dipped my head. “It’s clear why people refer to you as the finest gentleman in the dark realm, Prince.” I might have said more but noticed something that made me swallow a flinch.

Namely his tie and pocket square matched my dress. That couldn’t have been a coincidence when the dress was chosen to bring out my eyes.

And his were green.

I smiled and moved away, pretending not to notice the arm he offered me. I shot a glance at Shael and turned on my telepathy. “Don’t ever let him match me like we’re a couple again without checking with me. You know the shit this will start.”

“I agree, but I didn’t know. It was not arranged by us.”

I gave a slight nod and turned off my telepathy before we were in the vipers. Fucking Neldor. He just did whatever he wanted and pushed too much. I’d gotten too relaxed with him and trusting him because he was my mate. I knew who he was though and shouldn’t have gotten so comfortable.

We headed inside and I swallowed my annoyance. I already didn’t want to go to this thing since I hated these kinds of events and he had to add to it. Seriously, was his middle name “fox” because he was so damn sly and calculating?

I about turned around when I saw who was right inside the ballroom and clearly waiting for me.

“You look breathtaking, love,” Julian greeted me. “I finally get to—”

My patience completely snapped. “I didn’t realize you helped get rid of Professor Kramer to take his place, Dr. Craftsman.”

“He’s not teaching potions, Your Highness,” Professor Nelson muttered from next to Julian.

I gave him an amused look. “Yes, I realize that. I meant being a creep who stalked me, a student.” I ignored the gasps and turned to head the other way, glad when I saw Edelman so it seemed like I was simply focused on the headmaster.

“You will regret that,” Shael muttered under her breath.

I snorted. “No, I won’t. I’m tired of people not calling him on this shit.”

“Agreed, but the sympathy is with him. He will get more of it after people talk about what you said.”

I nodded. She was right. Even if it was unfair, he was loved and popular and I wasn’t. People would talk about how mean I was to him instead of hearing my valid criticism that he was going over the line.

Again.

I blinked back tears and continued on my path, ignoring my other problem when he made his way to stand next to me… And locking eyes with Hudson across the room. The pain in his gaze was like a shot through the heart. His body was rigid from anger, but I knew him well enough to see the pain.

I tried to show mine back. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this.

But he wasn’t open to seeing that right then. His dragon was riding him, something King Xavier caught onto and smoothly blocked Hudson’s view of me.

“Congratulations on another lovely ball, Headmaster,” Neldor greeted for us while I was distracted.

I doubted I was the only one who gave him a funny look for saying that, but I let it go. “Did everything work out with the bakery?”

“Yes, thank you, Your Highness,” Edelman said without answering Neldor. “They were clear anyone on the blacklist would be allowed to eat tonight. Apparently, they’re taking advantage of the opportunity.” He nodded behind me, and I turned to see dozens of elites hogging the dessert table.

Oh boy.

We had some more small talk before moving on to let him greet others. I found myself looking around for my dragon to check on him but instead found Queen Sasha who’d clearly come to speak with me.

“What happened?” she asked quietly once we were off to the side.

I put up a barrier just in case and sighed. “He needs to learn to use his words and discuss things before they explode.”

“We all need to do that better, but he isn’t bad at that.”

“Sometimes,” I muttered. “He has a habit of not telling me things until it’s a problem.” I gave her a look not to argue given what I’d already been through with Hudson and forgiven him for. She nodded in acceptance. “I don’t want to hide him either. I’ve been trying to figure out the right way to do this. I get it’s hard on him, but we agreed last time we talked about it—”

“To wait for a better time, and he doesn’t want to anymore,” she said with a sigh. “Yes, I caught that much from his talk with Xavier.”

“He got jealous of Neldor and wanted to announce it tonight. Here of all places.”

“It doesn’t help when Neldor matches your dress.”

“Fucking asshole sly fox,” I grumbled, amusing her, but I also saw her relax that I was pissed and clearly hadn’t known about it. Of course not. I would never do that to Hudson.

Not ever.

“If you need help figuring it out, I’m here,” she offered.

“Thank you, but I was hoping my damn mate would actually talk to me about what’s upsetting him instead of being stupid and keeping it all to himself until he blows at me.” I sighed and shook my head when she seemed like she was going to push. “But yes, I figured a conversation was needed with you both given he’s your heir and there’s a mess there.”

She reached over and patted my shoulder. “We’re ready. We’ve had lots of discussions, and we’re completely prepared on what to do after the announcement.”

I blinked up at her. “That stupid dumb dragon. I knew none of that. Didn’t he think that would be a factor? Doesn’t he think I should know that?”

She sighed. “Men are idiots when it comes to love.” Her lips twitched when I snorted. They were idiots on more than that for sure. “Speaking of idiots, Von Thann was voted out.”

“Well, that’s the best fucking news I’ve heard in a while unless you tell me a bigger douche took his place.” I winced when she gave me a funny look. “I apologize for the language. I’m just at my limit on a lot.”

“It doesn’t offend me. I was simply worried given you’ve been watching it more.”

“All I do is watch what I say and do, and it just grates on me.”

“It gets better.” She shrugged when I gave her a disbelieving look. “I was raised in a noble family, but no one ever thought I would have a chance to mate Xavier. I had eyes on me growing up, but nothing can prepare you for being in this position. You are not the only one who’s struggled with it. It does get better though.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” She gave a wink and pushed off the wall. “And no, there won’t be some new douche unless you suddenly stop liking me.”

It took me a few beats to comprehend what she was saying, and I burst out laughing when I did. She was the new head of the school board.

Nice.

Well, that was one situation finally and completely settled. How often did that happen?

Then again, Von Thann would probably still come for me or after me, so at least it was handled on the school end.

I met back up with my party, ignoring the questioning looks about what I had talked with Queen Sasha about. I accepted a glass of fae juice since they were also serving that with our help and moved on to who I had to greet next.

Even if I had Neldor right at my side. He was acting too much like my date, but he was at least being useful. We were getting good at helping the other dodge issues or replying for the other when there was a problem.

“Princess Tamsin, lovely to see you again,” a woman said as she moved into the path of our party.

I immediately recognized her and couldn’t help my amusement. “Is it?”

“You know this woman?” Neldor asked, catching on that something was up.

“Oh yes, we’re old—” She started to answer, ignoring Neldor asked it of me.

“Friends?” I chuckled darkly. “I don’t think that true especially when I still don’t know your name.”

A storm brewed behind her eyes. “Well, you have many names to remember, so that’s easily forgiven.”

“The princess didn’t ask for forgiveness,” Neldor quipped, his tone amused.

“Of course,” she accepted, dipping her head to him. “I simply meant in polite society one ignores such small things.”

“I told you to choke on your last name last time we met,” I reminded her.

“Well, yes, like that. One would ignore your rude words last time, and being polite would mean not bringing it up again.”

“Wow,” Izzy breathed from behind me.

“Especially since it’s ironic you said that to me when your bloodline is of the highest level.”

I chuckled darkly and focused on Neldor. “I’ve told you this story. There was a pompous woman I met at the first ball I attended, and she was busy looking down her nose at me.”

His eyes flashed amusement. “Ahh yes, the idiot who didn’t know Vale was an important name. She never introduced herself after making it clear your last name was of no one, right?”

“Yes, that’s why I don’t know who she is.” I eyed the woman over with contempt. “Then again, even if she told me, I wouldn’t have bothered to remember it. Funny that she calls us old friends after that interaction.”

“I was going to say ‘acquaintances,’” she corrected. “And you cannot fault someone for not knowing about a family that intentionally hides their last names.”

Neldor snorted. “There were dozens of people who knew the royal last names when I was last in this world before we were frozen. They’re still alive. They either kept their mouths shut to protect Tamsin or assumed she couldn’t possibly be of the same family. Making it a fault of ours when you weren’t important enough to be in the know is rather tacky.”

“No one realizes that people knew,” she argued.

“Not ‘no one,’” he pushed. “You. You didn’t know. Please keep up with the words I say because I don’t have time to repeat them.”

She ignored him and focused on me, a few people not hiding their shock around us that she would have the balls to do it. “As I said, I find the way you behaved that day ironic given your name is also all you have as well. It’s how you are the princess of the light realm.”

“Don’t downgrade my importance all on your own when you’re so insignificant,” I practically purred. “You are not better versed on the ways of fairies than I am, so you simply look stupid.” I stepped closer to her, shocking her that I would physically intimidate her.

Not really since she was taller than me. I was showing her I wasn’t scared.

“And I have lots besides my last name. I’d accomplished many things before I even found out my royal status. I stand by what I said that night, and there is no irony. All you blab about are names and lineages. I care about none of that, and my lineage is much, much higher than yours.

“So what you should see as a lesson on how to be self-sufficient, you intentionally take the wrong way to confirm your bull. In the future, make sure you don’t use me as an argument to help you because I promise it won’t fit and will make you look stupid. Even more so than this conversation.”

She ignored all of that and stared me over as if I was lacking. Apparently, she could switch gears fast now that it was clear I wasn’t going to let her use me. “I understand better at least why you were so quick to defend Dr. Craftsman that night now that we know he’s your mate.”

“I didn’t know that then,” I sighed. “Again, please stop assuming you know anything about fairies or our ways. There is no way we could have confirmed our being mates after just having met. It requires a lot of trust. I was then—and still am—disgusted how you spoke of him like a stud horse and said my piece on it.”

“Well, at least you finally told all of us who—”

“I feel my IQ dropping,” Neldor cut in. “I assume she’s banned from fairy business and events, and that’s why she’s approaching Tamsin here?”

“I have no idea, Prince Neldor,” Shael answered. “She still hasn’t said her name like polite society would dictate. I will find it out and make sure that is the case.”

Go Shael. It was hard not to laugh as Neldor moved us along with a mutter of thanks while he was rubbing his forehead.

Nice.

The rest of the event flowed easily, and we were a good team especially when the commanders were backing us up. I was more than ready for it to end, and I wasn’t the only one. We didn’t duck out early but none of us wanted to really be there, so we stayed just long enough.

I had one more thing to handle that night so when Neldor asked me for a moment away from the others, I was ready to have it out about his matching me.

Instead, he pushed me up against the wall of the room we’d ducked into off a side hallway. He leaned into me and ran his nose along my neck as his hand went to my lower back. I was so shocked that I couldn’t seem to get my brain to work until he ground his hips against mine and squeezed my ass.

“This is right,” he whispered. “Tonight just proves it. It was so easy being together and handling all of that. You know it too. Look how effortless it is for us to be a couple.”

Something deep inside of me broke. Maybe that part of me that had hoped I could ever have something work out. I wasn’t sure, but all I knew was my soul hurt.

Again.

“Effortless? Nothing is ever effortless,” I whispered, but he ignored me and kissed along my neck. He went on about the good fit we were and how the ball was just proof.

The ball that hurt my actual mate. The ball that was years after the one I’d met Hudson at and hooked up with him.

I shoved Neldor away from me and blinked back tears. “Thirty-five flowers in thirty-five days.”

“What?” He studied my face and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

I chuckled darkly. “You’re known as quite the romantic. I’ve heard it time and time again that you were known for being not just some smooth royal but really respecting women. I couldn’t believe that, but Ara said it was true and even known in the light realm.

“That you were always respectful of women and a true gentleman. That it was part of the reason even light fairies were open to our being betrothed. Specifically, she told me a story about you being head over heels for a woman your freshman year.

“She didn’t want to date the prince, but you finally convinced her. Then you had to break the date because of realm stuff, and she wouldn’t reschedule. So you gave her flowers, right? Thirty-five flowers over thirty-five days, each day a different type and a full bouquet.”

“Yes, that happened. What does that have to do with us?” He flinched and I realized a tear fell, quickly wiping it up.

“She got romanced for a broken date, and all I get is my ass grabbed and told being with me is easy?” I felt a bit better when he took a step back. “I’m just the redheaded slut who grew up around humans though, right?”

“Don’t put words into my mouth,” he muttered.

“I hear in your head, Neldor, so cut the shit,” I snapped. “You don’t like me; you want to fuck me. People want us to mate, and you see my not being like other fairies as exciting. Not once have you thought something cute or sweet. Not once have you thought you have to put any effort into this. Tonight was easy because it was fake.

“But that’s all you want from me anyways. You don’t want me; you want to be king. That still hasn’t changed. You believe just like everyone else and if we mated, you’d take over. You agree in your mind anytime people say that. You still do. You think it would be best and me being in your bed as a perk of it all.”

“I don’t—”

“You do,” I rasped. “You see me just like the others. I’m owed to the people of Faerie including you. I hear it in your thoughts all of the time. You think just like them and I’m a given. You also think we are a given because so many want it. But you don’t want me. You want the pretty princess on your arm like tonight.

“That’s not me. That’s not who I am. You don’t care enough to know who I am. You’re known for romancing the women you truly want. But not me. Doesn’t that just say it all? You don’t even respect me as a woman, Neldor. I’m just a tool to you like I am to all of them. Just a different tool because I’m the way for you to get all of the power.”

“You’re twisting—”

“How do I take my tea?” I shrugged when he blinked at me. “How do I take it? You want me to prove it besides all your thoughts I’ve heard. Fine, how do I take my tea?”

He threw up his hands. “I have no clue. What does that have to do with us?”

“You take your tea sweet in the morning and with milk in the afternoon unless it’s iced, and then it’s a variety of juice infusions.”

“How—”

“What’s my favorite pizza?” I wiped my eyes when he closed his mouth, clearly not knowing. “You like veggie. Veggie deep dish is your favorite.” I moved away from the wall and shoved his chest. “I know because I care and pay attention. I know that just from being your friend. I know that of my friends because I pay attention.”

“I—”

“No, you don’t,” I whispered. “You don’t care about me. I’m the tool to make your life easier or the way to bring the realms together or any other variety of things I’m useful for to you. That’s not caring. You feel bad for me when I get hurt. That’s not caring about me, Neldor, that’s having a soul. I’m the tool you just want to fuck while you fuck me over.”

“That’s not fair,” he argued.

“I’ve thought about it,” I admitted, tears falling when I saw the interest in his eyes. “That’s what perks you up? Me admitting that. Fine, I have. I’ve thought about it a lot. Gods, you have no idea how much I just want to let you take over and wash my hands of all of this. But I can’t.”

I grabbed his tie and loosened it before yanking it off over his head. I snagged the pocket square as well and threw them on the floor.

“But I won’t be that weak woman who lets a man take over. My mother died to protect the people of Faerie, was strong enough to make that sacrifice. I won’t embarrass her by being with a man who doesn’t even respect me enough to fake a real courting so he can take over and it’s easier.”

He reached for me when I turned to leave but I was ready, blocking his hand and kept going. I threw open the door and horror filled me when I found the hallway full of everyone in our party.

All of the commanders were there. Dalyor and his friends. Both of our guard details as well. They all stood there and stared at me.

I didn’t think I’d ever been more embarrassed in my life than in that moment when I realized they’d all heard what I’d said to Neldor.

And he couldn’t deny any of it. They now knew it was all true.

I swallowed the tatters of my pride and brushed past them.

Dalyor grabbed my arm after I was free and turned me to face him. “Don’t run, Your Highness.”

I quickly wiped my eyes. “Why would I? I’ve known this was how things were. This is a shock to you because you weren’t paying attention. None of you were. You were all so focused on what was best for yourselves and the realm, you never heard me that you were pushing me towards a loveless mating with a man who didn’t respect me. I’ve known that.”

“I’ve seen the sparks between you and thought it could be something real,” he whispered.

I honestly respected him for answering for himself instead of trying to say it as a group or hide behind the commanders. I wasn’t in the mood though. “That’s just lust, Captain. Lust without respect makes me the easy slut most fairies and supes say I am.” I yanked my arm away and they let me go.

Yeah, what was there really to say after that?

17

That night I teleported to my studio and sang two different songs, not just had them playing while holding a sign. Mostly because I wasn’t sure if they were for Julian or Neldor.

Both. They were for both if I was honest with myself.

I sang Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” while undoing my hair. I took off the tiara and simply stared at it while singing for a bit. Then I set it on the counter and started in on getting all the hairpins.

The next song was Madison Beer’s “Selfish” for both of them even if I never loved Neldor and the song talked about it. I went into the master bedroom that wasn’t set up besides the bathroom if I needed it. I sang as I filled up the big tub. I knew Marisol would blur things out, so I got undressed and into the hot water to relax.

I finished the song hugging my knees and hiding most of my nakedness.

Then because I still felt the need to get it all out, I sang Olivia Rodrigo’s “traitor.” Neither of them was on my side so it fit.

Plus, I was enjoying the echo of the bathroom and the way my voice sounded in there. It was still so odd to me that I could actually sing well after so long thinking my voice was horrible. It was weird to my ears, but it felt good to let it out.

As if it was another piece of me that had been hidden like my magic.

I took a long relaxing bath and actually slept okay after letting that out. Just to get back into some sort of normal routine, I went for a run after I woke up. I pushed to max speed, doing the obstacle courses like normal, but then running past my dorm. I needed more. I needed a challenge.

And I knew where to get one.

Wolf territory. There were lots of the shifters who liked to go on early runs as well. They also liked to give chase.

I had a Twilight moment when I felt a few wolves catch my scent and turn in my direction. I took out my earbuds so I could hear better. Ducking around some other trees when one of them got close, someone grabbed my arm before I realized it.

I had just enough time to catch a glimpse of Rafe’s face before I landed on a large branch. He had hung down by his knees to snag me and was sitting next to me.

“Are you okay, Your Highness?” he worried, eyeing me over. “I was told you knew the areas of campus. Did you get distracted or—”

“No, I wanted the challenge,” I panted. “I was having fun. I mean, I needed…”

“More,” he sighed. “Or did you want to hurt because you’re hurt?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “I told you that I already knew how he felt.”

He nodded. “Except your first video was uploaded already. I saw you singing out your pain.”

“I don’t injure myself intentionally.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “It’s more common in fairies than other supes, tons more than humans.” He nodded when I blinked at him. “A species who is all about an eye for an eye is big into self-punishment. Banging our heads against the wall isn’t what we do, but yes, taking more dangerous training to be better knowing we can get hurt is normal.”

I nodded. “No, I wanted to—everything keeps being the same. I wanted good excitement instead of bullshit.”

He sighed before glancing down at the now ten wolves that were gathered. “Are you all willing to participate in some training? You might trip or get a bit bruised.” He waited until they all nodded. “Stay on my left and watch how we do it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, Your Highness, but don’t get hurt or Dalyor will beat me.”

“Sadist,” I grumbled before flipping off the tree.

And sliding on some leaves and landing on my ass.

“It’s definitely for the best that you’re taking gymnastics this semester, Your Highness,” he muttered, after staring at me in shock.

“Bite me.”

“No, but they will if we don’t get on with it,” he chuckled, offering me a hand up. “Stay on my left or tell me if you have to change.”

“Got it.” I got to my feet and took off when he did. He was much faster than me without even using the fairy rune for speed. He seemed to realize he was losing me, and then there was no chance for the wolves to catch us either.

I felt his magic as he flung out his right hand. Vines grew out of the ground and caught two wolves who tried to flank us.

Wolves were coming up fast on my left. “Switch!”

He instantly did and iced over their path and changed our direction. It was amazing to watch him and see how it was done. I felt two groups coming for us in opposite directions, so I grabbed his arm and spun us around a huge tree as I used a shadow rune. The wolves went crashing into each other instead of any catching us.

“You learn fast, Your Highness,” he chuckled once we realized there were no more wolves. “This is how we train with the fae dogs. I was going to ask if we could use your packs in training since they seem a bit…”

“Pampered?” I offered for him, laughing when he winced. “Yes, well, they had a rough go here, but as long as they’re willing, I’m fine with it.”

“They’ll love it.” He turned to face the gathered wolves and dipped his head. “Thank you for the fun this morning. Now that the princess understands this training, I’ll speak with her trainer if any of the wolves are willing to do this again.”

Several growls answered us, but they weren’t mean ones. No, they were fired up and wanted a rematch.

Fine by me.

We hurried off to the cafeteria, and Darby was waiting out front… With a frown on his face.

I went right for him, knowing the issue and not about to pretend I didn’t. “He thought I was in trouble in the wolf territory and taught me some training. That’s it. I promise.”

He sighed and nodded. “I trust you. You know that.”

“I know. You don’t like the optics when so many talk shit about me,” I said for Rafe and the others to hear. “Especially after people are probably running their mouths about Neldor matching my dress. I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of talk.”

“He knows I’m pissed. I’m sorry it hurt you.”

He leaned in and softly kissed me, completely ignoring the others around us or that we weren’t into PDA on campus. “I’m sorry you keep having to deal with this shit. Did you have a good run at least?”

“Her stats say she did,” Dalyor answered. “Whatever you did kicked you up a gear for sure. You’re over this latest plateau.”

I snorted. “It’s not a plateau if you’re only doing the same thing for less than a week, you sadist.”

“It’s working, isn’t it? Your training is easier?” He didn’t wait for an answer, strutting towards the doors like a man who knew he’d won the point.

“Why does she get special treatment?” a female voice said too loudly.

“She’s the heir of Faerie,” Irma said firmly. “When you can say the same, we will cater to your needs.”

“You don’t even work here anymore,” the woman snapped.

“We were given permission,” Irma replied.

“The fact you think you can speak to me like this is—”

“Is what?” I asked in a cold voice. “You’re out of line, and one of my people is telling you to get over your shit. So do it and run off before you ruin my morning.”

She turned maybe to blast me but clearly wasn’t a complete moron when she saw how many others were around us. She swallowed some of it down but still made it clear she was looking down at me. “It’s not fair how many exceptions you get. You’re not that special.”

“We’re aliens,” I sighed, rolling my eyes when people froze. “We’re not from this planet. That makes us alien to here.” I gestured to the spread on the table clearly meant for me. “That means our food isn’t from this world either. It’s not an exception, but an allowance because I’m not the same species as you. You get them too so don’t give me that shit.”

She opened her mouth but then closed it.

“She’s not wrong,” a different woman said as she walked by with her group. “I mean, there’s more fish on the menu for us all the time because we’re bird shifters. No one chews us out for that.”

“This is a bit different,” the first argued.

“Yes, but it’s medically necessary,” Dalyor explained. “You need different everything after shifting or the vampires with their blood. She needs this because of her wings and magic. It’s a medical exemption the school board has allowed after a long discussion.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” she grumbled once she realized she had more attention.

“Why is it your business?” I demanded before anyone else could. “I don’t get all involved on how your species handles stuff or what you guys need. You think I owe you an explanation because you’re better than me and you hate me. I don’t, and you’re not better than me. Hell, my manners are worlds better. And don’t speak to the hobgoblins like that again.”

Dalyor waited until they both moved on with their friends before clearing his throat.

But I wasn’t having it, turning on my telepathy. “You saw only the situation today. That hasn’t been all that is happened. You undermine me if you placate them after years of them treating me like dirt. Also, the hobgoblins. I’ve witnessed over half of this campus treat them like shit. Stop being so nice to the assholes and making me look like I overreact.”

I winced when I realized all the fairies around me were grabbing their heads. I let out a sigh but ignored it otherwise, focusing on Irma.

“I’m fine, Your Highness,” she promised before I could say anything. “Thank you for defending us like always.”

I simply knelt down and kissed her forehead, laughing when she swatted me away. “Feed me.” I sat down where she told me but started to tune everyone out. Darby noticed and rubbed my leg under the table. I appreciated the support. I still apologized if I gave him a migraine because I doubted my telepathy simply skipped him when yelling at everyone else.

“Picking out who’s your next target, Vale?” a woman asked as she moved into my view.

Andy. I mentally sighed as I met the gaze of the hawk shifter who was obsessed with Darby. “Have you stopped fantasizing about my mate yet?”

“What?” she gasped.

“What?” I smirked at her and watched the steam practically come out of her ears. “What target?”

“Who you’re going to sleep with,” she sneered. “You screwed your teacher to get your grades in runes, and you’re sitting here staring at the teachers now that you dumped him. He’s of no use to you anymore, right? So who are you going to bang next to get your high grades?”

I opened my mouth to tell her she was pathetic, but someone beat me to it.

“I would watch your mouth and keep your lies to yourself,” Julian said as he moved up next to her. “Princess Tamsin never needed any help in her classes and easily would have placed out of all of mine the first day she did runes on her own. She had to keep taking the classes to hide who she was. And I’d watch how you speak about the faculty here.”

Andy snorted. “You’re not my teacher anymore, and none of us respect you after you were banging the slut of the campus. You can call her your mate all you want, but none of us buy it.”

I sighed when Julian took the bait and defended my honor. She threw shit back and it was getting heated. I rubbed my forehead and wished they were anywhere else besides ruining my breakfast.

And suddenly they were gone.

Agis had been about to intervene but had quickly jumped back, giving me a shocked look. “You opened a portal under them, Your Highness?”

I was about to admit it was an accident, but I didn’t, shrugging instead. “I keep telling people I’m over this crap, but no one believes me. They can go cool off now.”

He cleared his throat and glanced around. “I’m not really sure that’s allowed.”

I raised an eyebrow at that and caught sight of who I wanted. “The school recognizes my diplomatic immunity, right, Dean White?”

“By law, we are required to,” she answered, her eyes dancing with amusement.

“Just as you are required to allow people their right to free speech until it crosses the line. Well, words have consequences, and that will now be the consequence for people who get in my face.”

“As is your right, Your Highness.” She dipped her head to me and accepted the muffin Irma slipped her for the help.

Others laughed when a portal opened not far from us that Julian and Andy came out of, both sopping wet… But I didn’t. I was seriously over all of this shit and just wanted my life to be normal.

But that would never happen, so it was time to stop accepting unacceptable behavior. If others wouldn’t protect me or shield me like they should, I was done being passive about it.

“You! You have—you can’t just do whatever you want,” Andy bellowed.

I stood and smirked at her. “Neither can you. Are you fucking insane to talk to me like that?”

“I’m going to file a complaint with my council! You can’t just hide behind diplomatic immunity.”

“Please do,” I purred, chuckling when her eyes went wide. “Please go run to your council and tell them you called the heir of Faerie a whore because you’re in love with her mate.” I moved closer and got in her face even if she was taller. “But make sure your report is completely accurate. You know what happens if it’s not, right?”

“I-I—”

“The other party is allowed to file a complaint of falsifying a council complaint. And that would be reviewed by the other party’s government.” I reached out and booped her nose with my finger. “And who is in charge of that government? Do you know that answer?”

“Your elders,” she bit out.

“In a monarchy? No, even you aren’t so stupid you believe that. If you wrong a light fairy, I am the one you answer to. So make sure you tell your council the full truth. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear about it given how much they’re kissing my ass to be friends with fairies and not get in trouble for their own misdeeds.

“They will absolutely back you for making such a scene and embarrassing all hawks.” I gestured around the cafeteria to everyone who was watching the show. I smirked at her. “You really are fucking stupid, Andy. You still think of me as the unknown that has no protection and easy for you all to bully. Maybe get your shit together before you lose everything.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she hissed.

“Before people even knew who I was, I took down councilmen, rich families, and more. Why do you think you’d be safe from that now that my position is known?”

“Because the fairies hate you and never protect you,” she snapped, ignoring when all of the fairies around me flinched. “We all know that. They don’t want you any more than we do. They want Neldor to be their king and he should be.”

I shrugged. “I don’t need their protection. I’m the boss. It’s not a hard concept… Or do you need another swim in the ocean to realize it?” I took my seat and put a barrier over her and her bitching. She let it all out without realizing that she was silenced for a few moments and then stormed off.

Idiot. I pulled back the magic then and focused on my breakfast. As much as I wanted to ignore who else had been standing in the group, I couldn’t. I was tired of accepting too much and then people pushed for more.

“I think it best you stop assuming you’re welcome and make some of your own friends,” I told Neldor when he went to sit down at my table. “Andy seems fond of you. Why don’t you sit with her? A hawk and a fox should make a good fit, right?” I was so pissed that my metal fork shattered in my hand and so did some of the other silverware on the table.

He cleared his throat when everyone else around us held their breaths. “Tamsin, I’d like—”

“Do you need another swim in the ocean as well, Neldor?” I raised my head and let him see the hate for him in my eyes, feeling a bit better when he flinched. “Or should I tell my father about what happened?”

That did it. He was still validly terrified Lageos would smash him.

He dipped his head to me. “I apologize for making assumptions. Please enjoy your breakfast.”

I waited until he was gone and looked at Darby. He was shaking with rage and staring holes in Neldor’s head, clearly knowing something bad had happened. I reached over and took his hand, silently begging him to leave it alone.

He sighed and looked at me, his eyes saying I had to tell him later. I nodded. I would. I hadn’t planned to hide it, and it was time to let him and Hudson know exactly what was going on with Neldor. The hints I kept dropping didn’t seem to be enough. I hadn’t wanted to start more trouble or bust Neldor for his thoughts, but it was causing issues I didn’t want.

I could never seem to fucking win.

Lucca moved in front of me next and sat something on the table. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk about anything already, but I was grateful for the distraction.

“Part of this is my apology for how I acted this summer,” he said under his breath. “No matter our past, I should never have shown up in your room. It was over the line and I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I forgave, confused why he was bringing this up again.

“I don’t feel it is,” Darby said at a level I could barely hear.

“He’s right. Everything is crazy and I was worried about safety. I should have apologized better. To you and to Darby.” He focused on Darby then. “I’m sorry. I was acting as her friend and didn’t think Izzy showing up where she was staying a big deal. I’m not Izzy though, and I was disrespectful of your relationship.”

I blinked at Lucca wondering what alien took him over. Wow.

“Thank you,” Darby accepted, tension in his body easing. I hadn’t even realized it was a thing with him.

Crap.

Lucca let the volume of his voice rise to normal for what he said next. “I did talk to Izzy about the surprise I wanted to give you. She approved and helped me make it work.”

“I did,” Izzy confirmed when I looked at her. “You need more fun, Tams.”

That I did. I nodded for Lucca to go ahead.

He simply turned around the box he’d put on the table. “Squishmallow would like to do a sponsor—”

I reached over in a flash and grabbed the five-inch purple narwhal and tucked him against me. That wasn’t enough. I snagged the hermit crab and tie-dye squid. I actually squeaked when I saw the small shark with goggles and moved him closest to me. The axolotl was next, and I giggled as I rubbed my face against him.

Then I felt bad for the three left and hurried to grab the whale, starfish, and rainbow fish. My lap and arms were overflowing by then, and I probably shocked everyone who ever lived by making the shark dance on the table in front of me.

“I thought you were full of shit,” Izzy whispered. “It’s like you can see Tams as an ankle biter.”

I cleared my throat and tried to tone it back, but when Darby stared at me in surprise, I plopped the hermit crab on his lap. Fine, not a prickly pear, but it was close.

Lucca was dying. He was failing miserably at smothering his laugh but tried his best... Especially when Hudson moved up next to him with a frown.

Oh boy.

“Squishmallow would like to do a sponsor deal with you after we informed them that you loved their product,” Lucca said.

“And what? I get some?” I asked, not hiding that I would absolutely take that deal.

Izzy snorted. “They’re offering a lot per post you do for them. Like a lot.”

I frowned. “No, that’s silly. I don’t need money. Make it plushies. They give half to sick kids, and I get half to donate as I want.” I rolled my eyes. “Per post. People go too far. Tell them we’ll do a whole spread. We can glamour the hobgoblin and fairy kids and have fun. A plushie picnic.”

“Why do I think that is something you’ve always wanted, agra?” Darby whispered in my ear.

I felt my cheeks flush all the way up to my ears. Yes, I’d wanted something as basic as a pretend tea party with my toys like other girls had talked about in school. I’d never had any of that.

I didn’t need it now, but if I could give that to some of the kids of my world, that would be enough for me. It would soothe the little girl inside of me who was abused for sure.

“I get to keep these though, right?” I checked.

“Yes, and they’re also offering to send you one of every Squishmallow available and new releases going forward if you keep posting about your collection,” he answered.

I snorted. “They can have their own room in my castle. It will be the cuteness room for when people piss me off.”

“So you’ll just live there,” Izzy drawled. Her gaze made it clear I wasn’t being a jerk, but people were awful to me often.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

18

The rest of the day was filled with grueling training. I had a break right before dinner when Marisol sent me a message with some fun. I was more than ready for it, lying out my ass that I was just sneaking off to the bathroom when Dalyor was hovering.

Instead, I took down the rest of the cartel and lowlifes that had been part of threatening Marisol’s family.

I told her when the first two places were ready for her cleanup and handling of logistics. The last one I decided to keep for fairies.

Well, I really had to since I found evil there.

And not the normal type of cartel evil.

Opening a portal to Dalyor and then the dark fairy hotel that housed only Faerie Guardians now, I held up my hand when my trainer came through ready to blast me. He instantly sensed the evil and went on alert.

“So good news that my combined rune I taught you guys can subdue demons,” I drawled as I scrubbed the back of my neck. “The bad news is I’m still not read all in on them and what needs to be done.” I glanced around and found the right rank I wanted for the Faerie Guardians that had joined us. “Captain, you will be in charge of securing this location.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he agreed.

I opened a portal to a pack of fae dogs that answered my call, giving them love when they came right through. “Thank you for coming. I need you to listen to this captain and handle the evil here. If I need to get back involved, you know how to find my main Alpha.” I was glad when that Alpha nodded.

“Once the evil is cleared, we’ll hand everything over to the human authorities,” the captain told me.

I frowned. “That wasn’t what I said. I want you to handle all of this.” I gestured over to the piles of US dollars and fucking gold bars. There was so much loot and ill-gotten gains in the one room alone it was unreal. I about hit my limit when disapproval was all over the guy’s face.

The whole squad’s and a few others even.

I moved my hands to my hips and took in a slow, deep breath before letting it out. “Captain, if you have a question for me, I suggest you speak with Captain Dalyor on how to appropriately handle it.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” he hedged.

I moved closer and got in his face. “But maybe try to keep your fucking judgmental attitude under wraps when you clearly don’t understand the situation. All of you.” I gave them an annoyed look. “Police get paid to clean up crime. It costs us money to do it. It costs us time to handle other things.”

“It’s not something we’re used to, but I was open to the change and hearing her ideas,” Dalyor added, not hiding he was annoyed with them as well. “You listen to too much drivel and assume you know the answer. You don’t. So fucking listen.”

“Yes, sir,” the captain said to Dalyor. I didn’t understand all the rankings and seniority yet, but I knew Dalyor was one of the highest level captains who would be up for a promotion in the next few years. “How do you want us to handle this then, Your Highness?”

“Speak with Commander Taeral and he will walk you through it,” I answered, swallowing more annoyance when they all relaxed. Yeah, if Taeral was involved, then it was honorable, but me? Me they had to be wary of.

I seriously regretted not handling the nobles earlier.

Fuck giving people chances.

“He will outline where things go, and you will now be the person he delegates this to instead of trying to handle it all.” I gestured to the money again. “That goes to Marisol so she can buy more solar panels for us under the radar. Your squads can handle getting them installed as well since you’re clearly ignorant on what we’ve been doing.”

A lot of them winced, but I didn’t feel bad for it.

Taeral arrived and looked like he wanted to lock me away somewhere safe after finding out I was in the room with a couple of demons. Then he went to take over, and I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Delegate,” I snapped. “How can I give you more to take off my plate and help me if yours is too full? Start training the idiots who listen to bile and show them the truth. That’s an order.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he muttered, not hiding his apprehension.

“How did they pass the interrogations if we can’t trust them with this?” I demanded, not caring I was talking about people in front of them.

“Originally, their opinions were favorable, but they’ve changed,” he hedged. “A lot have.”

“Well, they don’t have to like me. Just fucking follow orders. If you’re worried they won’t, kick them out. I’m done playing nice.”

“That’s not needed, Your Highness,” the captain sputtered, completely taken aback. “We’ll get the job done and educate ourselves.”

I nodded and opened a portal, glancing at Dalyor. “Do the nobles have some sort of siren’s song that can convince everyone of bullshit? I figured the Faerie Guardians would give me more credit since I’m the one pushing for their pay raises.”

“The nobles were proposing that,” one of the other fairies argued.

“No, they weren’t,” Dalyor and Taeral said together, Taeral continuing. “As the commanders told everyone, the nobles objected until they saw it was popular. Then they tried to take it all over. Princess Tamsin wanted it. Prince Neldor supported it.”

I shook my head and walked through the portal before I exploded. I couldn’t keep fighting these battles with people unwilling to listen to reason and see what was right in front of their eyes.

I had a massive dinner and trained until bed. My days had too much crazy, for real.

As if trying to prove that, there was another problem before most people had their first cup of coffee. Granted, I didn’t drink coffee which made it more annoying to me. I woke early and trained like crazy, trying to cram what I normally did before lunch into the time before breakfast.

It tended to put a woman in not the best mood to start with. I deserved a nice, easy morning before my first classes then.

Did I get it?

Yeah right.

“You lied to us again, Tamsin Vale,” a man blasted from behind me just as I’d had my first bite of fae fruit smoothie bowl topped with tons of other fruit-and nut-mix granola.

In other words, an amazing breakfast that I wanted to enjoy in peace.

“The princess never lied to the councils,” Rafe blasted, shocking several of us he was the one to jump in. “Not telling you information you believe you are special enough to be privy to is not lying. You should be embarrassed that you didn’t put the pieces together when it was all in front of your faces. And if you do not speak to her with respect, you will be removed from her presence.

I sighed, knowing the button he’d just pushed.

Sure enough, whatever councilman blowhard went off in a lecture of how Rafe couldn’t do that because the councils were allowed on campus. There was a lot else he continued with, but Rafe kept me from getting too annoyed by winking at me.

Nice. He’d deflected so I could at least enjoy my breakfast and let the councilman make an ass of himself. The barking of bullshit was still annoying and not something I wanted to hear. I appreciated Rafe trying and even defending me, but they would never listen.

So I only had ten bites before I had to jump in. Mostly because he got nasty with Rafe, and I wasn’t about to allow that.

“What are you here for besides to throw a damn tantrum the first day of classes and annoy all the students?” I cut in, finally turning to see who it was. I recognized the douche immediately, biting back a smile and ready to have some fun of my own.

Especially because the idiot was so brazen, he came on his own without a posse. He couldn’t bring others in with him unannounced anymore and gave me the perfect chance to show people how I was going to start handling these outbursts.

That might be worth the rise in my blood pressure.

He let out a childish huff and stared at me with disgust. “You promised you would not interfere in getting people to sign up for the seminar class.”

“I did and I haven’t,” I purred, getting out of my seat and crossing my arms over my chest as I faced him. “Unlike you guys who swore they wouldn’t get involved and somehow managed to get the seminar to be half of the last semester at seven in the morning and count for only half a credit. That’s not getting involved?”

He flinched, shocked I knew that.

Of course, I did. Idiot. It was my idea and project. Who didn’t follow up on that?

“It was a scheduling issue and trying to have a class added so late after registering,” he babbled.

“Warren, don’t lie to a telepath,” I sighed. “I’m not even going to poke holes of logic in that because I have a life besides you.”

His face flushed red. “I’m a councilman and you will respect that.”

“Did you call me my title?” I drawled, rolling my eyes when he tried to argue that idiot point. “My time is too valuable for this. Tell everyone what I supposedly lied about.”

“You’re bribing people to take the seminar!” he blasted, chilling a bit when Agis moved closer to him in a threatening way. “Anyone who takes the seminar gets taken off the blacklist with the hobgoblins. How can you stand there and say that you didn’t lie? We all know you have no morals and are an easy woman, but even you understand what I lie is.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Don’t stand on moral high ground with me when you have at least two mistresses. My mates know about each other.” I didn’t focus on that because I wanted to use the free promotion he’d just given my idea, people whispering about it.

“And that’s not what the deal is,” Darby said as he moved next to me. “Any student who enrolls in any law class is eligible. If they receive an A or B in the class, they—and their family—will be removed from the blacklist for the rest of the school year. A lot of them are the reason their families were placed on it, and this is their chance to fix that error by working for it.”

“Exactly, giving them a chance at redemption,” I purred. “You know, that redemption you’re always ranting about or people will become terrorists. So that’s what the hobgoblins are offering. I don’t own those businesses.”

“We all know they’re your slaves,” he snapped.

I lost my amusement in a flash. “Fair folk are not slaves.” I stormed over towards him but stopped just sort of smacking him when Darby grabbed the back of my pants in a move most wouldn’t have caught. Fine, yes, calm was better. “Do not ever speak of my people like that again, or the price will be higher than you’re willing to pay.”

“Empty words you always bark, Vale,” he taunted.

I mentally rolled my eyes. I hadn’t raised my voice at all, but he’d been yelling all over the place. How was I the one barking?

Whatever.

I smirked at him. “You’re right, I haven’t had much of a chance to handle some of my threats given the piles of issues my people have and how everyone demands fairies fix everything for them constantly. Thank you for pointing out that flaw. I’ll correct it right now.” I glanced around and waved over one of my security who was sitting at another table ready to jump in.

“What do you need, Your Highness?” he asked, glancing between the two of us.

“Please locate and arrest Warren Guess’s youngest daughter Kendra,” I told him, ignoring the gasps.

“Are you out of your mind, Vale?” Warren demanded before lunging for me.

Big mistake.

Agis caught him with a rune and held him in place immediately before the councilman even got a chance to take a step. I added a rune and silenced him.

“She’s been on our radar for a while, but we gave the council families a chance to punish their own and offer reparations. The Guess family has not and apparently thinks the more they bark in my face and throw around accusations, the less likely I’ll act on their crimes. No, I think the ones who come start shit with me at school will now be the ones I handle first.”

“Of course,” the fairy said, biting back a smile. “What are the charges, Your Highness?”

“Abuse of fair folk, specifically smacking the hobgoblins that worked at Artemis and their children,” I answered. “Also, I want you to locate and arrest Warren’s youngest son Brandon for black market dealings with fairy magic and hunting fae dogs for sport.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” he accepted, the thrill of some fun in his eyes.

But I wasn’t done yet.

“Also, Warren’s eldest son Reid, same crimes and hobgoblin trafficking. He was party to selling some of the children of the hobgoblins his family held as slaves. Warren’s mate, Jennifer, is guilty of the same so please make sure to find her. Plus, she was also involved with the dust collectors that chased fae dogs from their safe homes and shot them.”

“I’m sure such wonderful people will have troves of crimes committed. You wish for full interrogations and investigations done?”

I took off the rune to silence Warren. I wanted his fresh response before I said this next part. “Of course. Please make sure it’s thorough. Speak with Commander Taeral as he was involved with the reclaiming of dozens of fairy magical items.”

“You stole from us? You said none of the fairy magical items were stolen back,” Warren roared. “We’ve been searching everywhere to find out who stole it all.”

I gave him a dry look. “It’s not stealing if it belongs to us, idiot. Thank you for confessing you knew full well about all the illegal items in your house. There was some confusion on if you knew or it was only your wife. Now we know.” I smiled brightly at the fairy. “Please arrest Warren here as well. Also, make some sort of statement this happened when he came at me here.”

The amusement coming from Agis and the rest of our party was unreal. Yeah, I was spelling it out for people to fuck off and leave me the fuck alone because I wasn’t going to take it anymore.

“Before you go,” I interjected as I opened a portal to Chief. People gasped as the huge fae dog came in. I gave him love and smiled at Warren. “Chief, this man has insulted me and all of Faerie. Apparently, I haven’t been harsh enough in my dealings with those who wrong us, and people think I’m all talk. It’s time to fix that mistake.”

The Alpha didn’t hesitate, moving closer and burning Warren with his paw. The councilman bellowed in pain which amused Chief. Yeah, it wasn’t fun when the bully got a taste of his own medicine.

“Burn his mate and three of his children who also wronged us,” I instructed Chief. “Not the eldest daughter. Investigate her and report back to me. I think something is fishy there.”

Fear filled Warren’s eyes and I knew I was right. Something was up with the quiet mating of Ellen Guess.

The fairy bowed to me before silencing Warren again and dragging the shifter off.

“Well, that’s one less asshole and criminal on a council.” And then I sat to jump on my breakfast before the cold parts melted and the hot parts got cold. Both were serious crimes in my book and honestly, I wished I could arrest Warren for that as well. Crimes against food should be a real thing.

Or not.

I was maybe halfway through my breakfast when Julian and Neldor both showed up in front of me. I couldn’t even contain a sigh and ignored when it seemed to echo.

But I was just angry when I saw what they did.

Neldor moved his hand to the table in front of me where no one was sitting—a mistake I wouldn’t make again—and I felt his magic flare. He pulled his hand away, and there was a massive bouquet of flowers I’d never seen before.

Dalyor cleared his throat when I simply stared. “They’re flowers only found in the dark realm and rare. Most can’t make them with magic unless they’re over a hundred.”

I gave a slight nod that I heard him but was more focused on the clicking of phones taking pictures. He did this right at the height of breakfast on the first day of classes and most of the campus was there. That was the place he thought it best to try and give me a gift like he was courting me?

Or that was what people would say. I honestly had no idea what the fuck was in his mind or he was thinking. An apology?

Then I wondered if he’d known what Julian was planning to do and had butted him out. Julian gave Neldor a look of death and made two large roses appear just like he used to when we were together.

So I was a competition? Who would I accept apologies from first was going to be the new buzz of everyone?

No. Just no.

I reached over and burned all the flowers with a fire rune and stood without even looking at them. I gave Irma the best smile I could and ignored her worry. “I apologize for wasting food. I’ve lost my appetite.”

“I’ll have it boxed up, and your security can give it to you to eat during class.”

I mumbled a thank you and walked out of the cafeteria with my head held high, ignoring the people calling after me. Fuck them. Fuck this place.

And fuck people making scenes that would leave me looking the bad guy. How could someone lie they cared and do that?

The best part of reaching senior year was Izzy and I had our own bathroom. Well, we had the option now and I paid extra. Otherwise, it was the ritzy single rooms like Hudson had, and I wouldn’t ever do that to Izzy. So I didn’t have to worry about our fuckhead suitemates pretending to be our friends anymore just to get information.

And I had all the privacy I wanted when I tried to keep the tears at bay while I showered. I mostly managed it.

Mostly.

I dressed in other training clothes since I would even be working out in between classes and lunch. I was glad at least that I wouldn’t have to worry about being a pretty princess every second on campus like last semester.

Though this wouldn’t last forever. Or so Dalyor kept promising me.

Izzy and I finally had a class together this year, and I was ridiculously grateful for it. I ate a lot in our room while she hurried to get ready, and then we headed over to Nature Magics 301. It was nice that it was with Professor Pillay as well. I had a feeling Dean White had worked it out so I had as many teachers that we trusted as possible.

Yeah, I could see that and her being annoyed how many times I’d had the shitty teacher shtick as well. Though I was great at finding their problems, everyone needed at least a semester off from that shit.

“Good morning and welcome to your senior year at Artemis,” Professor Pillay greeted. “For those of you who don’t know, I’m Professor Pillay.” She turned to Professor Sontar with a smile. “And this is Professor Sontar who will be working with me to adjust what we need to so it’s applicable to fairy teachings.”

“More special treatment for Vale because she’s an idiot and they want to hide it,” someone jeered. It was almost comforting that less people laughed than the guy clearly would have thought because he lost his smile fast.

Professor Sontar was pissed though. “Princess Tamsin has learned more in a few years than you have your entire educational career, so I would be careful who you call an idiot. Fairies do not see magic—”

“Professor, forgive me, but please don’t bother,” I called over. “I appreciate the support, but I’m fine. I also would prefer, as a rule, not explaining things to jerks. If someone respectfully asks questions or wants to learn like we’re here to, then by all means, teach whatever you want within what we tell people. Don’t reward the bad kids with cookies though.”

“Of course, Ms. Vale,” he agreed, dipping his head. He looked ready to sigh when people gasped. “As I know Iolas has taught many of you already, fairies leave their titles at the door of education. In here, she is the student and I am the teacher. It’s why she asked my forgiveness for speaking out of turn.”

“She always has,” Professor Pillay chuckled. “For all the grief people give her, she has always been one of the most respectful and diligent students I’ve ever had over my long career.”

Wow. I simply blinked at her for a moment. That was quite the compliment.

“Excuse me, Professor,” a woman I sort of recognized said with her hand raised. “I would like to know why there is a difference. It makes sense as we’ve needed extra help as witches and warlocks when shifter instructors might teach, but I haven’t been able to find an explanation as to why fairies need it taught differently.”

Professor Sontar nodded and looked at me. “I would truly like to hear your answer, Ms. Vale. You have the answer of the only fairy unknown and having started your magical education from the perspective of a witch.”

I swallowed a sigh, knowing he needed this probably to help me, but I hated being the center of attention. I always was, and school was supposed to be the one time it wasn’t about me but knowledge.

I glanced over to the woman and thought on what to say. “Really, it’s about perception. You see a portal as magic called upon after the correct symbols and runes are laid down as the steps you need to complete your task. To fairies, it’s about that magic already there. You make it appear with your magic and for us, it’s using the magic in the world to do as we ask.”

“I’m not sure I understand that,” she admitted.

“It’s not really something that’s set in stone like math,” I replied with a shrug. “You look at a portal as a doorway and maybe a bridge to take you somewhere, right?”

“Yes, that works,” she muttered after several around her nodded as well.

“If I focus my magic, I can sort of see the runes of the last portal you used,” I admitted, focusing and seeing them. “The magic from the portal follows us just like dirt or grass on the soles of our shoes. That makes it not a doorway for us, but simply opening a door anywhere as the magic is everywhere.”

“It’s different for them because they’re always using magic, and we have to push it,” Izzy added.

“Yeah, I’m not explaining it right,” I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest and giving Professor Sontar an apologetic look thinking I’d embarrassed him.

“You did just fine,” he assured me. “Ms. Thorne is also correct. It’s simply the difference of the senses we focus on when thinking of magic. That’s a tricky and layered topic because most take offense that fairies have more magic.” He chuckled when all the witches and warlocks in the class flinched besides Izzy. “You just made my point.”

“It’s hard not to take it like you’re saying we’re lacking,” one woman near the front grumbled.

“I said no such thing,” he said gently. “You take it that way. It’s part of how judgmental this society has become, even more so than twenty years ago.” He held up a finger to hold her off. “Think of it how many people pick on Ms. Vale for how much she eats. I’ve heard many men say she’s gross or women that it’s disgusting. Why? She uses manners.”

“Unless it’s a bag of Taco Bell after Dalyor beats me up in training,” I drawled. “Then I am gross and just shovel it in. That man is a sadist.”

I was shocked when several people chuckled besides the teachers. I always picked on myself. When did people start hearing me?

Because I put more of my life on the internet and they could see the truth? I was glad the opinions of me might change, but I also resented people that it took so much to make it happen.

“It’s unbecoming and unladylike,” a different woman said, nodding her head she understood the point. “That’s what I’ve been taught since I was young.”

“Yes, but part of that is your extra sexist society of witches and warlocks,” he said sadly. “You gain magic and power off the energy you put into your body and your health. Both need higher amounts of food than I see most witches eat.”

“It’s true,” Izzy said, nodding when people gave her skeptical looks. “My magical potential has more than tripled since Tams started pushing my physical workouts and to eat more. Yes, school has helped, but there are still people in our grade that couldn’t do all the runes of our very first class assignment. I can. I can hold a flame rune for thirty minutes.”

“Nice,” I praised, giving her a fist bump. “That’s better than last semester.”

“Four minutes more over the summer.”

“I’m not sure I could hold one that long,” Professor Pillay admitted, shrugging when people gave her shocked looks. “I know that Dean White can, but I always assumed it was because she was born of a fairy. You don’t have any recent fairy family in your family tree, do you, Ms. Thorne?”

Izzy cleared her throat and focused on her notebook. “No.”

Professor Pillay flinched slightly, seeing the landmine she’d stepped in but hurried on. “I would love to speak to you after class on some of the exercises you’ve done to build your magical endurance. I think we now all realize how much our elders changed knowledge on us so we were held back.”

People were shocked that she went there, but after Izzy agreed, Professor Sontar went back to the original question. “What sense do you use when it comes to music?”

“We hear it,” a man said, giving him a hesitant look as if the professor was going to pull a fast one.

“Yes, you do. For fairies, it’s more touch. We feel the vibrations from the music in our very being. It’s why you won’t ever find a fairy without rhythm. It’s the same with magic. You simply sense it in a different way than fairies do. As Ms. Vale said, she can see the runes of the portal you came through if she wants.”

“For how long?” Professor Pillay asked.

I frowned. “For as long as I need to.”

“No, I mean how long after someone goes through a portal? Could you tell from someone who went through one yesterday or as long as when I went through a portal a week ago?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Ms. Vale hasn’t reached that part of her training yet as it’s actually an advanced magical concept even for fairies,” Professor Sontar explained. “She is simply so powerful she skips steps. In general, it’s a mix of things. A family portal you travel through often would linger longer for us to see than the portal in the student union used often.” He glanced at me and I nodded.

I focused on Pillay and wrote down what I saw the hints of, squinting a few times out of habit to see better even if that wasn’t really how magic worked. I tore out the notebook page and went up front, handing it to Professor Pillay.

“All correct?” Professor Sontar checked.

“Yes, she got half of them and they’re correct.”

“When was the portal and from where?” he pushed.

“A week from Friday and I ran an errand. So the teacher’s lounge portal to a magical store with high portal traffic.”

“Well done, Ms. Vale,” Professor Sontar praised. “Well done indeed.”

Okay then. It wasn’t remotely the topic we were there to learn about, but at least I’d done something correct.

And wanted to melt into the floor from the hateful stares it got me.

19

I wanted to roll my eyes when Dalyor was in my next class. That couldn’t be good, but he simply pointed to Rafe who took the seat clearly meant for me. Honestly, I was fine with just about anything that meant I didn’t have to sit next to Neldor.

Because we were the only two students in my Local Government and Regulations of Faerie class.

Awesome.

“Rafe was one of the best students in our class,” Dalyor promised. “He will know what notes to take for you. I know working out will be distracting, but it’s also good training. You won’t ever have a calm life.”

“Father used to make me work on math during lectures and important meetings,” Neldor grumbled. “I hated it with a passion, but now I’m grateful all the time he pushed me so hard. I thought…” He trailed off and shook his head as if the memories were too painful now.

They probably were, but I wasn’t the person who should comfort him. Doing things like that had blurred the lines and made me seem easy to him.

Yeah, that wasn’t something I was going to get over anytime soon.

“Plus, it will help you with control of your telepathy since that has been an issue with your power growing,” Rafe said gently. “I’m used to that jump because my sister was one.”

“Was?” I whispered, my heart breaking when tears burned in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I just learned that Lageos was there when she was awoken, and he did everything he could to save her.”

Fuck, that meant it was fairly recent. “You’ll have to tell me about her sometime.”

“I’d like that. She tried to talk me into switching sides like Clyum did. Now I wish I had and stuck her somewhere safe.”

“There was nowhere safe in this last war, my friend,” Dalyor whispered, knowing full well how regrets could eat someone in a way nothing else could.

Too many of us did.

I did a crazy amount of push-ups and sit-ups during the lecture, telling Rafe the questions I wanted to ask later with my telepathy. I winced as I interrupted the lecture a few times because I broadcast it to everyone, but I was glad I was working on this.

There were certain areas I also wanted to focus on with Geiger to see how tight the lines were on some of the regulations. We were starting with the areas I was in control of, something I had pushed for since it was the best path to reopening what I could the way I should.

“Hey, can you swing by my class after lunch?” I asked Rafe when we were done.

He nodded, frowning and clearly not getting it from his thoughts. That was fine. I had to throw them for a loop now and again to keep them on their toes.

Next was Gymnastics with Ara as my teacher. Things were still awkward between us. I had forgiven those who had been on my detail… But I hadn’t forgotten it yet. I needed time to feel they would truly listen to me going forward. I knew they were grunts and couldn’t make decisions. I understood that.

But there was a time to push instead of simply accepting what’s going on, and my being harassed by Kramer had been one of those times.

We started “easy,” and she had me working on flips that I could sort of handle. But she wanted me to do them quickly and in combos.

“Enough sharing the fucking looks and focus on fixing it,” I snapped halfway through class. She’d shared so many glances with Dalyor that it was distracting. Something I accidentally projected to both of them because I was tired and needed to fuel up.

After Gymnastics, I actually had a private lunch with Irma, Commander Shael, and Calarel. She was the royal healer that I’d met when she was helping heal Julian from the dark magic. Neldor said she was the one his mother had the most faith in. And since I’d found Calarel’s mate and awoken him, she was one of the most loyal cheerleaders I had.

And in Irma fashion, it was a picnic with some of the hobgoblin children away from the cafeteria so I could have a moment to breathe.

We went over my day and how a second lunch was going to have to be my routine half the week. This was all so stressful I couldn’t even be amused with the hobbit reference.

“I would like you and the other healers to start researching the human advancements into protein powders and capsules,” I instructed Calarel. “There was some back and forth about what could hurt me or what I would even be able to absorb. If my body just kicks it out like synthetic stuff then there’s no point.”

“But some are vegan or very organic,” Irma said, bobbing her head. “It’s like how we make most of her treats with the higher quality beef gelatin that gives her protein instead of all the sugary ones. There might be a way to even get some of that like humans would collagen even if you don’t need it.”

I nodded along with what they discussed, not really wanting to know all the particulars. I simply wanted to figure out how to make my life easier.

Shocking.

Next was Magical Art and Singing which was technically self-study. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but people promised me it wouldn’t just be a blow-off class when I asked. I didn’t really care if it was given how extra packed my schedule was to other students my age.

Rafe was there with Dalyor and Agis. I was surprised Agis was there, but his thoughts were full of curiosity of why I wanted Rafe there. That was fair since they were all tight friends.

“Hello, Your Highness,” an incredibly nervous and breathtaking woman greeted me. “My name is Josie, and I’ll be working with you on the singing section of your class.”

I glanced at Shael since she’d tagged along, unsure of how to handle this or what to do. I realized she wasn’t simply there to hang out, but she knew what was going on.

“Josie isn’t a teacher like Ara,” she explained. “She is a section leader of the Royal Performers.”

I blinked between them. “And she’s going to teach me? I can’t even read notes or play an instrument. Why are we wasting her time?”

Josie relaxed and beamed at me. I honestly thought maybe I should hold up my hand to block her brightness some. Wow.

“I’m here because I can’t read notes either, Your Highness,” she explained, nodding when I raised an eyebrow. “I ask you give me a bit of leeway to check a few things, and then I will try my best to…”

“Describe how it works?” I offered, not sure what we were going with either.

“Depending on what your gifts are,” she accepted after a moment. “I wasn’t able to tell much through your videos.”

I shrugged. “What do you want me to do?”

“Sing whatever is in your heart at the moment.”

I nodded, smiling at Rafe since this was the part I’d asked him for. Grabbing my phone, I loaded Imagine Dragons’s “Wrecked” and handed it over to Shael. Then I grabbed Rafe’s hand and started singing as we danced.

After the first few lines, he understood what I was doing, either from the music or the lyrics. He took over leading and spun us in a faster pace, dipping me deeper as we moved.

I reached up and wiped a tear off his cheek when we were done. “The lead singer wrote the song for his sister-in-law who died of cancer. I saw a clip of him talking about it and how close he’d been to her too, the song mostly for his brother. It just came to mind after what you told me.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he rasped. “Truly.”

I nodded. “I know she didn’t die by suicide, but there’s another song about loss I like. It’s helped me.”

“I’d love to hear it.”

I took my phone back from Shael and pulled up Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go.”

To my utter shock, Rafe immediately started singing with me. He nodded that he knew it, and we danced as we sang. I was in awe of his voice and the gravel he had in it just like the Lewis Capaldi did.

He hugged me when we were done and then moved away, thanking me before going back by his friends. From the look they shared, I had a feeling something more had happened that I didn’t understand.

Wasn’t that just every day of my damn life?

“Your Highness, do you know Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You?” Josie asked me.

I nodded but then snorted when I realized what she wanted. “I can’t sing that. Only a handful of people can sing that song without killing it.”

Amusement danced in her eyes. “Please just try. No one here will laugh.”

Dalyor snorted this time. “I can’t sing it.”

“You can barely sing at all,” Agis mocked.

Okay, well that helped. Shael pulled it up on my phone, and I stared at the floor as I tried to sing it. It sounded horrible to my ears and all over the place.

“That was truly amazing, Your Highness,” Josie praised when I was done.

I couldn’t even try to hide my disbelief. I was shocked when the others there burst out laughing.

“Your expression was funny,” Shael hurried to explain. “We’re not laughing at you, just—your reactions are so amusing sometimes. Forgive us.”

“If you explain to me what’s going on,” I grumbled.

“You’re an amplifier, Your Highness,” Josie told me. “Commander Shael told me that Queen Sasha told you this before? Or Dean White?”

I sighed, scrubbing my hand over the back of my neck. “They both have kind of in passing. Katrina as well. They said it was what fairies did.”

“No, that is not true,” Shael cut in. “Some fairies do. It is normal for the heirs and queens. Or more common for them, but it’s rather rare otherwise. We couldn’t have anyone bad hide among us if we all had it.”

“How the fuck did all the ancients and elders hide who they were if an amplifier was right in front of them?”

Josie cleared her throat and shot Shael an apologetic look. “Because it’s not actually something most royals have. They used to. It used to be a gift they were blessed with to not allow people in power to wear masks.”

“That cannot—” Shael started to argue.

“It’s true, and Queen Meira told me specifically never to speak about it. Amplifiers can feel each other.” Josie nodded when Shael couldn’t hide her shock. “It’s how I could tell Princess Tamsin was.”

“Why would my mother hide that?”

“Any loss of power a previous generation had is not looked kindly on,” Dalyor muttered. “I’ve heard you say people think they’re stuck with you. It’s that sort of mentality.”

I rolled my eyes. “The woman suffered from visions. No god would be cruel enough to give her that and have her be an amplifier. It’s hell for me how horrible people can be to me.”

“I told your mother the exact same.” Josie cleared her throat and gave me an apologetic look this time. “And a lot of that has nothing to do with you being an amplifier. People can just be horrible and use any sign of weakness against those they think do not have the right backing.”

That was the understatement of the year.

“Okay, well, I’ll look into this more, but why do I think it matters with the singing thing?” I was glad when she didn’t seem to take offense with what I’d said. There really wasn’t a great way to ask and try to navigate all of this.

“An amplifier for music is the next level of mimic singer. You and I cannot read notes. You won’t actually be able to play an instrument. Trust me, I’ve tried. We hear the song in the passion of the singer and not only mimic what we hear but amplify it with our magic.”

“You take things to the next level,” Dean White said from the doorway. “I apologize for butting in, but I understand the vernacular a bit better.” She waited until Josie nodded. “Your range is astounding, Ms. Vale. You went deep with the one song and the other end of the possible range with another.”

I tried not to sigh again. “You’re saying Rafe’s voice normally has that gravelly tone to it, but I only have it when the singer does, and I copy that?”

“Yes, because it’s part of the song to you. Then you take what you hear and kick it up to a much higher level. Partially because of your magic, but it’s also how you sing.” She frowned. “Why does that upset you?”

“It feels cheaty,” I admitted. “And like I’m a fake. I can’t sing just on my own.”

“I understand why you think that,” Dean White said when the others seemed shocked. “You grew up in a culture that no longer believes imitation is the highest form of flattery. It used to be if you tried to dance like Fred Astaire, you were trying to reach for the highest level. Now it’s looked down on as stealing their individuality. It’s not the case.”

“I understand,” Shael muttered. “You are not stealing an author’s work or pretending you wrote the song. You’re like the most glorious songbird that hears beauty and repeats it.”

I almost laughed at the comparison. No one had ever compared me to something as delicate as a damn songbird.

Not ever.

Josie had me sing a range of other songs before calling me done.

Except it was only half the class time.

Huh?

“You haven’t been singing magically for two hundred years as I have, Your Highness,” Josie explained. “And I made sure to have the correct warm tea for your throat. Warm, not hot. You pour hot water on an injury, and it makes it worse with a burn sometimes. So warm and then very cold all day after we work together.”

I nodded. That was easy enough.

“The second half of your class will be painting,” Dean White told me.

I turned to face her and saw they’d set up two dozen easels and canvases. I frowned. I didn’t want to do that here.

She smirked at me as if amused I didn’t have more faith in her. “Take us to your studio, Ms. Vale. Your guards will stay here and use their magic to mimic more people are in this room.”

“You block most everything you do, so it’s not like we can’t explain that either,” Shael added. “To be honest, we don’t know anyone who could really help you in this area.” She waved me quiet when that upset me. “There probably is, but we don’t know any we can trust. Only a fraction of fairies are awake even.”

I sighed, doing what they wanted. It was just easier to walk with them and let them explain instead of demanding answers and explanations upfront. It was sort of the way of fairies, so I couldn’t get upset.

Or even annoyed, but I couldn’t control that.

“Now, you’re in your safe space, and you’re going to work with someone you trust,” Dean White explained, pointing to herself as if I hadn’t figured that out. “Even Ms. Thorne will be working with you on certain sections. You need a tether in some ways because of how your power started.”

“Exploding all over the place and being obnoxious,” I muttered, bobbing my head. So another class of control while my power was jumping levels.

Smart.

“I wouldn’t have said ‘obnoxious’ but extraordinary,” White clarified. “But yes, you understand the goal here.” She nodded to the canvases and easels I already had set up.

Wait, so everything else was just in case someone had walked into the classroom or to show we left a mess later? I wasn’t sure, but I let it go. I knew that room was used for art classes, so maybe it just worked to do that for a class later.

“Now, the goal is to process something you’re carrying but not any of the extremely daunting and heavy items.”

“Like?” I sighed, not trying to be a pain, but tired and hating I was once again on display. In my sanctuary even. The others had come with even if their part of the class was over. It was clear that they wanted to be nosy; it was the way of fairies after all.

It simply grated on me that nothing was ever truly mine.

Dean White shrugged. “Start from the beginning. You have years of issues that you’ve been pushing to the side to plow forward. Focus on the night you were found. Show us your process and let us feel the magic instead of simply watching clips of it.”

That was her idea of starting light? I couldn’t hide my apprehension before pulling off my shirt so I was in my sports bra. Tossing it over to the side, I let my wings out and uncovered the large containers with dividers that were filled with paint.

I moved back to the middle and thought back to the night my power had exploded and I’d been found. An array of emotions burst out of me, and I swallowed a sigh when I felt paint splatter against my arm and torso. I opened my eyes and found the dozen canvases full… And all my walls again.

I sighed. Heavily, and moved my hands to my hips. “I just fucking painted the walls back to white. Again.” I shot White an annoyed look. Not about the damn paint, but she pushed me into this with everyone watching.

And the room was full of fear because of it.

“I profusely apologize, Tamsin,” she whispered as she stared around at it all. “Truly. I thought…”

“I thought the same,” Shael muttered. Looking away and catching my gaze. “You talk about that night so flippantly. I would never have thought you had all of this ready to explode from you. It seemed like a fairly safe topic.”

I snorted. “Only an idiot wouldn’t still be traumatized from that night. I was terrified. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be taken away to some sort of lab or brainwashed to become an evil villain or worse. Von Thann declared I should be bred and…” I shook my head. I’d told them all of this before.

But everyone had their own lives and issues. I knew that. I knew all fairies had been through something traumatic as well, and it consumed a lot of them. I rationally understood all of that.

I simply was tired of my pain and problems being on display for everyone.

Which seemed like I was a hypocrite since I was putting more of my life on social media. That was about the point that my head throbbed and I knew I had to refuel.

I wiped the paint off of me with some towelettes I now kept there and reached for my shirt. Cloaking my wings, I yanked back on my shirt and teleported away.

With someone else.

I shot Dalyor an annoyed look. “Don’t even start.”

“Wasn’t going to,” he said gently. “Sometimes it just helps to have someone near you who cares.”

Yeah, I wasn’t touching that one. I had enough problems with the men fate said I was supposed to be with. The last thing I needed was to touch other stoves.

He kept his word and was simply there so I wasn’t alone. He also ate the other half of the Taco Bell I’d brought us to, but it was maybe worth it so I could shut off my brain and not worry about being safe. I didn’t even cloak us and was pleasantly surprised to find no one got all over my case about that.

Sure, there was a squad of Faerie Guardians cloaked outside, but even that was chill. No matter how much I hated it, I was important and couldn’t be no one ever again. It was simply time people met me halfway, and that afternoon seemed to be one of the rare occasions.

“I am sorry you went through something so terrifying,” he said when we finally stopped eating.

Hell, even the staff kept trying to sneak pictures of how much we were eating, but I kept up the barrier that would blur it. Sometime soon I would need to explain that given how popular I now was.

I opened my mouth to reply but then closed it. Nothing in my head to say would be productive or nice. It all sounded snippy, and I didn’t even mean it that way.

“You’re right and I have no idea,” he said gently, smiling when I shot him a confused look. “No, I wasn’t listening to you. I’m not a pup and am fairly good at my job reading people. I’ll never understand what you’ve been through just like you don’t understand what it’s like to command thousands of people to kill other people.”

“I hope not,” I whispered, shivering to my core at the idea.

“I believe you won’t,” he muttered. He shook his head. “Something in my gut has told me that you are the path to peace. I feel it. More would feel it if they stopped listening to the noise and listened to themselves.”

“But they don’t,” I whispered. “They won’t for someone like me.”

“They will. I believe it.”

There wasn’t anything to say that didn’t sound like arguing… So I didn’t. I was tired of wasting my breath and energy on things that never changed.

We left to meet up with the commanders and Neldor for our new daily dinner meeting. Unfortunately, they pushed for it to be in the cafeteria so I had more “normal” and completely missed the mark. Everyone stared, and there was more bitching from people about all of the exceptions I was constantly getting.

I excused myself and went over to Headmaster Edelman. I apologized for interrupting his dinner and gestured over to the circus. “This isn’t working.”

“I said it wouldn’t,” he sighed.

“They’re trying at least,” I grumbled. “What is the actual rule? Can Neldor and I not have dinner off campus? We’ll come back and sleep here.”

“It’s a bit excessive to leave daily like that and you already do for your training,” Dean White said quietly. “There are other important people who attend there.”

“Yes, well, I do understand that, but they will be leaders someday. Neldor and I are in charge now. I need an answer how to fix this to make it easier on the spoiled babies who would cause more issues.” I swallowed down my anger when everyone shot me surprised looks. “I apologize. People are still going too far. Constantly.”

I looked over at Julian who was eagerly listening in. I didn’t hide my hate for him. He was part of why I was extra agitated.

And that was before I saw the bracelet I’d given him on his wrist.

Ass. Hole.

“How much is it to rent one of the party rooms?” I asked. “Aren’t there several in the student union? They can’t all be used around dinner.”

“No, they’re very rarely rented even,” Edelman said. “People simply use their portal passes.”

“Done. Bill me for renting whatever size we need for the rest of the semester at dinner. Thank you.”

All the eyes on me as I walked back to my table were driving me insane like itching I felt from their negativity. Yeah, done and done. One meal away from this would help me loads.

“That is a much better option,” Iolas agreed as I sat back down.

I nodded. “You’re trying. I get it. We just need to tweak where we can.”

“And the rental fee can’t be more than all of our meal prices,” Shael drawled. “Especially when Irma and her team are mostly feeding us.”

I snorted. Yeah, we were getting the raw deal all over. I knew Edelman wasn’t trying to stick it to us but trying to hold us to the standards of others and appease the masses as he did.

My mood was for shit though, and I got snippy several times to hurry on with what someone was saying. Plus, I barely touched my food.

And it had nothing to do with the Taco Bell I’d half eaten.

“We have something fun scheduled with training,” Dalyor told me as I left.

He was getting too good at reading me. He knew I wanted to take off again. Fine, he wasn't wrong, but I wasn’t going to blow off training that would mess up Neldor and others. I nodded I heard him but still left.

I grabbed what I needed from my room, and as much as I wanted to bring Izzy with me, I was worried I’d snap at her. But I didn’t block myself after I teleported. The commanders were truly trying and so was my security so if they behaved as I asked, I wasn’t going to be a brat.

Well, always.

I glamoured myself because Tamsin Vale was supposed to be in Kansas, and I was in New York walking into a Saks Fifth Avenue of all things.

“Not where I expected to find you,” Taeral muttered after he joined me.

“I didn’t expect you to be the one to come after me,” I threw right back as I leaned over the display case.

“Watches? Men’s watches?”

I sighed, knowing full well he wasn’t going to leave it alone. Maybe at least he could be of some use. “I gave Julian a priceless bracelet that he’s wearing around and flaunting no matter how much the whole situation embarrassed me. And in front of Darby. It’s… I never give him or Hudson anything.”

He snorted and apologized when I gave him a hurt look. “Tamsin, you constantly spoil both of them.”

“Yes, who wouldn’t love all the stress I bring into their lives, the bullshit they have to put up with, and our people constantly giving them crap because they want me with Neldor. Absolutely spoiled.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t be around those people anymore,” a deep voice said from the other side of the deep counter.

“Don’t,” I told Taeral.

“He can cloak from me,” he bit out.

“He can’t from me,” I said easily, letting him know I’d felt the shifter approaching. “I am surprised how he found me. I’m not only glamoured, but the chances of me just being in New York are slim to none.” I glanced up and met Luke’s amused gaze. “It was on a whim. Are you tracking me?”

He seemed to hesitate on wanting to answer since Taeral was there but caved. “No. Just like they can sense you to find you, so can I.”

“You are not one of us or able to do that,” Taeral snapped.

“Your arrogance still will get her killed,” Luke quietly growled. “I’m not even the only one I know. So if they know her magic and signature, the moment she doesn’t cloak herself from you fools because you demand to watch her like a prized mare you can’t afford to lose, you risk her.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” Taeral snapped.

Luke wasn’t having it though, and I put a barrier up around us so others couldn’t hear us. “You fully believe Faerie will die without her. Do not act like you are simply here because you’re her friend. If she breaks, your world is gone. None of you even try to hide it, and it’s insanity to think a planet will die if one bloodline is lost.”

I blinked at Luke, shocked he would say it so bluntly.

Maybe shocked someone else felt as I did.

“The gods gave her family the power and if you all messed that up, you deserve it.” He sighed when Taeral flinched. “But the gods see all. They would have known if you would eventually fail. There was no chance they gave a whole world one bloodline and chance to get it right.”

“I can’t fault your logic, but beliefs aren’t based on logic but feelings,” Taeral accepted.

“If that was true, more people would treat her with compassion instead of greed,” Luke bit out before turning to me. “And you will pay the price. Many value what you do. Come with me and I can help you do it before they ruin you.”

Much to Taeral’s horror, I gave Luke an amused look. “You would use me as well.”

“Yes, but not like they will,” he confessed, not even willing to deny it. “But I would also give you more than they can.”

“I believe that, Robin Hood.”

He flinched. “I’m not the good guy. I’ve been honest about that. You will be disappointed if you try to find that in me.”

I smirked at him. “And yet you warn me of that. I’m constantly surrounded by monsters wearing pope hats. You’ve actually helped me handle some of my biggest threats and warn me you’re not good. I’ll take that over the other option every fucking day of the year.” I didn’t want to keep talking about this, and he already knew my answer. “Which watch do you like?”

He sighed and tapped near the far end of the display opposite from where I was looking. “The TAG Heuer here. It’s a diver watch for your ridiculously spoiled swimmer mate. It’s not cheap but not over the top. If it was, he wouldn’t wear it, and that would defeat the point. The blue is the same shade in your eyes and will make him think of you every time he looks at it.

“Don’t get a watch for the dragon. He’s undoubtedly got much nicer ones, and they’re not men you group shop for. A prince wouldn’t like that.” He sighed when Taeral flinched. Of course, Luke knew Hudson was my mate. “Let me know when you’re going to announce it, and I’ll watch the chatter.”

“You’re worried about me making it official to the world?”

“So are you, Princess, because unlike other fairies, you pay attention and live in the real world. He was the ultimate catch, top of every list possible to mate for power. Neldor’s the top now, but no one is even going to really try besides for a fling because everyone assumes the fairies will win and sell you to him.”

I agreed, and it upset me so badly that the metal in the display broke and the glass started to fall.

I felt magic flare from Taeral and Luke at the same time to catch it. They hurried to hide my mistake so no one watching us would have caught it. I muttered a thank you and went to find someone who worked there.

Or really just waved them over. I already had eyes on me. I should be used to that by now, but I didn’t think that was something anyone could ever truly accept.

I couldn’t.

20

“He understands me better than any of the commanders do,” I told Taeral after Luke was long gone and I was walking out with my purchase. I stared up at the sky turning to night and sighed. “How horrible is that? A man I’ve met a handful of times sees me better than all of the people who are supposed to follow me. It’s so fucking pathetic I just want to give up.”

But I wouldn’t. I also didn’t want to listen to Taeral’s response and teleported back to campus.

“You good?” Izzy checked when I arrived.

“Just another day in paradise,” I grumbled. I grabbed what I needed to and winked at her before teleporting to Dalyor.

Who wasn’t on campus?

Huh.

And Geoff was there.

I simply sighed. What loop was I being thrown now?

Dalyor barely contained his amusement. “You enjoyed the training with Rafe, so I called in a favor from your friend.”

Geoff snorted. “It’s not a favor. I’m no pup. I know the honor it is to allow a pack to train with fairy warriors. This is yet another gift Princess Tamsin has given us.” He gave me a soft smile. “But before that, you’ve been going through too much shit. Come see something happy.”

Now I was really on board.

Moments later, I was blinking back tears as I saw all the shifters I’d rescued who were born of fairies settled in. It was temporary, no one pretended otherwise, but they were safe and had their own areas in the party hall the pack had. Several were sitting playing video games, and in another area they were sitting at tables with coloring books.

So they were being kids. That was something I’d never had much of a chance to be and what most people saw as basic. They didn’t appreciate it, but I knew these children would.

I would have.

A few gave me nervous waves and I simply winked back.

Geoff led us outside, and there were more of them playing basketball. He explained it was common after dinner that some of the kids from the pack came with parents and there were pickup games. It was peaceful and normal in a way that life wasn’t anymore.

There was one little girl sitting off to the side that was nervous but clearly enjoyed watching the game. I listened in, and she wasn’t sure how to make friends and was scared they wouldn’t like her. She was the only deer shifter in the group, and all the other shifters were predators.

Apparently, that made a difference even with shifters.

I went over to her and knelt down. “I wasn’t like the others growing up either. It’s really hard being different.” I smiled when she didn’t respond, cautious and as distrusting as I was. But her thoughts hoped I had the answer of what to do. “We tend to overthink when we’re scared. Do you know what I’d do if I was you?”

“What?”

“Ignore the fact you’re different and focus how you’re like them,” I told her honestly. I stood and held out my hand while thinking the rune for ice. I made a massive pile of snowballs appear. “I bet you I can hit one of them before you can so we can have a snowball fight.”

“It’s still summer,” she gasped but jumped to her feet. “I can do it!”

“Yeah, you can,” I chuckled as she immediately started lobbing them over and shouting to the others to come play. They could play basketball anytime, but a snowball fight in August wasn’t something that came around like ever.

Except with magic.

I was shocked how many immediately jumped in on the fun, the parents too. I made more piles around the court and some small ice walls for people to duck behind.

And then just because I needed the laughs, I made comically big snowballs appear above several fairies and dropped them on their heads.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Dalyor grumbled after freeing himself.

Neldor wisely didn’t say anything.

Shockingly, Shael had deflected it. Her lips simply twitched when I glanced over at her while her focus was on the fight.

“I learn from my mistakes, Your Highness. You are as impish as all young fairies are.” She turned and gave me a slight wink. “I did the same thing accidentally when I was young and training. Life is not easy, and we need to enjoy the moments we can.”

“Well said, Commander.” I clapped my hands and turned to Geoff. “Who am I playing with then?” I rolled my eyes when several people coughed or tried to cover a laugh. “Oh please, I have a ridiculously sexy vampire waiting for me to come home so he can do everything I love. I’m not touching any of you fools.”

“And on that note, let’s get down to it,” Dalyor drawled.

So we did and it was fucking amazing. I had an absolute blast teaming up with Shael and Agis to learn how Guardians did training. It was ridiculously helpful for my own goals and a ton of fun.

I thanked Geoff—who had actually joined us and was smiling as well—and his wolves. They all seemed to think it was beneficial as well even if we’d kicked their asses. The more they worked with us, the more they’d be ready for anything else thrown at them.

I was thrilled when everyone agreed to do it weekly and stick with Monday nights. That gave us Wednesdays for swords and Fridays for hand-to-hand combat. I could get behind that schedule for sure. Maybe even something extra for Saturdays… After I was done with the crazy everything from my wings coming in.

The moment I was back, I showered and got myself presentable before grabbing Darby’s gift. Izzy wiggled her eyebrows and told me she’d see me in the morning, clearly knowing what I was up to.

Duh.

I teleported to his room and froze when he jumped. “Sorry. Shit, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” he chuckled, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck.

“Is it?” I hedged, studying him closely. “I should knock.”

He smiled at me. “Agra, you teleport to me all the time. It’s fine. Come to me whenever.”

“Yeah, but this is your room. I can come to the door.”

He stood from his desk chair and came over to me. “Don’t be silly. It’s our room just like at home.” He raised an eyebrow when I tried to object. “Since you paid extra and got me a single room.”

I sighed. Of course, he knew. Damn smart man. “Not because of that.”

“No, I was just teasing.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Teleport in. I don’t want to hear shit from people who saw you at the door or more whispers than we already deal with. They probably know, but seeing is fuel for the gossips.”

“Good point,” I agreed, snagging another kiss. I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the bed to sit, straddling his lap when he did.

“You’re in a much better mood,” he murmured, studying my eyes.

“I am. I had some good training that was fun, and I saw something good.” I kissed him to quiet him. “I’ll tell you later. I want to give you the present I bought before I chicken out.” I set the box on my lap and tried to smile.

“What did I deserve to get this?” he asked as he took it in his hands.

“Nothing. I mean, everything. You’re awesome, and I wanted to show you that.”

“You do all of the time, agra.” He didn’t open it, still focused on my face. “Thank you. How about we snuggle and have an early night?”

“I was going to give you a blow job with the gift. Why aren’t you opening it?”

He closed his eyes and let out a growl. “You cannot just announce that to me and expect me to keep my head. Now I want to strip you naked and ravage you.”

I wanted to ask why he hadn’t already, but it sounded like I was looking for problems in my head. “I’m confused.”

“I’m not handling this well, and now I won’t because my mind is elsewhere,” he admitted with a sigh. He cupped my cheek and rubbed his thumb over my skin. “I don’t want you to worry about getting me things. You give me lots all the damn time. I’m spoiled. I’m very spoiled.” He nervously licked his lips. “And you don’t normally do things like this.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. My mind raced with ways to respond.

“This isn’t your style, so I’m asking what’s going on and not doing it well,” he elaborated as he shook the box.

Again, I opened my mouth but then closed it again. I felt like a fish as I repeated the motion several times before hopping off his lap and pacing. “Okay, it all sounded smart in my head. I mean, it made sense. Now I’m not sure and it sounds a bit petty.”

He snagged me around the waist and pulled me back on his lap. “Julian wearing that fucking bracelet.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I gave him something priceless and all he does is hurt me. We’re not together. You’re amazing and I… Sorry. It sounds stupid now. I needed to take a break, and it seemed the perfect time to get something nice for the man I love.”

“It’s not stupid and I’m really glad,” he whispered as he kissed my neck. “I saw it too and I wanted to steal it. Not because I want it. I just… We’re allowed to be petty. No one’s perfect.”

“Well, give me it back if you’re not perfect,” I chuckled softly, trying to not make it sound forced, but it did.

He moved me to sit next to him on the bed and opened the box. “Tamsin, this is beautiful.”

“It’s a swimmer’s watch. I don’t know how deep you can go but definitely the pool. I know you’ve said it’s hard to see the clocks when you’re not wearing your glasses.”

“This is perfect. Thank you.” He leaned in and gave me a kiss. “It’s exactly what I would have picked. I mean, probably a cheaper version.”

“It wasn’t crazy,” I promised, hurrying to take it out of the box and put it on his wrist. “Luke said the blue would make you think of my eyes, but that sounded a bit much. I just thought it was sleek and stylish like you.” I let out a yelp when I was pushed back to the bed.

And flinched when I saw Darby was pissed.

“Why was that wolf from the Underground helping you buy a watch for me?”

I blinked up at him as I tried to get my mouth to work. “Taeral was there.”

His nostrils were still flared, but he let out a slow breath. “Tell me.”

I realized he hadn’t pushed me but moved his arm to the other side of me, and his body had backed me down. It was rather smooth and something I’d need to remember for fun times.

Then I focused on the topic with a sigh. “He just can find me. Taeral said it’s not possible unless someone’s a fairy but—”

“The fairies still underestimate everyone,” he grumbled. “Why weren’t you cloaking?”

I shrugged. “The commanders and my security are being better. It seems like a good compromise not to cloak from them. I know they keep tabs on me. If they want to discretely follow, fine. They did good. I didn’t know Luke would show up at Saks in New York the whole five minutes I’d been gone.”

He leaned down and kissed my nose. “Maybe explain before you just announce the super attractive wolf shifter everyone’s talking about you cheating on me with told you which watch to buy me.”

My eyes practically bugged out of my head. “Who says that?”

“A lot of idiots. I know you wouldn’t, but… He’s a sensitive topic for me.”

“I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat and searched his eyes. “I told you how I went to find him to—”

“You did. And I’m glad you got the answers you needed. I would prefer to limit the interaction, especially alone. You’re good about that and I trust you. I don’t trust him.” He searched my eyes this time. “I’m shocked you do.”

I sighed and scrubbed my hair. “I don’t know I do. I see myself in him.” I shook my head when he tried to argue. “If I wasn’t a fairy and hadn’t found a clear mission… I could have been him if I’d been dumped into this world. The councils are so bad that evil can only fight evil.”

“You couldn’t have gone as far as he did. They mindlessly murder humans for initiation and more.”

“No, I couldn’t have done that,” I agreed. “But enough bad things happen to you, and any protection sounds worth doing something horrible.”

He didn’t reply. Darby hadn’t had to live that life. “I do love the watch, and I love you for worrying about me and thinking you want to spoil me. I’m overly spoiled. Always. Every time I turn around a hobgoblin is trying to feed me amazing food most can’t even get. Our home is amazing. I’m spoiled, I promise.”

I reached up and cupped his cheek. “Don’t ever let them bury me so deep in their bullshit that I stop making sure you are, okay? I would hate myself.”

He turned his face and kissed my hand. “I promise. I won’t ever let the crazy make us neglect our relationship.”

Good. Yeah, that was the perfect way to think of it.

“Let’s go to bed.”

I was back to shocked. “I was going to—”

“Don’t say it,” he sighed, lowering his mouth to mine. “Don’t just blurt that out unless you’re trying to get me to jump you.”

“I’m fine with that.” I frowned when he didn’t reply. “Is—are you upset about Luke?”

“No, no, not at all,” he promised. “You’re tired. I can feel it. Today was rough on both of us. I want us to get some needed sleep more than I want that.” He rolled to his feet and pulled me with him. I blinked and I was holding onto something super soft. “That’s Tex.”

I glanced at what he’d given me and a squeal slipped out. It was a taco Squishmallow. “Tex?”

“They name them. It’s part of the whole collecting culture or something,” he explained with a shrug.

I didn’t know that. I’d have to look up the names of my other ones. Oh boy, I was really too into this. I gave myself a pass because the little girl inside of me that had never gotten toys needed this.

That was my story and I was sticking to it.

We went to bed, and I slept soundly hugging my new taco plushie with Darby hugging me. I loved that he simply accepted I needed this slightly childish fun and let me be me.

I wished others in my life could do the same. Even a little bit.

Apparently, that was too much for me to ask.

That wasn’t a depressing thought or anything.

I went for a hard run the next morning. Darby and Izzy were waiting for me outside of the cafeteria which was never a good sign. It took me about two seconds to figure out it was about Neldor trying to give me flowers. Julian too, but people had expected that. Everyone was thrown by the Dark Prince trying to woo me.

Yeah, they could get in line, but I knew the truth and it was bullshit.

And it was some sort of fucked up competition. They came together again and stared each other down as they made flowers appear with magic.

“Do I even need to be here for whatever dick size comparing you two have going on here?” I drawled. I didn’t wait for a response or reaction, opening a portal under both of them to the ocean. I thanked Izzy when she reached over and shoved the flowers off the table into the portal as well.

If the situation didn’t involve me, I would have found it amusing that Julian came right back sopping wet again.

And Neldor took another minute but was completely dry and put together. So he’d opened a portal to somewhere else, dried off, and then came back to the cafeteria. Smooth. Seriously.

I’d have to remember that. Revenge was a bitch and so was Neldor, so I had a feeling he’d pull the same trick on me.

My first class was training at my facility in Colorado. I learned the sign-up list was limited to the first thirty that enrolled and with a list of extra conditions. Good. Agis was in charge of it, and I didn’t have to be the bad guy.

“We had to add the rule that people couldn’t ditch their classes to join us,” Kerym muttered to me as the portal was opened. “I couldn’t believe that.”

I snorted, shooting him a glance that he was naïve. Of course, people would take any opportunity to get near someone powerful or watch to try and find their weaknesses. I wasn’t sure what I was going to reply because I was distracted by who else joined.

Julian.

“We didn’t specify students,” Kerym whispered when he saw who I was staring daggers at. He was tapping his temple when I looked at him, so I flipped on my telepathy. “Commander Stefanie intentionally adjusted it when Coach Khan was running his mouth that he would show how easy our ‘advanced’ training is, but faculty weren’t allowed.”

“That man is such a delusional blowhard,” I drawled. “What excuse will he come up with now that she’s allowed it?”

“I don’t think any. Headmaster Edelman heard it all and said to apologize and admit he was wrong or follow up on his boasting. That the integrity of Artemis was on the line if faculty were going to say such things. Especially when he thought it was an amazing, generous extension of what the university offers that you’re allowing.”

“Oh geez, wave the red flag in front of the bull. I’ll look forward to him falling on his face.”

“Yes, this school had much higher standards when I last visited. From what Anya White told me, too many of the advanced level instructors left in frustration. They weren’t willing to have their hands tied for little pay and more bullshit.”

Yeah, I wouldn’t either.

Dalyor focused on me and the others worked with the guests. Agis wasn’t having it if anyone tried to interfere or approach me. The rules had been clear that the people we accepted weren’t allowed to impede my training.

Except Julian. He wasn’t comfortable getting in the way of my mate, shooting me several apologetic looks as Julian kept trying to find any way to be near me.

And I would be the asshole everyone talked about if I banned him. Dalyor was getting pissed too so after about ten minutes, he gestured to his ears like he was putting something in them. Perfect. I could use the rune for magical earplugs.

Done.

Julian seemed to realize it, and there was a cloud of frustration over his head. Yeah, well, no one was asking him to do this shit. It took everything I had not to snark about him not actually teaching in the class period since it was his job.

But teachers got breaks. I knew that. White had one, and that was how she could teach my class later.

I could make it work. It was probably good practice to work on ignoring annoyances. Right?

Yeah, sure, I would look at it like that.

All the fairies seemed exceedingly amused when we were wrapping up, so I turned on my telepathy. It was hard not to bust out laughing when I heard why. So many of the bruhs that had shown up to put fairies in their places realized within two minutes they were out of their league. Only a few had actually shown up for help training.

The others came to try and show us up.

Idiots.

And I didn’t think that because I believed fairies were the best. I didn’t. Luke was proof of that. I thought fairies who thought the same were idiots too.

It was the ego. People constantly bitched that I thought myself better than others and I was always preaching I was great. They didn’t pay attention. I preached about the standards I held myself to. I also admitted when I fell short.

I never said I had all of the answers or I was the best. I didn’t. And I wasn’t.

Maybe the people who were so quick to judge should realize they weren’t any better either and take a good look in the mirror. Eminem got it right that people who couldn’t do better should shut the fuck up.

Seriously.

But I could admit I was someone who preached and maybe too often. It burned in me to say because I saw so many not have the fight left to say what they needed to say. Someone had fought before me, and it was my duty to pick up that torch because I could.

And I needed to about two minutes after walking into Leadership Development I.

It was a smaller lecture hall that no more than a hundred could fit in. That made sense since the class wasn’t required and it was only offered every couple of years. It was more a badge of honor to take and accept the role you would have later in life.

And I was the only female in it.

Not one other woman.

I glanced around as the bell rang and couldn’t even hide my disgust.

Something Professor Collins noted when he was about to start. He simply raised an eyebrow at me.

I couldn’t hold it in, gesturing around me. “Please make a mental note of this moment for the next time someone bitches I’m too sensitive as a woman and look for reasons to be offended. I honestly would like to hold up a picture of this class next time someone tells me that our world really isn’t as sexist as I say it is. Seriously.”

There was a snort from my right, and I glanced over to see it was Lucca. He shrugged when people turned to him. “I mean, she’s right. It’s kind of ridiculous that she’s the only female and already the leader of a whole species. It seems a bit redundant for her.”

“Not just her, but she is not the only one judging the sexism,” Neldor drawled from the other side of the lecture hall. “Though I’m also a bit disappointed in the females of the other species for not demanding better or fighting for what they deserve.”

I felt every pair of eyes on me as they waited for my reaction. “I don’t disagree, but given a few councils forcibly mated off women strong enough to fight who spoke up, I would have kept my mouth shut too if I couldn’t bury them all.”

“Touché,” he agreed.

“And on that note, let’s pass out the syllabuses and outline what’s expected of you all this semester,” Professor Collins cut in.

I glanced over to Lucca and saw Hudson and Juan sitting with him. My heart ached. I had been one of the first into the classroom and hadn’t seen them.

So why didn’t he sit by me?

I had a feeling it had to do with the asshole who looked like airbrushed perfection always and had been trying to give me flowers the past couple of mornings.

Well, this is going to be a fucking awesome class.

I swallowed a sigh when I heard thunder off in the distance. Good to know I still didn’t have that under control.

Though even I had to admit it was better. I was too tired from training most times to have that kind of energy.

Ten minutes into class, several hobgoblins entered with an apology. Neldor and I immediately jumped to our feet, worried something had happened, but their skin color was normal.

“Everything is fine, Princess Tamsin, Prince Neldor,” the first said with an apologetic look. “We were late because there was a problem with a fuse box at the bakery.”

“But everyone’s okay?” I checked.

“Yes, we’re fine, Your Highness,” he promised. He dipped his head to Professor Collins. “As an apology for interrupting your class, we’ll bring treats Thursday for the whole class, even any that are blacklisted.”

“Add an extra treat for my mate and I saw nothing,” Collins replied with a head dip. I couldn’t even hate the man for always wanting more when it was for his mate. It was honestly endearing.

I hurried to grab what they’d brought and thanked them before quickly returning to my seat. I winced after a few bites when I saw I had more attention of the shifters around me than Collins did. “I apologize. I’ll talk to them about not giving me aromatic breakfast when I’m not the only one always ready to eat.”

Collins’s lips twitched. “That might be best.”

Yeah, even I couldn’t deny it was pretty bad that the whole lecture hall probably smelled like breakfast sandwiches and bacon. I shared several of them after cutting them into quarters so the ones nearest to me seemed a bit happy after that.

Live and learn and adjust.

In a surprising turn of events in my next class, Dean White declared Neldor needed work on his mental shielding. He was used to using runes to protect himself, and no one could with the rune I put on him, but we all knew runes could give out. There were ways to strip someone of their runes and more, so it was important for him to have the right foundation.

Which meant I got a break for the class. There was no point in teaching me and then having to teach him again once he caught up. I shrugged and teleported my yoga mat to me. People were using my training facility, and we didn’t want to draw attention to what was going on with Neldor. I texted Dalyor and he showed up to quietly work with me.

Mostly to add weight runes to me and walk me through the reps he wanted from me.

Oh well. At least it was getting something off my docket for the day.

Plus, it was always nice to hear when Neldor was behind since I was constantly reminded how much better his education and… Everything was compared to me.

It put me in a good mood when it was time to head for lunch.

So of course, someone had to ruin it.

Like always.

21

“Everyone says fairies are sluts and always want it,” a male voice said from the other side of the buffet line behind the end cap.

I couldn’t see him and he didn’t sound familiar, but his voice was too quiet for me to know for sure.

“Yeah, I mean, look at Vale,” another guy added before chuckling. “They’re into it. Look at them pretending like they don’t hear us. They do.”

“You guys just itch for attention,” the first said. “We’ll play with you all you want.”

It took me a bit to put together what was going on because I had started to dismiss it as bullshit talk about me. Unfortunately, that happened all of the time.

When it clicked, I set down my tray and was around the end cap in a flash. I watched in horror as a large man was reaching to grab the ass of one of the female fairy workers. Without a thought in my head, I slid between them and grabbed his wrist, before spinning and launching him away from them. He went flying away from the food area and landed on the first tables.

“How long has this been going on?” I demanded of the fairies. I swallowed down my upset when they both flinched away and knelt. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I didn’t mean to be harsh.”

“It’s only been some talk and nonsense, Your Highness,” the one said. “Stupid jealous people.”

“Nothing more until now,” the second agreed.

I ignored when my security appeared and knelt with the women. I made them each raise their heads and gave them the best smile I could. “If anything happens, tell us immediately.” I shook my head when they argued. “My job is to protect the people of Faerie. I always will. I can’t if people don’t tell me. I’m sorry I put you in this situation.”

“None of this is on you, Your Highness,” the first argued.

But it was. I hadn’t shut down the shit about me and this rampant gossip, and now people thought it was about all fairies.

And they were easy targets to mistreat.

No way. No fucking way.

I glanced between the two female fairies. “Promise me. Promise me that you both will tell me if anyone treats you this way again. I need people to tell me things or I will never know the truth.”

“I promise, Your Highness,” they said together.

“Thank you.” I touched both of their heads before turning to my detail. “Find someone who can cover for them today. They need time to rest after trash tried to sexually assault them.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the closest Guardian accepted.

“Vale, you have lost your mind and—” the guy I’d thrown bellowed at me, already back on his feet.

I held out my hand and seared the two-year celibacy rune on him. I waited until he finished screaming and moved closer. “That is for attempted sexual assault against one of my people.”

“He didn’t even touch her,” his friend snapped.

“That’s why I said attempted,” I drawled. “I witnessed him trying to grab the ass of a fairy, an employee of the school.”

“Then it’s for the school to handle,” the asshole argued. “I don’t care about your power—you are not boss of us all. You cannot be left unchecked as judge, jury, and executioner.”

“I am all of that when it comes to Faerie and her people!” I bellowed. “I am the justice for those who wrong my people!” I grew vines with thorns and tied him up in front of me. “Do not ever forget it or test my dedication to mine again. You want to run your mouth about me, fine, you’re trash. But you tried to touch one of my people.

“Be glad I stopped you. If you had actually done it, I would have cut off your manhood and permanently seared the wound so you couldn’t heal it. And no one can heal over my magic.” I glanced around at the stunned cafeteria. “Spread the word. I will give no mercy for any who touch fairies. We are not easy. We are not toys or playthings for you fools.”

“I think you’re being kind by only giving him a temporary celibacy rune,” Neldor said as he moved up next to me. “You are more benevolent than I am, Your Highness. If it were me, I would have crippled his animal and made him impotent for life.” He snorted when people gasped. “We have flaws as fairies, but we never allow such treatment of our women. Why do you?”

“We have been patient on a lot and allowed many of you to have stepped over lines you shouldn’t. Do not step over this line again. Quote me on it.”

“Praise be the heir of Faerie,” my guards and the other fairy workers said as they bowed.

“She’s not even a real fairy,” the asshole bitched while gasping in pain.

I pulled off my shirt so I was in my sports bra and let my wings out. “Yeah, no, I’m totally a fake fairy, dipshit.” I moved closer so I was in his face. “I’m the granddaughter of a god. Do you want me to start acting in that capacity? The gods made all the laws and rules you live by, right? Should my father, the son of a god, start handling that role?”

I chuckled darkly when people went pale and cloaked my wings again. Then I went back to lunch.

Just another day filled with fun.

Right, sure.

I received another surprise in my next class, but this was a welcome one. I smiled brightly when Lageos was standing next to Professor Sontar and hurried over to him. “Dad!”

“There’s my joy,” he chuckled, hugging me tightly and half swinging me around. “I heard what you did with that beast. Well done.”

“Thanks.” I swallowed a flinch when I saw the weariness in his eyes and tried to ignore it. He’d tell me what was going on with him when he was ready.

But it didn’t take three guesses. It was normally me, my mother, or the future. A lot of times it was a combination of all three. I couldn’t blame him for that, but I was the daughter, not the parent.

I was pretty sure that was how it was supposed to work in families.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“After speaking with several of my colleagues and a few of the commanders, we realized there could be several problems with you taking such a class so late in your development,” Professor Sontar explained, sighing when people around us flinched. “For a fairy. We start much younger with crystals as we do portals.”

I nodded I understood but then sighed. “Dad, you have more important things to do than be my training wheels or try to control my crazy.”

“I don’t because nothing is more important than you,” he promised as he tucked some stray hair that fell from my ponytail behind my ear.

“Oh great, Vale’s here to make us all feel incompetent and useless,” a woman bitched from behind us. “That’s just what I needed two days a week.”

“Jealous idiots cannot understand how difficult it is to control great power and the work you put into your magic that most don’t,” Lageos said just as loudly. “Let’s find seats so we don’t interrupt the professor.”

I nodded and let him pick a table in the back off to the side, but I also didn’t disagree with that woman.

Which was why I turned around and went right to her table to the shock of everyone here.

“I never brag. I never gloat. I never demean anyone for their abilities,” I said as evenly as I could. “Only their dedication and if they do the work. I do it. It’s been all I’ve done for three years now. And what have you done? You belittle me. I don’t know your name because you’ve never bothered to introduce yourself to the unknown because I wasn’t worth it.

“But I recognize you. You have ridiculed me for not being worthy to be here. That I was trash. That I was a joke to be behind. You laughed when my potions blew up not knowing what it meant either. I’m an embarrassment to fairies and need handicaps for classes.”

I leaned on the table until we were almost nose to nose.

“If I’m an embarrassment and I make you feel bad about yourself, what does that make you?” I ignored the snickers and people trying to cover their reactions. “The most powerful magic user in our world is a woman and you constantly tear her down. The problem here isn’t me, but you. The moment you accept your faults, you can make improvements. I do.”

I walked away, mostly annoyed with myself for bothering to say the same thing I had been for so long that no one would listen to. I’d be lecturing and full of myself again. I’d be the loudmouth who preached I was perfect and all the drivel I constantly heard.

But then a miracle happened.

“I agree, and some of us are tired of people running their mouths like they speak for all of us,” a different witch I didn’t really recognize said. She stood and dipped her head to me. “It’s time for more of us to speak up instead of the ones trying to score points for trying to tear you down. I’m sorry I haven’t sooner, but I was worried for the backlash.

“But you are the reason I no longer have a disgusting, illegal council, and I thank you for that. Truly. Also, the book you helped me find freshman year. Plus, for respecting me during the Power Playoffs. The seminar I got a chance to take and learn about fae produce. You’ve done a lot for many of us but most of all, thank you for pushing me to be better. I never thought I could be more.”

I was too shocked to say anything, dipping my head back to her. It was the win for the day I needed and I would take it. Wow.

Lageos put some sort of spell circle around us to contain my magic since I had no control when it came to crystals. It was just the syllabus and intro to the class, but I felt better that I didn’t have to worry about my power accidentally starting problems.

More than usual.

“Ms. Vale, if you could stay a moment,” Professor Nelson said as class ended.

I nodded, packing up but holding back. I sighed when he shot a nervous look to Lageos and Professor Sontar. I asked them to give us a moment with a mumble and thankfully they did.

“Is there any chance you can ever forgive him?” he asked quietly.

I flinched, shocked and appalled he would use his position as my teacher to talk to me for Julian. Then I remembered something. “I never gave you the memory back.” I used my magic to sort of feel for lingering magic of mine in a way and called it back to me. I took a few tries, but then Professor Nelson gasped as if reseeing the truth.

“You were…” He rubbed his head.

“Yes. You saw how happy I was with him. How I loved him.” I waited until he nodded. “You’ve seen the pain and suffering I’ve been going through. What he’s put me through. I know he’s your friend, but I thought you had a soul where you wouldn’t ever have the balls to try and involve yourself when someone is that broken. I guess not.”

“Wait, I’m—”

I ignored him and left.

But he wasn’t the only one to push. It was constant and made me feel like I was losing my mind. Not just about Julian, but Neldor as well. People were taking bets as to how long it would be before I caved. They both pretended to care but if I knew about that, they had to as well.

And yet, every morning for the next couple of weeks, they left me flowers at whatever meal they could. Normally lunch. I didn’t have dinner in the cafeteria anymore, and I managed to take first and second breakfast to go with Irma’s help. Honestly, it wasn’t even about Julian and Neldor but the pain I felt over Hudson avoiding me.

But I had to show my face, so it was normally lunch. Things weren’t going well. They weren’t going badly, but nothing was changing. Small things. Nothing worth the constant things that went wrong or the steps backwards that slowed things down. It was maddening.

I’d done just about everything I could think of, but it was as if I was trapped in some horrible time loop of doing everything I could without different results. I knew that wasn’t true, lots of changes and good things had happened, but it felt that way, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

I was ready to explode.

And I did. Gymnastics was fine, but I’d gotten an upsetting report during it and another on the way to lunch and I just hit my limit.

Julian and Neldor approached me the moment I sat at my table with my tray and I snapped.

“Enough with the fucking flowers!” I roared when they both moved to use magic. “Here, have flowers!” I meant to think the rune for tulips and dump them on their heads.

Except I didn’t. I was too upset and overwhelmed. Different flower runes raced through my mind and my magic pushed into all of them.

Flowers exploded throughout the entire cafeteria in front of me. I buried the entire cafeteria in flowers all the way to the ceiling.

And all the people in it.

Panic raced through me as I jumped to my feet and blasted the doors off the main entrance and side exit. I pushed all I had into wind runes to send the flowers outside. The moment I got enough out to see the windows, I broke them out and floored the wind runes to get the rest out. It wasn’t even a minute, so no one could possibly have suffocated in that short time.

But the damage was done. People backed away from me and I couldn’t blame them.

I glanced around and found Edelman’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for all the damages.”

“Accidents happen, Your Highness,” he whispered, looking as shaken as everyone else.

Yes, they did but to some of us more than others.

I headed for the door, pausing near where Julian and Neldor were. “Are you satisfied now? You pushed me to break.” I couldn’t hold back tears as I lifted my head and stared at them. “And I hate you both because of it.”

Then I left. I ditched Magical Art and Singing and even training that night. I felt bad but I was too unstable.

Everything was.

I was inconsolable, and I wouldn’t even let people come near me to try. I sat on top of a high mountain with the wind whipping around me while listening to music in my earbuds. I cried and cried, scared for what I could do, scared what I would still become, and scared things would never change.

Every time I thought I was at my breaking point, there was another way for things to get worse. It was like finding stable flooring just to have it pulled out from under me. I couldn’t keep living like that.

And I couldn’t keep running. I’d done the right thing with the elders, ancients, and other nobles. It was time to lay down the line with everyone else.

I didn’t think I’d survive otherwise.

I called a meeting for Saturday morning that every fairy and fair folk was required to attend. I ordered the commanders to knock out every prisoner we had, and Lageos could tap into the barrier over Ankthus to do the same. No more passing messages along or seeing videos. I wanted everyone there live to be a part of this.

Everyone gathered in a massive clearing that was probably bigger than several stadiums. If there wasn’t magic involved to keep people safe, it would have been a disaster of people standing shoulder to shoulder. But there was magic and portals and wings and more, so for a little bit people could make it work.

I hadn’t spoken to anyone before the meeting, and the overwhelming tension coming from the commanders practically choked me. Half of them were completely sure I was going to announce I was denying my claim to the throne and abandoning Faerie. They knew I’d been pushed too far.

And all of them were full of regret. Another time that might have comforted me.

Today, it simply hurt my soul more. It should never have gotten this far.

Never.

And I was partly to blame as well. I was so worried about getting people to like me and on board with the plans I had, wanting to win them over with logic, that I stopped being me. I wasn’t harsh when I should have been and drawn lines.

At least, that was the only thing I could have done differently in my eyes.

I teleported to the middle of the huge gathering into the small ten-foot circle reserved for me. I used an earth rune to raise myself up several feet. I didn’t want to act like I was looking down on people, but they needed to see me. After a moment, I simply plopped down on my butt and sat crossed-legged.

I checked everyone could see and hear me before simply staring out at the vast crowd of “my” people.

“We cannot go on as we have and survive,” I said bluntly, my tone even. “We can’t. And I can’t keep leading this train wreck of anarchy and crazy. I’ve heard all the excuses and logic about it coming from a place of fear and more, but it’s too much. I’ve been scared and never behaved as many are. And I’m tired of having these chats.

“It seems to do nothing. I thought people truly understood after I broke down saying I wouldn’t sacrifice myself for Faerie. I thought we had a chance to finally make some real progress, that things could change. But they won’t. They won’t change unless I’m a bitch and give orders I don’t want to. And that breaks me inside. It truly does.”

I sniffled loudly and it echoed. I ignored that and hurried to wipe my tears.

“When the reports reached my ears that reworking the farms of Hennaba hadn’t been done nor being planted because there were protests about a lie, a piece of my soul died. I’ve done everything to get us to this point. I’ve bled to…” I shook my head. “I’ve said this all before and no listens.” I glanced around. “Listen to me now. Darby does not feed from me. It’s all a lie.”

There were whispers and people exchanging looks.

“We had an accident when I didn’t know better. I didn’t know about fairies and our blood to vampires. Darby didn’t know I was a fairy. I lied to the man I loved about my species to protect all of you who were frozen and helpless, and we had an accident because of it. We are both traumatized over that accident still. And it was because of all of you.

“But fairies are so busy making up lies about me that things aren’t getting done as they should. I cannot keep repeating myself like this anymore.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to say next, but I caught Dalyor’s gaze towards the front, comforted when he nodded at me. “I’m not going to lie to you. I haven’t lied to you.

“I want to walk away. Everything in me is screaming to wash my hands of this madness and pain, but I can’t. I can’t leave the hobgoblins to go back to the lives they had and hurt. I can’t give up on the Guardians who have been killing themselves right beside me to fix Faerie. Why can’t you give me the same chance I’m giving all of you?

“I did so much to wake you, and so many of you won’t give me a chance. Don’t I deserve that after saving you?” The tears were flowing freely now no matter how fast I wiped them away. I gestured to my trainer. “Captain Dalyor told me that the moment he stopped listening to everyone else and listened to himself, he could see the truth.

“Why can’t you do that for me after what I’ve done for you? Why are you…” I stopped when my voice cracked. “No more. We’re in crisis. Everything is a disaster and people are blocking the chance to fix that by protesting a lie instead of helping? No, no more.”

I wiped up my face as best as I could and glanced around again.

“Every person here, fairy and hobgoblin, will give a vow that this behavior ends. For saving you, you will give me one year of faith. No more bullshit. I saved you from eternity frozen in darkness, one year isn’t too much to ask. One year to really help and open your eyes to save Faerie. After how so many you have misbehaved, I’m demanding that from everyone.”

“Or what?” someone asked after several minutes of letting that sink in.

I glanced around but couldn’t find the person, simply staring into the crowd. “Or get the fuck out of Faerie.” I ignored the gasps and startled cries and stared the people down. “Ten years of banishment. If you break the vow or won’t give it, you’re banished for ten years to go live in the world none of you know and will eat you alive.”

“That’s rather harsh, Your Highness,” Stefanie whispered, swallowing loudly.

“I could have killed people,” I rasped as I met her gaze. “I could have killed everyone in that cafeteria.”

“No, it wasn’t—the fairies there helped, Your Highness. It wasn’t as bad as you—”

“Because I thought of flowers, Stefanie. What if I had thought to break their arms so they didn’t give me flowers again? I could have broken every bone of every person there, and it would have killed some of them. I’m so close to becoming a monster because people just constantly kick me. Darby would never hurt me.

“I was so devastated to learn this was the new bullshit going on, people trying to derail good things, that I broke. And I could have killed people. I will not kill any people to help ‘my’ people who can’t even trust me for a year. I won’t. Then leave. I can’t run because people think Faerie will die, then fine, I’m the boss here. They have to go.”

“What happens after the year, Your Highness?” Iolas asked.

My heart hurt when I saw he was crying as well. I looked away, knowing he was probably so disappointed in me, and I couldn’t take that right then.

“Every law-abiding fairy and hobgoblin who kept their vow will participate in a vote of confidence,” I answered. “You can’t vote me out. That’s not a monarchy, but I will allow a vote on the plan, the path we’re on. Neldor and I agree it’s the best plan for Faerie. We agree. Not everyone will, and we can make changes later. I’ve said that lots.

“But if people give me a year, I will give them a chance like no royal has before. Two-thirds of the people have to agree the changes are good, that we’re on the right path, or we change course. Honest voting. Not for power. Not for bullshit, but open their eyes and listen to themselves and ask if what we’re doing is best for Faerie.”

“The same thing you’re planning on having done for every leader of territories,” a woman said loudly.

I glanced over and caught Mallory’s gaze. “Yes. Like we’ve talked about for the nobles. Every four or five years voting if they’re still best for that area. However, people want to handle it for their homes.” I stood and looked around. “It’s a fair deal. Anyone cheats, they get banished because they’re not working for the future of Faerie.”

Everyone was dead silent, and I made the mistake of turning on my telepathy. I didn’t have high hopes the plan would work unless I did something I swore I wouldn’t, something that might kill the rest of my hope in life. But that was what a lot of people needed to have faith in me after listening to too many lies.

Funny how I had to sacrifice myself again because of their mistakes.

“You have two weeks to decide,” I told them. “The commanders can figure out how to take and record vows so we get everyone.”

“What will you do if none of us agree?” a hostile voice called out. “You can’t banish us all.”

I wiped the dirt off my pants. “I can actually and I will. I’m the only person alive who can activate and deactivate the portals to Faerie. I will give you this last chance but if you don’t take it, I can be free of this with a free conscious.”

And with that bomb, I left, praying to anyone listening that this time they heard me and it worked. I would give most of them what they needed to have faith in me, but it had to work then.

Please, it had to.

22

“I’m shocked you reached out asking to speak with me,” Julian whispered. He was shown into my house about five minutes ago, but I couldn’t even look at him. I simply stared out the window. “What’s happened?”

“You are all they see,” I answered. “No matter what I do, you have painted yourself the victim of what happened and I’m the villainess. No one can see anything else no matter what I do. And I hate you for that.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Bullshit,” I chuckled darkly. “You knew it would put pressure on me and derail what I was trying to do, but you don’t care. You’re selfish. Or you’re a fucking idiot, but I don’t believe that for a second.”

“I didn’t know it would blow up as it has. I just wanted you back.”

“Selfish,” I repeated.

“I know.”

But that wouldn’t make him change what he was doing.

Asshole.

He cleared his throat and tried again when I couldn’t seem to speak. “What happened that we’re speaking?”

“I made a deal with the people of Faerie and it’s fair. There’s simply one holdup.” I wiped under my eyes and tried to fight tears. “You. They can’t get over what I did to you. No matter the lies or bullshit that’ve been fed against me, the truth is I didn’t forgive you after the black magic. They weren’t here for what happened for the first breakup.

“And to most of them it was framed as something stupid, us being kids and a hiccup. They don’t listen to me enough to argue that, and I’m not going to air our dirty laundry any more than we already have to rehash a past they think they’re entitled to.”

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“To them, you are proof that I will abandon them. I abandoned you, my mate, and I will them. I wasn’t fair to you, and they have no faith I will be fair to them.” I snorted. “Part of it is what happened with Mel too. They know she apologized for hurting me and I didn’t accept that and move on.

“Forget the fact we can’t ever go back to me being her sidekick, I’m disloyal to them. I honestly can’t fix that besides… Hanging out with her more? I mean, things just won’t ever be the same. But she’s more extra proof. You are the main problem and their whole belief system of why they cannot believe in me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sure you are, Doc,” I snickered. “It gets you what you want, so I don’t believe for a second you’re sorry.”

“What I want?” he hedged.

I finally turned and looked into his pretty green eyes. “You hurt me so much I wish you’d never found me that night. And I hate myself for that because of what it would have meant for my people. It eats at me like a cancer. It’s my guilt for feeling that way that will make me give them what they want. What you want.”

His eyes flashed shock as he tried to get his mouth to work.

Then I stabbed myself in my soul and said the words. “We can get back together.”

He stood and moved towards me in a flash but froze at whatever expression came on my face or he saw in my eyes.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me,” I bit out. “I said we can get back together, not that you could ever touch me again.”

He frowned. “But that’s not what I want then.”

“Well, this isn’t what I want either, so life just sucks for both of us, doesn’t it?” I stood and stared him down. “If you don’t like it, there is the door. Leave.”

Anger filled his eyes as his face flushed all the way up to his ears. He was so pissed that the temperature of the room probably went up a few degrees.

“Do it,” I pushed when he seemed on the fence. “I won’t ever let you have me again. It will be in name only. You wanted to declare you won, fine, you won.”

“No.”

I snorted. “Why? You’re just going to overcompensate like a jackass and hurt us both again. Then you’re going to listen to anyone else or have a crisis of bullshit to push me away. Or get distracted and drift. All I have to do is wait it out and you’ll abandon me again. So just do it now.”

He ground his teeth. “You want me to dump you so you’re the victim and—”

“I am the fucking victim here, not you! I have always been the victim of your mistreatment and emotional—I won’t be yours again. So end it.”

“No. I can fix this if you let me near you. I won’t give up this time. I won’t ruin this. We can be happy. I won’t break up with you no matter what you say.”

I slapped him with all I had before I even realized it. “You’re so fucking selfish it disgusts me. You say you love me, but all you care about is what you want. You never think of what is best for me.”

He took in a slow breath and let it out. “I do, but I need you. I cannot let you go when I love you. I know I can make you happy.”

“You can’t. I hate you probably more than I love you, ever loved you. But good luck trying, Doc.” I shrugged like it was no big deal even if I was dying inside. “Whatever, I just have to wait you out again. It won’t take long.” I headed for the door.

“I won’t give up. I will fix this.”

I froze and glanced at him over my shoulder. “We were in this very library when you swore that to me last time. How did that turn out? I was way more in love with you then, Doc. Now I regret ever meeting you. There’s no way to fix that.”

There really wasn’t. My guilt over it all made me go through the motions to save Faerie, but that was all I could give.

I just have to wait him out.

The End

THANK YOU for reading this book!!

Thank you so much for continuing on Tamsin’s ride with me. I woves all of you lots for your support and wanting more of my books. Please, please leave a review. It really helps me out to know which series people are eager for. I appreciate the time it takes!

The next release will be Artemis #16. I’m working on the release after that but I’m not sure what will come out July/August so stay tuned.

Hope everyone else is having better luck with their allergies, but hello warmer weather!

All my best,

Erin

And Vader.

Find A New Series To Love…

Accidentally Wolf: Seraphine Thomas 1

Gives New Meaning To Workplace Injury

Special Agent in Charge, Seraphine Thomas, lives for her job at the FBI. One of the youngest female agents with her own team, she thrives in undercover work to make the city she loves safer. But Sera’s on-track life is thrown into chaos when she’s attacked during a bust gone bad and is left figuring out what it means to be a werewolf.

Right away, she learns that she’s more powerful and able to do things that she shouldn’t be able to do so quickly after her transition. The rules of her old life don’t seem to apply to much now that she’s a shifter, and knowing who she can trust is even more complicated.

When she’s transferred to a special branch of the FBI made up of paranormals policing others of their kind and given a promotion, things start looking up—until her abnormal level of power creates a list of enemies for her before she’s even learned who her allies are.

Upended Life: Artemis University 1

My name is Tamsin Vale and my life is about to get real… Really complicated and ridiculously dangerous. Which is almost funny given at nineteen I already know too much of the darkness of the world and people, the secrets they keep.

Or so I thought.

Turns out those quirky abilities I’ve been keeping secret expose me to a world I didn’t know existed. Sure, I knew I wasn’t human—but how exactly do I find out more without ending up in the wrong hands?

And I’m not so sure I’m in the right hands now given some of the reactions to finding me. They say I’m the last fairy. I’m not sure I should trust them when their thoughts are mostly of power and how to use me.

But I’m also not sure I have much of a choice. My powers are dangerous and I don’t know how to use them. They promise to teach me what I need to know and give me a chance at something I’ve never had before.

A normal life. I don’t think anything about Artemis University and those who attend is normal, but it’s still better than the life I’ve been living if they keep half their promises.

I think hoping they’ll keep half is generous.

Artemis University is a hot burning reverse harem, university-age paranormal academy series with darker elements, strong language, violence, and a heroine who follows her own moral compass of what is right… And who she ends up giving her heart to.

No Longer Home: House of Garner 1

My name is Inez Garner, and my story has sort of been told… But not. I’m turning twenty-three and find out I’m not human; I’m apparently a vampire. Sure, who hasn’t read that story? Oh, but I’m a princess. And there’s a zombie apocalypse—although I’m debating where the line is of apocalypse vs. post-apocalypse. There’s also a quest that I’m compelled to be on, and it might all be coming from the Goddess.

Awesome. It seems She has big plans for me. And I have to deal with ghosts. When I kill corrupted—the nice PC name people call zombies, as it’s not their fault they eat people—I then have to deal with their ghosts. Which is super when being hunted for years by some guys I don’t want to know better.

Add to everything, I have to apologize to heroines for judging them when they fall in bed with the hot guy and buy the story he gives. I get it now. Sex is splendid. I’m not one to believe a con, but he’s got answers I need, like why I have no memories before I was eighteen.

Plus, the fangs sort of sold it for me. I hope he forgives me for shooting him.

House of Garner is an apocalyptic hot burning WhyChoose romance with darker elements, strong language, violence, and a heroine that doesn’t let anyone get in her way.

Undisclosed Assets: Untraceable Succubus 1

A succubus working as a stripper sounds like a cliché or start of a bad joke, but Lola Chase is in a human only province in Canada for other reasons. Someone is murdering women society looks down on, and she’s there to stop it. As a demon, she’s bottom of the supernatural food chain and knows how often people ignore crimes against them.

From the start there isn’t much to go on, and she ends up getting in a bit of trouble following any leads she gets. Things get complicated when an ancient, big name vampire takes interest in her and getting away from him proves to be much harder than her normal admirers.

Thankfully, although her cover is a stripper, Lola loves to dance and the fun she has helps balance out the stress and worry of the case.

Plus, she finds some very hot men to play with and feed from. The question is whether or not she can balance it all and find a murderer before he kills again.

Untraceable Succubus is a murder mystery series where the sex is hot and often and the main character kicks some serious ass on the road to finding out if she can have real love in her life even if it comes from multiple men.

Demon of Death: Enchantress 1

Soraya Devil is the Enchantress, one of the most powerful magics in the world… But she’s so much more than that, and everyone’s constantly attempting to unravel her past and secrets. She’s not worried though, as many have tried and never find out the truth.

It’s safer for everyone that way.

The owner of Paranormal Investigations—among other companies—she has her own answers to find. Though she’s continuously pulled in too many directions, she always answers the calls that make even her magic tingle in warning at the danger.

When a sprite begins killing people in Chicago, she has to team up with SPU—Supernatural Police Unit—to figure out who summoned the demon and why before more die. While that’s enough of a challenge, the main hurdle is the team lead on the case who loathes all magics. But when he can’t seem to get past his hate and do his job, can Soraya make an ally from an enemy, or will the evil unleashed in the city she loves win the day?

Rough Beginnings: Karma Bakery 1

Starting a New Business Takes Magic

Imagine there weren’t three main gods of Olympus, but four. A sister who went through something so horrible, so traumatic she left and was written out of history.

Arabella Baker and her two adopted daughters are moving to Boston to open a new business and start over. Things will be different this time with the new names and new life. The twins will live on their own at college—though still right in Boston—and experience something a bit more normal. The store she bought has a hefty price, but the location is fantastic, and she got the best spot in the new development… Which apparently comes with an immensely attractive man who owns it all.

Nothing goes smoothly in opening a new business though, sample days, crazy busy, and fluff interviews taking dark turns. Honestly, it leaves Arabella asking one main question—why did she think opening in such a large city and right before the holidays was such a great idea?

Meave: Naughty Witches 1

Leaving NYC and a troubling past, Meave Washington is starting over. She has a good plan, but she’s probably bit off more than she can chew. So she embraces the chance of fate that lands help at her feet—and if he’s smoking hot, all the better.

Distracted by a text while driving, Ashton Perry injures Meave. He’s horrified that he could have killed someone, and steps up to make it right… And not just because she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

Sparks immediately start flying and the desire is undeniable but it’s not that simple to take the leap. But Ashton’s barely a man, and Meave is hiding something important. When the woman is older, age isn’t just a number and Meave isn’t sure Ashton can be who she needs.

Ashton steps up to prove he’s not just a man, but the man his bewitching lady deserves. He doesn’t care what she is—only who she is. And he’ll do whatever it takes to prove it.

Naughty Witches is a burning paranormal romance novella series with strong female leads, fun so sexy it raises the temperature, and mismatched people who find HEAs that give us all hope fate won’t forget us. Each book is a new pairing in the same world, with an overall series arc.

The Turning: Dr. Kelly Murphy 1

One Bite Can Change Everything

Graduate medical school, start competitive internship, don’t get cut from the program, become a surgeon. It was a great plan. One Kelly Murphy loved and had dreamed of most of her life… And it was blown to hell in a night with an uninvited bite.

Now she’s missing three days of her life, trying to handle her freaked out best friend and parents who called the police when she went missing, all as she realizes she’s not the same person she was before. She’s different. Like has fangs different.

When he shows up on her doorstep claiming to know what happened to her, Kelly’s not sure that makes things any less confusing. But at least he can guide her, right? Either way, she has a plan and a choice she didn’t make won’t stop her… Even if she might have the urge to bite her patients from now on.

Owned: Secure Settings 1

Kate Boyle has lived through more loss than most people twice her age. She’s strong and independent, so letting people in to help her handle her grief or problems is next to impossible for her.

The owner of a successful company, Secure Settings, Kate devotes all her time to keeping people safe and rescuing those who can’t save themselves. When she gets the call that her grandpa died and she’s now inherited his ranch, a storm of epic proportions starts. Smart enough to know she can’t watch out for danger while grieving, she calls in a favor for help.

Jared and Dean Acker just got out of the Marines and are a little lost as to what comes next for them. So when they’re asked to back up a friend of a friend, they’re in… And meet the woman of their dreams. Now, if they could just convince her.

Wounded: In My Dreams 1

Authors Dream Of Their Happiness Too

Gas station coffee is the highlight of Lily Slone’s boring outing until fate intervenes… Along with the barrel of a gun and a lost soldier who saves her life.

Jasper Hutson—a homeless Marine, discarded by his family after returning home from the war wounded—reacted on instinct. But this one act brings him to Lily’s attention, and not because he saves her life. She sees something else in him. Something no one else sees.

Refusing to give up on him when everyone else does, Lily offers Jasper a place to stay and an opportunity to get back on his feet. That one offer will change her world. When they grow closer and Jasper makes Lily’s life so much easier, she’s not sure she can go back to living without him.

As life moves forward and they get into their own rhythm, Lily discover something about Jasper that he’s kept hidden. Will she continue to reach for her happily ever after or will they both remain wounded?

About the Author

Erin is a Midwest girl at heart, born a Chicagoan with the mouth to prove it, a loyal Cubs fan, but still a die-hard Green Bay Packers gal who cheers for her alma mater, the Illini from Augusta, Georgia, where she lives. She has always been interested in the darker aspects of life and mythologies—especially vampires, shifters, the occult, and anything paranormal.

To date, she has published over 100 paranormal books in different genres with dedicated readers who await each release to her numerous series under any of the three Flynn names she writes under.

ErinRFlynn.com

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Supernatural Script Inc.

Other Titles by Erin R Flynn

Seraphine Thomas

Accidentally Wolf

Allure of the Wolf

Siren’s Battle

Abusing the Alpha

Siren’s Kiss

Hunted Wolf

Shattered Alpha

Rebuilding the Wolf

Invading Alpha

Recovering the Siren

Provoked Wolf

Reorganized Wolf

Woman In Demand

Artemis University

Upended Life

Drowning Studies

Surviving Plagues

Weakened Mountains

Thwarting Cheaters

Compounding Traumas

Dodging Calamities

Reaching Answers

Managing Expectations

Erupting Shadows

Multiplying Storms

Unregulated Upheaval

Absorbing Inevitability

Necessary Respite

Adjusting Course

House of Garner

No Longer Alone

Team Inez

Reaching for Home

Princess Ninja Warrior

Extending Family

Team Changes

Untraceable Succubus

Undisclosed Assets

Savvy Negotiator

Master Juggler

Jumbled Positions

The Enchantress

Demon of Death

Thieves About

Striking Souls

Enacting Revenge

Culling Damnation

Monsters of Limit

Karma Bakery

Rough Beginnings

Opening Struggles

Turbulent Expansion

Weary Christmas

Juggling Concerns

Naughty Witches

Meave

Briony

Sia

Dr. Kelly Murphy

The Turning

The Transition

The Decision

Secure Settings

Owned

Claimed

In My Dreams

Wounded

Alone

Broken

A Supernatural Script Inc. Book

Copyright © 2022 Erin R Flynn

Artemis University 15: Adjusting Course

eBook ISBN:

First E-book Publication: May 2022

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.