Chapter 18

Aelia

"What is happening?" I shrieked as glass rained down on us, the tiny shards piercing my skin despite Heaton's attempt at blanketing my body with his own.

"Shadow Fae attack," he hissed.

"What? But I thought we were mostly at peace with the Court of Umbral Shadows?"

"We are. This is an unscheduled Arcanum Citadel exercise."

"What!?" I repeated, a few octaves higher this time. "Does this happen often?"

A second later, two sharp blares echoed across the blossoming chaos. I slapped my hands over my ears as the strident sound vibrated the entire atrium.

"Only a few times a year. Don't worry, they've triggered the alarms, the squads will be convening in no time."

I watched as a dark, murky shadow swooped in from the hole in the glass dome. I immediately recognized the hippogriff covered in tendrils of night from the day I'd arrived at the academy.

"Go back upstairs, Aelia, now!" Heaton shouted. "Find Rue and stay with her, you'll be safe."

"I can't just leave you here."

"The other teams will be here any second. I'll be fine." Heaton splayed his hands and flames danced across his palms.

Mother Raysa!

The fire blossomed across his skin, growing more and more brilliant until it formed a large sphere. He hurled it at the Shadow skyrider and nailed the hippogriff's long tail. The beast screeched and bucked mid-air, nearly sending his rider tumbling off.

"Aelia, go, I've got this!"

"But I can help." I bent down and unsheathed my daggers as another flying creature zipped overhead. With the body of a lion and a bird-like head, the animal released a beastly roar and banked straight for us. A gryphon?

"Get out of here, now, Aelia! As your squad leader, that's a direct order." Anger curled my fingers around the hilts of my daggers. "You're not ready for this; it's an exercise for upperclassmen only," he shouted over the turmoil.

I wanted to scream that I hadn't been ready for any of it, but I was here all the same.

A rush of footfalls echoed over the flap of mighty wings. Students spilled from the staircase, wielding a variety of weapons, and more importantly, rais. A female Light Fae reached the landing and stretched out her arms. A rainbow of light shot from her palms, twisting and turning until it surrounded the gryphon in a blinding swirl.

A male who'd appeared with the female brought his hands together and a glowing orb surrounded the female as she continued her spectacular light show. I willed my feet to move, but I was too entranced by the luminous spectacle.

A wave of darkness hurtled down the steps, swallowing up the light, and every hair on my body prickled in awareness. From the murky shadows, a familiar form coalesced. Darkness draped over every inch of Reign's body as that murderous gaze locked on me.

"What is she doing here?" he bellowed at Heaton.

The team leader paled. His mouth opened but no sound came out.

"Heaton tried to force me to leave, but I can help," I shouted.

"Not if you're dead, you can't." Reign's shadows swirled around me, their icy fingers coaxing a chill up my spine.

A Shadow Fae zipped across the atrium on the back of another gryphon and disappeared into the darkness before reappearing an inch from the Light female with the rainbow powers. A blade made of pure onyx appeared in his palm slicing right through the gilded orb surrounding her before it sliced across her throat.

"No!" The cry ripped from my lips before I could stop it.

Blood gushed from the gaping wound at her neck, and her knees gave. She rolled down the staircase, toppling other Light Fae in her path.

"Watch out!" I shouted to the other students below.

The weight of the daggers in my palms spurred me to life. I pulled my arm back and hurled it at the Shadow Fae skyrider. Reign's shout sounded muffled and far away over the pounding drumbeat of my pulse. The blade flew end over end and sank into the gryphon's flank.

"Aelia!" Reign shouted. "What are you doing? Are you trying to draw their attention?" One of his shadows slithered from his fingertips and retrieved my dagger before it hit the ground.

"I'm not just going to stand here and watch the others die."

He handed me the dagger, those eyes smoldering as he regarded me. "No, you're right, you're not. I'm not losing my acquisition in a meaningless Shadow Fae exercise." Those shadows wrapped tighter around me, until I was suddenly weightless. They lifted me off the ground and I let out a shriek. Reign flicked his wrist, and I cursed again and again as they flew me over the bedlam ensuing across the floating staircase.

My instructor appeared beside me a moment later, his wings made of night flapping leisurely.

"Put me down," I hissed.

"Not until you learn to follow the orders of your commanding officers, princess."

"It's not fair," I gritted out as his shadows carried me away from the chaos and farther into the halls of the dormitories. He flew beside me, tension radiating from each pore, bathing his aura in pure black. "I'm not completely powerless. I could have helped the other students."

"Did you see any other first-years?" he snarled, stopping our forward momentum so his nose nearly touched mine as he loomed dangerously close.

"No," I snapped.

"There's a reason for that."

"But I was already there."

"And you shouldn't have been," he growled. "Did you see what they did to Talia?"

My lips pressed into a tight line as the girl's grisly image flickered to the forefront of my mind. I slid both daggers back into my boots, momentarily defeated.

"She's a fourth-year, Aelia. With abilities far more powerful than half her graduating class. And still, she fell… If that happened to you—" His words cut off as his jaw slammed shut. "I've devoted too much time on you already. I won't have you fail now."

Of course, because all I was to him was his prized acquisition. "So what do you get if I survive past ten days? It's something special, isn't it?"

His dark eyes tapered, a feral grin hitching up the corners of his lips. "I don't owe you any explanations, princess."

"I'm right, I know I am." Goddess, I hated him so much in that instant that I wanted to fail just to spite him. I wriggled and struggled against his shadowy binds, but they only tightened the more I fought.

"You're not going anywhere until I deliver you to your room safe and sound." Once we reached the eighth floor, the big brute's wings disintegrated and he stalked beside me.

"So I'm just supposed to pretend nothing is happening right downstairs?"

"Exactly. That's why your room is warded."

"This is insane. Students are dying only a few flights below, and I'm simply supposed to remain here and cower in fear?"

We reached my chamber and Reign's shadows released me, dropping me on the cold marble with a smack. The murky wisps slipped back, retreating into his dark form. "No one said you had to cower." He flashed me a savage grin as I glared up at him before waving his hand across the door.

It unlocked and swung open, and my jaw fell along with it. "How did you do that? I thought you said only Rue and I could access the ward."

"I added my own." His lips peeled back, and irritation blossomed across my already tense form as he stalked inside.

"You had no right." I jumped up and lunged at him, and he staggered back against the wall. The satisfaction was fleeting. His shadows unfurled, one dark tendril curling around my throat and swapping our positions so that I had my back against the wall and his body pinned me against the solid barrier in my room.

"I have every right." His voice was a lethal whisper as it ghosted across my cheeks. "You are my acquisition, and I will ensure your survival, whatever the cost." Those piercing eyes lanced into me with the fury of a tempest, raw and untamed.

I remained unmoving, locked in his mesmerizing gaze for an impossibly long moment. Then, without another word, he spun on his heel, marched out and slammed the door behind him. The moment he was gone, I slumped back to the floor, all the fight lurching right out of me.

Raysa, I hated that male.

I was sent to this goddess damned academy to be honed into an instrument of destruction… weren't those the headmaster's words? Then why was I forbidden to fight at my first chance? What good was a prized acquisition kept in a warded cage?

The creak of the knob turning sent my head whipping toward the entry. I leapt to my feet and yanked my dagger from my boot. If that infuriating instructor thought he could just walk into my chamber whenever he wanted?—

"Oh, Aelia, thank the goddess you're safe!" Rue raced into the room and threw her arms around my neck. "I was so worried when I heard the alarms."

"I'm fine." I squeezed my friend.

"Where's Heaton?" Her eyes grew wide as she slipped to arm's length.

"He's down there fighting. I tried to help, but they wouldn't let me…"

Her lip quivered for an instant before she drew it between her teeth.

"He insisted he'd be fine."

Rue's head dipped. "And he will be. He's strong and he's survived this long."

"Absolutely." I pulled her into another tight embrace.

"It was so different before I came to the Conservatory. I had no idea what Heat was facing, but after less than two weeks here, I can't imagine how he survived all this time."

I couldn't imagine living with that fear for years, not knowing when and if you'd see your sibling again. As an only child, I knew little of that bond, but I felt her pain all the same. Having grown up without blood relatives, I'd always felt that absence, that terrible twinge of emptiness. The only upside was I had much less to lose.

My thoughts flickered to Aidan. How was he managing without me? Had he been feeding the chickens? Tending the garden? He must have been ever so lonely without me. I couldn't wait until the first term ended so that I could send him a letter. I only hoped he knew I was still alive.

Rue sniffled, drawing my attention from my spiraling thoughts to the present. She pressed her fingers to her temples and groaned. "I never should have indulged in so much laegar."

Oh, stars, and Heaton had, too. I prayed the haze of alcohol wouldn't affect his abilities.

"Where's Silvan?" I waggled my brows at my friend, hoping to distract her.

"Probably back in his dormitory." A hint of a smile curved her lips. "Everyone scrambled when the alarm sounded."

"Why didn't they tell us about the possibility of attacks or the alarm system?" If I hadn't been with Heaton at the time, I wouldn't have had any idea what to do.

Rue shrugged. "Likely for the same reason they allow first-years to assault one another. They want us to be prepared for anything." She staggered to her bed and dropped down on the mattress with a sigh. "I don't know how I'll be able to get any sleep tonight."

A yawn was already building at the back of my throat, but I swallowed, keeping it at bay. "We don't have to sleep. I'll wait up with you until Heaton returns."

"You don't have to do that. You need to be rested for tomorrow. We have Combat first thing in the morning."

"No, we don't have Combat tomorrow."

"Oh, you probably haven't seen it yet, but the scrolls updated, and Combat was put on for first thing in the morning, probably because of the attack."

My stomach churned at the thought of facing Belmore again. And even worse, Reign.

I crossed the space between us in two long strides and folded down onto the mattress beside her. "Who needs sleep? Tell me more about this new development with you and Silvan."

A cackle burst from my friend's pinched lips. "It's nothing, really. He is quite attractive though, and with all the stress from the past ten days, the idea of a little release was pretty enticing."

I couldn't agree more. Since I'd arrived at the Conservatory, it felt as if a bubble of energy had been building in my core, growing and growing until it threatened to crack my ribcage. I drew in a breath, willing the unnerving sensation down.

"How about you, A?" She lifted a mischievous brow. "I saw you and Heaton dancing…"

Warmth flooded my cheeks at the memory of his hands on my waist. "Oh, Rue, don't be silly. We're just friends. Besides, the last thing I need is to find myself in Oriah's crosshairs. I already have enough Fae who despise me."

A rueful chuckle parted my roommate's lips. "Fair enough. But for what it's worth, I think Heaton really does like you."

"Maybe. Along with half a dozen other females." I released a breath and lay back on Rue's bed. She plopped back beside me. A sea of mossy vines climbed overhead, nearly blocking the remaining shards of light. The hour or so of rare twilight was nearly upon us. "Regardless, I don't have the luxury of focusing on trivial matters of the heart. If I have any hope of survival here, I need to maintain all my focus on training." Tonight was a clear reminder of that.

Rue's mouth twisted into a pout. "That sounds terribly boring."

"Then I'll simply have to live vicariously through you." I tossed my friend a smile.