Chapter 20

Aelia

"Again, Aelia!" Reign barked from across the lawn.

A torrent of darkness swept over me, icy fingernails clawing at my exposed flesh.

"I can't!" I gritted out. Sweat coated my brow and stained my tunic. My bastard professor had been drilling me for hours. All the other squads had been dismissed except for ours. "I can't even read an aura, how am I supposed to summon a protective shield against your blasted shadows?"

That wasn't entirely true. I could read his aura just fine, and right now, judging by the globe of pitch black surrounding the male, he seemed about a second away from murdering me.

"Try harder!"

Heaton and the rest of Flare Squad stood a few yards away, watching. Every single member of the team had managed to at least summon the radiant shield. Reign's shadows had easily sliced through them, but their rais had at least made an effort. While mine remained locked within a skeletal prison of my own making.

Reign stalked closer, his onyx irises blazing as they fixed on mine. The umbral shadows slid from his form, twisting and turning until they formed half a dozen blades. They floated in the air only a few feet away. "Summon the shield or die."

A gasp caught in my throat.

"Professor," Heaton interjected, "she is trying?—"

His words were abruptly cut off when a shot of darkness zipped across the field and curled around our squad leader's mouth.

"You're not helping by taking it easy on her, Heaton," Reign snarled. "I've seen how you coddle her. That ends today. The preliminary period is over, and the trials will be upon us before long. Aelia must succeed or die trying."

Rue's faint whimper reached my ears, a true feat over the wild thrashing of my heart. Gritting my teeth, I focused again. For her. Not for the dickish Shadow Fae shooting lethal glares in my direction.

"This blasted prize for the best acquisition better be worth it," I snapped.

Reign cocked a challenging brow. "You have no idea, princess." His words traveled across the space between us, and again it was as if he stood an inch from my ear instead of yards away. "Now. Summon. That. Shield." His command crackled through the thickening air.

I squeezed my eyes closed and searched for that thrum of energy that had been growing in my gut since the day I arrived. Like tiny gossamer wings, it fluttered across my insides, too faint to grasp.

"Aelia, watch out!"

Shadows blossomed in the space between Reign and me, cloaking us in a muddy darkness. My eyes snapped open as a pair of shadow blades whizzed toward me. Without a radiant shield in sight, I dropped to the ground and freed my own daggers. In a vain attempt, I sliced at the dark air with my sharp blades. As the metal slid through the first, the ghostly missiles disintegrated. I stared unbelieving. I'd never seen a weapon forged of metal have any effect on Reign's shadows. Masking the shock, I sliced again, and the second one fell.

I glanced up and met a pair of astonished starlit, midnight orbs.

"Good Noxus," he murmured as his shadows dissipated, exposing us once again. His voice sailed straight to my ears. "You're all dismissed," he growled at the rest of the team. "Except for you, Aelia."

"But—" Heaton's rebuttal was swallowed up by Reign's intimidating glare.

"Leave, now," he snarled.

I watched as my teammates evacuated the field, leaving me alone with the fuming Fae.

Reign ate up the distance between us in two long strides, his immense wings and midnight shadows coiling and uncoiling around him in a fevered pitch. His thick fingers encircled my wrist and the breath caught in my throat as he squeezed.

His eyes were pinned to the weapons clenched in my fists. "What sort of blades are these?"

My brows furrowed as I regarded the sudden shift in his aura, from the typical black to swirls of ochre brightening the impenetrable darkness.

"Aelia!"

My gaze jumped up to meet his. "I have no idea. They were a gift from Aidan, my adoptive father. They're the same ones I've been using since I arrived here."

"Give them to me."

My fingers clenched around the hilts, thumbs sweeping across the warm crystal embedded within the ornate handle of each dagger. A faint electric current hummed across my skin at the familiar feel. "No."

"Princess, don't provoke me." His eyes flashed as his lips pulled into a wicked snarl. "Let me see those daggers."

His hold tightened around my wrists and a cloud of pure night closed around us. The suffocating shadows crawled across my flesh, pushing against me from all angles. I was trapped. Reign pressed closer, pinning me against the wall of deadly silhouettes. His lips inched toward my ear, his breath tickling the sensitive area. "Drop them, now." His musky, frosty scent enveloped me, and a tremor shot up my spine.

I wish it were only fear, but it was an emotion far worse overtaking my body. "They're mine," I hissed, the embarrassing breathlessness only exacerbating the irritation puckering my brow.

He inched back, his nose now nearly grazing mine. "I promise to return them, okay?"

"You swear?" A promise was much like an oath, and if the folktales were true, Fae took vows such as these extremely seriously.

Reign heaved out a frustrated breath and a growl vibrated his entire torso, the beastly rumble echoing through my own ribcage. "Yes, I swear, princess." He extended his hand and lifted a challenging brow.

In order for me to shake his hand, it would require me to release the dagger. Tricky little Shadow Fae. But I certainly wasn't stupid. Sliding one dagger beneath the waistband of my leathers, I took his hand.

His fingers tightened around my palm as he eyed the blade, precariously pointing at my lady parts, and released a low whistle. "Risky move, princess."

"Oh, shut up and make the promise."

"As you wish." A swirl of energy ignited between our pressed palms and heat kindled over my flesh. "I, Reign Darkthorn of the Court of Umbral Shadows, vow to return to you, Aelia Ravenwood of Feywood, the aforementioned daggers. Should I fail to do so, may Noxus strike me down on the spot."

A prickle of light danced over our joined hands before a tendril of darkness joined the tangle. A jolt of awareness spread from my fingertips, up my arms, and zipped straight to my heart. An invisible tether laced around my thundering organ, the odd sensation only escalating the tempo.

"And it's done," Reign breathed. "Now, give me those sun-cursed daggers."

Despite the binding vow, a part of me was still reluctant to release my weapons. Slowly, I handed him one, leaving the other tucked in my waistband. The circle of shadows still surrounded us, concealing us from the meandering students walking across campus. I almost asked why he kept the shield up, but as his fingers closed around my dagger, an odd pulse thrummed across my veins.

My professor eyed the hilt of the first dagger, running his thumb over the crystal. Then it skated across the blade. His brows furrowed as he moved over the precisely honed steel. "You have no idea what metal this is?" he repeated, without looking up.

"No." I shrugged. "It never really mattered before today."

"I've never seen a weapon cut through my umbral blades," he murmured. I had a feeling he was speaking more to himself than me. A long minute later, his gaze lifted to mine, and he held out his other hand. "May I see the other one?"

I must have hesitated for a moment longer than he appreciated, because he reached into my waistband and slid the dagger free.

A sharp gasp escaped as the blade swept across my most sensitive area. "Watch it," I hissed.

An evil glint sparked in his eyes. "Trust me, princess, I know my way around the female anatomy."

Heat scorched across my cheeks, and a wicked chuckle vibrated our cloud of darkness. I was suddenly acutely aware of our close proximity. And the fact that not a soul could see us. He must have realized it as well within the same instant because his eyes chased to mine as he continued to stroke the blade in his hands, almost lovingly. I swallowed hard as the air crackled between us.

Reign inched closer, and my chest heaved, my lungs suddenly fighting for air.

"Do you mind if I keep one?" he breathed.

My entire body slumped forward and I urged my lungs to keep functioning. Daggers. Right. Focus! "For how long?" I rasped.

"I'll have it back to you by tomorrow, at the latest." He paused, eyes intent on mine. "You'll still have the one, princess. And from what I've seen, you're more than capable of defending yourself with that."

"That is true."

He smirked. That bastard was resorting to flattery, and I was playing right into his hands.

Despite every cell in my body urging me to keep the dagger, I couldn't help the streak of curiosity. Plus, he had sworn an oath… "Fine, take it, but if you don't return it to me by tomorrow, forget Noxus, I'll be coming for you."

A dark chuckle parted his lips, and I hated how the deep sound was more powerful than any heated caress. One day, I vowed to put this male in his place. If I could only get my wild emotions under control.