Chapter 53

Aelia

"Are you certain you're well enough to compete?" Rue regarded me skeptically from her bed, her lively, floral dressing gown a perfect match to her darting eyes.

"Of course, I am." I pushed the coverlet back and slid to the edge of the mattress. I glanced past Rue to the leather divan where Reign typically slept. I ignored the pang in my chest at finding it empty. Still, his shadow minions remained, hovering in the dark crevices of the chamber.

Despite sleeping in our room every night, I'd barely seen the volatile male in the past three days since the semi-disastrous Skyrider Flight. I'd passed the trial, thankfully, but I had nearly died in doing so. Reign watched me constantly, but always kept his distance. Even when we trained, he seemed distant, his thoughts elsewhere.

And I hated how much I hated it.

"And anyway, even if I wasn't completely healed," I huffed out, "what choice do I have other than to compete in the final trial?"

"Perhaps you could ask Headmaster Draven for an extension?"

I snorted. "That's laughable."

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"And besides, I couldn't possibly abandon Flare Squad now. We are in second place among all the teams. If we score well today, we could win the Ethereal Trials."

"I know, I simply cannot believe it. We must find a way to defeat Scorch Squad." She clapped her hands and sparks of rais kindled between her palms.

"At least the finale is finally upon us." I pushed my weary bones out of bed and ignored the spasms that raced along my back. Though the healer's rais had worked wonders, Sol's poisonous scales had left their mark. Which he felt awful about. "By tomorrow, we will be one step closer to the end of the term."

"Thank, Raysa." Rue smiled and practically leapt out of bed. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder before crossing into the bathing chamber. "Where is your moody bodyguard this morning?"

I shrugged. "He's been conveniently absent the past few mornings. You would have noticed had you spent more nights in our chamber." I shot her a cheeky grin.

"That is true, but someone must enjoy these last few days. Sex is a perfect way to dispel the building tension. You should try it sometime." She threw me a wink over her shoulder as she sauntered into the bathing chamber.

"I actually never have."

Rue spun around so fast, she was nothing but a flash of blonde. "Excuse me?"

"I have never had sex with a male."

"Aelia! You are joking, right? I assumed you hadn't been with many but none at all?"

My lips pursed as my roommate regarded me as if I were an abomination.

She crept closer and took my hands in her small ones. "I did not mean to sound so surprised, Aelia. What a female does with her body is her own choice. I only thought?—"

"I know. As would anyone."

"I have a new mission in life once we pass the term: to find you a male worthy of your virginity."

A rueful laugh burst through my pursed lips.

"Or you could simply settle on Professor Reign. Scorching hot is way better than worthy, don't you believe?"

I threw my head back as she cackled, joining in on the light moment of mirth.

Perhaps one day… if I survived the next few.

As Rue disappeared into the bathing chamber, a depressing thought wiggled its way into my mind. If I died in the last trial or the battle with Arcanum, I'd meet Noxus in eternal rest without having ever experienced being with a male. Did I truly want to die a virgin?

Reign's heated gaze filled my memories, then his ghostly fingers danced across my flesh eliciting a swell of goosebumps. Heaving out a breath, I marched to the closet shoving thoughts of my professor to the far recesses of my mind. My dire sexual status was not what I should be focused on.

As I shed my nightgown, I fingered the medallion hanging from my neck, my thoughts flying back to the mid-air battle. I'd felt something when the crystal from the hilt came in contact with my necklace. How could I have forgotten?

With only my underthings on, I raced to the bedstand that housed my dagger. Reign had recuperated it for me from Lucian while I'd been with Elisa. From what I heard, The Fae-hole was still recovering at the healer, some of his mysterious wounds not attributable to our mid-air battle. I was fairly certain my professor had something to do with it, but neither one of us had brought it up.

After all the chaos, I'd completely forgotten about my dagger. I also hadn't mentioned the incident to a certain temperamental professor. Perhaps, I should have… Yanking the dagger out from the drawer, I ran my finger across the gleaming crystal. A flicker of light kindled, but nothing like what I'd seen the other day. Bringing the hilt up to the medallion, I pressed it against the golden pendant.

The metal immediately grew warm and a buzz of energy skimmed my skin.

The creak of the chamber door whipping open sent my heart soaring into my throat and my arms across my exposed torso. "Reign!" I cried when I took in the broody Shadow Fae filling the doorway.

"Good gods, Aelia!" he barked, slamming the door behind him. Behind him! It didn't even occur to him to remain outside.

"You couldn't even knock?" I hissed as I spun around, shielding my front only to reveal my nearly bare backside.

"It isn't as if I haven't already seen?—"

"Just stop it! Close your eyes and let me dress."

"Fine." His footfalls echoed across the chamber, and the leather settee squealed as he sank in. "My eyes are closed," he grumbled. "And for the record, you are Fae, and you've been living amongst us for months now. You should have gotten over this nudity issue by now."

"Fae you," I hissed.

An unexpected chuckle pursed Reign's lips, and it dawned on me, it was the first time I'd heard him laugh in days.

"What's gotten into you lately?" I asked once I was dressed in my fighting leathers. "You can look now."

He swiveled around on the divan and faced me, but I remained on the opposite side of the chamber, keeping my distance. Nothing good ever came of us being too close. "Nothing," he muttered, his eyes not quite meeting mine.

I hazarded a step closer. "For someone so intent on protecting me, you've been decidedly absent."

"I'm never far."

His words rang true. Though he had been physically removed, his slithering shadows had been a constant.

"What have you been doing?" My feet propelled me toward him, despite my brain knowing better, as if my body couldn't help but be close to him.

"Draven has had me preoccupied."

"With what?" A prickle of fear raised the hair on my arms. At least my epic failure in the last trial shouldn't have brought more unwanted attention. Except for maybe that gilded orb…

"Nothing that concerns you." His expression shuttered and I took it as my cue to put an end to this discussion. Gods, the male was so infuriating.

"Oh, there you are." Rue appeared from the bathing chamber with only a flimsy towel wrapped around her slender torso.

Reign's gaze flitted toward her, but a bored expression descended across his handsome face before it pivoted to meet mine once more. A trickle of satisfaction quickened my pulse. Rue was stunning, and without clothes? What male wouldn't ogle?

"Are you prepared for this evening's trial, Aelia?" Reign's question drew my thoughts to more important matters. The final trial. With my scores so far, as long as I did better than average, I would pass.

"Of course."

Rue swung her arm around me and threw Reign a beaming smile. "We're going to slay, Professor Darkthorn."

"I look forward to it." He rose from the sofa, eyes intent on mine. "Rue, do you mind? I need to speak to your roommate in private."

"Of course not. I'll throw on my clothes and go visit Devin before the trial."

"Again?" I squealed.

"Never can get too much of that tension out." She tossed me yet another wink before disappearing into the depths of her closet to dress.

Reign stalked closer, and his smirk turned downright sinful. "She's not wrong," he murmured. "It could be a good exercise for you… to dispel some of that built up rais."

I gasped, and Reign's smile only grew more brazen.

"Well, you've made it clear we can never be together," I whisper-hissed, "so is there someone else you have in mind, professor?"

The smile slid right off, replaced by something lethal. He erased the distance between us, his shadows whipping into a whirlwind of pure night, wrapping us up. His hand wrapped around my neck, fingers gently grazing my throat. "No one is to ever touch you, do you understand?" he rasped.

"No one but you?" I choked out. "Only you refuse to?—"

"There are other ways to release the tension, princess." With his hand tightening around my neck in a possessive hold, he grabbed my free hand and pressed my palm to the apex of my thighs.

Another sharp release of air pushed between my clenched lips.

He guided my fingers just below the laces of my leathers and exerted pressure. His bottomless orbs fixed to mine and a tempest of desire swirled beneath the surface. His aura was so dark, it was pure, endless night. "Do you need me to help you?"

I slowly shook my head as heat pooled between my thighs. I had touched myself there a handful of times in my life, but never like this. Never in front of smoldering eyes. I'd never felt the need, the desire so overpowering it felt as if it wasn't satiated, I'd explode.

My hips tilted, eager for the pressure my own palm exerted, urged on by his. Good gods, was I mad? Was I really going to allow this to happen? I rocked against my own hand, an unnamable force building at my core. It was nothing like I'd ever experienced before. Energy blossomed, stemming from that spot between my legs and rushing to the base of my spine.

"Eyes on me, princess."

My gaze snapped to meet his, to drown in those endless obsidian pools. I wanted nothing more than to be lost in Reign, to forget about everything else. He was this all-consuming force I simply couldn't fight anymore.

Icy fingers crawled across my tunic, the dark tendrils of nox spiraling around my breasts and raising my nipples to sharp peaks. The faint touch through the soft suede was pure torture. One shadow broke off and curled around my waist, moving farther down until it slipped beneath the waistband of my leathers and skimmed my most sensitive area.

I gasped, the frosty, airy touch against my heated skin sending fiery sensations through every inch of my body. Good gods, who knew his shadows could do that?

Those ghostly fingers ran across my center, teasing and torturous until the pressure grew to an overpowering crescendo. "Reign," I groaned, those fathomless spheres locked on mine.

"Let go, princess, I've got you." The jagged edge to his tone compelled me over the edge.

My head fell back, and pure pleasure throttled my veins as I climaxed with stars dancing across my vision. My breaths were ragged, my heart and lungs struggling to resume normal functioning. Goddess, I'd never felt anything like that before.

A sharp slam snapped me from the lusty oblivion, and I blinked quickly, drawing free of Reign's hold to face the door. His shadows dispersed, revealing my now empty chamber. By the gods, I'd been so wrapped up in the moment, I'd completely forgotten about Rue.

Reign must have followed my line of sight because he muttered, "She didn't see anything. We were completely covered in my shadows."

I whirled on him and jabbed my finger into his obnoxiously hard chest. "Don't ever do that again."

A frown carved into his jaw. "Give you a tiny bit of pleasure? The least you deserve in all of this?"

"I don't want pleasure! Not like that," I amended. I wanted to feel his hand, his fingers against me. The traitorous thoughts sent my stomach into somersaults, the lingering aftershocks of my pleasure still vibrating my entire being. I staggered back, moving away from him. "I have to go…"

"We're not finished here, Aelia."

"Then, what? What do you want from me?"

"I'm only trying to protect you, damn it!" He threw his hands in the air and a storm of shadows zipped across the room. "In a few hours you will be on Shadow Fae lands, and I fear whatever is blocking your powers is coming undone. If anyone discovers who you are?—"

"Who am I, Reign? It's clear you have an idea. All of your theories and conjectures… You're a clever male, that much is clear. What is it you know that I do not?" I closed the distance between us, too riled up to understand or even contemplate the risk. "Tell me!"

"I cannot!" he roared.

"Why?"

"Because if I admit it to you, it will become real. And I cannot accept that, Aelia."

Genuine fear pulsed in his eyes, encircling his form in an aura of bright sapphire and deep navy.

Lowering my voice, I pressed my palm to his chest. His heart beat wildly beneath my hand, a mad hemmingbyrd fighting with every last breath to survive. "Please, Reign."

A torrent of shadows curled around his imposing form, and he disappeared.