Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

A elia

“Oh, for Fae’s sake!” My hands shot out, clenching the doorframe before I toppled over the hulking form splayed out across the threshold of my dormitory. “Reign!” I growled. Had he not listened to a word I said yesterday?

Standing on her tiptoes, Rue poked her head over my shoulder. “Did you sleep out there all night, professor?”

Grumbling a curse, Reign rolled over, dark eyes peering up at me. “If I did, it is of no one’s concern but my own.”

I pointed at the dozens of first-years emerging from their dormitories and beginning to litter the halls. “I’m fairly certain it will be everyone’s concern before long.”

He shrugged, sitting up against the wall. “The code of conduct has officially been lifted. For all the other students know, we could have met for a midnight tryst.” Those infernally irritating spheres of pure night glistened with mischief.

I blew out a sigh of frustration. I would never be rid of my dark shadow, which meant I would never be freed of these crushing feelings.

“I think I will leave you two to discuss this alone.” Rue stepped over Reign, hugging her satchel to her chest. Before my roommate was swallowed up by the wave of students, she whirled at our professor. “Can I count on you to ensure Aelia reaches her first class safely?”

The bastard prince rose to his feet, displaying his impressively towering form. As if to prove his worth, a storm of shadows darkened his ominous aura as his lips curved into a grin. “Always,” he replied.

“Will you be all right, A?” Her lively eyes darted between the two of us. “Or do I need to accompany the two of you?”

“Of course, I’ll be fine. I’m not a child. I am perfectly capable of fending for myself against any foe.” I threw a meaningful glare at my stalker as I revealed both blades now sheathed at my sides.

Rue waggled her slim fingers at me as she closed the door behind her. “Wonderful, see you in class!”

I hovered in the doorway for an endless moment, strangling the strap of my satchel. Reign leaned casually against the wall a few feet away from me, and still, that overpowering presence pressed into me. I refused to meet his gaze, despite the burning sensation seeping across my cheek. Only one male’s look was capable of that.

“You cannot keep doing this, Reign,” I finally hissed out. A few students threw curious gazes in our direction, but after last term, they’d become accustomed to seeing the Shadow Fae professor glued to my side. I could only imagine the rumors.

“It’s a free campus. I can sleep wherever I wish.”

“No, you can’t. Not if it’s in front of my door. And after I told you that I didn’t want to be anywhere near you.”

“You are my acquisition, and I will do whatever it takes?—”

“Oh, goddess, so we’re back to that?”

He spun around, pinning me against the door, a cloak of shadows chasing his form. “If that’s all you will allow, then yes!”

“Allow? You make it seem as if I have any say in this, at all.”

Reign loomed closer, his body suddenly flush against my own, making me regret my decision to remain in the doorway. My breath hitched at his proximity, at his musky scent flooding my nostrils. Heat raced across my body at the familiar feel of him. The chatter and frenzied footfalls of the busy hallway all fell away as his shadows whipped around us, shrouding us in a bubble all our own.

“Logic tells me to stay far away from you,” I gritted out once we were encompassed in his cool shadows. “But I, too, find myself in a hopeless battle to keep my distance. You speak of restraint and control, and I cannot seem to grasp the meaning of either of those words when you’re near.” My treacherous body melted into his as if confirming my confession, leaning into his solid form. Stars, I hated how little composure I could summon around him.

“Then don’t, princess,” he whispered, lips inches from the shell of my rounded ear.

“I have to, Reign. I can feel it in my soul, you will be my ultimate undoing.”

“But our downfall would be ever so sweet.” His nose brushed my ear, his warm breath spilling down my neck. “Come away with me.”

My head snapped back, shock compelling my hands to push him out to arm’s length so that I could truly look at him. “What?”

“Let me take you far away from here. You threatened that once, do you remember? Jumping aboard Sol and flying to a distant land. Now, I am asking you to do just that, but with me. To pretend that I am only Reign Darkthorn, your dedicated professor and caring mentor, and whatever else you’ll allow me to be.”

I would have laughed if it weren’t for the tempest of emotion surging in his unwavering gaze.

“And you are only Aelia Ravenwood, a powerless—no, a power ful Kin from Feywood. Please, princess, let’s pretend and be the happier for it.”

“And deny who we are for the rest of our lives?”

“I can do that. I’ve been doing it for the past four years, and for a reason not of my own making. And now for a purely selfish one? To live the remainder of my days with you? A hundred times yes.”

My heart kicked at my ribs, each word carving into my soul, to be emblazoned there for all eternity. But I couldn’t allow my feeble heart to guide all my choices. I’d already given into it before and paid the price. “And what of your father, the king? Of your duty? And what of Aidan? I cannot simply abandon him. If I escape from Luce, he will bear the burden of my betrayal.”

“We will figure it out, somehow, Aelia. I will ensure Aidan is safe, I promise you.”

“How can you promise that when you yourself have been banished from your own court? How does the heir to the Court of Umbral Shadows even manage that?”

His dark brows furrowed, lips twisting.

And a splash of understanding crashed over me. “Wait… you weren’t banished at all, were you? It was all part of this elaborate ruse. But why?” My head spun, lungs constricting at the realization. I raised my hand, and it required all my strength to press it against Reign’s chest and push him away. “No, never mind. I don’t actually wish to know. I’m sorry, Reign, but I simply cannot be with someone I cannot trust.” Anger blossomed, but I forced a breath through my tightening lungs, even as a scream built in my throat. “My entire life up until this point has been a lie, and until I can begin to decipher between what is real and what is not, you and I can never be.”

Reign’s broad shoulders rounded, the heartbreaking hope on his face slipping away. My heart shattered bit-by-devastating- bit as his expression shuttered, the starlight in his eyes dimming before nothing but pure midnight remained.

I was certain he would disappear in that cloak of shadows as he frequently did when we fought. Only this time, he simply remained frozen in place. An endless moment of silence passed between us, and with each lingering second, the knot in my throat grew more overwhelming. I needed to be away from his all-consuming presence so that I could shout and sob in peace.

But I had no such luxury today, because in a moment, I would officially be late for my first class of the new term.

I forced my feet, which seemed to have grown roots into the wooden floorboards, to move forward, but Reign remained steadfast. “Excuse me,” I murmured.

“No.” His shadows darkened, their icy nox skimming over my skin.

“Reign, I will be late for Professor Lumen’s class, and as it is, I don’t know the difference between Aurora Weaving and Luminous Enchantments . Who knows what my punishment will be?”

“I would never let anyone lay a hand on you, princess.”

I squeezed my eyes closed in a feeble attempt to escape that scrutinizing gaze. Just as I could read him, I was certain he had learned my tells as well. And despite the convincing words I spewed, I hovered on a knife’s edge, an inch from falling into his arms.

“I can accept that you do not trust me yet, but you need to understand that I will do everything in my power to earn that trust back. You will likely hate me for it, but I will not leave your side until I succeed.” My eyes snapped open at his words. A rueful grin now slanted Reign’s lips softening his hardened expression. A tendril of nox snaked around my throat, gently caressing my sensitive skin and raising a swell of goosebumps. Reign drew closer, his lips a hairsbreadth from my own. “Because from the moment I dragged you from that hovel in Feywood, you became mine, Aelia Ravenwood. I may not have wanted to admit it then, for numerous reasons, but the gods have chosen you for me, and I will be damned if I throw away their generous gift.”

An icy chill raced up my spine, my entire body shuddering at the intensity of his declaration. Good gods, the power this male held with that tongue. Heaving in a breath, I allowed myself to fully meet his burning gaze. I could see the truth of his sentiments in his eyes, in that pulsing aura. And a part of me reveled in it. Because Raysa, I needed to trust him again. I wanted it more than anything in this sun-cursed court.

“Fine,” I murmured.

“Good.” Reign’s warm breath skated over my lips. He slowly backed away, and the encroaching darkness moved with him. Once he was at a safe distance, a smile crawled across that bewitching mouth. “Now, let’s get you to class, princess.”