“I love Firebirds.” Claire’s eyes took on a dreamy quality, her mind picturing one of the stunning fiery creatures. They reminded me of phoenixes, only smaller.
Vox, Sol, and Exos all went next, displaying their items for Claire in a similar fashion.
Vox had a feather.
Sol had a peach from Claire’s favorite tree at the Academy.
And Exos held an enchanted hand mirror, one that could function as a portal key to peek into other realms. He demonstrated by showing her a picture of her home in Ohio, which earned him the biggest grin of all.
“Oh, I miss it there.” Our mate sounded so wistful, which only further confirmed that our plans for her were the right ones. “The pumpkin patch and corn mazes w
ere always so fun.” We watched a kid run through one of the mazes she mentioned, cheering him along until the end, then Exos stowed the mirror.
“You can have this when the trial is done,” he promised her.
“I would love that,” she admitted.
He kissed her on the cheek, then faced us. “All right. Thirty hours. We have our observers,” he waved to the five fae who had agreed to help.
Well, maybe not all of them had agreed.
My brooding brother stood on the sidelines with his arms folded, his expression bored. He would much rather be off playing in another powerless duel. The prick had a penchant for shattering all my records. It was like he’d made it his life’s mission to destroy my legacy and replace it with his own.
So yeah, I didn’t feel at all bad about roping him into this assignment.
Besides, he was on probation for another month, which meant he had to do anything we told him to anyway. That was what happened when you ran off to the Human Realm to pick fights with mortals.
Honestly, Claire had gone too easy on him by just turning him into a glorified intern. He needed to serve a jail sentence for what he’d done in New York. But I respected my mate’s wish to try and mentor him first. When that didn’t work, I’d be pushing for a harsher sentence. He needed to learn that there were strict consequences for his actions, something I knew he didn’t fully grasp yet.
“The goal here is to go about our typical day while keeping our item unharmed. But as our observers are all here at the Academy, some of us will have to improvise.” Exos looked pointedly at Cyrus, as the two of them didn’t reside on campus full-time. Sol, Vox, and I would be fine since we all had our respective studies. “Perhaps we can go work on the Spirit Quad? Continue the restorations?”
Cyrus nodded. “I think that would be a wise use of our time.”
“I can help,” Mortus replied. He was in charge of watching Exos—an activity that five years ago would have been completely off the table. We all had a history with the former Spirit Fae professor. It wasn’t a good one, either. But he’d slowly redeemed himself over time, particularly via his treatment of Claire’s mum, Ophelia.
The two of them had been engaged once, their third-level bonding one that should have been unbreakable. However, a bunch of shit went down that destroyed their mating and several lives.
There was a lot of heartbreak involved, but the pair seemed to be healing together.
“I guess I’ll help as well,” Lance muttered. “Since I’m observing Cyrus.”
The Water Fae King made a noise through his nose. “I’m going to put you to work for that comment.”
“You sound so disappointed about that,” my brother drawled, his attitude problem firmly in place.
I considered saying something but decided against it. Cyrus had this sorted and would quickly put the rebellious Fire Fae in his place.
I looked at Kalt. “Guess you’re joining me in the gym.”
The Water Fae lit up. “I like where this is going.”
“It’s not all that exciting. He doesn’t fight anymore,” my brother replied. “You’ll be bored in five minutes.”
I narrowed my gaze at my hotheaded little brother. “Watch yourself.”
“Or what?” He arched an auburn brow that looked exactly like my own. “You’ll challenge me? Oh, wait, you’re out of shape and old. So I guess you’ll just stand there and spew words at me instead.”
I growled, and Exos stepped in between us. “Stop baiting your brother.” Royal power flared around him as he stared my brother down. “And get your ass to the Spirit Quad before I show you how I duel. And it won’t be powerless.”