Yeah, he and Exos were definitely brothers.
Chiseled.
Perfection.
With a dusting of hair that led—
“My brother may have allowed you to make the rules before, but I can assure you, I am not Exos.” His icy gaze captured and held mine, a warning radiating from his pupils. Leaving me speechless, he shifted his focus to the others. “Sol and Vox, go grab your shit. I expect you back in an hour. We’ll go over some things for tomorrow. Titus, give Claire a bath, fuck her, do whatever it is you need to do to feel content with your mate. I don’t want to see her again until after her classes.” He gave a wave as if he expected us all to follow his orders.
And shockingly, the fae did.
Sol muttered under his breath, yanking Vox out the door without saying goodbye, and River trailed along with them.
Titus gave me a calculated look, his vexation stirring embers between us. “The sooner we find Exos, the sooner that jackass leaves.”
“It’s like you read my mind,” I replied.
“I did,” he admitted. “Now, how do you feel about starting a fire in the bedroom? One that might spread a few doors down?”
My lips curled. “Seriously, it’s like you’re in my head, Titus.” Because that sounded like a fantastic idea.
“Glad we’re on the same page, sweetheart.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s give him a shower. One littered in ash.”
“I love you, Titus.”
“I love you, too, Claire.”
Sol
“I told you that you should have stayed away from the Halfling,” I muttered as I ripped clothes out of his dresser and tossed them onto the bed. “Now we’re stuck in the thick of it. She’s a loose cannon, and the Spirit Fae she attracts are no better.”
Vox sighed and cast a breeze over his tousled things, brushing away loose stones I’d managed to conjure. I tried not to irritate him with debris everywhere, but my power and I never got along very well. It was part of an illness I’d been born with.
An illness caused by the Spirit Fae.
And by the Halfling’s mother.
Vox’s black eyes glimmered with a ring of silver that made him stand out from other Air Fae. “You’re just being possessive. Now I have another student, but you want me all to yourself.”
I frowned because that was partially true. I didn’t like the idea of sharing Vox. He’d helped me come so far, and more than that, I was on a mission to help him as well. “If you graduate with honors, you’ll be able to clear your family name.”
Vox flinched. He did not like to talk about his royal ties—much less how an entire side of his family had been shunned and denied their heritage. He insisted that he wanted nothing to do with the royals, didn’t care about his heritage or fortune. All he wanted was to prove his place in society and become a professor at the Academy someday. It was a lofty goal, but it would take more than graduating with honors for that to happen. It was a miracle he’d been accepted into the Academy at all.
It was why he’d been stuck with me in the first place. What better way to sabotage a disgraced fae from graduating with honors and making his dreams come true than by pairing him up with an impossible case?
Except, Vox actually helped me and we made a good team.
Vox ignored me while he carefully folded each shirt before placing them into a neat suitcase. It drove me mad how meticulous he was with everything. We shouldn’t even be packing. We should be telling the king to go shove his orders up his ass.
But he hadn’t ordered me.
No, he’d ordered Vox, making this the Air Fae’s decision.
Of course, that didn’t mean I had to be quiet about my disapproval. “You know that no good can come of this.”
Vox shrugged. “Maybe you’re wrong. Claire isn’t so bad.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re attracted to her. I get it, but I’m not talking about Claire. I’m talking about the king.”