My best friend froze. “What?”
I sighed. “You heard me just fine.”
“You’ve thought about… the three of us?” He sounded so alarmed I had to laugh.
“Dude, it’s not like I fantasize about you. Just, you know, how it would all—” I shook my head. “You know what? Forget I ever brought it up.”
“Forget that you want to have a threesome with Claire?” Vox asked, the wheeze in his tone irritating me.
You know what? Fuck this table. I smashed it into little bits, much to Vox’s horror, and created something from the ground instead.
Something I knew Claire would love.
Recalling her magic from class, a tree not of this world rooted into the floor, its earthly spirit thriving as I searched the fine grains. It grew, reaching out fresh limbs and blooming with some of Claire’s impossibly fuzzy, sweet fruit. What had she called them?
Peaches.
r /> I re-created their essence in my palm and sent several seeds scattering, telling them to remember Claire’s element.
“Sol!”
Vox had been yelling at me for quite some time, but it was only when he slammed a wall of air into my chest that my eyes flung open, my energy ripped free from the magic and peaceful thoughts that had taken me under.
I stared at the result of my creation. What was supposed to be a dining table was now a long slab of wood with branches sticking out of the ends. Long roots burrowed into the broken tiles of the floor, and an engraving of Claire’s peach tree decorated the polished surface. Sister trees sprouted out of the sides and leaned against the ceiling, heavy with fruit.
I smiled.
Vox balked at me. “What in the five elements has gotten into you, Sol? Now the entire floor is ruined and we have trees in our kitchen.”
Titus chose that moment to walk in, sparking embers across his fingertips that looked like tiny explosions. He’d already been wearing a scowl when he’d entered, but when he saw my handiwork, he stopped midstride. “Well, somebody’s redecorated.”
Heat scalding my skin from embarrassment, I took a seat at one of the overgrown stumps at the table and plucked a peach from a lower branch. “You were making dinner, weren’t you, Vox?” I reminded him. “You wanted me to fix the dining room, and, well, I did.” Simple as that. I sank my teeth into the delicate fruit, relaxing instantly.
Vox glowered, then deflated—literally. A puff of air sent his loose hair floating around his head, the band having broken free in his attempts to reassemble the table. “Fine. I’ll cook. Maybe some food will calm down whatever’s gotten into you.” He glanced at Titus, who had steam wafting off of his skin. “And you, too, apparently.”
Titus took a nearby stump and glowered. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Flames slithered over his skin like snakes, making me flinch.
“Don’t burn down the trees,” I chided. “I made it for Claire because she likes peaches. And I do, too.”
Titus hummed in approval, some of his fire dying. “Assuming she makes it back, I’m sure she’ll love them.”
There was so much resentment in his voice that I stopped eating. Juices from the peach ran down my wrist, and I wiped it on my pants. “Assuming she makes it back from where?” It struck me then that if she wasn’t with Titus, she had to be with Cyrus. Or maybe Elana.
Titus growled and clasped his fist in his hand. “Cyrus took her to the fucking Spirit Kingdom.” His eyes flashed with rage. “He claims to have a lead on Exos, but I call pixie shit on that.”
“But classes start up again in a few days,” I said, confused. “Why would he take her there? She could be gone for weeks. And then she’ll miss the ball.” That last part wasn’t meant to escape, but I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it for over a month. I never actually said yes, and she’d not brought it up again, so I didn’t know if we were going or not. But I sort of wanted to take her.
No, I really wanted to.
Which was definitely a problem because we were supposed to be just friends.
Except my fantasies were decidedly not friend-based.
The silence overwhelming the kitchen had me looking to Vox and Titus. They were both gaping at me.
“Claire’s been dragged off to the undead wasteland of a realm, and you’re worried about the ball?” Vox asked, sounding incredulous. “Since when do you care about those things?”
I creased my lips together and frowned. I’d already said too much, and Vox was right. Claire was in danger, although I highly doubted even the Spirit Kingdom could dampen her life. Still, this was no time to worry about stupid Academy social events.