“You have a relationship with the demon overlord?” Finn sharply asks.
I lower my hands to my sides. “Yes, he is my friend and has saved my ass a lot of times before I came here. Yes, we kissed, but he hasn’t talked to me since, so I wouldn’t worry too much about him. As for Ryker, nothing happened. I had a bad dream, and he stayed to keep me safe. As for us? One kiss doesn’t give you the right to judge me. I know as well as you do that you’re going to walk out that door and leave me alone. Right?”
“Daesyn...,” he whispers my name, the anger and jealousy fading from his eyes. “If things were—”
“Different? Or you wanted to fight for me?” I humourlessly laugh, walking to the lift and pressing the button for him. “I’m very used to being the only one who fights for me. It’s been that way since I was eight. You can leave.”
Finn looks like he is about to say something, and my heart pounds...almost begging him to. But he doesn’t say a word, walking into the lift and pressing the button for it to go down. I don’t look back as the doors close, and I head to my room, tears falling down my cheeks. I wipe them away, reminding myself who I actually am as I climb into bed. Mossy silently climbs onto my chest and wraps his arms around my neck.
“They don’t deserve you,” Mossy whispers. I lie looking up at the ceiling above me, knowing sleep is not going to come easily.
Mossy is right, they don’t, but it doesn’t make my heart feel any better, that’s for sure.
Chapter 27
“What’s that?” I question Poppy as I walk into the living room and sit on my stool, wrapping my hands around my coffee that is waiting for me.
“A letter from my parents. They are happy to hear we are both still alive after four months here at the academy. Father hints about the whole two months left,” she says, folding up the letter and setting it down. “Is it mad that I’m considering just fighting to the end?”
“No, it’s not mad,” I say. “The queen may have chosen your name, but the gods are said to be puppet masters behind everyone that comes into this place. You are feeling like you should honour the test set before you. I get it.”
“Because you feel the same way?” she questions.
“I’m half Unseelie fae,” I tell her, just ripping off the secret like a Band-Aid. “Ryker knows, and I suspect Sebastian does. I’m not sure about Finn. And of course, Seth and Mossy know. Welcome to the deepest darkest part of Daesyn Secret-ville.”
“Why in the world would you agree to come here with me? My father must not have known, or he would be so mad!” she asks, mostly rambling to herself. “They kill Unseelie here or worse, enslave them. They hate your kind with a passion that I’ve never understood.”
“Correction: they hate half of who I am,” I reply. “And a lot more people on Earth want me dead than here in some respects. At least I’m not openly hunted here.”
“Oh Daesyn,” she sighs. “You’re a bit of a troublemaker wherever you go, aren’t you?”
“That’s what makes me the fun friend you’ve always needed,” I reply with a grin. She laughs and shakes her head.
“Can you show me Unseelie magic?” she asks with wide, excited eyes.
“Not in the city, it’s not safe. Who knows how they control the enslaved Unseelie here. They could sense my magic,” I reply. “But when we are away from here, yes. Though I’m not twenty-one yet, so I don’t have a unique power.”
“How long until you’re twenty-one?” she questions.
“In a month,” I reply with a sigh. “I think to get my power, I need to be in the Otherworld before I turn twenty-one, and I can’t go there. So it’s likely I will never find out what I was meant to have.”
“Why can’t you go to the Otherworld?” she asks. “I mean, you might have to sneak in, but reapers do it all the time to go to fae parties and gatherings.”
“The last thing my uncle told me was to never come back to the Otherworld. He is most likely dead, and he saved me,” I admit, biting on my lip.
“So you grew up in the Otherworld?” she asks. I nod but don’t reply, not wanting to go into the most painful memories of my life. Picking up on my silence, Poppy reaches across and places her hand on my shoulder.
“You might not be my real sister, but you are my dearest friend. I will take your secret to my grave and even beyond that. Thank you for telling me,” she promises, and I smile softly at her, feeling good about my decision to trust her.
“I think your kindness is rubbing off on me, Pops. I’m feeling the need to hug you,” I admit. She laughs and wraps her arms around me, and I hug her back.
“As long as your ‘stab first and ask questions later’ attitude doesn’t wear off on me, I’m happy,” she tells me, letting me go. We both finish off our breakfast before getting changed, and I briefly wonder where Mossy has gotten himself to before heading into the lift with Poppy.
“Seen Mossy today?”
“Not since he snuck out last night, no,” she replies. “I’m sure he’s just hiding low somewhere.”
“Or one of the many people he has been pranking has finally caught him,” I counter, feeling a tad worried. Nevertheless, I can’t be late to training, especially when we haven’t had a test in a few weeks now. The lift opens, and we step out onto the dead leaves littering the ground. “Do you know how many of us there are left in the academy?”
“Forty-five, by my last count,” she tells me. “We lost four in the human test, and the rest were accidents in training. I heard Professor Artic chopped the head off one of the guys because he directly challenged him. I’m thankful we have Finn as our teacher.”
“This place is crazy,” I mutter, shaking my head. I pause, nearly tripping up a step when I see a familiar face walking through the trees towards me. Seth looks like he owns the forest and everything in it with each step, and he steps right into my space and leans to kiss me. I dodge out of the way and glare at him. “Are you out of your demon mind?”
“Nice to see you as well, Syn,” he replies with a sexy smirk.
Refusing to play his demon games, I turn around and walk quicker to the training area. Poppy hurries to catch up to my side, and Seth’s laugh fills my ears. Suddenly flames burst into the space in front of me as he portals and reappears. I cross my arms and narrow my eyes.
“What do you want?”
“Why are you mad?” he questions.
“Can’t you figure it out?” I reply. “You know, in the whole month you’ve disappeared on me!”
He steps into my space. “You must focus on this test and this place. I have many responsibilities back on Earth I cannot always ignore. I was only a call away.”
“I don’t have your number or a phone here, for that matter,” I snap.
