Page 99 of Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three

I pushed away from the table to stand in front of Cyrus before he could physically react.

It didn’t stop the whip of water that lashed out and struck Sol across the cheek. Or the words that seethed from my brother’s mouth. “I have been patient with you, Sol. Very fucking patient. But your misconception regarding Spirit Fae? It ends today.” He shoved him again with another strand of liquid, then wrapped it around his throat. “Spirit Fae are not the only ones who can inflict pain and harm. Shall I demonstrate?”

I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, when a root burst through the floor and circled Cyrus’s waist. Squeezing. Hard.

“Stop!” Vox shouted.

But the two fae were lost to their elements now.

Sol had already conjured another thick branch, this one coming through the window from the outside, and went directly for Cyrus’s chest.

While my brother lashed out at it with a tidal wave, snapping it into pieces.

Chaos ensued as Vox tried to blast them apart with air, and I used my fire to incinerate both the water and roots infiltrating the dorm.

They were going to take this fucking place down.

“What are you doing?!” Claire screamed, her body clad in a sheet as she took in the wreckage of the living area. Her power flew out of her, smacking all of us in the chest as she forced us to different sections of the room.

Spirit, I recognized.

Not her other elements.

But her spirit.

She’d used it to force our compliance, and the look on Sol’s face bespoke of just how much that hurt him.

Shit.

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” Titus demanded, coming up behind Claire in a pair of boxers and nothing else. “We have an unconscious Spirit Fae, who happens to be Claire’s mother, resting in the other room, and you all are trying to take down the damn building on our heads!”

Cyrus had the grace to appear contrite.

Vox just looked frustrated.

And Sol, he was utterly broken.

I sighed, rubbing my hand down my face. This was not a team ready for Elana’s pending arrival. It was a clusterfuck of emotions and twisted-up pasts. I focused on the core of the pain—Sol.

“I don’t know what happened to you or who did it,” I told him. “But I can promise it wasn’t me, Cyrus, or Claire. And this animosity you carry toward our gifts? It has to end. Now. Either you trust us or you don’t. It’s as easy as that.”

Claire froze, understanding seeming to punch her in the chest. “Wait.” She cleared her throat and turned to face Sol. “You think we would, no, that I could ever use my power against you? In a negative way?” She released all four of us in an instant, her touch against my spirit gone in a flash. “You think I could hurt you? Intentionally?” She blinked, but not fast enough to hide the tears blossoming in her gaze.

It had me wanting to take a step toward her, to pull her into my arms.

But this wasn’t my hurt to fix.

This hurt belonged to Sol.

“Do you not know me at all?” she whispered, her heart breaking before our eyes.

Cyrus gave Sol a thunderous look, as though he wanted to rip him limb from limb.

Vox merely sighed and shook his head.

And Titus appeared ready to join Cyrus in his rampage.

“Claire,” Sol started, taking a step forward.

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