Spirits! How could a lowly shifter like me ever be worthy of someone like her?
Safir’s momentary joy faded. “I’d hoped she’d survived, but…” Safir shook his head. “She wassafein the human realm.”
It was widely suspected, though never proven, that the current Queen Regent, Lady Valnea had orchestrated the assassination of the royals, that she’d let the titan assassins into the palace.
Yet, given how much power Valnea now possessed, it would be exceedingly dangerous to speak out against her, but Safir had always hoped there might be some way to overthrow her.
And Izzy was that way.
But if it became known who she was… her life would be forfeit.
“I need to tell her!” I hissed.
“No!” Safir barked, then hushed himself. “You can’t. She can’t know. Better for her to believe she’s no one special. At least for now. I need time to think on this, what it means, what’s… possible.”
I could see the wheels turning for him, how he’d use Izzy. Then he grimaced and looked at me.
“And you’ve gone and gotten yourself mated to her. Bloody Thorns!” he growled, a rumbling deep in his chest.
“Perhaps… it’s for the best?” I offered. “I can keep an eye on her, protect her… in secret.”
Safir nodded slowly. “Perhaps, but if you miss even a single training session, if anyone suspects…”
It would be my head.
“I know.”
“Fine, do what you can. See her in secret. Protect her,help her, but for Spirits sake, don’t tell her the truth about who she is, not until I have a plan for how to… help her.”
Helpher? More likeuse her, help her ascend to the throne and achievehisgoals in ending Valnea’s reign.
I nodded. As messed up as it would be to start a relationship while lying to Izzy and keeping her true identity from her, that was what I must do. For a short while she could be a normal fae, before Safir’s fate found her.
And she’d need my help navigating this serpent’s nest of a world. Given how little anima she seemed to possess, she’d be ridiculed here at Veilblood Academy. Okay, so she may not have anormallife. Her life would be rough: alone and underpowered in a world she didn’t understand.
She’d need a friend, and I vowed to be that for her, even if I was a lowly shifter, unworthy to be anywhere near her…
And even if our bond demanded we be much more than friends.
IZZY
Pointy-ears had takenme to a large room and sat me down, saying, “Wait here and someone will help you.”
“Why don’tyouhelp me?” I’d snapped back at him.
He’d looked at me like I was lower than trash and sniffed. “Not my job.” Then he’d left.
When my blinding rage and indignation had worn off, I’d finally taken in the room.
It looked like any normal office space, with a dozen or so people working away in cubicles, except… these folks were definitelynothuman. Most of them had startlingly vibrant skin tones: fuchsia-red or lime-green or baby-blue, with hair to match. A few others had more muted shades of green and one — pushing what looked like a mail cart — was quite tall and large with gray-green skin.
Call me Dorothy, because I was definitelynotin Kansas anymore, or in my case, Rhode Island. No, wait, Pointy-ears had said this was a school. I wasn’t in Oz; I was at Hogwarts!
Despite my confusion and anger, that thought made me smile.
As a kid, growing up in the foster system, more thanonce I’d wished to be whisked off to a mystical world where I had magical powers.
Now I had.
