Budget Cuts for the Dark Arts and Crafts by Sarina Dorie

Author:Sarina Dorie [Dorie, Sarina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781722645540
Publisher: amazon.com
Published: 2018-09-05T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Aren’t We Having a Ball?

The king stepped closer.

All moisture left my mouth. There was a chance I might be able to save my students? I needed to stay calm, to not mess this up.

“You’ll let me take their place?” I asked.

The green lace of lights flickered around me as King Viridios stepped through the first layer of wards. He passed into the red netting and the white-and-purple magic. He lifted my chin to meet his eyes.

The green of his irises shifted to the blue of the sky and the violet of a sunset. “Such a kind offer, but how do you propose to get around the Raven Queen’s signet marked on your soul? I cannot have you as I would like with her claiming you.”

“You can’t have me for one night to attend your party?” I asked. “Isn’t that what you wanted these students for? Not for permanent reasons?”

A flicker of annoyance tugged at his features, as though he’d been caught in a lie. He didn’t argue the point, but he didn’t press the idea of wanting the students either. Maybe that meant he was considering it. I needed to tip him over the edge and make him see he needed me more than the students.

“Wouldn’t it be in your best interest to invite me to one of your balls now, while you can? Students can be invited at any time in the future. But me—I’ll only be a teacher at this school for so long before the Raven Queen claims me. . . . Once I’m hers, will she allow me to attend balls in your court?”

He frowned. “No, she won’t. When does she intend to claim you?”

“I don’t know.” I prayed she would never be able to claim me. Maybe she wouldn’t want me now that I had lost my affinity. “It could be tomorrow. It could be in a year.”

Maybe that was why Thatch didn’t want me to regain my powers. I wouldn’t be of use to the Raven Queen if I had no magic. Of course, I couldn’t protect myself from her either. I risked a glance at Thatch who stood mutely fuming a few feet away.

Green magic glittered around his clenched fist. He held his wand, the stick almost invisible against the dark brown of his tweed pants. From the way his mouth worked, I could tell he was trying to undo his spell.

No matter how Thatch thought he could protect me by keeping me from my magic and making me unattractive to Fae, the Raven Queen would want me. I was still useful to her, whether it was the way I increased the powers of others or because much I knew about the Fae Fertility Paradox.

“Very well, then. It’s settled. I will invite you to my ball instead of the students. The coach will arrive to pick you up at eight o’clock.”

Thatch wedged himself between the Fae king and me, mumbling something unintelligible against his sealed lips.

King Viridios’s amused smirk belied the false concern in his voice.

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