Chapter 216

Aire turned on her heel.

The conversation was over.

At least, it was over for her.

She had absolutely no interest in learning dark fae magic, dark fae history, dark fae customs, or anything else attached to the word dark fae.

The entire realm could keep its stupid magic.

She wanted none of it.

“Aire.” Lysander finally broke out of his shock, and called after her.

She kept walking.

“Aire!” He snarled behind her, his patience wearing out.

She walked faster, and the gravel path crunched beneath her boots.

“Aire!” He finally yelled at her.

Aire froze when the floor beneath her feet trembled lightly when he yelled. She blinked, and yelled back without care. “I heard you the first two times!”

“Then stop walking.” He ordered.

“No.”

Lysander watched her disappear farther down the path. Then he calmly appeared directly in front of her.

Aire nearly walked into his chest.

She stumbled backward. She muttered a curse under her breath, and glared at him. “Stop doing that!”

Lysander looked entirely unrepentant.

“You were ignoring me.”

“I was leaving.”

“You obey me when I speak to you, Aire.” His teeth tightened in restraint. “Don’t make me regret being nice to you.”

Aire glared at him.

He glared right back.

The air around them shifted, and Aire froze.

A flowerbed beside her suddenly trembled.

Lysander immediately noticed. His expression sharpened. Aire didn’t notice it. She was too busy glaring at him.

A second later, several black vines exploded out of the soil.

Aire screamed in fright.

The vines shot upward, and one wrapped around a nearby stone statue. Another snapped around a tree branch, and the branch immediately cracked.

Aire jumped backward, involuntarily standing beside Lysander in fear.

“What was that?!”

The vines instantly retreated, and silence followed their departure.

The garden looked normal again.

Aire’s breathing became uneven.

Lysander remained still. His gaze never left her even when she came to his side. “Aire.” He called her, his voice back to being calm.

She pointed wildly toward the flowerbed. Her fingers trembled. Her soul had left her when the vines exploded. “What was that?!”

“You.” He replied casually, ready to congratulate her.

Her jaw dropped.

“No.” She pointed again. “That wasn’t me.” She refused with hate.

“Morrigan has given you back your powers. However, they’ll onky work under ny suoervision, and in this realm.” Lysander folded his arms across his chest. “Being a dark fae is glorious. Stop refusing it.”

Aire stared at the flowerbed, then at him. She turned back at the flowerbed again, and her stomach tightened.

The vines had appeared immediately after she became angry. That was a coincidence. It had to be.

Lysander seemed to read her thoughts. “It isn’t a coincidence.” He clarified.

Aire hated that. She hated it when people answered questions she hadn’t asked aloud.

Her chest heaved in refusal. “I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“I don’t.” Aire refused, disgusted. She wanted to throw a rock at him.

The flowerbed trembled again.

Lysander immediately pointed. “There.”

Aire spun around. The trembling stopped, and her stomach sank.

Lysander took a step forward. He reacged for her shoulders. “Aire.”

She backed away. “No.”

His eyes narrowed. “I am trying to help you.”

A bitter laugh escaped her. Aire shook her head. The laughter disappeared as quickly as it came.

She lifted the vines around her wrist, to show it to him. Just incase he was blind. “That’s what everyone says.” She mocked. “Look where I am now.”

Lysander’s expression shifted.

Again, Aire didn’t notice. She was too busy remembering everyone who has wronged her, and made her life hell.

Beta Kole. Rosemund. The wolves. The council. Everyone always knew what was best for her, everyone always made decisions for her, and everyone always expected obedience.

And now Lysander stood before her doing exactly the same thing.

The realization ignited a ugly feeling inside her chest.

“Listen to me.” Lysander broke her train of thought, dragging her back to reality.

“No.”

“Aire.”

“I said no.” Her voice rose unintentionally, and the flowerbed trembled again. The nearby tree shook violently, and black leaves rained downward.

Lysander exhaled slowly. His patience was thinning dangerously.

“Aire.”

“What?” She snapped, scared.

“If you keep refusing—”

“What?”

“You could hurt yourself.”

Aire raised a brow of disbelief at him. “Hurt myself?”

Lysander remained silent.

Aire stepped closer. “Hurt myself?” She asked him again, furious. She pointed toward herself. “You mean like when I was starving?”

Lysander stilled.

Aire’s voice sharpened. “Or freezing? Or being beaten?”

Lysander’s jaw tightened.

She stepped closer again. “Where was all this concern then?” Her expression darkened.

Lysander finally stepped forward. “Aire.” His voice lowered. “Enough. Now, you’ll listen to me, and learn.”

She immediately stiffened.

There it was. The command, the authority, and the expectation of obedience.

Aire’s eyes hardened.

Lysander stared at her. Then gently, he reached for her wrist. The moment his fingers touched her skin, everything exploded emotionally in Aire.

Aire saw Beta Kole. She saw Rosemund. She saw every wolf who had ever grabbed her, and every person who had ever decided her choices didn’t matter. She saw everyone who used her kindness against her.

Her chest tightened painfully. “Let go.”

Lysander didn’t.

“Let go.” She warned.

His grip remained gentle, as if to pull her back to herself.

Aire chest heaved. Her eyes glistned. She blinked back her tears. She couldn’t let them fall on his hand. “Let go.”

“If you keep ignoring this….”

Aire looked down at his on her wrist. “Let go.”

He went on, like she hadn’t spoken. “….your powers will become dangerous.”

“I don’t care.”

Lysander clenched his jaw together. His grp immediately tightened. “I do.” He snapped at her.

Aire’s vision blurred from anger. She felt humiliated hearing him say that.

Her hand moved before she consciously decided to lift it, and she landed a backhanded slap on his right cheek.

The sound echoed through the garden, and everything stopped.

Lysander’s head snapped sharply to the side. The force of the slap echoed across the stone paths, and sience followed the grave mistake she just made.

Aire stared at him. Her own breathing sounded loud.

Her palm stunged, and the reality of what she had just done settled slowly. Her eyes cleared from the anger.