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My sprite wandered off a moment ago—I actually think she may have passed out beneath a tree. Normally I’d be worried, but the path from our dorms to the main campus has a warm shell of magic around it, and most of the snow has been cleared.
Aside from the crunch of my boots on the gravel trail, the forest is quiet.
With the sudden silence, last night’s events flicker across my mind. The entire ordeal seems like a dream. So much so that I’m starting to wonder if it was one. Only the fire did, in fact, go out, and the dorm monitor said he’d never seen that happen before.
That can’t be a coincidence. Right?
Inside the main academy, we cut through the commons to grab breakfast. Other than a few humans, the wood-paneled halls are empty. It’s nearly noon—Fae don’t rise until late—and my stomach has been growling for hours.
After wolfing down two hard rolls, a strange yet heavenly winter fruit called a pink-melon, and an odd assortment of nuts and cheese, I glare at the spread of tea packets and hot water, beyond disappointed in the lack of coffee.
Of course the Fae drink watered down varieties of tea. Most I’ve never even heard of.
My caffeine addiction aside, I’m starting to relax. They’re actually feeding us. And no one has tried to freeze me in place and part my head from my body. So there’s that.
Once we make it to the lower levels where the mortal studies take place and I see that the hall is packed with humans but very few Fae, the knot of unease that’s been tightening with every step deeper into the academy loosens.
Maybe I won’t have to see the Winter Prince today.
Maybe he’s forgotten all about me and the Nocturus, and I can just avoid him for the rest of my life. Although that’s going to be hard if I keep falling into his mind.
I still can’t get over how weird that was, even if, when it happened, it felt so normal. Like I had done it hundreds of times before. Like it was . . . natural to slip inside the mind of the most terrifying Fae on campus while he’s naked and in bed with another girl.
And, holy Fae balls. If Inara knew I somehow jumped inside her boyfriend’s head and witnessed her march of shame as he kicked her out—well, I’m pretty sure she’d claw out my eyes.
“Hey. You okay?” Mack asks as she smooths an already perfect strand of chocolate-brown hair behind her ear.
Biting my lip, I shift the backpack across my shoulders. The books weighing down my new, hunter green backpack came this morning, along with the bill for said items, and a schedule.
I haven’t even had time to freak out about the debt yet. The moment I laid eyes on my courses, the reality of the next four years all came crashing down.
The paper hasn’t left my sweat-stained hands ever since.
For the hundredth time, I glance down at it, trying to read through sweat-smeared print even though I know my schedule now by heart.
1st Period Faerie Courts and History
2nd Period Gaelic Language Studies
3rd Period Faerie Anatomy and Physiology
4th Period Combat Theory
Lunch
5th Period Understanding the Modern Mortal World
6th Period Mythological Creatures
7th Period Potions and Poisons
8th Period Properties of Magic: Elemental and Soulmancy
9th Period Combat Skills
I’ve also been assigned three extra shadow training sessions a week. The one-and-a-half hour sessions are before regular classes. Thank God the Fae don’t wake up until around noon, which is when school starts, or I’d be condemned to a year of early-morning sparring sessions.
Mack smooths the cute cream jumper she wears and then flashes me a smile. “You’ll do great. Just don’t punch anyone or call anyone a bitch.”
