AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Let me,” I insist.
The pin was a gift from her dads for luck. Most of the students wear something to champion their side—Seelie or Unseelie—on their uniform somewhere.
Once it’s pinned above her breast, I straighten her fancy leather sword belt. “There. Now you look like a badass ninja.”
Her smile is closer to a grimace. “I think I’m going to vomit.”
I squeeze her arm. “If you do, at least we can have matching nicknames.”
“Reina really pulled out all the brain cells for that one,” Mack mutters, still clutching her belly.
“Don’t worry, I’m here now!” Ruby calls as she zooms over our heads, her little arms clenched around a small device. She tosses the item at me, and it nearly smacks into my face before I manage to catch it.
Mack side-eyes me with a look that says, Ruby? Really?
Because of the way sprites are technically considered a shadow’s possession—and in some translations of the old Fae laws, an actual part of their owner, like an arm or a leg—sprites are allowed to assist their shadows in the gauntlet.
Most students, however, like Mack, opted not to bring theirs.
“I told Ruby no a thousand times,” I whisper, “yet here she is.”
“Have you ever heard of discipline?”
Mack swears I’m too soft on Ruby. That I don’t provide enough rules and consequences when she disobeys me—which is basically all the time.
“Maybe she’ll be helpful?” I nearly choke on my words as we watch Ruby flit over to another shadow’s sleeve and steal an arrow.
Cringing, I force my attention to the device she brought me earlier. It’s a digital map, although I don’t have time to determine the location before they order us out into the night. I clip the GPS onto my belt next to the metal quiver as I walk.
On the other side of the lawn, I spot a massive crowd around the courtyard. Tall torches line the gravel path, illuminating the night.
My breath hitches when we begin to pass through the mass of people. I found out a few days ago parents and close family of both the Evermore and the shadows are allowed to attend the gauntlet celebrations. But I didn’t dare ask Aunt Zinnia or Vi for fear they’d say no. to Valerian’s word, exactly thirty minutes later, after I’ve washed the puke from my body, voices trickle from below. I trail down the stairs in one of his steel-gray tees, a pair of thin black joggers hugging my hips, to see the dining table filled with my favorite people: Mack, Eclipsa, and Asher.
Ruby streaks over the ceiling above them, taunting Valerian’s snow-white owl with a piece of shaved ham.
Valerian is posted against a counter in the kitchen, sipping a cup of tea as he frowns at the noisy intrusion.
Our eyes meet, and I reward him with a grateful smile. I know how much he likes his privacy. Definitely going to thank him later for this.
Surprise flickers over his handsome features, followed by a vulnerable, intimate look that sets my heart on fire and jerks the bond between us taut.
Thank the Shimmer the others are here or that unexpectedly sweet exchange would be enough to undo me completely.
Eclipsa whistles, drawing my mind away from Valerian. “The prince wasn’t lying. You survived your first tormentor spell. Impressive. Not everyone does.”
Holy frick. Valerian didn’t tell me that. No wonder he freaked out.
Mack’s chair scrapes across the floor as she jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around me. Ruby screeches and dive bombs my shoulder, her tiny arms choking me as she joins the hug.
“What about your test?” I ask as I gently extricate my overexuberant sprite.
Something passes over Mack’s face, too quick to read. “It’s fine. After all that studying, I finished in like five minutes. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Relief pours through me, followed by hot, sweeping anger. No matter who actually performed the spell, I know in my gut Inara’s responsible.
And she’s never going to stop. Not unless I make her.
A few hours later, I get my revenge during combat class. Valerian must know I need to punish Inara because after he puts all of us through a brutal session, he pairs me with Reina for another version of the baton game we played last year.
