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When she pulls away, I make note of even more alarming details. Like that I’m in an oversized Evermore Academy T-shirt and someone’s very soft silk boxer briefs.
Who the frick put me in this?
A slight ache drags my attention to my left shoulder, poking up from the wide hem of my worn shirt. I touch the jagged red scar that starts at the very end of my collarbone, snakes down my shoulder, and ends mid-bicep.
“Wicked.” Or it would be—if I could remember how I got it. A hollow bubble of panic swells beneath my ribs. “What am I forgetting? How did this happen?” I frown as bits and pieces of my memory float to the surface. “Why didn’t they heal this?”
Her lips tug into a frown. “You don’t remember the darklings?”
Darklings. Right, mindless humans-turned-zombie. They were here . . . inside the main hall.
“Evelyn,” I whisper.
At our friend’s name, Mack’s eyes mist over, but she pulls it together, no doubt for my own benefit. “Do you remember the vault?”
My eyes stretch wide as the image of the darklings swarming over the stone walls flashes with perfect clarity inside my head. “We were looking for weapons to fight them.”
“Yes, and during the fight, a darkling bit you, severing an artery, part of the muscle, and some tendons.”
“Ouch. So I bled out? That doesn’t explain why they couldn’t heal my wound.”
“The blood loss was bad, but not the thing that nearly killed you. Apparently, sometimes the forbidden magic that infests darklings can enter a human’s bloodstream after a deep bite. For Evermore, it’s like having a bad case of the flu.”
“And for us?”
“For mortals, it’s almost always fatal without the antidote. Only a few mortals have ever survived without it . . .” Her mouth tightens, and frown lines etch across her forehead.
“What?”
“Ruby said there’s rumors that the humans who do survive a bite turn months or even years later from their exposure.”
“Oh, God, does that mean—”
“No, you received the antidote in time. There was still a chance you wouldn’t wake up, but the antidote stripped all the corrupted magic from your body.”
I exhale, trying to breathe out my rising frustration. “Why have they never told us this?”
“Probably because ‘Hey, darkling magic is hella poisonous for humans,’ isn’t good for morale. That and the antidote is incredibly rare and expensive. They only keep one vial in the infirmary, and Jace said they only stocked it recently, to look good in front of the Council for the Mistreatment of Humans.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t despise the Fae any more. “They could at least educate us in class about the deadly side effect of a darkling bite.”
“What, and scare all their ignorant human shields away?” She shakes her head in disgust. “Most humans never survive the attack, so it’s easy for the academy to downplay the risk. And the poison has to enter a major artery to take hold.”
I rub my head. “Wait. Was anyone else poisoned?”
“Not poisoned but . . . five students were killed, their necks all neatly broken, like . . .”
“Like they were more interested in something else,” I finish.
“We think the students tried to fight them or simply got in their way.” She pauses, her gaze dropping to the cloud-white duvet cover. “Kyler was one of them.” Oh, no. Horror doubles me over, and I clutch my stomach. “But she was with us until . . .” The final bits of my memory lock into place. I had Kyler’s hand and then . . . “How could I forget? I lost her in the crowd. Mack, I should have insisted we go after her first.”
Mack squeezes my arm. “Stop. You did everything you could, Summer. We all did.”
Tears ache just behind my eyes. “First Evelyn, now Kyler. I thought, I don’t know, that this year was going to be better.” I wipe my nose on my sleeve, surprised by the utter hopelessness I feel. “What about the CMH?”
“It’s been reported. But since this was a darkling attack and not something specifically caused by the academy, it’s considered an accident. In fact, it’s being spun as just another reason to allow the Evermore to live in our world.”
“Of course.” I settle back on the pillow, drawing my knees to my chest. “The Fae now have their own PR firms, and who knows better how to spin the truth to their benefit than the Evermore?”
