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“I hate Faes!” Emma burst out and I saw that her eyes were suspiciously bright. “I mean, I don’t hate all of them—I wouldn’t hate one that was nice,” she went on, swiping at her eyes with a napkin. “But none of them are nice! They’re all so stuck up and nasty, just because they’re prettier than everyone else.”
Unfortunately, I had to agree with her there—most of the Fae who attended Nocturne Academy weren’t very kind. Avery always said they were too pretty to be nice which seemed to be true. The Fae were perfect themselves—at least to look at—and had no patience for anyone who wasn’t.
Fae girls look like Instagram Influencers times ten with wide, almost-anime eyes, perfect bodies, and gorgeous poofs of pastel hair. And Fae guys are almost as pretty as the girls. As a result, regular humans look like toads compared to them—or at least, that’s what most of the Fae would have you believe from the way they shunned us. Or them, I supposed—I couldn’t really call myself human anymore, though I had been human long enough to sympathize with my friend.
“I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time, Emma,” Megan said, reaching out to squeeze Emma’s arm. “I didn’t know your scholarship was dependent on your grades.”
Emma’s tuition to Nocturne Academy was being paid by a mysterious third party who preferred to remain nameless and anonymous. We sometimes speculated on who it might be. My own guess was her absent father, who had abandoned her mother not long after Emma was born.
“Well, it is dependent on my grades.” Emma sniffed again. “Whoever is paying for it told Headmistress Nightworthy that I had to make ‘top marks’ in order to keep getting the scholarship.” She sighed.
“It’s too bad you don’t know who your mysterious benefactor is,” Avery remarked. “You could write him or her a letter and let them know what’s going on.”
“You think they’d take ‘being bullied by fairies’ as a good excuse for failing trig?” Emma exclaimed. “Thanks, Avery, but I sort of doubt that.”
“Well, we can come to the I-Scream diner and help you study,” Megan offered. “I’m awful at math myself but Griffin is a whiz at it.”
“Ari is pretty good too,” I said, offering my Bond-mate as well.
“Thanks guys.” Emma sighed. “But I think I’ll just try to go in to class an hour before breakfast and take it then. Foozle is an early riser and I’m sure I can catch her before the day starts.”
That was going to make an awfully late night and early morning for poor Emma, I knew. But suggesting that she drop one of her shifts at the I Scream Diner to take the test, instead of doing it early after working half the night and almost no sleep, wasn’t an option. She and her mom had a crappy little apartment on the bad side of the little town of Frostproof, where Nocturne Academy was located, and Emma had confided to me that they were barely scraping by, even with her working as many shifts as she could at the diner.
Saint, who had been sitting quietly and listening to us talk, spoke up.
“I know I’m new and I haven’t been here long,” he said. “But just point this Morganna female out to me and I will tell her that she must leave you alone. If need be, I can bring out my Drake—he doesn’t like females,” he added, with a reddish gleam in his black eyes.
“No, no, no!” Avery exclaimed, turning to him. “Slow your roll there, Tall Dark and Scary. You cannot let your Drake out on school grounds—not even to scare the Bitch Princess into submission.”
Saint frowned. “I wouldn’t let him hurt her—I would only scare her a little.”
“Avery is right, Cousin,” Ari said anxiously. “You really can’t let your Drake out while you’re here. It is strictly forbidden.”
“Besides, Saint,” Jalli said softly. “You know how your Drake, uh, reacts to girls.”
“He is only hostile to those who try to tame him,” Saint said. “But if allowing him to come out here is forbidden, then I am afraid I cannot help you,” he said to Emma.
“Uh, thanks anyway.” She gave him a wan smile. “It was nice of you to offer.”
“You’re welcome.” Saint nodded.
“I’m really sorry she’s giving you so many problems, Emmers,” Avery said, turning to Emma again. “I wish you had some supernatural power you could use to deflect Morganna’s bitchiness. If you were a witch, I could teach you some spells.”
“But I’m not a witch. Or a Drake or a Nocturne and thank God, I’m not a Fae. I’m just a plain old human nobody,” Emma said glumly. “And that’s all I’ll ever be. I don’t even know why whoever is paying my way is footing the bill to send me to a supernatural school in the first place. It seems like such a waste when I don’t have a speck of magic in my entire body.”
