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“A change-what?” I say.
“Oh, right. We haven’t covered that yet.” She drops his wrist and then pats his arm. “It’s okay, she’ll calm down once I explain. Here”—she grabs the flute brimming with pink potion and offers it to me—“let’s down these, since you obviously need to chill, and then I’ll explain.”
Normally, I wouldn’t chug a mysterious, magical liquid, even if Mack promises I’ll adore it, but after the shock of seeing Cal in Everwilde, I desperately need something.
The liquid fizzes all the way down my throat and into my stomach. When every ounce of liquid has been drained from the flute, a pink wisp of smoke trickles from the rim and dances around my head in the shape of a dragon.
Mack’s becomes a smoky teal sprite that giggles before evanescing. Callum’s is a centaur that gallops around the room shooting arrows of smoke. Evelyn’s becomes a mermaid that circles her head, splashing smoke-water at her.
“Wow,” I say, clutching my belly. “That was . . . intense.”
For a moment, it feels as if a swarm of feathery butterflies have been let loose in my stomach. Then a wave of complete joy washes over me.
This is nice. So nice. Cal is nice. Everyone is nice.
“I love everyone,” I purr.
I sit on my butt beside Mack and Evelyn, both girls matching my silly grin with smiles of their own. I have no idea why we’re on the floor instead of the couch.
“See,” Mack says, petting my face. “Now, ready for more truth about Callum?”
I nod happily.
“So Callum is a changeling,” Mack begins. Callum plops his giant form beside us as he watches Mack explain. “He was taken as a baby and replaced by an other—a lookalike Fae child.” ortal shoots us out onto pavement next to buildings—tall, modern skyscrapers, I discover. The snowfall here is less and I can actually see the stars.
Steam curls up from iced-over sidewalks and over our boots.
“Where are we?” I ask, following Mack and Evelyn around the corner.
Mack smiles. “Welcome to Evernell, capital city of the new Everwilde. This is where all the students go to relax.” She nods her head to the sleek high-rises. “Many of the Evermore students have weekend homes here. Your boy the Winter Prince has the penthouse to that monstrosity ahead. It belongs to his dad, but only the prince uses it.”
I follow her nod to the tallest building in the city, a metallic all-glass building two blocks down. The top floor is huge, and I study the tinted windows as if I can see the Winter Prince from here.
“I’m guessing by the weather he’s not here?” I say.
“Or,” she offers, cutting her dark eyes at me. “You bring out the worst in him. I mean, I may be wrong, but calling him a bitch in public was probably a little triggering. You should probably stop doing that if you want nicer weather.”
“Well, the truth hurts.”
Laughing, we follow a group of students across the street as I stare around in wonder. For some reason, I thought all of Everwilde would be forest and meadows . . . not this.
Bright neon signs glow from tall buildings, and in the distance, a fountain shoots water into the air to a strange Fae song. Something about this place seems so familiar.
“Wait . . . is this . . . ?”
“The City of Lights?” she finishes. “Yeah. Welcome to the old Las Vegas, baby.”
That’s right. When the Lightmare happened, I assumed all the cities had been destroyed. But I guess they were just repurposed. It was the human beings living here that got the short end of that stick.
Mack doesn't notice my anger as she grabs her phone and begins texting. “I’ll shoot Callum a message to have an emotion potion ready for us.”
“A what?” I ask.
She grins. “Just wait.”
Callum is the third year mentor our hall is assigned to. Any questions, Mack said, and we ask Callum. I haven’t met him yet, but the third and fourth year trials are supposedly almost impossible to pass, and he’s been crazy busy.
I can barely keep from gawking at everything as we exit an alleyway into a side street. A row of bars with names like The Black Cauldron and The Iron Centaur spill patrons into the street. I gawk at them, too, overwhelmed by their strangeness.
