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Mack wipes her hands on a napkin and grabs another soft taco, the corn tortilla breaking apart between her fingers. Tomatillo sauce smears her cheek, her dark hair pulled into a messy bun. Purple and teal streak the chocolate brown, her newest colors.
“This is better than sex,” she declares like someone who’s had a ton of sex. Which I’m pretty sure she hasn’t.
“Whoa, ladies.” Jace is a first year shadow who, if the rumors are true, has more experience in his pinky than Mack and I have put together. His parents own a bunch of Fae condos in Florida. “You must not have found the right partners yet.”
Mack arches an eyebrow. “And what would you know about that, Jace?”
Everyone knows Jace bats for the other team. Grinning, he gives a careless shrug. “Enough to know if you think a taco is better, you’re doing it wrong.”
“No,” I say, finishing the last bit of mine. “You just haven’t met the right taco.” I wink. “Try the green chili pork; they’ll blow your mind.”
Dusting the shredded cheese from my hands, I get to my feet. On the other side of the grouping, near a cliff overlooking the frozen lake, lounge the Six. Unlike the rest of the Evermore, they refuse to eat with their shadows.
And, of course, they don’t lower themselves to eat our human fare.
A veritable feast of summer fruits and vegetables brought in from Summer Court territories mound little silver trays, and they pick from them lazily beneath a royal-blue pavilion.
Inhaling a lungful of courage, I grab a cardboard boat with two soft tacos and march uphill toward them. As I walk, I catch sight of Rhaegar sitting off near the woods with Basil. Both Evermore look dejected.
My breath catches in my chest, and I quickly look away.
Rhaegar returned to class a few weeks ago. His temporary probation was lifted, and he’s once again a member of the Summer Court. But, despite being a member on paper, he’s ostracized. He eats mainly alone or with Basil, he sits in the back of his classes and doesn’t participate, and he hasn’t taken on a new shadow.
Pushing Rhaegar from my mind, I top the hill with my offerings. Bane is the first one who notices me. He tenses where he sits with Lyra, a silver goblet of Faerie wine between them.
Kimber, the vampire, hisses, “Lost, little shadow?”
Ignoring them, I search for the prince. As I drag my gaze over the lounging bodies, it snags on his hair, a deep sapphire blue in this delicate light. That same tiny shock I get when first seeing him zips through me, the invisible thread between us tugging softly just behind my breastbone.
He’s lying on his back, his head resting in Inara’s lap. Her fingers tangle in his dark locks, and a whisper of jealousy trills through me.
His eyes are closed, but he must sense the change in the air because they snap open and focus on me. He stiffens before carefully extracting Inara’s hands.
“What do you want?” he asks coldly as he gets to his feet. Eclipsa is there by one of the tent poles; she watches our interaction carefully.
My mouth goes dry. Why did I think this was a good idea? But if I’m going to get through his thick shell, this is as good a time as any. Plus, everyone loves tacos. “I just thought you might like to try some . . . tacos.”
Bane snorts, and the rest of the girls follow suit.
“Aw,” Lyra purrs. “Your shadow brought you some of her disgusting human food to try.”
Correction: Fae hate tacos. Of course they do. Heat prickles my face. I hold up the bowl, my stupid stubborn side refusing to leave. “They’re really good.”
The muscles in my body go rigid as Kimber glides over. She moves so fast and gracefully that I blink and she’s here. Her eyes are more red than golden. Crap. I know from my books that means she needs to feed.
Baring the tips of her fangs, she leans close as if to smell my offering.
Only she ignores the tacos, sniffing me instead.
I grit my teeth, trying to ignore the rumors swirling around the dorms that she glamours her shadow into letting her drink from her.
“Hmm,” Kimber purrs, her lips now inches from my throat. “You’re right. It smells delicious.”
The prince strides over, his face impossible to read. Kimber senses his presence and immediately backs off. The others all watch to see what he’ll do.
The prince looks down to the tacos, back to me. “We have enough food here, but thanks.”
I should leave; this is not going as planned at all. But my frustration from all these weeks spent being mannerly and nice, fetching him every single thing in existence and trying to connect with his stupid, infernal black heart suddenly catch up to me. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to try something human. We’re not that bad.”
