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Currently, the conversation revolves around the Wild Hunt.
That’s today, by the way.
My stomach has been in knots all morning knowing how nervous Mack is. She and the other first year shadows will be dropped into the Forest of Eyes just outside the scourge lands with their keepers. They’ll be split into teams as they face off against trolls and other ancient monsters. Each team will be sent to find one hidden artifact.
“Summer, lunch is ready!” Aunt Zinnia calls. She stands on the back porch, wearing an apron that says, ‘It’s always five o’clock somewhere,’ over a pink robe and slippers. She watches me for a moment longer, shielding her eyes, before the porch screen slams shut behind her.
When I showed up on the front porch at the crack of dawn two months ago, wearing a Fae dress and a gold crown, my eyes rimmed from crying, Aunt Zinnia screamed. Then she wrapped me in a hug so warm it chased away any of the lingering cold from Everwilde.
She hugged me for a good five minutes. Then, like any good Southern woman who discovered a girl in tears on her porch, she fixed me grits and tea so sweet it made my teeth ache.
Aunt Vi’s icy demeanor has taken a bit more time to thaw. But I catch her checking on me late at night when she thinks I’m asleep. We don’t speak about what happened, but they’ve taken to running salt over the windowsills and doorways, and I’ve found extra rowan berry charms inside my clothes.
I don’t have the heart to tell them none of that matters. If the Fae want to come back for me, very few things can stop them. The mark on my arm ensures that.
It’s the only part of the prince I can’t erase.
I finish hanging up a pair of jeans and then grab the blue plastic laundry basket. For a moment, my gaze wanders to the east, where the Shimmer glints softly in the late morning sky.
I wish I could say I was okay. That I didn’t miss the academy and the purpose I’d found there. That I didn’t think about my friends daily. I’ve taken to running again, usually in the mornings. But it’s not the same as training with the best Fae assassin in Everwilde.
Hefting my empty basket, I stride toward the house. I make it to the front porch steps when I see him. Cal leans against the top step with two of his friends. He’s laughing and slurring his words like he’s already drunk. When he sees me, he waves them back to the trio of four wheelers parked in our driveway.
The moment they leave, his demeanor changes. Gone is the drunk, stupid bully. In his place is a very alert, cruel Fae. His ears don’t change, but the Fae cunning glints inside his dark eyes.
“Wow,” I say, holding the laundry basket up like a battering ram. “What makes me special enough that I get to see the real you?”
A clever smile reveals large white teeth. “I thought you might have met him over there. Tell me. What’s my human changeling like?”
“Decent. Kind. Basically the opposite of you.”
“Ouch. You hurt my feelings.” He jerks his head toward the woods. “Come. I want to talk to you.”
I set the basket down and begin to follow him.
What am I doing?
I will my legs to stop walking, my mouth to scream. In my head, I know I don’t want to follow him, but I can’t help it. The long grass scratches against my bare ankles as we near the woods.
He turns, grinning. “You know, I always wondered why I couldn’t glamour you into doing things like the others.”
My heart lurches. I reach for my necklace . . .
“Looking for this?” His thick fingers pinch the stolen pendant as he holds it up, sunlight catching inside the ruby.
“When did you take it?” I demand, rage swirling inside me. That necklace contains the memory of my parents inside.
He plunges the pendant into his pocket and takes a step closer. “Why, while you were sleeping, Summer.”
A shiver wracks my body.
“It’s so easy to get inside your window. You should really stop leaving it open at night. And the salt . . .” He tsks. “Salt can’t hold out a powerful Fae like me. You know that.”
“What do you want?”
“Well I already got what I need. What I want is a different story.”
For some reason, my body begins to tremble. “Cal, what have you done?”
