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But her horrific mouthful of sharp teeth are absolutely darkling, and when her all-black eyes find mine, I know she’s still one of them.
A monster—only somehow still in control of her mind.
“Summer.” Her raspy, low voice comes out like a faint breeze.
“Oh my God,” Kyler whimpers. “She’s . . . she’s talking.”
Grabbing Kyler by the arm, I drag her down the hall.
Don’t look back. Just run.
But I do, flinging a desperate gaze over my shoulder just in time to see hundreds of twisted darklings surging inside the academy.
28
Once I gather my bearings, my only thought is saving my friends. They’re on the roof, but if the darklings make it to them, they’ll be trapped. Surely the sirens have alerted them something’s wrong?
I head for the same stairwell I took down here, Kyler in tow. Halfway up, the stairwell explodes with the crashing boom of countless feet coming toward us. It takes all my strength not to get trampled in the chaos. Someone slams into my shoulder, whipping me around. My head cracks against the wall. I stumble and nearly drop to my knees, fighting against the bodies, but there’s nothing I can do as the crowd pushes me in the other direction.
Toward danger.
“The darklings are downstairs!” I warn, but my voice is lost in the mob.
“Summer!”
I whip around at Mack’s voice, desperate to locate her. Relief slams through me as I spot the unicorn horn sticking up a few feet away. She’s with Richard and Jace, all three of them locked arm-in-arm. loser Valerian and I grow, the further the bargain with Hellebore gets pushed back in my mind. Sometimes I can feel his stare across campus, or during the classes we share after lunch. But he never engages, and true to his word, the pranks have stopped.
A part of me knows his inattention is meant to lull me into a false sense of security. That the minute I truly think I’m safe, Hellebore will strike. But that part of me grows quieter as the days pass in a blur of classes, training, and tests.
Next weekend is Samhain. This year, they’re making all the shadows stay in the main hall instead of the gym, with cots set up in the lecture halls and guards posted outside.
We’re all camped out on the roof, watching the huge projector screen as an Adam Sandler movie plays. Even with the movie speakers turned all the way up, the wild, animalistic snarls from the campus below pierce the night. A bonfire rages in the distance, the smoke tinging the air and stinging the back of my throat.
I’ve been restless all day, as if I can feel the Evermore changing. Or maybe my inner Fae is reacting somehow.
I check my phone, scrolling down to my last message with Valerian. I sent him a picture of me holding up a falafel plate that I had Ruby fly over. I’ve been ordering new foods for him to try, and, so far, he hasn’t loved a single one.
His reply: Delicious. I can’t wait to devour it.
Me: Really? So I’ve finally won?
Him: Oh, did you think I was talking about the food?
Me: You’re the worst.
Ruby took him the food hours ago, and I haven’t heard anything since. Not that I’m surprised. Samhain is the one night a year the Evermore’s primal instincts turn them half-wild, unable to control their animalistic impulses.
And Ruby probably ate most of it before she arrived anyway.
Mack elbows me, nearly waking the sprite, who’s nestled in the front pouch of the onesie Mack insisted I wear. I’m pretending there aren’t cats riding burritos on the front. “Stop checking your phone every five minutes.”
I tuck my phone into my pocket. “Says the girl who just sent lizard breath ten dragon gifs in a row.”
“That was funny,” she insists. “And there are so many dragon gifs to choose from.”
I glance over at my bestie. She’s taken this whole slumber party thing just a bit too far. Her pink-streaked chocolate hair is pulled into pigtails, and she wears a unicorn onesie with a horned hood.
“I’m sorry, what?” I tease. “I can’t hear you over the unicorns farting rainbows on your outfit.”
