AllFreeNovel
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“Hey, can I sit with you guys?”
We both look up to see Kyler standing by our row of chairs. She wears a fuzzy green robe over a nightgown, and she’s clutching a bag of burnt popcorn.
Mack goes full-fledged protective mode before I can say a word. “Um, do you plan on planting orc bait on us?”
Kyler flinches, her eyes staring down at her cow slippers. “I didn’t have a choice. My Keeper said if I didn’t—”
“Shh,” Reina hisses from two rows ahead. “Shut up or I’ll make you, first year.”
Immediate, blinding rage pours through me, and I shoot Reina a murderous look until she reluctantly turns around.
I was hurt when I figured out it was Kyler who planted the orc bait on me, but after a few days I had calmed down enough to realize she didn’t have a choice. That day, Rhaegar had somehow forced her Keeper to trade her to him, no doubt for that very reason.
Kyler is an easy target. Soft spoken, way out of her depth here, and kind. No way can she stand up to cunning Evermore like Rhaegar and Hellebore.
But Mack hasn’t forgiven her, and she tells Kyler exactly where to stick it.
My heart clenches as I watch Kyler try to find a place to sit on the crowded rooftop before slinking back down the stairs.
Mack takes a look at my crestfallen expression and shakes her head. “No. You will not feel sorry for her. I don’t care what Rhaegar threatened her with, she still had a choice.”
I nod, trying to focus on the movie, but all I can see is her crestfallen expression. The desperation in her face.
Without friends, no one survives this academy. And I won’t be responsible for hurting someone, even if they hurt me first.
“I know that look, Summer,” Mack groans. “Kyler isn’t a wounded puppy, she’s a grown-ass adult who chose to almost get you killed.”
“I know,” I whisper as two Fall Court shadows shush us. “I’ll be back. Hold our seats?”
Pouting, Mack pulls her unicorn hood down low over her narrowed eyes and slumps into the metal chair. “Fine. But I’m not sharing my Sour Patch Kids with her.”
As I wave goodbye, I smartly decide that now isn’t the time to inform Mack that Ruby already demolished her candy.
Once I’m down the stairs and inside the academy, I realize I have no idea where Kyler would have gone. Back to her assigned cot, maybe? Most first years are located in the basement, near the anatomy labs.
My sneakers are quiet as I slip down the steps, suddenly all too aware of the silence. The academy is almost always full of students and staff, even during the evening. It’s weird not hearing anything.
I can’t access the basement from this stairwell, so I duck into the halls, searching for the doorway that leads down.
I make it maybe five feet when a flash of motion catches my eye near a glass door that leads outside. Kyler stands in the small courtyard, surrounded by—
Frick.
Three half-shifted lycans. Where are the Guardians protecting the door?
I burst outside without even thinking, prepared to drag her to safety. Kyler whips around to face me, eyes huge and swollen from crying. “Summer? Tell them. Tell them they’re not allowed to touch us.”
One look at the three hulking lycan males and I know that plea is off the table. Black snouts protrude from their faces, their eyes an eerie gold.
The alpha stands in front of the others. He’s grinning.
But not the nice kind of grin.
My flesh prickles with fear. “Kyler, get behind me.” As soon as she does, I whisper, “Now open the door slowly and back inside.”
The alpha shakes his head. “Why would we let you two go when we’re ready to party?”
The other two begin to circle us.
