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She tugs her hands away, her eyes puffy as they meet mine. “The only way to pass now is to win the final gauntlet.”
My eyebrows jerk up in surprise. “No. You can’t, Mack.”
“I already entered. That’s where I was just now.”
There’s a cold finality in her words. Crap. I replay my bargain with Hellebore in my mind. “Mack, please. I’m begging you to rescind your name. We’ll find a way. I’ll talk to the Winter Prince. Maybe he can do something.”
“I know you guys broke up, Summer. The whole school does.” Swiping at her eyes, she stands. “It doesn’t matter. If you can’t be happy that I have one final chance to stay at the academy—”
“You know it’s not that. You’re my best friend. If anything happens to you, I would die.”
“I supported you when you decided to hook up with the Winter Prince, even though I knew he would break your heart. I supported you when you entered the gauntlet on some crazy mission that’s probably going to get you killed. Now, all I’m asking is that you do the same for me.” She shakes her head. “Never mind. I have to go. My dads are waiting for me, and I haven’t told them yet, so . . .”
As soon as the door shuts behind her, my face crumples, tears streaming freely.
How did everything spiral so out of control so fast? In less than a day, I’ve lost nearly everyone I ever cared about.
Only Ruby is left, and even she should despise me for offering her up to a sociopath—even if she would have thoroughly enjoyed it, the sicko.
The ache in my chest grows as I open my nightstand drawer. She’s made a nest of stolen underwear and socks inside. I kiss my fingertip and press it to her sleeping form. Her little shimmery wings stir, but she doesn’t awaken.
“Stay out of trouble, sprite.”
But I’m starting to think with me gone, Ruby will be the safest she’s been since school started.
I ruined Valerian’s standing in court. Endangered Eclipsa just by association. Nearly let Jane be sold into a lifetime of slavery. And now Mack is flunking school, her childhood dream of graduating as a Shadow Guardian shredded, because of me.
Maybe love’s not the poison—maybe I am.
41
I stare at the crack in my ceiling above my bed. I haven’t left my room in days other than to use the restroom. The tantalizing smell of banana bread fills the air, a pang of hunger twinging my middle, reminding me I should eat. Should keep my strength up for the final gauntlet in two days.
I leave tomorrow to journey to the Spring Court, where I’ll stay overnight with all the other finalists.
I should definitely eat. But my appetite is gone, and I just don’t have the energy to force down food at the moment.
Through the thin walls, I hear the oven ding. A moment later, Zinnia’s voice rings through the house. “Summer! I made your favorite!”
Ever since I returned home last Sunday, Zinnia’s baked enough to feed half the town. Vi’s drank enough to petrify her liver. And Jane’s found every excuse there is to disappear into the woods.
As for me, I’ve held a five day long pity party for one.
God, I miss my friends. I worry about Mack and how she’s holding up. I miss having to hide all my food from Ruby. I miss Eclipsa ordering me around during training.
And Valerian . . .
Ugh. Don’t think about him.
Flipping onto my stomach, I reach onto my nightstand and grab my phone. Eclipsa’s string of text messages show up first. I flip through them, eyebrows knitted together.
I’m sorry.
I was an asshole.
I shouldn’t have said that.
I’m the worst.
