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I lift my arms, ready to make a break for it—
“Freeze, girl!” Professor Balefire slides down the side of the embankment, pebbles disturbing the pond below. “They’re attracted to movement.”
The selkies turn their hungry gazes on the professor in unison and then slowly back to me.
He holds up a wooden bucket and pours the entire disgusting contents into the water. It looks like some type of . . . raw meat. Bleck.
Dark red blood blooms along the foamy waves.
A few selkies dart beneath the water, their silky fins churning the lake as they scramble for the food.
But most don’t give the bait a second glance.
“It’s troll meat meant for the harpies,” the professor calls, tapping the bucket like it’s a dinner bell. “Best I could do short notice.”
Hellebore’s chuckle carries on the soft breeze. “Selkies prefer their food live so they can play with it first.”
Fae-freaking-tastic.
Eclipsa leaps to the shore. Her sharp focus darts between the selkies, Hellebore, and the griffin, making it clear that she sees all three as equal threats.
Her favorite jeweled dagger glints from her hand. I frown at the thin, delicate blade. It’s her favorite because it can be easily hidden, and when used by someone with her particular set of skills, can end someone’s life quickly, without much blood or mess.
But I’m not sure how finesse will help in this situation. Against selkies and larger, winged predators like the griffin, it’s way too small to do much damage . . . but, no. She’s bending the blade so that the sapphire in the middle of the hilt catches the sun and sends blue jewels of light skipping across the lake.
Do selkies like shiny things? I get my answer when the rest of the slippery creatures turn their terrifying hunger from me to the sparkly shards dancing around them.
The water vibrates with their strange purring sounds as they slowly begin to circle this new temptation. They pounce on the lights, snarling their frustration when the sparkles move just out of reach.
The trick works. Slowly, Eclipsa draws them away from me.
While Eclipsa and the professor work to keep the selkies’ attention, Hellebore has meandered his way around the other side. He stops a healthy distance from the griffin. I can tell by the way he stares at the beast that he feels the same admiration for it that I do.
Which is why, when he tosses the loaded crossbow at me, I stare at the weapon in confusion. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
He lifts a honey-gold eyebrow, that lazy irreverence oozing from his every move. “Whatever you want. Pick your teeth with it, for all I care. But if you desire to actually leave the watery grave you stand in, you’ll send a bolt through that glorious creature’s heart.”
“The hell I will,” I snap, glaring at him.
Hellebore flashes his teeth in a bored smile. “Fine. Watching a griffin slaughter you or one of your classmates will be entertaining, at least.”
“I’ll swim to the other side.”
His focus slides to the selkies and back to me; the arrogance inside those turquoise depths make me want to carve them out and feed them to the selkies. “You will be dead before you make it ten feet, but good luck with that.”
I flick a sideways glance at the griffin, relieved to see its focus is still very much on me. “And how do you know it won’t kill you?”
“Griffins are highly intelligent creatures. They don’t prey on other apex predators unless defending themselves.”
Other apex predators? This guy takes the arrogant Fae stereotype to a whole new level of douchery.
He runs a hand over the cropped side of his silky blond hair. Probably habit from staring into the mirror for hours on end. “Besides, last I checked, I can fly. Can you? How about any of your mortal friends?”
Fly? I briefly wonder what shifter type allows him that ability before honing in on his statement. My friends.
Clutching the handle of the crossbow, I glance at the shadows on the embankment. Like the idiot tourists at the game parks that leave the safety of their cars to take selfies with grizzly bears, the mortal students keep coming. Drawn in by the promise of watching my humiliation unfold, they’ve completely ignored the wild griffin’s presence.
A few extra-special ones throw pebbles at the griffin, trying to agitate it.
