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“They’re grouped by seasonal courts,” I say aloud. Inside each gazebo, luxuriously dressed Evermore sit on . . . thrones.
“Oh, crap,” I hiss, halting so abruptly a boy runs into me from behind. “Is that—”
“The Winter King,” Ruby finishes.
My blood goes cold as I scan the Fae inside. The Winter King and Queen occupy frosty thrones of ice. Inara stands with her parents beside them. And next to her—
A spike of excitement slams through my heart as I take in Valerian. His thick ink-blue hair has that familiar just-stumbled-from-bed messiness, his sensual lips tilted in a lazy smile that doesn’t quite reach his silver eyes.
My body reacts with such fervor at his presence that I bite my cheek to tamp it down. As if he can feel my reaction, his bored gaze slides to me. Catches.
I thought I couldn’t want him any more. But the moment our eyes meet, a chasm of need breaks open inside me—
I rip my gaze away and focus on my toes. The black lacquer Mack insisted on applying sparkles softly.
Yes, focus on your toes. Toes aren’t sexy. They’re weird, that’s why we paint them.
Images of Valerian’s bare feet from our one night together pop uninvited into my head . . . except they’re not weird at all, but masculine and beautiful.
Get a hold of yourself, Summer!
I drag my attention away from Valerian, looking for something else—anything else to focus on. Beneath the Spring Court pavilion, Hellebore leans casually against a throne made of thick, tangled wisteria vines, obviously too cool to sit in the thing. The giant lavender buds match his silky purple shirt. Spring insects hover around their gazebo. Giant jewel-toned dragonflies, blue and yellow butterflies, and fat bumblebees.
His sister, Freesia, is dressed in similar colors. Beside her, their aunt, the Spring Court Queen, sits erect in a throne made from an enormous buttery-gold daffodil.
The sun seems to set all at once, bathing the courtyard in delicate champagne light. As if on cue, Cronus takes the stage that’s been erected in the center of the platform. seems rather stupid, considering how dangerous darklings can be. Then again, in my experience so far, the Fae have proven their mindless cruelty trumps their cleverness.
The headmistress clears her throat. Dragging my eyes from the files, I scramble from the room just as Mr. Willis enters. He gives me a kind nod before shutting the door. A lock clicks behind me.
Which of course immediately piques my curiosity. As quietly as possible, I press my ear to the door crack.
Muffled voices filter through. “Should have expelled her anyway,” Mr. Willis is saying.
Thanks a lot, buddy.
“The prince expressly forbade it!” the headmistress snaps. From the soft footsteps, she’s pacing.
Valerian intervened. I knew it.
Their voices grow dimmer. I press harder into the door, side-eyeing the top of the stairs in case someone appears.
I catch Mr. Willis’s gruff voice as he says, “You know why. He wants to torture her. I’ve heard the rumors about Whitehall, so have you. By letting him into the academy, I fear we’ve let a fox into the henhouse.”
Okay, they’re not talking about Valerian anymore.
The pacing stops. “I couldn’t say no, you know that. Without the Spring Court’s influence, they would have shut down the academy.”
“Yes,” Mr. Willis growls before lowering his voice. “But we still haven’t determined why Prince Hellebore is really here. The scourge has invaded the Spring lands, but the academy has enough wards that it would have been protected.”
Prince Hellebore? They’re talking about that inflated prick? What the heck? Which means . . . he’s the one responsible for me not being expelled.
Because he’s not done toying with me yet.
A small grunt slips from my throat. The room goes quiet. Stupid Fae hearing!
Footsteps pound toward the door. My heart slams into my throat as I leap down the stairs four at a time, nearly crippling myself in the process. I don’t stop running until I’m in the familiar halls of the mortal floors.
My mind is all over the place as I rush to my locker where Mack left my school bag. I keep going over this morning. Nearly dying. Mack and Ruby being put in danger along with the entire school. Being abducted and probably almost murdered by the Spring Court douchebag. Eclipsa’s hurtful words.
