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Whatever that means, since most of the regular students are trust fund babies who pay more for a haircut than I’ll spend in a year. But, her dads are a bit . . . generous, especially when it comes to buying her stuff, so I understand her reasoning—even if losing George is a freaking travesty.
“I don’t think Fred comes with those options,” I say.
Fred, short for Freddie Mercury, is the new twenty dollar Target coffee maker Mack bought from Jace, whose parents run a business ferrying mortal products in the Everwilde. They’re the Amazon of the Everwilde and, if the rumors are true, every bit as rich.
I hop from the bed and pocket the phone. “But I think there might be some creamer in the fridge downstairs, if you want me to grab it?”
“Dang. I miss George.” She flips to face me, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Whatever, we’ll make Fred work.”
I hate that Reina has made Mack question her rightful place here. Sure, Mack’s a legacy, and that helped, but she’s also the hardest working student on campus. She’s earned her spot like everyone else.
She watches me slip on my sneakers. “Where are you going? Extra training?”
“No,” I say too quickly. “Eclipsa wanted to cover some stuff I don’t understand, but it’s not actual training.”
Not a lie, but my face burns with guilt anyway, and I focus on double and triple knotting my laces.
Regular after school guardian training starts this week, but ever since the gauntlets were announced, worried Keepers have already started booking out the gym for private sessions with their shadows.
Mine are mostly in the morning with Eclipsa, but Valerian texted late last night to inform me we have two sessions a week after regular combat class together.
I waited for funny emojis or a clever remark in the message, but that was it. The single text he sent me Saturday morning, after I’d slept off the entire embarrassing ordeal, was just as short.
I’m sorry things got out of hand.
Not sure what I was expecting, but after going full on horny hooker, I expected more than seven measly words in a text.
“Asher said the gym schedule this week is already full,” Mack adds, “so he talked the ILB into letting him train me during your appointment. Apparently Instant Lady Boner rented the entire gym out so you two could be alone.” She flashes a devilish grin that brings out both cheek dimples. “If you want that—some time alone with him—I’ll tell Asher this week is no good.”
I look away before she can see the conflicting emotions raging through me. Sometimes I wonder if she suspects that the mating ceremony wasn’t a fluke after all. I kind of just let her assume it was after I was expelled because that was easier than trying to explain the truth.
And when I discovered the danger attached to my history . . .
No way will I subject Mack to that hot mess.
“Summer?” Mack says, concern in her eyes.
“What?” I blink as her last question slowly surfaces. “Hell no. Chicks before dicks, bae before Fae, remember? And you’re my only bae. Besides, you deserve extra training time like everyone else to prepare for the gauntlet. If you didn’t pass . . .” I shake my head, sending the idea back to the dark hole from whence it came. “That will never happen because A, you’re the best student here and B, I need you. Got it? Even if that means training five times a day with dragon boy.”
“I mean, if that’s what it takes to pass, I’ll force myself to do extra sessions with Asher, but I won’t like it.”
We break into hysterical laughter, earning more than a few weird looks from our dormmates passing by the open door.
Tears of laughter stream down her face as she wraps me in a hug. “I don’t deserve you, bae.”
I hug her back, knowing the opposite is true: Mackenzie Fairchild is the love of my life, and I’ll never understand why she chose me as her best friend. Never.
“Can we please demand George back?” I whisper.
She squeezes me harder. “Shh, Fred will hear you! He’s temperamental.”
Great. I’m so going to punish Reina for this.
I find Eclipsa wiping down her eggplant purple yoga mat. Her text said to wear comfortable clothes, and I realize why when she pats the pink mat beside hers. I settle next to her, glancing at the two empty mats behind us.
“Someone joining us?” I say, but my heart already knows, and it stutters into a frantic rhythm just as the doors swing open and Valerian enters, followed by Asher.
Both wear black joggers and soft cotton tees that show off their athletic bodies. Holy hell, they could be models in a sportswear campaign.
