Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,105

reason we aren’t being ruthlessly tortured.

“When can ceartas be invoked?” Professor Orenthall is asking.

Asher raises his arm, and Mack and I exchange shocked glances. Not that dragon boy isn’t smart, but I can’t recall him ever answering a teacher’s question in class. “The practice of ceartas is accepted when the perpetrator has continuously and wantonly injured the other party and, through power and politics, escaped legal justice through the courts.”

Mack’s eyebrows are halfway up her forehead, and she mouths, Hot as hell and smart.

Better lock that down, Fairchild, I mouth back.

“Very good, Mr. Grayscale,” Professor Orenthall says, appearing as surprised as we are. That surprise turns to shock as he glances over the roof at two approaching figures.

Something about the way the professor’s face blanches, his gaze collapsing to the floor in respect, hints at the visitors’ identities before they come into full view.

Valerian and Eclipsa stroll to the front of the class.

The professor’s hands wring together as he asks, “And why do we have the pleasure of your company, Winter Prince?”

Valerian finds me in the crowd. Without looking at the professor, he says, “You’re relieved for the day, Professor Orenthall.”

Valerian’s tone is casual, but there’s something lurking beneath that makes the professor flee, leaving behind his briefcase and sports jacket.

Eclipsa flashes a terrifying smile, her eyes glittering with a mischief I’ve learned to associate with violence. “We are going to give an example of ceartas. Who volunteers?”

Silence. A few students even duck their heads as if hiding their faces will make them disappear. Behind me, Bane and his friends have stopped snickering. I don’t have to look behind me to see they’re frozen in fear.

“The group in the back,” Eclipsa drawls, making the act seem random even though, at this point, everyone knows where this is going.

I follow her pointed finger to Bane’s little crew. They’re looking at one another, panic creeping over their faces as they try to figure out what to do.

Bane swallows. “When my father learns of this—”

“He’ll thank me.” Eclipsa rubs her chin, still grinning, but her eyes are pure predator. “If I have to repeat myself I’m going to get grumpy.”

Bane averts his face from me as he and the others march to the front.

“Not so arrogant now, are you?” Mack murmurs.

When Bane, Lyra, and Reina are lined up in front of Valerian, my mate tilts his head to study them, the gesture one hundred percent predatory.

Then he faces the rest of the class. “Today’s lesson is to demonstrate what happens when you touch Summer.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting. A warning. A verbal lashing. Maybe a beat down.

But I should know my mate better than that.

In the span of a breath a cold front blows in, tugging at the blankets and sending loose jackets and notebooks flying. A blizzard completely descends, hemming us in like a wall of pure white. Valerian stands casually in the center of it all, one hand in his dark jeans’ pocket, the other drawing lazy loops in the air.

Lifting my chin, I follow his gaze and it slowly dawns on me who he’s controlling. Bane, Lyra, and Reina. They move like puppets a hundred feet over the rooftop, their legs kicking uselessly, their screams muffled by the icy wind.

Each flick of my mate’s wrist sends them careening across the sky. He toys with them. Letting them drop countless feet. Slamming them into one another. Making them dance.

Sometimes he twirls them almost comically—but there’s nothing humorous about the display.

It’s a warning.

I must be cringing because Asher leans over, his hand settling on my knee. “He has to do this, Summer. You might technically be Hellebore’s fiancé, but you are his mate. An attack on you is an attack on him. They’re lucky he’s not going to kill them.” He frowns as Valerian lets the three drop again. “Okay, I actually don’t know if he’s going to let them live.”

His shrug is at odds with the horror filling my chest.

As much as I want them punished, death never entered my mind. Could I live with that? A mate who would kill for me?

Yes, I realize. Yes I could. Because I would do the same to anyone who tried to hurt him.

“Won’t General Winterspell be pissed his only son is dead?” Mack asks, her eyes glued to the scene.

Asher shrugs again. “Bane is a little bitch. We’re doing the general a favor.”

“Doubt he would see it that way.”

“It’s a valuable lesson. The students have only heard rumors of the prince’s