Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,29
two-for-one sale at Nordstrom,” Mack quips darkly. “If the man working behind the cash register with the Ray Ban eyeglasses and Givenchy shirt is Fae Satan and the payment is your soul.”
“Inara doesn’t have a soul,” Eclipsa amends. “And Fae Satan looks like your Santa Claus compared to the Darken.”
I pause disentangling a twig from my hair to study the woods. If Inara did plan this, it would be just like her to have someone videotaping. If Hellebore knows I’m around Valerian, the others would be punished.
Asher saunters closer, his lips quirked in amusement as he regards Mack and me. Those smoky green eyes practically sparkle as they drink in my best friend. “If we’re rolling around on the forest floor, I’d like an invitation.”
So that just happened.
A strange laugh-snort bursts from my bestie’s lips, followed by . . .
Giggling—she’s giggling, her round cheekbones tinged pink and eyes dancing.
“Don’t be . . . absurd,” she chokes out between bizarre little laughs. She’s twirling strands of her emerald-and-gold streaked hair and batting her eyelashes and holy Fae ears, is that what I look like when I’m around Valerian?
“This is going to end well,” Eclipsa mutters.
Shooting Eclipsa a scowl, Asher gently wraps his large man-paw over Mack’s tiny fingers and lifts her to her feet. I follow, dusting leaves and junk from my pants.
She’s right. Between Valerian and my forbidden mating bond and Asher and Mack’s flirtatious whatever-the-frick that was, we’re breaking like ten Fae laws.
Probably more.
“I have to go.” My gaze lingers on Valerian, although I don’t have the guts to totally meet his intense stare. If I do there’s a risk that I’ll never leave his side again. “See you guys at school?”
Valerian draws close, brushing his fingers lightly over my chin as he forces me to face him. His eyes hold mine captive. “I promised you as my mate that I would protect you, and I will. You were caged once, and I know how much that hurt you. I will set you free, Summer. Whatever it takes.”
My throat clenches. I hate that phrase. Whatever it takes implies he’s willing to give up everything to save me—and there are things I’m not willing to sacrifice.
Namely him.
You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.
His voice shivers through me like a psalm, and I blush. “You can’t say things like that, Valerian.”
He blinks as surprise widens his eyes. “You can hear me?”
“Yes. It’s like a distant whisper. I heard you calling for me earlier too. Can you hear my thoughts?”
Considering my dirty thoughts, I’m prepared to die of embarrassment, but he shakes his head, a look of wonderment on his face.
You are a marvel, Summer Solstice. A Fae-damned marvel.
Neither of us move. I can’t break from his pull any more than he can escape mine.
“If you hurry,” Eclipsa says gently, nudging me toward the path, “you might still have time to grab breakfast in the Evermore cafeteria.”
The Evermore cafeteria is my personal version of food hell. Greens, dried fruits, and nuts should not be allowed in the same sentence as breakfast. Or food, really.
I only know what they serve because I once tracked Ruby there. She was dressed only in a spinach leaf, juggling dried raisins and apricots and balancing a tiny square of white cheese on her head while singing “Oops I Did it Again” by Britney Spears.
Wait.
Where is Ruby?
After scouring the trees, I catch a flicker of movement in the limbs of a tall oak.
Eclipsa follows my focus, her elegant silver eyebrows mashing together. “Is that . . .”
“My sprite riding Phalanx?” I mutter, tracking Ruby as she forces the poor pissed off owl into a dive. She’s using a branch like a riding crop, her other hand clenched around a vine she’s turned into reins. The owl’s white head spins behind him, his charcoal beak snapping as he tries to bite his unwanted passenger.
This day literally can’t get any worse.
I immediately take that back. This is the Everwilde. It can always get worse.
Always.
13
My dark prediction feels unfounded as the first day unfolds and nothing terrible happens. In fact, after the Darken incident, I ran home and discovered my mother’s brownies are great at spells to clean outfits. Even the bright green moss stains came out of my cloud-white pants. Somehow, I was able to make it to first period, Faerie Courts and History III, on time.
Not only that, but I share all my mortal classes with Mack.