Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,33
who killed J.R., and the next thing I knew, she’d binged the entire series on a pirated online site.
Hellebore’s expression is half loathing half pain as he regards his sister. “What did you say? Sorry, I was too busy counting those hideous things attached to your face.”
“Ugh!” She chucks the tray at Hellebore’s head, fulfilling my fantasy from earlier. “You should have died instead of them!”
He ducks in a smooth, practiced motion and the tray clatters across the floor. “For once,” he says, eyes emotionless, “we agree on something. Now go change before I put you in time-out.”
Freesia’s stomping clangs through the silence of the balcony as she storms out.
“Baby sisters,” I purr, popping a bit of cheese into my mouth and grinning. “So dramatic. Just curious. Will our forced lunches always be this entertaining?”
Hellebore’s piercing blue gaze crawls toward me, as if he’d forgotten my presence entirely. “You do not want to provoke me right now, darling.”
“No? Or what?”
I can feel Valerian’s focus shift to me, his magic slowing uncurling as it readies itself.
Malice glitters like shards of glass in Hellebore’s eyes. “Or I will throw you over my knee and punish you in front of everyone.”
The fricking nerve on this guy.
I glide to my feet, scooping Ruby from my tray and onto my shoulder. “Then I should probably excuse myself.”
He doesn’t argue. In fact, he appears a little relieved, the hard lines around his eyes softening and shoulders losing their tension. I meet Eclipsa’s gaze across the lunchroom where she sits with Asher. We share a conspiratorial smile.
I’ve just found the second weapon to use against Hellebore. If this school has taught me anything it’s that one always needs a backup dagger in case the first weapon fails.
14
“The what?” I ask, my voice coming out in a strangled whisper even though I feel as if I’m shrieking.
Headmistress Luna Lepidonis flares her velvety brown wings, their powdery softness on full display, and clicks her tongue. Behind her waits the courtyard and my friends. She stopped me just outside the steps, and until three seconds ago, I was only half listening to her. Hopping from foot to foot in hopes of catching up with Mack and the others before fifth period.
Now she has my full attention.
“The speech, Princess Larkspur,” she repeats for the third time. “The one you give as head student for this season? You did get my handout with the expectations for your duty this school year?”
Handout?
“I had Magus personally hand-deliver the items on your first evening here. He claims the packet was received by, and I quote, ‘an inebriated, naked sprite.’”
Ruby. Fae hells, for all I know she shredded the papers and used it for Tall Goat’s enclosure.
My heart gallops wildly. “I never saw any letter. Can we postpone the speech until tomorrow?”
Her severe brows edge toward her dark hairline. “Postpone? There are high-ranking Evermore who traveled just for this event. Not once in the history of this academy has the top student not given a speech on the first day, but . . .” She heaves the world’s most dramatic sigh. “If you cannot handle your duties—”
“No.” I shake my head. “I can handle them. It’s just a pep talk, essentially, right? I’m peppy and I can talk, so surely I can do this.”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Um, telling you?”
“Hmm.” The downward tilt of her lips doesn’t bode well for my confidence.
She tucks her wings into her back and looks down her long nose at me. “This . . . situation is less than ideal for all of us. If you are not up to the requirements your new position demands, I need to know now so I can make arrangements. Your decisions carry heavy weight that will ripple out and affect the entire student body.”
“But no pressure.”
“What?”
“Got it handled,” I promise, giving the headmistress two thumbs-up like an idiot.
Her brow furrows, but she gestures to the courtyard beyond where students are gathering. “Then, by all means, handle it. See that rather intrusive stage just beyond?”
I fix my nervous gaze on a massive stone dais rising from the courtyard. It’s freakishly tall, a mountain plopped in the center of the grounds. A wide dramatic staircase wreathed in wisteria and honeysuckle is the only way to reach the top.
I suddenly regret wearing heels.
“The Summer Queen had it built just for this occasion. She seems to believe your words will carry more weight if given from above.”