Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,34

place as I salute the headmistress and head toward the crowd. I can’t tell if my self-confidence is a misdirected result of my win with Hellebore or if I really can make this work.

If only I could pow-wow with Mack first, but I don’t see her in the crowd. My phone buzzes, and I jerk it from my bag, hoping it’s Mack.

Instead, there’s a text from Sebastian. Curious, I slide it open. Sebastian was working on a few amendments to my marriage contract. He attached scans of those amendments along with a text that reads, These are the amendments Hellebore’s team agreed to. Hugs and kisses, Uncle S.

I’m quickly scanning the two pages of new amendments when Magus spots me and trots over. The centaur literally herds me toward the stage, huffing under his breath that I’m late.

We wind around the crowd. When I near the stage, I slip my cell in my backpack and hand it to him, settle Ruby on my shoulder, and inhale the sweet summer air.

Accents of my season enliven the area. Roses, black-eyed Susans, pink hibiscus flowers. Wisteria clings to every statue and structure, and honeysuckle perfumes the air. Orange and silver koi dart from the crystalline water of the miniature canal circling the stage.

Magus’s hooves clop behind me, his large equine body forcing me down the path until I’m crossing a wooden bridge and then climbing the stairs like an idiot walking to her own execution.

Don’t be dramatic, Summer. What’s the worst that can happen? You fumble a few words? Look unprepared? Not great but not catastrophic either.

As soon as I’m on the other side of the flashy moat, the flowers clinging to the area around the stage fully bloom. Cherry trees rise from the concrete, their wispy branches unfurling like fingers as white blossoms grow.

Okay, the trees are a bit much, Mom.

The weight of the entire student body’s gaze hits me like a semi, and I nearly freeze on the spot. My chest trembles as I fight to keep moving forward, keep breathing. To keep my gaze steady and arms loose instead of hugging my chest.

A collective hush falls over my audience as sky-blue and marigold butterflies descend from Fae knows where and begin pirouetting around me. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if I start levitating and shoot sparklers from my eyeballs, but at least the theatrics distract from my deer-in-headlights look.

When one beautiful golden butterfly alights on my finger, I really embrace my inner queen, swishing my hips as I—

A magenta streak in my periphery sends the magnificent creature on my finger darting for cover. That’s when I discover a not so magnificent creature has taken this exact moment to wake from her gazillionth nap today.

Laughter and jeers erupt as Ruby drunkenly chases the creatures. She wobbles and lurches, crashing into my face, creating a swirling tornado of butterflies I have to battle through.

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

Head held high, I reach the final step. I can do this. It doesn’t matter that I was just publicly mauled by a horde of butterflies or that I have nothing prepared.

There are a thousand ways to make this hot mess of a school better. Surely I can think of one thing to say?

I kick my heel over the final step, the glittery emeralds refracting bits of the sun, when something cool brushes over my toes.

A soft whisper of ice.

The magic feels familiar. Like Valerian’s but . . . more bitter, more hateful . . .

Inara. Before I can react, the magic sweeps my foot up and over and I go tumbling down down down. Like, careening end over end down the treacherous stairs. My world is suddenly sharp edges, crushing blows, and bursts of pain. Stone cracks my elbows and knees, my side, my temple.

The blows seem never ending.

The wicked edge of a step collides with my face and my bottom lip splits open. There’s no pain now, only a growing terror of what I’ll find when I reach the bottom. The rough paving stone walkway rises to meet me.

Nope. I dart out my leg to stop the momentum, but the edge of my heel lands at a bad angle and—

I cry out as white-hot teeth clamp down over my ankle, followed by throbbing pressure.

As quickly as it started, my nightmare is over.

I come to on my butt at the bottom of the steep stairs, hands splayed, hair a tangled curtain masking my face from the crowd.

Silence—even the bees have stopped their buzzing. Metallic