Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,75
hatred warping her mind. Just like the ice groaning beneath my golden heels, her bitter hatred of me is a thick, impenetrable layer I will never break through.
“Shut up.” A gust of wintry wind slams into me, twisting me to face the crowd. I try to maintain my balance, but my shoes give out and I fall to my already injured knees. Blood smears the ice. “This is the Summer Court Princess and our head student of the season. Take a good look at her. Weak. Stupid. Magicless.”
I grimace as she grabs a fistful of my hair and tugs, forcing me to stare into the crowd on the other side of the icy cage. Mack holds my stare, her warm blue eyes willing me to be brave. Eclipsa and Asher watch the spectacle behind conflicted expressions, waiting for a signal to stop this. Unshed tears prickle the back of my throat, but it’s not from the pain.
At this point, I’m numbed by the cold and absolute cruelty. By the injustice of it all.
The tears are from the growing rage building inside me. A quiet, dangerous fury, and not just at Inara or the Fae who watch my downfall with excitement. Because amidst the cruel faces are Evermore who are scared. Who see my torture and are reminded of their own years of torment underneath Inara’s reign.
Evermore who pretend to smile because that’s easier than admitting how powerless and scared they are.
Inara sneers, mistaking my quiet for submission. “Crying won’t get you out of this.” Her aquamarine lips twist as she looks toward our audience. “Summer Solstice is a liar and a fraud. She pretends to be good, but I bet there are secrets buried beneath that sticky-sweet facade. Shall we discover them?”
Cheers thrum the night air, rattling the cage. Eclipsa nods. Ruby presses her tiny face against my ear and whispers, “Showtime.”
Drawing to my feet, I straighten my shoulders and face the party. Blood trickles down my shins. My chin trembles, but I somehow manage to calm my shaking.
The Six draw closer like jackals right before a kill. I know this is only the start of Inara’s plan to humiliate me, but the night isn’t going to turn out like she thinks it will.
“Domhaireachdan gun dad a dhèanamh,” Inara chants, speaking in Gaelic.
Cool air drifts over my bare arm, ridging my flesh with goose bumps as her spell begins to weave its magic.
“Time to confess your secrets, Princess.” Inara says Princess like it’s a curse. Her smile is stretched so wide I think her lips might split. She’s so sure I’m about to suffer. So sure she’s in control of this narrative.
Not today, Satan.
While Inara was saying her spell, Ruby was whispering the words that unlock the magic inside my dress, and now summer magic bursts from the slinky fabric.
A gasp rises from the crowd outside the cage.
The silk around my legs churns as if alive, lifting into the air. The red silk changes to orange fingers of flame that claw out, raking everything in their path. The fire is so bright that it illuminates the night sky. The Six dive for cover, scattering like cowards. They cower against the cage bars.
Wave after wave of heat ripples outward, melting the cage.
On the other side, my gaze snags on a painfully familiar face. Valerian. He must have shown up while Inara was saying her spell. His expression is dark and stoic, his mouth pressed into a hard line as he watches everything unfold. I can tell by the way his hands fist that he wants to intervene. That watching me deal with this on my own is killing him.
But beyond the apathetic armor and drive to save me is pride. Pride that I’m his.
You are the most gorgeous creature in existence.
I want to savor his words, to lock them away somewhere safe for all of eternity, but not now. Now I have to spring the trap Inara has yet to discover she’s caught in.
Speaking of—Inara reels back from the heat, flames dancing in her shocked eyes. The frost fringing her dress is melting, dripping, shrinking with every second the fire rages.
Which won’t be for much longer.
The pyrotechnics are a party trick—a very expensive party trick—and the fire only lasts for twenty seconds or so. Just long enough to distract everyone from a certain magenta-haired sprite as she flies behind Inara and pins a gilded moonsprite wing to the back of her dress.