Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,77

laugh, something that would have never happened before.

As she hugs his legs and confesses to things beyond imagining, I can’t help but think how this was supposed to feel good but instead, all I feel is . . . sad.

Her cruelties against Valerian are both the most calculating and the saddest. She admits in painstaking detail all the ways she’s manipulated him to love her. All the ways she’s tried to ruin his life because it allowed her more time with him.

I think she’s done because, honestly, the amount of transgressions against Valerian is mind blowing.

But then she violently claps both hands over her mouth as her body convulses, trying to purge one last dark secret. “I was the one—I was the one—I was the one”—she whips her head sideways, trying to stop herself, but the words literally ram up her throat and blast through her hands.

Her lips peel open, her confession poisoning the air. “I was the one who told the Summer King you planned to elope with his daughter.”

My breath catches as the realization hits. She betrayed us.

The hush that falls over the rooftop is damning.

Fear and shame pollute her face, wrenching her gorgeous features into a mask of absolute panic. She knows this is the secret Valerian will never forgive her for.

“No. My mother—” An empty darkness fills Valerian’s eyes as he realizes he’s hated his mother for years, loathed her.

All because he thought she betrayed him.

“It was me,” she breathes, throat convulsing as if trying to fight back the words. To swallow them down. “I had Bane pretend to be you and go to your mom. I knew you were hiding something, I just didn’t know what. Your mother didn’t know she was betraying you.”

Valerian’s pain shoots down the bond like lightning, enveloping my senses until I almost cry out from the intensity. When I recover, I’m left reeling knowing that’s the level of agony he’s lived with since I died.

“Did Summer’s father tell you he was going to kill her?” The softness of his voice contrasts against the cold fury in his eyes.

“I can’t. I can’t. No, I”—she grabs at her neck as if she can choke the truth back down. “Yes, I knew he was going to kill her. I was glad because then I would have you all to myself. You would be devastated and I would be there to comfort you.”

Valerian doesn’t say a word. That horrible, cruel mask he wears slowly slides over his features until he’s unreachable.

“I’m sorry.” Inara’s voice is strangled, twined with desperation and fear. “Please, I can’t live without you. You are the only one who’s ever treated me like I’m worth something. Like I matter.”

I had expected to feel so many things in this moment. Satisfaction. Redemption. Power. Instead my throat aches with sadness for the lonely girl clinging to my mate’s legs. She might be the epitome of evil, but she was created by this world the same way I was shaped by mine.

Valerian doesn’t share my sympathy. His face could be carved from ice as he forcibly removes her from his legs. She grips the hem of his pants like a child holding onto a blanket. With a face devoid of emotion, he methodically peels off her fingers and steps away from her, his eyes refusing to even glance her way.

“Please. Please don’t hate me. I’m sorry.” Frozen tears trail down her face, hanging from her trembling jaw like icicles. Eyes wild, she spins to face the Six. “Bane. Bane help me.”

She crawls to him but he turns his back on her. The others do the same. Slowly, purposefully facing the opposite direction as they publicly shun her.

They exit as one, a hush descending over the gaping crowd.

Mack rushes to my side. “Oh, God, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m okay, really.” I examine my knees. The scraped skin burns, but it’s already beginning to scab over—unlike Inara’s wound, which will take much longer to heal.

Eclipsa joins us, glancing at Inara without an ounce of pity. “That was spectacular. Let’s see how she does at the academy without any friends.”

I frown. To be honest, Inara deserved everything that just happened, but I know in painstaking detail what it’s like to not have friends.

“Don’t feel bad that she’s been unmasked, Summer.” Hatred I’ve only seen reserved for Hellebore smolders in Eclipsa’s face as she watches Inara hug her knees and cry. “This is only a fraction of what she deserves.”

“You should be celebrating.” Mack takes my hand. “Ding dong,