Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,78
the wicked witch is dead. Finally. In fact, we should probably make today a holiday.”
Asher appears. Like Eclipsa, the few looks he spares Inara are devoid of sympathy. “There’s a reason everyone is fleeing. Time to go, girls, before Inara’s rage-monster comes out.”
Eclipsa sighs. “Just a few more minutes. I want to cherish this moment for as long as possible.”
Asher’s right. The Fae are rushing to the exit in droves. Shocked waiters stand around with trays stacked with champagne and wine, looking from Inara to the fleeing guests. I search the faces for Valerian.
Gone.
My heart sinks.
Eclipsa gives me a knowing look. “Inara’s confession about his mother hit him hard. The bitch knew he thought his mother betrayed him, yet she let him believe that, even as the lie twisted his heart and almost broke him.”
“So his mother didn’t betray him?” I murmur, although it’s not really a question.
“I don’t care. She’s still on my hit list. She abandoned him when he needed her the most.”
Eclipsa does have a point.
“Knowing Valerian,” she continues, practically shouting, ensuring Inara hears every word, “he’s going to be fucked up over this for a long time.”
I know he’s gone. The connection between us is cold, hollow. Still, I look for him. Aching to hold him. To comfort him. I remember how painful it was learning my own parents sold me. For him to believe that for so long only to discover he was wrong . . .
“Give him time,” Eclipsa murmurs before nodding toward the exit. “Let’s go. I have an ancient bottle of blood wine calling my name.”
Asher nearly chokes. “You possess one of King Leander’s bottles of blood wine? How? I thought they were all destroyed when he was assassinated.”
She winks. “Not all of them.”
“How do you know it’s real?”
She shoots him an offended look. “Dragon boy, I know my alcohol. But let’s just say he gave it to me personally, in a sense.”
“Orc’s breath, you weren’t there, were you?” His eyes narrow to green colored slits. “You didn’t.”
“Kill him?” Eclipsa bats her eyelashes. “Is this the face of a killer?”
“You terrify me,” Asher grumbles, shaking his head. “And the only other creature who can claim that honor is Phalanx.”
Mack laughs, slipping her arm in his. “You’re scared of an owl?”
“Apparently he’s never tried to bite off your finger.”
I put my arm around Asher’s waist, which is surprisingly lithe considering the enormous muscles stretching his training suit. “Eclipsa is a big ol’ teddy bear. Just wait until you meet Mack’s dads.”
It feels wrong laughing and joking with Inara nearby, and I’m relieved when we make for the door. My last image of Inara is on her hands and knees, sobbing. Broken beyond anything I ever meant. Alone.
I nearly stop to help her, knowing she would hate me for it, when she whispers so low she could be talking to herself, “You are dead.”
The creepy warning burrows into my flesh and nestles behind my sternum, a promise of vengeance. I can’t help but wonder, if the Everwilde’s cruelties made Inara into the fearsome creature she is, what monster will arise now?
32
I hardly take more than two steps outside the Winter King’s high-rise before Valerian’s pain electrifies the bond. I double over, clutching my belly as wave after wave of torment crashes down our connection. The emotions are all tangled together, frayed cords of rage, confusion, sadness, agony, self-hatred, and loneliness. Each one is powerful enough to cause immense agony, but all together?
It’s enough to bring even the toughest Fae to his knees.
“Valerian.” I don’t even realize I’ve called his name until the others stare at me.
Eclipsa grabs my arm. “What’s happening? Is he in trouble?”
I shake my head, trying to sift through the raw emotions blasting through me. My mate is hurt, but the torment is . . . is self-inflicted.
I pull away, not sure yet which direction to go or what I’m going to do—only that I have to be with him right now. “He needs me.”
“We’ll all go,” Asher growls, unbuttoning the top of his smoke gray dress shirt as he prepares to fight.
But it’s not that kind of fight. The enemy isn’t on the outside; it’s within Valerian, a dark force that can only be tamed by me. His mate.
Somehow I know that taking the others with me will only push Valerian further toward the edge of the abyss trying to take his mind.
Another wave of anguish slams into me. His pain is eating him alive.