Evermore Academy (Evermore Academy #3) - Audrey Grey Page 0,90

braided—hits the small of her back.

“Males,” she mutters, glowering at Valerian and Asher as they slam into a smaller fountain.

Asher throws a right hook and Valerian ducks. He glides around the dragon shifter. Before Asher can turn to face him, Valerian sends him tumbling into the water.

A part of me wonders if this is Valerian purging his pent-up frustration from being around me. Probably. The same goes for me. While I crave his presence and am glad that he’s suddenly back in my life, I’m always left feeling restless and frustrated.

Sometimes, just an errant touch during a class or passing in the halls requires a ten mile run just to feel normal again.

This must be how heroin addicts feel when they can’t score.

Blowing out a breath, I turn my attention away from my mate, focusing on Mrs. Richter and Mr. Willis as they address the class.

Mrs. Richter’s dark hair is tugged into a tight bun that makes her eyebrows look severe. She glances over the students until she finds me. “Summer Solstice, please come to the front.”

Crap. Mack shoots me a WTF look while Eclipsa shrugs, not looking half as worried as I feel.

I force my shoulders back as I walk to the front, managing to hide my nerves behind a hopefully calm and not deranged smile.

Mrs. Richter gives me a rare, affirming nod. “This weekend, we will take our annual field trip to the Scourge territory. Just like previous years, our class will make care packages for the mortal soldiers.” Jace raises his hand and she adds, “We will not be fighting the darklings. Nor will we be close to the action.”

A few of the students sigh, pretending they actually wanted to fight, but most just look relieved. I don’t blame them. After seeing a few darklings up close, bravery goes right out the window.

Jace raises his hand again, and Mrs. Richter points at him.

“Where in the Scourge lands will we be visiting?”

The dread that’s been slowly gathering in my stomach turns to ice as Mrs. Richter glances at me. “The reigning Evermore head student for the Summer Season makes that decision.”

My mind momentarily blanks. That wasn’t in the packet of my duties the headmistress gave me. Then again, a few pages were missing. Shredded by Ruby to make bedding for her cat tree house.

“Do you need to see a map?” Mrs. Richter asks, not unkindly, although by the way her forehead wrinkles deepen, I should have had my answer prepared.

I nod. Sweat from my hands stains the foldout paper map she hands me. The map features the entire Everwilde, and I quickly deduce that the ominous black blobs are Scourge territories where the polluted magic and darklings have pushed out the Fae.

I blink at the map, sure there has to be a mistake. There are too many black spots on this map. More than I was expecting. Have they lost more land to the Scourge?

No one talks about the war or how it’s going. It’s like this huge black elephant in the academy that everyone pretends doesn’t exist.

“Any day now,” someone calls.

There’s no way to know which area is safer. On the map, the decayed territories spread out like ink splattered across the faded parchment. Some Scourge territories are small and seemingly random, while others are huge swaths of ruined land.

“Miss Solstice?” Mr. Willis says. “Would you like me to explain what you’re seeing?”

“Please,” I whisper, grateful for his help.

He runs a stubby finger over the map. “These smaller scattered territories here? Ignore those. What you’re looking for is the larger areas. Those will have bases protected by magic and soldiers, marked by the red shields, see here?”

I nod.

“Really, there are only ten or so areas safe enough to take third years.” He points to several places on the map, quietly listing them off for me. I’m shocked to learn the worst hit of them all is the Summer Court. Over two thirds of the area is black, the Scourge lands almost surrounding the Summer Court capital city and palace.

The next worst hit is the Spring Court territories. Mr. Willis is still listing off the potential places when he stabs a symbol that looks like a castle on the edge of the Scourge. “That’s Spring Court territory.”

“And the castle thingy?”

“Whitehall Academy. It’s currently being used as a resupply base for incoming recruits.”

Hellebore’s old academy. I perk up. “So the academy is safe to visit?”

“As safe as anything near the Scourge can be,” he amends, but I can tell