bad. They’re not that bad. Meanwhile, I think the idea of being passed around like Pokémon cards is demeaning, but whatev.
“But,” she continues, her tone lowering as she grows serious. “Never, ever sleep with your Fae keeper, or any Fae, for that matter. Once you do, you’re expelled.”
“Why do they care?”
“I don’t know, but that’s been drilled into my head since the moment my parents gave me their awkward speech on sex. It was all, hey, Mack, here’s a packet of condoms and five different forms of birth control. Keep a harem of human men, or women, or both for all we care. But never, under any circumstances, let a Fae male seduce you.”
“Your parents sound . . . not like my aunts at all.”
“Yeah, they’re cool when it comes to that stuff.” She shrugs. “Just remember what I said. The Evermore males lay bets on all of us. Don’t fall for one no matter how charming.”
“That’s so not going to be a problem,” I promise. I don’t point out how unfair that rule is. A girl sleeps with a male and she’s the one who’s bad?
Then again, everything here is unfair to humans in some way.
“That’s why I’m glad my keeper is Basil,” Mack adds. “If the Winter Prince had chosen me, my panties would accidentally drop every time we were alone together.” A wicked grin brightens her face. “You know what they say about male Fae? The longer the ears . . .”
I snort, although I get the feeling she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her place here. Including resisting the prince’s magnetic good looks and long . . . ears.
Mack’s dorm room is on the third floor. Every tiny apartment has a fireplace with a magically fed fire that never dies—they don’t want their human slaves freezing to death—and delicious warmth assails me as soon as we enter Mack’s room.
“This cold is sapping away what’s left of my soul,” I groan, rubbing my frozen fingers together.
Mack glances sideways at me. “Just wait. Ever seen snow so thick it’s like an avalanche from the sky? I have.”
Fantastic.
Mack does a twirl around the room, showing off the tiny chamber. I wiggle my nose. It reeks of mothballs and magic—a metallic, cloying scent, like lilies and copper. Now that I’ve been around magic, I’m starting to recognize its smell.
A brass bunk bed presses against the far wall. Her previous roommate, a dour girl with both her ears surgically enhanced to look Fae, she explains, has already moved her stuff to one of the two Unseelie dorms on campus.
Twin cedar nightstands, a matching dresser, and a desk crowd the room. Aged, peeling wallpaper with a pattern of beautiful centaur females frolicking in a meadow covers the walls.
We take a moment to warm up. While I swaddle myself in every blanket available and then position myself close to the fire, she examines my tattoo. Apparently none of the other shadows have one, at least not a full sleeve marking. Her eyes grow wide as she points out the Winter Prince’s personal emblem—an owl with two daggers—swirled inside the intricate lines.
Another thing to make me stand out from the crowd. Yay.
Before, I couldn’t muster the courage to look at the tattoo. Now I take in the dark swirls running down my right arm. The moment my gaze slides over the gold and black lines, the Winter Prince’s words ring through my skull.
She’s mine.
A surge of bitterness blasts up my middle. I’ve been branded as his, and even if Rhaegar wins the Nocturus and I stay his shadow, this mark will claim me as property of the Winter Prince until I graduate.
Mack must read my upset expression because she frowns. Then her face brightens. “When I visit my parents in a few months I can ask them if there’s a way to hide the prince’s brand. You won’t be able to erase it, but you shouldn’t have to see it all the time.”
“Wait? We can go home?” Hope makes my voice squeaky.
She bites her lip. “Some of us can leave Everwilde. But most . . .” Her gaze darts to my marked arm. “I have a pass because my parents are legacies, and they’re still in touch with their Evermore benefactors. But a pass home is rare.”
I pretend to rearrange my burrito blanket to hide my disappointment. “That’s okay. I’m not sure what I would say to my family if I could go back.”
She squeezes my hand. “I’ll have my parents talk to