out of their grip. I can’t breathe. Too many people. I’m closed in, trapped.
They’re going to rip me apart.
Sweat dampens my temples. One of the males leans in and . . . what the Fae? He sniffs me, inhaling my sweaty scent like an alcoholic guzzling mouthwash.
This is getting so out of hand.
Mack’s eyes are wide as she touches my face with the back of her hand, then her dark brows bunch together and her mouth pinches. “What did you take?”
Afraid if I speak a weird giggle will come out instead of words, I point at Inara and her friends. They burst into another round of laughter.
“Was the drink purple and glittery?”
I nod.
“Oh no.” The panic in her voice makes me nervous. “We need to get you out of here, fast. That was a pheromone shot. Something about mortals makes it a hundred times more potent. Right now, you’re irresistible to every Fae male in this place. Callum, start making us a path!”
Callum smashes his body into a tall vampire. As soon as the vampire goes flying, I dart through the space and run. Hands grab my flesh. I cry out as panic worms deep into my bones. Someone knocks into me. Then a Fae grabs me by the waist and another by the legs and they start to drag me off.
All at once, an ear-splitting roar rumbles the room. The hands around my body disappear, and I’m dumped onto the ground, landing hard on my shoulder.
Someone lifts me into their arms. I stiffen, prepared to fight.
“Don’t move,” a voice growls.
The Winter Prince glares down at me with wild, animalistic eyes.
“Be very, very still.”
Before I can so much as protest, he flicks his fingers. I tear my gaze from his face to the portal opening in front of us.
Without a word, he slips through, closes it, and then dumps me onto my feet as if my flesh burns his. My boots crunch snow. Trees rise around us, the glowing disc of the moon visible through their canopy of branches.
My body sags as I make out the wrought iron fence surrounding my mortal dorm.
After the noise of the club, the sudden silence feels . . . strange.
“How could you be so rash?”
The anger in his voice relights my own fury, and I round on him, fists clenched. “Rash? I was trying to finally have fun in this horrible, godforsaken, freezing place.”
He flicks up an ink-blue eyebrow. “You call that fun?”
“I didn’t know what was in that drink.”
His mouth twists into dark grin. “Just assume everything in Everwilde can and will kill you, or worse.”
“Charming,” I seethe. “So glad someone had the forethought to bring me here against my will.”
He swallows, his jaw softening. “Summer, if I hadn’t been there—”
“But you were,” I finish. “Because you’re always there. Scowling and looking all hot and pissed.”
A flicker of surprise animates his otherwise livid expression. His lips press together, and then he murmurs, “Hot?”
Shit.
His gaze falls to my mouth, which has parted slightly. I become acutely aware of how near he is to me. Close enough that I could reach out and run my fingertips over the jagged cliffs of his cheeks.
Close enough that I could kiss him—if he wasn’t a Fae and I wasn’t a human and we didn’t despise one another.
He jerks his focus from my lips, almost violently, and schools his face into a disdainful scowl. “You should go inside, Princess. Your body reeks of the pheromone drink.”
His cruel nickname drives the dagger of his loathing even deeper. You don’t call someone who shops at the Salvation Army princess unless you want to wound them deeply.
I’m about to tell him as much when Mack, Evelyn, and Callum come rushing from the front doors, dragging my attention to them.
Evelyn sees me first and shouts, “She’s alive . . . and alone.”
Alone? I glance back, but the prince is gone.
Mack throws her arms around me. “Where did you go? We thought someone took you.”
“I’m . . . someone had the decency to bring me home,” I half explain.
“Someone?” Mack says, reluctantly releasing me. “Who?”
“Just some Fae,” I insist. “Thankfully, he’s immune to my druggy charms.” I can’t help but wonder how much you have to despise someone to not react to a massive dose of pheromones.
“We should go,” Callum insists. He’s posted in front of me, arms crossed over his massive chest, staring down imaginary threats. “Until the drug leaves your system, you’re not safe.”
Callum decides to spend the night outside our room,