Spring (Evermore Academy #2) - Audrey Grey Page 0,119
The Fae sitting at her beloved dining table using her precious china and linen placemats reserved for special guests, or the sister who’s cheerfully serving them.
Valerian’s gaze slides to me, locks. His unease softens, giving way to that startling familiarity we share. My stomach muscles clench, and I fight the way my body reacts.
Softening. Warming. Aching to draw nearer to him as if caught in his physical orbit. I’m suddenly all too aware of my pulse, my breathing, my sensitive skin reacting as the light elastic waistband of my sleep shorts rubs against my hips . . .
Whoa. Panic trills through me at the thought of Vi realizing my feelings for an Evermore—especially a royal one.
Setting my jaw, I drag my stare from my mate and park it on my newly reinstated friend. “Why are they here?”
Considering their freakish supernatural hearing, I don’t bother whispering.
“I couldn’t reach you, Summer,” Eclipsa scolds. “Did you really think they would let me come alone?”
“You could have called my home number. The school has it.”
“And you could have answered my one thousand, three hundred and seventy nine texts, but c’est la vie. We’re here, no one’s dead, and it’s the perfect time to discuss details on why you entered the gauntlet in the first place.”
“Right now?” I demand, still ruffled by the shock of seeing Valerian and Asher in my house.
Eclipsa side-eyes Zinnia, who’s marching toward the dining room with a pan of blueberry muffins between her oven mitts. “As soon as we enter the Spring Court, we have to assume every conversation is monitored. So unless you prefer we go there without a plan, which is like charging into battle without a weapon, by the way, and a really stupid, painful way to die, we talk here.”
Right. Tucking my hair behind my ears in a failed effort to hide how tangled it is, I slide into the chair farthest from Valerian. Quiet descends as Zinnia offers muffins and coffee to the group, probably for the twentieth time.
“Zinnia, it’s fine,” I protest, glancing around for signs of Jane. She’ll have already found a weapon, no doubt. “They don’t like our food.”
“I’ll have one of those, please,” Valerian drawls in that elegant, smooth voice. His impeccable manners grate on me. “And a cup of coffee would be delicious, Zinnia.”
Zinnia’s face brightens. “How do you take it?”
“However you take it is fine, Ma’am.”
Ma’am? Suck-up.
Asher nods. “I’ll have the same.” Valerian scowls at the dragon shifter, and he adds, “Ma’am.”
“Me too.” Eclipsa spots my annoyed look and shrugs. “What? We’re polite. Mortals like that stuff. It puts them at ease around us.”
Hardly. A tiger with fangs and manners is still a tiger. But I don’t argue as Zinnia sets a basket of muffins, a little container of butter shaped like a cow, and a pitcher of sweet tea and lemons on the table.
She sweeps a curious look over Valerian before settling her knowing smile on me.
I frown. My two worlds have suddenly collided, and I’m not sure how to feel about that. After what happened to her family, it takes limitless amounts of grace and forgiveness for Zinnia to serve the Evermore in her own home.
I’ve never been more convinced than now that Zinnia’s too good for this jacked up world.
After breakfast is on the table, and Zinnia assures me Vi has been placated and Jane kicked from the house, we get to work. I sip my black coffee, listening to Eclipsa detail what she knows about the Spring Court palace and the magical safeguards while surreptitiously stealing glances at Valerian.
He’s picking at the blueberries inside the muffin with his fork, lips twisted into a perplexed frown. I watch him carve off a little chunk, the pastry steaming from the inside, and place it onto his tongue.
Pure joy lights his face, and I stifle a grin.
Valerian Sylverfrost likes blueberry muffins.
He might not be capable of love, but this confirms he does indeed have a soul.
“We strike during the gauntlet,” Eclipsa is saying. She stares down at her milky coffee before apparently deciding it’s not drinkable. “If Hellebore has the Darken’s soulstone or pieces of the Worldslayer, they’ll be stashed below, in his private underground chambers. I know from experience he keeps everything he considers valuable or wants to hide there.” She pauses, daring Asher to make a quip about how she knows all this, but dragon boy smartly keeps his mouth shut. “I can only confirm three chambers for sure. Besides the vault with poisons and other