The Summer King Bundle 3 Stories - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,42

could change at any time. And who knew how many times that had happened in the past? It wasn’t exactly something anyone in the Order tracked.

Elliot suddenly hung a sharp left, slipping between two buildings, into a narrow alley. The girl was almost upon the intersection of Royal now, no longer of interest to him. Maybe I was wrong about the whole stalking thing. That was good news, but what the hell was he doing and where had he been?

Irritation spiked. Everyone worried the Order had killed this boy or that some other horrific thing had happened to him, but here he was, partying it up in the Quarter? So freaking annoying.

I hesitated for a moment at the mouth of the alley, knowing that following a fae, even if they were friendly, into an alley wasn’t exactly the brightest thing to do.

Jackie would follow him.

Ivy sure as hell would do it.

I could do it.

I needed to do it.

Squaring my shoulders, I drew in a shallow breath and followed him into the dimly lit passageway, prepared to let loose a lecture my mother would’ve been proud of—

Wait.

My steps slowed as a frown pulled at my mouth. The alley was a dead end, blocked by another brick building. Where in the hell did he go? I walked farther, past a large dumpster. Unless he was hiding in here, he’d….

Slowly, I lifted my gaze to the two- and three-story buildings crowding the alley that smelled like stale beer and poor life choices. A fae could easily climb or jump that height, but not a fae who wasn’t feeding. A fae who didn’t feed was stronger than a human, yes, but they didn’t have super jumping—

Thump.

Tiny hairs along the nape of my neck rose as I heard something land softly behind me. Instinct roared to life as I clutched the iron stake and spun around.

Elliot stood in the center of the alley, in the spot that had been empty seconds ago. Startled, I took a step back. For him to have made that jump…

“You’re following me,” he stated.

Apparently I had not been as stealthy as I thought. “Well, yes—”

“I know you,” he interrupted, arms loose at his sides as he drifted closer.

He did? I didn’t recall meeting him, but there was a chance he’d seen me at Hotel Good Fae in the days and weeks leading up to the battle with the Queen. But that was two years ago.

“I’m not sure if we’ve met.” My heart started hammering in my chest. “But I know your parents.”

His head cocked to the side, and in the darkness, his eyes looked like black pits.

The hair along the back of my neck was still standing. “Your parents are worried about you, Elliot. Where have you been?”

“My parents?” He straightened his head and moved even closer. “Those stupid posers? Those weak wannabe humans? They’re not my parents. Not anymore.”

Uh oh.

“And I know you. You’re with the Order.” Elliot hissed like a cornered cat, a very large and very pissed-off cat, and even in the shadowy alley, I could see the sabertooth-like teeth descending from his gaping mouth.

Oh crap, Elliot was so not on Team Good Fae anymore. Not at all.

There was no chance to question why in the hell Elliot was suddenly all psychotic. Yanking at the stake, I realized too late I should’ve just engaged the cuff. Elliot launched into the air like a rocket. In one stuttered heartbeat, he was on me, his body crashing into mine. The impact knocked me off my feet and my baseball cap off my head, and I went down hard. Air punched out of my lungs.

Never let them get you on the ground.

Those words from the most basic of trainings roared through my head as my eyes opened wide.

I’d been on my back before. I knew how this ended.

Elliot crouched over me, gripping the collar of my jacket. Our gazes connected—

Something… something was wrong with his eyes. They weren’t the pale blue of the fae. They were pitch black, so dark I couldn’t even see the irises.

I’d never seen anything like that, not in person or in the many books I’d studied on the fae.

Panic sparked deep in my chest as I struggled to get my stupid hand out of my pocket. The wicked sharp edge caught on the interior of my coat, snagging and tearing the cloth. He lifted me upward as he swung a fist back. Elliot punched down, but I flung myself up and over. His fist slammed