This idiot should be terrified. Instead, Hellebore laughs like this is all a game. “The Winter Court might be formidable now, but I predict a time in the near future when that will change.”

“Keep dreaming, asswipe.” Eclipsa bares her teeth in a vicious snarl.

Hellebore’s focus shifts to Valerian’s brand winding up my bicep. His stare lingers, as if he’s taking the time to trace every line, and then he lifts his hands in surrender.

A grin curls his lips as he backs away.

“My mistake.” Something flickers behind his eyes as they meet mine. “Don’t get too used to that brand, little pet.”

A growl rumbles deep in Eclipsa’s chest. “She’s not for sale, Hel.”

The portal he creates is a beautiful, shimmering teal, the edges a soft blush-pink. The glow catches in his pale honey-gold hair as he tsks. “Stop lying to the poor girl, E. You know as well as I that in Everwilde, everything has a price. Just like you once did.”

The moment he’s gone, Eclipsa whips to face me. “You okay?”

“Yes, but—”

“What the Fae hells were you doing, Summer?”

I stumble back from the anger in Eclipsa’s voice. “Me? Someone let the griffin out on purpose.”

“Stop making excuses. Don’t you understand? You cannot slip up now, not even once. This year is different. There are things happening beyond our control.”

“What things?” I cross my arms over my chest. “Does it involve whatever Valerian is doing in the Winter Court?”

She sighs through her teeth. “I can’t talk about that. Just stop drawing attention to yourself. Especially now . . .”

I glean the last part of her sentence that she omitted. Especially now that Hellebore’s here.

“Can we please discuss the fact that the Spring Court Prince just kidnapped me and turned full-bore psycho?”

“What’s to discuss? He was toying with you, Summer. Because he can. Because his sadistic urges needed quenching. Because he wanted to see what your fear smells like. Who freaking knows? It doesn’t matter why. You don’t want someone like him taking an interest in you, believe me. So no more mistakes.”

Behind the fury in her eyes, I make out expertly hidden pain. The kind that scars the soul and never quite goes away, no matter how deep you bury it. The need to comfort my friend wars with the instinct to lash out at the unfairness of blaming me for Hellebore’s actions.

In the end, this shitshow of a morning wins out, and my frustration boils over. “Eclipsa, I’m trying, okay? This year is so much harder than I thought it would be. I can’t sleep. Every night I have these horrible nightmares. Valerian’s nightmares, I think. Or his memories, I don’t know.”

She blinks. My heart sinks at the pity in her eyes. “What you’re experiencing, I think it’s because of the soulbond.”

“Is that normal?”

“Not for most mates, no. But the strength of the soulbond is directly related to a couple’s combined magic. Considering both you and Valerian possess powers only rivaled by the Darken . . . we have no idea how the bond will react. Especially the longer you resist it.”

“So I could potentially relive his memories for a lifetime?”

Eclipsa’s face softens. “Something happened recently that has brought some of Valerian’s past traumas back to the surface. I wouldn’t be surprised if, as his mate, you were subconsciously taking those resurfaced memories from him somehow. Bearing them so he doesn’t have to. I doubt he’s even aware that you’re doing it.”

For some reason, just knowing that I’m purposefully taking on those traumas—even if it’s a subconscious decision—makes the nightmares easier to stomach.

“I know you don’t see it this way, but the bond you share with the Winter Prince is precious, something most Fae would kill for. You should cherish it.”

As we leave the ruined garden, I wonder if I’ll ever view the soulbond tying me to Valerian the way Eclipsa does, or if it will always feel like the brand tattooed into my flesh: a mark of my complete powerlessness in this wild and beautiful world.

11

Headmistress Luna Lepidonis’s office is exactly like I remember. Small, orderly, filled with filing cabinets and dust. A mahogany desk basks in the red and blue light of the three stained-glass windows behind it.

The headmistress has her back turned to me. The edges of her powdery beige wings furl and unfurl. I notice the tips are fringed with black, as are the outside of the pale green dots at the apex of her wings.

She turns, clicking her tongue as she stares down her long nose at me. “Summer Solstice, how is it you’re already here in my office on the second day of school?”

I shrug where I sit cross-legged in the comfy club chair in front of her desk. My clothes are mostly dry, but I stink like lake water.

Yet another day arriving late to class a hot mess and a half.

“I was clear, was I not, about the rules of your reinstatement as a shadow?”

My hands are balled into fists on my thighs. From the time I left Eclipsa to get changed, only to be called here, I’ve been reliving this morning and the encounter with douche-face. Every time his smug, too-pretty face pops into my mind, my anger mounts.

Heaving out a ragged breath, I force my hands to relax. “You were clear, but this morning wasn’t my fault. Someone released the griffin.”

She absentmindedly strokes the edge of one of her wings. “Fault is a mortal construct.”

“That hardly seems fair.”

“Fair? Do you need a lesson on our race, Miss Solstice? Neither fault nor fairness are qualities we give much credence to. I would have assumed you understood that by now.”

I sigh, letting my head fall back against the chair. “I do, believe me, and . . . it won’t happen again.”

“We both know that’s a lie. Predators instinctively attack those they perceive to be weak or . . . different, and you are both. It will happen again, and again, until your luck runs out and you die.”

“I’m willing to take that risk.”

Eyes narrowed, she taps the end of a long fingernail against her bottom lip as she studies me. “Professor Balefire said you acted cleverly by entering the water. He also said when they found you, the scent of a portal lingered in the air. Care to explain how the two go together?”

“If I said a certain prince abducted me against my will, would he be punished?”

Her lips curl at the corners. “Can you prove this abduction?”

Dammit. She knows I can’t. On the academy side, I was only gone for a few seconds at most. Eclipsa must have seen the abduction happen and leapt in after us.

Tugging at my ponytail, I slide from the chair and stand. “I deserve to be here and I’ll prove that, if you let me.”

“Things are different this year.” I could swear her mouth softens around the corners. “The Winter Prince is no longer the ruling Evermore student.”

“I’m aware.” I rub my arms as I remember the way it felt having Hellebore’s power slide over my flesh. “Why would the academy let someone like the Spring Court Prince in? Especially when you’re being investigated by the CMH? You know how shadows are treated at Whitehall, right?”

She scowls, covering up the flicker of surprise in her eyes. Then she turns to stare out the window once. “You will never begin to comprehend Faerie politics. The Spring Court Queen, Prince Hellebore’s aunt, doesn’t ask for permission from anyone.”

The pit that’s been forming in my belly since I was attacked this morning feels like it weighs a hundred pounds as I say, “So does this mean I’m . . . expelled?”

Silence. I watch her delicate wings as they move, the tips gently stretching and curling inward. Up close, beneath the stained-glass light, the velvety material is shimmery and beautiful.

Her wings aren’t as vibrant or as lively as a pixie’s wings, but something about their softness, the graceful way they dance in the air, makes them entrancing to watch.

Finally, she tucks her wings in tight and squares to face me. “Expelling you would be a mercy, but not one I am able to make. If Queen Titania has any blessings left to give, you’ll fail the first gauntlet and never step foot in this academy again.”

The tension bleeds from my shoulders as those two wonderful words sink in. Not expelled.

Thank the Shimmer!

Valerian must have pulled some strings like he promised. Oh, boy. I’m going to have to find a way to pay him back, and I know exactly how he’ll expect payment.

I wink at the headmistress, dizzy with relief. “I’m going to pass the first gauntlet, you’ll see.”

She wrinkles her nose as if she can’t quite figure out why I’m not more scared. I guess I should be, but screw that. “Yes, I suppose we will see. Rather soon.”

A flick of her hand is my dismissal.

As I stand, a question comes to mind. “What will happen to the griffin?”

She arches an eyebrow. “The creature who tried to kill you? Why, it will return to its cage. Every beast in the menagerie wears a tag that’s spelled to draw them back, if they ever should escape.”

The thought of that majestic creature being forced back into a cage makes me sick, and I can’t help thinking how our tragic stories are similar. Both of us pulled inexorably toward the place that will ultimately be our ruin.

Only the academy is worse than any cage. At least, in the menagerie, no one tortures the creatures.

As I leave, my focus drifts over her desk again and snags on a file. Evelyn Cantrell.

I quickly scan the other files next to it—all mortal female students, by the names and same red color coding.

My curiosity flares to life. Why are those files together? Have there been more students who turned?

But Valerian said preventing mortal females from bearing Fae children was simple.

If that’s true, why didn’t the Fae who slept with Evelyn make sure she was taking precautions? Or maybe it’s entertainment? It’s not enough to seduce mortal shadows just to humiliate them, now someone is turning them into darklings for fun?