True to Valerian’s word, exactly thirty minutes later, after I’ve washed the puke from my body, voices trickle from below. I trail down the stairs in one of his steel-gray tees, a pair of thin black joggers hugging my hips, to see the dining table filled with my favorite people: Mack, Eclipsa, and Asher.

Ruby streaks over the ceiling above them, taunting Valerian’s snow-white owl with a piece of shaved ham.

Valerian is posted against a counter in the kitchen, sipping a cup of tea as he frowns at the noisy intrusion.

Our eyes meet, and I reward him with a grateful smile. I know how much he likes his privacy. Definitely going to thank him later for this.

Surprise flickers over his handsome features, followed by a vulnerable, intimate look that sets my heart on fire and jerks the bond between us taut.

Thank the Shimmer the others are here or that unexpectedly sweet exchange would be enough to undo me completely.

Eclipsa whistles, drawing my mind away from Valerian. “The prince wasn’t lying. You survived your first tormentor spell. Impressive. Not everyone does.”

Holy frick. Valerian didn’t tell me that. No wonder he freaked out.

Mack’s chair scrapes across the floor as she jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around me. Ruby screeches and dive bombs my shoulder, her tiny arms choking me as she joins the hug.

“What about your test?” I ask as I gently extricate my overexuberant sprite.

Something passes over Mack’s face, too quick to read. “It’s fine. After all that studying, I finished in like five minutes. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Relief pours through me, followed by hot, sweeping anger. No matter who actually performed the spell, I know in my gut Inara’s responsible.

And she’s never going to stop. Not unless I make her.

A few hours later, I get my revenge during combat class. Valerian must know I need to punish Inara because after he puts all of us through a brutal session, he pairs me with Reina for another version of the baton game we played last year.

Except this time is different. My months of extra training paired with my seething fury turn me into some badass murder machine.

Whatever Reina sees in my face, she backpedals in terror.

Any other time, I would feel remorse. I hate the idea of anyone being afraid, even my enemies.

But not today. Not when I can close my eyes and still picture Aunt Zinnia and Jane and all the others lying bloody in the grass like a movie playing over in my head. Not when the sounds of those . . . those things feasting on them still echo in my ears.

Screw every one of you Fae-holes.

I stalk Reina. Toying with her. Making her feel the horror I felt. Desperation flickers inside her eyes as she makes sloppy attacks.

Attacks I repel with ease.

I’m faster than I was last year by a landslide. I strike out. The end of my baton connects with her again and again.

When I know she’s almost done, I drop the baton, ram the heel of my palm into her nose, and finish her off with a knee to her belly.

She collapses to the mat, writhing and gasping for air.

Eclipsa is grinning. A few feet away, Hellebore watches me lord over Reina, his eyes bored slits. I think I catch a hint of amusement inside those turquoise depths, but I barely register it.

My mind is fixated on one person.

I find Inara’s shocked gaze. Then, without looking away, I lean down and whisper in Reina’s ear, “I don’t care how much money and influence you have, if you ever screw with my family again, real or imaginary, I’ll end you.”

Reina’s twin boy toys help her to her feet, blood pouring from her nose and splattering on the mat. The shadows and Evermore are quiet as I let my furious gaze sweep over them, daring whoever was responsible to own up to it.

Deep down, I know this isn’t enough to deter them completely. But maybe they’ll think twice before involving my family.

Afterward, Valerian whispers in my ear, “That was sexy as hell.”

“Darn right it was,” I respond, grinning ear to ear.

A few shadows even clap me on the back, and Mack can’t stop talking about the fight on the way back to the dorms.

But my high only lasts until I see the flyer plastered to our door announcing the Lammas festival this weekend celebrating the victors of the first gauntlet.

Kicking Reina’s ass might have been easy, but whatever Hellebore has in store for us won’t be.

20

Friday comes way too fast. Instead of combat class in the evening, we’re taken to the gym, ordered to change into our Shadow Guardian uniforms, and each allowed to choose two weapons to wield in the gauntlet.

Wired with nerves, I fidget near the back of the line, toying with the metal zipper at the front of my outfit. When it’s my turn to choose my weapon, I stare at the table full of options before choosing a wrist-mounted crossbow and a standard issue iron infused sword.

Both are two of the most badass weapons I’ve ever been allowed to use—not counting the forbidden bow I stole last school year or Aunt Vi’s shotgun—but now, in my clammy hands, they feel about as lethal as twigs.

Mrs. Richter presides over the table of offerings, and she gives me a grim smile before handing me a metal sleeve with iron-tipped bolts and a back scabbard to carry the sword.

“Thank you,” I say, grateful for the extra supplies.

All of the students own personal scabbards and other equipment, many handed down for generations. Everyone but me. Mrs. Richter kindly promised I could borrow the shared equipment we use in class.

Most also had their own spandex Guardian uniforms made for the occasion. Even Mack finally gave in and let her dads order a beautiful, custom fitted outfit that fits her curves like a glove, a metallic sheen making the supple onyx fabric seem to ripple as she moves.

Mine, on the other hand, is a faded loaner uniform that’s stained with Titania knows what, is a size too big, and sags in the crotch.

Ruby already made a joke about me being happy to see her before I sent her off on a fake errand.

Reina snickers from nearby. “Aw, look. Puke Face is wearing hand-me-downs. How adorable.”

The nearest twin laughs on cue. Despite Reina’s beatdown—or perhaps because of it—she’s graced me with another nickname.

Mack rolls her eyes. “While you’re handing out clever nicknames, you might want to create your own. I was thinking Busted Nose or Shiner, but that might be too literal.”

Reina’s eyes flash with rage. Inara must have refused to let her be healed after the fight because her nose is still very much broken, and deep reddish-purple bruises circle each eye.

Mrs. Richter blows a whistle, announcing five minutes to finish dressing, and we all switch our focus to the upcoming task.

My nervous fingers fumble with the clasp of my back scabbard, and when it comes to clipping the sleeve to my belt, it’s like my fingers are made of Jell-O. Finally Kyler comes over and helps me, even though she looks as nervous as I am.

I give her a kind smile despite my anxiety. “Thanks.”

She just nods without making eye contact.

Afterward, we all don leather armor to cover our forearms and deflect blows, and light vests woven with special material to protect our vulnerable torso and stomach.

I’ve never felt more like a Shadow Guardian than now, wearing the standard uniform, nor have I ever felt more unworthy of that title.

I crack my neck. Why am I so nervous?

I’ve trained with the crossbow and sword a million times by now. Besides, the last two sessions, Valerian and I synchronized like we’ve been fighting in tandem for years.

Breathe, Summer. You’ve got this.

Adjusting my high ponytail for the millionth time, I follow Mack, Kyler, Layla, and Jace to wait with the others until everyone has chosen their two weapons.

Mack’s fingers shake as she tries to pin the Seelie symbol to the front of her suit, just above where her protective vest stops.

“Let me,” I insist.

The pin was a gift from her dads for luck. Most of the students wear something to champion their side—Seelie or Unseelie—on their uniform somewhere.

Once it’s pinned above her breast, I straighten her fancy leather sword belt. “There. Now you look like a badass ninja.”

Her smile is closer to a grimace. “I think I’m going to vomit.”

I squeeze her arm. “If you do, at least we can have matching nicknames.”

“Reina really pulled out all the brain cells for that one,” Mack mutters, still clutching her belly.

“Don’t worry, I’m here now!” Ruby calls as she zooms over our heads, her little arms clenched around a small device. She tosses the item at me, and it nearly smacks into my face before I manage to catch it.

Mack side-eyes me with a look that says, Ruby? Really?

Because of the way sprites are technically considered a shadow’s possession—and in some translations of the old Fae laws, an actual part of their owner, like an arm or a leg—sprites are allowed to assist their shadows in the gauntlet.

Most students, however, like Mack, opted not to bring theirs.

“I told Ruby no a thousand times,” I whisper, “yet here she is.”

“Have you ever heard of discipline?”

Mack swears I’m too soft on Ruby. That I don’t provide enough rules and consequences when she disobeys me—which is basically all the time.

“Maybe she’ll be helpful?” I nearly choke on my words as we watch Ruby flit over to another shadow’s sleeve and steal an arrow.

Cringing, I force my attention to the device she brought me earlier. It’s a digital map, although I don’t have time to determine the location before they order us out into the night. I clip the GPS onto my belt next to the metal quiver as I walk.

On the other side of the lawn, I spot a massive crowd around the courtyard. Tall torches line the gravel path, illuminating the night.

My breath hitches when we begin to pass through the mass of people. I found out a few days ago parents and close family of both the Evermore and the shadows are allowed to attend the gauntlet celebrations. But I didn’t dare ask Aunt Zinnia or Vi for fear they’d say no.