Winter

I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. Currently, our laws allow the Fae visas for temporary living status. But if they became permanent residences . . . I can’t even imagine such a thing.

She arches a severe eyebrow. “I take it you’re not a supporter of integration, then?”

“You have a home,” I point out, trying and failing to keep the anger from my voice. “Why come to ours?”

The furrows along her forehead deepen. “Because our lands are infested with darklings while our enemies, like the orc and the troll, grow stronger every day. Even with the human soldiers, the scourge continues to eat away at our homes, our territories. The court borders grow smaller, meaning more wars between themselves as they fight for land. Unless something changes, it is unsustainable.”

Mr. Willis steps forward. His mouth is stern, but there’s a kindness in his voice as he speaks. “The creature that nearly killed you was a Cave Orc from the scourge lands outside the wards. They’re powerful but incredibly stupid. You were lucky. Had it been a darkling . . . ”

“Pfft, nearly killed us?” Ruby shouts, darting from wherever spot she’s been hiding. “You have that backwards, Mustache.”

I cut my eyes to Ruby before meeting Mr. Willis’s amused gaze.

“I thought the wards were strong enough to keep everything out,” I say.

“They are,” the headmistress promises. “We’re still trying to determine how the orc got through our defenses . . . or who might have let it through. Only someone inside could have done a spell strong enough—” She stops mid-explanation, clicking her tongue. “All you need to know, Miss Solstice, is that we are investigating the matter.”

“I hear the orc was missing an eye before he was killed,” Mr. Willis adds, one side of his lips curved upward. “Impressive, Miss Solstice.”

“That orc is lucky someone else who isn’t the prince showed up,” Ruby adds, winking in my direction like she’s having an epileptic attack, “or we would have kicked his warty ass.”

The headmistress and Mr. Willis exchange looks before they make to leave.

On the way out, the headmistress glances over her shoulder. “Miss Solstice, the prince says you were down there under his command. If I find out otherwise, you will be immediately expelled. Now, gather whatever you need from your dorm and then go to the gymnasium, and do not venture into the campus again until tomorrow morning.”

“The gym?”

“Yes. Because of the intense . . . scrutiny our school is under, we have decided to make all mortal students sleep in the gym as an extra precaution. Professor Spreewell put a temporary ward on the building to keep any Fae from entering, and the building will be guarded by Mr. Willis’s fourth year shadow guardians.”

I should be grateful for the extra protection, but all I feel is bitter. The only reason the academy suddenly cares about human lives is because they want the human world to think they’re kind and good. That they see us as equals.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

28

They have the first years set up in the upper room of the gymnasium overlooking the campus. The mats have been taken away and cots with white sheets line the floor. Evelyn, Mack, and I have the beds closest to the large floor-to-ceiling window.

Because the gym is normally chillier than the dorms, they’ve even cast a spell for warmth.

As luck would have it, we’re right next to a group of Unseelie shadows. Reina’s two boy toys from the first day, twins Drake and Vance Cartwright, sit on a cot beside Reina and her friend, Lily. This part of the gym is supposed to be girls only, but the twins must have snuck in.

“Hey, Trailer Park!” Reina calls, loud enough for the entire gym to hear. “I heard an orc picked up on your odor all the way from the scourge lands and sniffed his way here.” Lifting her nose in the air, she inhales. “Yep. Smells like poor white trash to me.”

Evelyn pushes her Gucci travel bag under her bed, ignoring them. “Pretend we don’t hear them and they’ll leave us alone.”

“Screw that,” Mack snaps. She drops her duffel to the ground with a thump and squares to face them. “Hey, Reina. Don’t forget I have pictures of you from summer camp, before you discovered your love for bulimia, hair extensions, and plastic surgery. Be a shame if they found their way online.”

“Whatever.” Reina rolls her eyes. “You know, my dad said since you’re adopted, you shouldn’t even be considered a legacy.”

My hands ball into hard fists, and I toss my paper sack full of stuff onto my bed and join Mack. Picking on me is par for the course. But Mack is off-limits.

Reina’s barb hit its mark; a red blush creeps up Mack’s neck.

Then Mack rallies. “What, the one time of year he comes to visit you? My parents might not be my birth parents, but at least they enjoy my company.”

Mack’s words must strike a nerve because it’s Reina’s turn to flush, anger brightening her pale skin. With a dramatic flip of her gorgeous curls, she turns her back on us.

“Bitch,” Mack mutters. “I’ve known her since we were little and she just gets worse with time.”

“I hear her mom became a darkling and they killed her right in front of Reina when she was, like, six or something,” Evelyn whispers cheerily.

I slap a hand over my mouth. I might despise Reina, but no one deserves to see their mother become a monster and then be killed. “I thought . . . people in the Untouched Zones didn’t turn.”

Evelyn lifts her delicate shoulders, causing one red braid to slip over the side. “That was before they completely cut off contact to the Tainted Zone, thank the Shimmer.”

My jaw clenches. Evelyn usually forgets I’m from the Tainted Zone, even though I’ve reminded her countless times.

“I remember,” Mack says as she sits on her cot, a distant look softening her focus. “It was all over the news. Her dad was a prominent politician, so it was a big story.”

After that pearl of happiness, we busy ourselves unpacking our stuff and settling in for the day. I try not to look at Reina where she holds court with her minions. Try not to let the sadness I feel for her seep inside my heart.

But it creeps in, anyway. Damn human emotions.

We spend the rest of the time hanging on Mack’s cot gossiping and ignoring the Unseelie crew. As Mack puts little streaks of violet in my hair with hair chalk and then french-braids it, the nervous knot in my belly begins to soften.

I even find myself laughing along with Mack as Evelyn divulges all the campus secrets. Which shadows are sleeping with whom. The forbidden love triangle going on between a Dawn Court shadow and two Mortal Creatures Court shadows.

Apparently, even fraternizing with other shadows outside our keeper’s Court is frowned upon.

Oh, goodie. Just another reason I can’t become the prince’s shadow.

I perk up even more when I learn the students are allowed to go into the basement where some of the mythological creatures are kept—the ones who can’t stand the bitter cold in the outdoor menagerie.

My favorite beast ends up being the basilisk, a large venomous green snake with horns. His entire cage is coated with magical tint to prevent his gaze from turning anyone he looks at to stone.

Creepy, but rad.

As soon as night falls, a fourth year comes in dragging an old television on a cart and places the TV in the front of the room. The movie has just barely started when another fourth year comes in and says someone wants to talk with me outside.

The fact they can’t come inside means they’re Fae. The way the fourth year looks close to crapping his pants means they’re important. And by his armband, the fourth year is an Unseelie shadow, meaning the Fae is probably Unseelie as well.

The prince. My heart wobbles in my chest.

Everyone’s attention is on me as I stretch out my legs on the bed and shake my head. “Tell him I’m busy.”

The fourth year, a tall boy with thin lips, big ears, and sandy blond hair, tugs at his shirt. “He said you’d say that, and to tell you that you owe him.”

“Well tell him I don’t want to distract him from his battle tonight.”

Beads of sweat trickle down his temples, his eyes tight with fear. I almost feel sorry for the boy, but not enough to give in.

“He said you’d say that too, and to tell you if you want the book, you’ll meet him.”

My breath hitches. The book? As in the book I nearly died for?

Finally convinced, I ignore the stares of literally everyone as I throw my coat over my pajamas. I insist Mack and Ruby go too, and the fourth year nods, looking so relieved that he’d probably agree to anything at this point.

Technically, I don’t need Ruby or Mack to face the prince. But I’ve learned the hard way that Ruby can’t be left alone. I’d likely come back to her having started a brawl with the Unseelie sprites or stolen something.

And Mack . . . Mack is coming because a part of me no longer trusts myself around the prince.

Not when he saved me. Not when the parts of my skin where he touched still tingles. When my cheek still remembers the sensation of his flesh, cold and hard, as I rested my head against his chest.

There was so much pain and relief flooding my body that I hadn’t thought about it then, but ever since, that’s all I can think about.

Him. How I want to hate him—how I should hate him—but I can’t.

Not after last night.

Not after discovering how being in his arms felt like the rightest thing in the world.

Somewhere deep down I know that my hatred is the only wall of defense I have against the magnetic pull he exudes. Once that defense is gone, I’ll be powerless.

And that scares me.

29

Outside, two shadow guardians stand by the heavy metal doors. Weapons drip from their black and red uniforms, the sight reminding me of the dangers outside these doors. At first they try to stop us, but the fourth year whispers into their ears and they let us pass.

The bonfire must be twice the size of last night because it lights up the entire campus, an angry sun surrounded by dark shapes. A primal energy swells the frigid, smoky air, and strange, animalistic noises carry with the wind, sending Ruby diving into the breast pocket of my coat.