Winter

A huge explosion of flame bursts across the meadow, illuminating the hundreds of darklings on the field.

Asher! A quick glance and . . . holy freaking crap. He’s shifted into his dragon form.

Gasping, I barely rip my gaze from the sight of the enormous gray and green scaled dragon, his black-tipped gray wings outspread as they flap once, twice, propelling him into the sky. The gusts from his wings send darklings flying.

I watch, both petrified and in awe, as roiling swathes of fire surge from his mouth, the gray smoke choking the air.

Countless darklings catch on fire. They screech in pain. But even as living torches, they keep coming.

Only iron can kill them. Only I can kill them.

A group of darklings rush toward the prince. With a wild yell, Eclipsa and her twin blades fall on the writhing mass of creatures. Bright stars of magic bloom between the fray as she hits them with her powers, sending the wave receding.

At first, I don’t think the prince is doing anything. Then I realize he’s simply moving too fast. At some point, he’s in the middle of a pack of darklings, the steel of his broadsword flashing the only thing I can make out, when a darkling sneaks up behind him.

No! Panic constricts my throat. I have an arrow in my hands and it’s flying toward the creature before I can blink. It sinks to the fletching in the darkling’s back. The moment the iron meets its flesh, the monster falls dead. The prince flips around just in time to see the darkling’s body erupt in red flames from the inside out.

His gaze flicks to me.

I grin.

But when I glance back to the forest, my smile fades. There’s just too many darklings. They spill from the trees like ants, a never-ending wave of death and destruction. And they’re smarter than I gave them credit for, seeming to work in tandem to outflank us.

In fact, one of the darklings seems to lead the others.

Which, from everything I know about the creatures, is impossible.

I aim my arrows at the darkling leader, but the creature is just too quick. My arm is tiring. The bow quivering inside my aching fingers.

Ruby drops to my shoulder. “This is the end, kid. It’s been fun. And by fun I mean screw this entire meadow and the Fae zombie humans who don’t die.”

I release another arrow, hitting a darkling a few feet away. “I’m not giving up yet, Ruby.”

Eclipsa and Mack press close. I share a look with my best friend, surprised by how fierce she looks. A fiery look gleams in her eyes, her nose scrunched and jaw clenched in determination.

She truly would die protecting her keeper.

Valerian joins us as we’re forced tightly together. “On the count of three, I’m going to run toward the woods.” He nods to his right. “The darklings will follow me.”

Eclipsa shoots him a savage scowl. “Hell, no. If you think for a moment I’m going to let you steal all this glory—”

“I’m ordering you,” Valerian says. His focus shifts to me. “I made a promise to keep someone safe from harm, and I won’t break that promise.”

My stomach clenches. I feel queasy. I shake my head as Eclipsa gives a dutiful nod.

Before I can protest, before I can tell Valerian that despite everything he’s done, I would never let him die alone, bright UV lights flood the field.

The darklings freeze. Then they begin wailing and tearing at their flesh. I follow the light to the group of shadow guardians rushing from the woods, and my body sags with relief.

Mr. Willis leads the guardians. They have guns and swords and weapons I’ve never seen before, all imbued with iron. A group of shadows hold a hose and a blast of silver liquid shoots onto the meadow, taking down scores of darklings. They make sure to direct the iron imbued liquid away from our group.

Mr. Willis runs over to us, a pistol held low and pointed at the ground. His wide-eyed gaze goes from Asher still in the sky, to Ruby, to Mack and Eclipsa, Valerian, and finally, the forbidden weapon in my hands.

“I thought for sure we would find you already dead.” His voice is gruff, but I can tell by his smile he’s impressed. He meets my eyes and holds out a gloved hand. “The weapon, Miss Solstice.”

A growl rumbles in my chest. My fingers tighten over the longbow. Voices whisper into my ear, begging me to keep it.

We belong to you. Only you.

Mr. Willis holds out his hand. “Hand it over now, Miss Solstice. That’s a very dangerous weapon, and you could hurt yourself or someone else.”

I can barely open my fingers, every cell in my body urging me to resist. But I do. Finally.

A strange smile twitches his lips. “We won’t tell Lepidonis about this, will we?”

I shake my head.

“Good. Now go before the iron cast off makes the Fae students sick. We have a portal close to this spot that will take you to safety.”

A group of fourth year guardians have come to help, and they escort us away from the battle. The guardians flinch as Asher lands to the left, knocking over dead trees with a crack, and transforms back into his Fae form.

I’d always read shifters shifted back naked, so I’m a little disappointed when he’s fully clothed.

Ruby curses beside me. “Stupid re-clothing spell.”

Eclipsa laughs. “Trust me, it’s not that impressive.”

“Lies,” Asher asserts, catching up with us. “Every part of me is impressive.” He grabs the arm of one of the shadow guardians. “Hey, why are we leaving? I was just getting started frying those bastards.”

Valerian snorts, pulling him off the poor fourth year. “Easy there, big guy. And you wouldn't be saying that if you were on the ground with those things.”

I smile, but I can’t help but remember how close the prince was to sacrificing everything for us.

For me.

We’re nearing the edge of the woods when I glance over my shoulder. The shadows have pushed the darklings back, and some have started fleeing into the forest. One darkling, the one who lead the others, has broken off and follows along the forest line, shadowing us.

There’s too many guardians for it to attack, but it follows anyway.

Not it. She. Unlike the other darklings, she walks upright, and she still has her hair and clothes. I can make out the tangled matted mess of red from here. A gold dress shredded and stained beyond recognition hangs in tatters around her emaciated form. Her features are still more human than monster, her ears jagged, deformed spikes.

Diamond earrings flash from them.

She grins at me, and something about the smile and the dress and the earrings pulls it all together.

Evelyn.

Before I can tell the others, she disappears into the cover of the woods.

58

As soon as we come out on the other side of the portal, the entire school cheers. When the headmistress learned of the attack, she cancelled the rest of the Wild Hunt, just to be on the safe side. Everyone has been waiting here to see if we survived.

The crowd quiets as the headmistress approaches us, her skin pale, almost bloodless. Her gaze flits over Valerian, then the others, assessing the damage. I can only imagine she expected more dead humans. Or worse. The death of the Winter King’s heir.

I imagine that wouldn’t be great for her career.

She regains some of her color as she realizes that everyone survived. Then she settles her focus on me. Her eyes narrow, her wings curling tight to her back.

She hesitates before saying, “Thank you, for saving the Winter Prince.”

Ruby scoffs. “That’s all Summer gets? A lame thank you? If Summer hadn’t come back to warn you, that attack would have been a bloodbath. Fae and human body parts everywhere.” Ruby flits over to stare the headmistress in the face. “She didn’t have to come back here. Hell, with the way this school has treated her, she should have let everything burn.”

Eclipsa raises an eyebrow in offense, but doesn’t say a word.

Lepidonis settles her firm gaze on me once more. “We owe Miss Solstice a great debt. What would you like in return?”

I don’t even hesitate. “I want to come back next year.”

Her eyes widen in surprise, and it takes a few moments before she answers. “As you wish. You are now enrolled for year two at Evermore Academy. At your own peril, might I add.”

Mack and the others cheer along with half the school. The Seelie side, at least. But Inara and her friends don’t even bother to hide their boos.

And Valerian . . . Valerian has donned his icy mask once again, his reaction totally unreadable.

Valerian stays true to his word. After all of us are assessed at the healing center to ensure we weren’t bitten or otherwise injured, he leads me silently down to the vaults. Eclipsa follows at a distance. Probably because of the wary, hurt way I still look at Valerian. Even though the prince who humiliated me in front of the entire school wasn’t actually him, he still hurt me.

Deeply.

“What are we doing here?” I ask. We’re in the hall of antiquities where the beautiful gowns float around the room like specters.

“You’ll understand soon.” He stands there for a heartbeat, almost as if unsure where to start. Then his focus moves upward and catches on something.

I do the same. When I see what he’s staring at, the Summer Princess suspended midair, a puzzled frown finds my face. “Did you . . . know her?”

His eyebrows gather as something dark shifts inside his eyes. “I loved her.”

Oh—oh. I stare at the Summer Princess with renewed interest, a pang of jealousy worming into my heart.

“But you and Princess Hyacinth fought each other in the Nocturus.” I remember now the story of how the princess bested him with the whip and then spared his life.

A wry smile quirks his lips. “Yes. I knew I loved her way before she ever felt the same about me.” He drags his eyes away from the floating Fae girl and settles his gaze on me. “Did you really think a whip with snowdrops would best me?”

“So the story about your father having you whipped isn’t true?”

“Oh, it’s true. But I let her win.”

“Why?”