Mack and Evelyn sit in the faded blue loveseat in the corner, pretending to read human magazines. They burst in here a few minutes ago when nurse killjoy decided I could have visitors.
The moment the nurse finishes with me and leaves the room, they rush to my side.
“We heard what happened,” Mack squeals. “A Cave Orc? Really, Summer?”
“Yeah, the whole school is talking about how it almost ate you,” Evelyn adds.
Mack grins. “Did it stink? Cave Orcs are supposed to smell the worst.”
Evelyn’s face drains of color. “Oh . . . God. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Mack rolls her eyes and jerks her shoulder at Evelyn. “Someone had way too much Faerie wine last night.”
“Nope, not gonna puke. It passed.” She flashes a bright smile, as if not puking is an achievement. “And I can’t help if Rhaegar kept handing me drinks. He asked where you were, Summer, by the way.”
Rhaegar? He seems like the last person who’d be plying a first year with alcohol.
“That’s why we didn’t show up until now,” Mack adds, frowning at her feet. “If I had known what happened . . . well, anyway. Thank the Fae the school’s shadow guardians heard the noise and came.”
I cringe at the lie. The prince left almost as soon as he brought me here. But not before making me promise to stick to that story. I wouldn’t be surprised if he glamoured all the Fae witnesses to forget, too.
Can’t have his bad boy image tarnished. Not that I mistake him saving me as kindness—he obviously doesn’t want me to die before he gets to torment me as his shadow.
“Yes,” a female voice says. Headmistress Lepidonis strides through the room, her moth wings tucked low into her back. “Thank the Fae.”
She flashes a tight smile at Mack and Evelyn as Mr. Willis enters the room. The girls look from the headmistress to Mr. Willis, their mouths hanging open.
My focus immediately hones in on the variety of weapons strapped to his person. I might not actively want to be a shadow, but wearing enough blades to arm a small gang?
Totally cool.
“Girls, I hear you had a late night,” Lepidonis says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her dark eyes. “I would think you’d be very tired after such an eventful evening. Shouldn’t you be getting back?”
A red flush creeps over Mack’s cheeks, and she flashes me a see-you-later look before disappearing with Evelyn.
The moment they’re gone, Lepidonis turns to me. “Miss Solstice, we’ve already suffered one human death this term and we cannot have another. The Council for the Mistreatment of Humans has already opened an inquiry into Miss Turner’s death. Another death would be very bad for us, especially this close to winning the vote.”
“What vote?” I ask, twisting the white sheets between my fingers. I haven’t watched the news since I arrived.
“The vote to allow permanent residence for the Fae in the Untouched Zone, of course.”
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.”