Page 102

101

Summer

I ’m excited to get to the gym. The adrenaline is still coursing through my veins from the session yesterday. I loved it. I loved how powerful I felt with the sai in my hands. There was that moment of weakness, but all it did was draw attention to my strength when I pushed past it. It gave me hope.

Max glances up from his notebook when I enter. He sees me and immediately jumps up, heading to the sparring room. I think he’s enjoying our little routine. I think he likes teaching me.

I follow him in and walk to the back of the room to collect my sai. A strange warmth fills me when I see them displayed on a new shelf with my name engraved across the front. I smile and pick them up, testing their weight in my hands. They feel pleasant enough but still foreign. The silver glints in the light streaming through the window, and the cool metal has a bite to it. I put them down again and pull off my sweater. My body is already heating, anticipating the sweat on my skin and the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

“Let’s try offense today,” Max says, grabbing his broadsword from a shelf near mine. I nod, pulling my hair into a messy ponytail before picking up my sai again.

We move to the center of the room, and I roll my shoulders, preparing for the force of the sword reverberating down my bones. Max swings his broadsword, warming the heavy muscles of his arm.

“Land a hit on me,” he says, getting into a defensive position. I study the placement of his feet and how he holds his body, constantly learning from him. I move in at mortal speed, swinging the left sai at him. He blocks it easily.

“When using them for offense,” Max begins, “you want to use them together. Almost as one weapon. Unless you’re fighting against multiple people, but that’s more advanced.” Max sheaths the sword at his back and moves around me so he’s standing behind me. He reaches his arms around me and gently wraps his hands around my wrists, guiding me through the motions of using the sai in unison. We go through them another three times before he releases me and steps back in front of me.

“Got it?” he asks, and I nod, adjusting my position. I swing at him with both sai, and while Max still blocks easily, he looks pleased. “Good, Summer. Again.”

I do it again, and this time, I force him to concede a step.

“Good. Faster. Use your speed.”

I swing my sai again, and Max moves back another step. I lean into my instincts, and while I can still feel that wall, it feels a little more pliable now. Everything calms, and the world around me seems to slow. My limbs relax, and I settle into the rhythm of the movements. By the time I’ve backed Max into the wall, they feel almost natural. I hold the sai at his throat and look up at him, feeling the prideful smirk tugging at my lips.

When I meet his eyes, I’m surprised it’s not the green of the berserker’s gaze looking down at me. Instead, Max’s eyes are dark, his pupils practically swallowing his irises.

“Good,” he says, his voice thicker than usual.

I smile brightly, feeling very pleased with myself.

“Summer. You need to back off now.”

“Are you okay? Fuck, did I hurt you?” I ask, lowering the blade from his throat.

“Summer,” Max growls. “Remember how I have that thing?” he asks, his voice sounding strained, like when he’s holding back the berserker, but it’s huskier. “About females who kick my ass?”

“You want to go berserker on me? Your eyes aren’t glowing green.”

Max shakes his head. “What color are they?”

“Black.”

“Can you guess why?” Max asks, giving me an exasperated look.

“I hurt you?”

“No,” Max scoffs as if the idea is ridiculous.

Well, that is just rude, and I am about to tell him so, but then Max shifts slightly. Thanks to the proximity of our bodies, I feel something hard rub against my stomach.

“Oh,” I say, my cheeks blushing as I finally realize. I was so lost in my pride that I forgot about his little proclivity.

Max winces and nods shortly. “Yeah. Can you… back up?”

I stumble back immediately, embarrassed that I’d practically rubbed myself against him. “Right. Sorry.”

Max rubs a hand over his mouth, and I can see his mortification. “It’s fine.”

I take another step back. Unbidden, my gaze drops to the prominent bulge in his pants. I’m not sure if he’s wearing looser pants today or if it’s because they’re gray, but it looks even more pronounced than it did the other day. I can tell he’s pretty well-endowed.

“Summer!” Max groans. “Don’t look at it!”

My gaze snaps to his, and I hold my hands up. “What do you want from me? It’s looking right at me!”

“It’s the one-eyed monster, certainly.” Max chuckles.

My gaze drops back to it as if compelled, and I tip my head assessingly.

“Summer!”

I spin and look at the door. “Fuck sorry!”

“You’re killing me,” Max groans.

“What did I do?” I ask, peeking at Max’s face from the corner of my eye.

Max mimics my extreme stare and my voice. “Max, your dick is looking at me.”

“Well, it is!”

I look away again as Max adjusts himself in his pants.

“I should go,” I say with a decisive nod.

“Summer, it’s an involuntary reaction. Just ignore it.”

“So you don’t want to stop training with me?” I ask, careful to keep my gaze trained above his shoulders.

“No,” Max says with a deep, exasperated sigh. “Just give me a few minutes.”

I study Max’s face for a moment. “Max?” He lifts his eyebrows at me. “I think I know the answer to this, but… you don’t have,” I grimace, “feelings for me, right?”

Max rolls his eyes. “You are very much not my type.”

I nod. “Okay. So you’re just aware I’m insanely hot. Cool.”

“Please. I couldn’t be less interested in you if I tried,” Max grumbles and crosses his arms over his chest.

The venom in his voice surprises me. “Max, I was joking.”

“No, you weren’t.”

Disappointment swamps me, and I shake my head. “Whatever, Max,” I say. I slide my sai back onto the shelf and stalk past him out the door.

Connor sleeps peacefully next to me, and I stare at the ceiling. I’ve not been sleeping right since they caught the killer. My stomach grumbles, and I think about the leftover pizza waiting for me in the kitchen. I kiss Connor’s cheek and clamber over him to slip out of bed. Grabbing the pizza box from the fridge, I sit on the couch with it. I’m about to start flicking through channels when I decide a little doom-scrolling would probably be more entertaining than middle-of-the-night television.

An EverydayEmrys post from the previous day piques my interest. I tap on the photo of the headmaster and expand the caption.

There are over five hundred comments on the post, and I scroll through them. Most of them are theories about the headmaster’s whereabouts, some denounce a potential love interest for him, and a couple are just downright thirsty.

“You’re not into that garbage too, are you?” Alice’s voice makes me jump as she drops onto the couch beside me.

I shake my head. “Just came up on my feed.”

“How come you’re out here?”

“I was hungry,” I say, giving her a half-truth, scrolling through the comments again.

“These comments are insane.” She points to one and reads, “ I’d let him discipline me harshly. Weirdo,” she scoffs. “Huh. There are even bots commenting.”

I frown, looking at the comments more closely, and I see what she’s talking about. There is a bot account called @eladan , and the comment is simply the letter S . I frown and tap on the profile, bringing up all the posts. Similar to the stranger’s account, it’s blank, and I wonder briefly how they got past the system. We scroll through the comments on the second photo and eventually find the same bot with another post. This time, it’s just the letter E. Alice and I share a look, our brows drawn. I select another post, tracking the bot, and after a while we have twenty-nine letters. Alice and I look down at the scrambled letters, none of which seem to make any sense.

“This could be listen ,” I say, pointing to six of the letters.

Alice nods, writing it down and scoring out those letters to keep track. “Beginning?” Alice asks, writing out the word with a question mark.

“ Listen well. I think that’s the first two words,” I say, and Alice nods, writing it down. “ Listen well. This is just the beginning?” I feel the color drain from my face.

“Sum?” Alice says, looking at the letters and then grabbing my phone, scrolling through the posts and the comments. “There are comments after they caught that Eli guy.”

“Maybe you should tell the headmaster,” I say, picking at my half-eaten piece of pizza.

Alice shakes her head. “It should be you, Summer. You’re the target.”

I glance at the time on my phone. It’s just before 2AM. “I’ll tell him tomorrow. It’s too late now.”

“According to yesterday’s post, he’s usually up late.”

I sigh and open my email.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Hello, sir.

I’m sorry to bother you outside of school times again, but I have reason to believe the killer is still out there.

-Summer

A reply comes back almost immediately.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Miss Tuatha De Daanan,

Come to my office.

-Headmaster Emrys

I frown. “He wants me to come to his office.”

“Now?”

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Right now, sir?

-Summer.

His response is once more immediate.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Miss Tuatha De Daanan,

Right now.

-Headmaster Emrys.

I stand up and pad into my bedroom, pulling on one of Connor’s sweaters. It is so big it covers me to my knees. I strap my knife around my thigh and pull on some sneakers.

Alice is where I left her on the couch, but she has pulled her legs up tight against her chest. “You’re going alone? When you think the killer is still out there? Summer, I don’t think that is a good idea. Let me go with you.”

“I need you to stay with Connor. I doubt he’ll wake up, but just in case, I don’t want him to worry.” My smile is a little forced, but I graze my fingers over the blade on my thigh. “I will be okay, Al. Promise.”

Alice sighs. “All right, but text me every minute so I know you’re okay.”

I nod and leave the house, running toward Manananggal Hall. The halls are eerie at this time of night. Sconces line the walls but only provide a small amount of light, and when I turn the corridor and see the headmaster’s office before me, it looks even more daunting than usual. I stand in the puddle of light leaking out from beneath the door and knock.

“Enter.” His voice comes through unmuffled, as if he is standing right in front of me. I can’t remember if that has happened every time. I push the door open and step into his office.

“Hello, sir.” The headmaster is sitting behind his desk as usual, but his normally polished professionalism looks a bit rumpled tonight. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, showing the hundreds of black runes adorning his muscled forearms. His hair is mussed like he’s been running his fingers through it while he worked on the papers splayed over the desk. In front of him is an expensive-looking decanter and a matching tumbler, both with dark amber liquid inside.

“Miss Tuatha De Daanan. You have reason to believe this isn’t over?”

“Yes, sir.” I nod and look away, feeling a little embarrassed now that I am here. I don’t know if he is aware of EverydayEmrys , and I don’t relish him knowing that I have been looking at it close enough to spot secret messages. “Yes, sir.”

The headmaster waits in silence until I meet his gaze again, and then he gestures to the seat in front of him. This whole ritual is becoming disturbingly familiar to me. “Explain.”

I sit down on the chair and pull on my fingers. “Well… I believe they have been leaving messages.”

He leans forward on his elbows, his silver eyes focused intently on me. “Messages? To you?”

“Not exactly,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat.

The headmaster lifts an eyebrow, and I feel my blush deepen. My ears burn as I pull my phone from the pocket of the hoodie and unlock the screen. It’s already loaded on the page, and I wince before leaning forward to place it on his desk.

The headmaster picks up my phone, scowling as he scrolls through the page. “What is this?” His lips flatten into a thin line. “Is this your account?”

“What? No!” I sputter.

His shoulders relax a little. “Good. It’s clear some of my students have far too much time on their hands.” He glances up at me. “Apart from the page, is there something I’m missing?”

I stand and walk around his desk before pointing out the comments from the bot account. “Some of these comments were from after Eli was caught, and they seem to have been posted by a bot account.”

“Bot account?” he asks.

“It’s a faceless account, usually used to post spam, but I think this one might have more malicious plans than fraud. I believe there may be someone behind it posting the messages.”

The headmaster looks at the comment, tilting his head slightly as he considers. “I had my suspicions that they had the wrong person. They were reluctant to hear it.” The headmaster taps his fingers on his desk, thinking. “I am going to task you with a job, Miss Tuatha De Daanan. I need to know who runs this account. If these messages are from the killer, then I have a feeling there are more that may have been deleted.” He continues to study the page, but his gaze slides to me when I don’t immediately answer. “Unless you’re not up to it.”

“I can do it.”

He nods once, looking back at my phone. “Good. I’m still being watched, and I’m… not the most tech-savvy.” He stops talking and just stares at me, his gaze considering. “I’ve been debating whether to show this to you, but I think you should see it. When the fae king visited, how he reacted to the news unnerved me.” The headmaster lifts his hand, and a spell plays out in front of us.

The white-haired fae relaxes in the chair across from the headmaster, a set of dark glasses concealing his eyes. His pose is relaxed, indulgent, and unconcerned, but a lethal energy permeates the room. Kai, the King of the Fae, is chaos and malevolence. He is everything they say he is. He is evil.

“There was another fae killed,” the headmaster says to him. “I thought you’d wish to know.”

The fae king lowers his sunglasses, showing the light dancing in his magenta eyes. The more magenta a fae has in their eyes, the more powerful they are. So what does it mean that the king has no hint of violet in his? He watches the headmaster, appearing bored. “And I should care why?”

“Well, Eli is your cousin, is he not? Isn’t that why you are here?”

The fae king smirks cruelly, pushing his sunglasses back up. “I’m more concerned about that strange little fae girl who has matriculated into your care.”

“That is not your concern nor the reason for your visit,” the headmaster says. His voice is calm, but a rumble of menace resonates within the words.

The fae king stands and stretches. “But I am making her my concern. You know, the second she entered Avalon, I felt her.” They watch each other, and the tension builds, neither backing down. “Tell her I look forward to meeting her.” He laughs darkly and leaves, followed by his entourage.

I swallow as the spell dissolves into nothing.

“He didn’t seem even remotely concerned about the situation. Only about you,” the headmaster says.

“And he called me little fae. Do you think h-he knows who’s doing this?”

The headmaster nods, and the spell appears again. The headmaster zooms in on Kai’s face, looking at the smirk etched on his face. “He’s mocking us. Me in particular.”

“I need to leave. Don’t I?”

“Unfortunately, there is nowhere safer. Also, Avalon is your home.”

“Right…”

He pins me in place with his gaze. “You are not to leave Avalon, Miss Tuatha De Daanan.”

I blush and look away. “Yes, sir.”

I feel his gaze burning into me, willing me to look at him. When I do, he nods and runs a hand through his hair. He looks at my phone again and shakes his head. “The authorities are celebrating. I’m not sure this or anything will get them to reopen the investigation.”

“I’ll help however I can.”

He nods and rubs his hand over his face. “We need to find out who runs the page.”

I nod once and take my phone from his desk. I have no idea how I’m going to do that. The headmaster says he’s shit with technology, and I’m not sure I’m much better, to be honest. But the safety of myself and those I care about is at stake, and I will do whatever it takes to protect the people I love.