Page 89

88

Summer

“ P romise me you won’t fall for a hot vampire,” Connor says, sadness clouding his eyes.

“I promise. Promise me you won’t fall for a hot angel.” My hands fist in his shirt possessively.

Connor scoffs. “Please, no one compares to you.”

“I’ll see you in two weeks.” I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his, kissing him deeply.

Connor breaks the kiss and presses his forehead to mine, tightening his arms around me. “I love you.”

“I love you too, big guy.”

He steps back reluctantly and studies my face as if committing it to memory before tapping on the gold halo wrapped around his wrist. A portal opens above him, and his wings appear behind him. I smile, seeing he has even more gold feathers than before. Connor takes a deep breath before he launches into the air and through the portal. He keeps it open long enough for me to watch him spin in the air and plunge into a cloud. The portal pulses and starts to sparkle, twinkling particles falling around me like glitter.

I sigh and look back at the empty Morningstar House, already missing him. Reluctant to leave, I stand there for a long moment, but without Connor’s warmth, the chill wind bites deep. I pull my coat tighter around me and start back toward Kelpie Hall. The campus is completely empty, and the quiet is almost eerie.

We’ve reached the point in winter where the sun never fully rises, so the lamps in the campus quad are constantly on, illuminating the paths. As I walk through the watery puddles of light, my mind wanders to the stranger. I’ve not heard from him since that night on the porch. Perhaps he has also realized that I’m not who he thought I was. Not that I care. I was wrong about him, too. I thought he understood me, but he do?—

The familiar low-lying fog seems thicker today, more of a viscous wall as I walk into it. I sense… something, and my steps falter.

“Summer… Summer… Summer.”

The sound is an echo, a haunting chant, and I turn my head toward the voice. Unlike the other times I’ve heard it calling for me, this is coming from a definitive direction, and it’s beckoning.

“Summer. Summer. Summer. Summer. Summer.”

The voice continues to call to me, lyrical and compelling. The fae lights flicker romantically, and just like the first time I saw them, they captivated me. The mist parts, and while I know I shouldn’t, I continue down the path, following the lure of that voice.

There is a small annoying heat against my chest. It throbs irritatingly, and my skin prickles as it pulses. I look down at my chest, expecting to see something sharp pressing into me, but there is nothing there.

“Summer. Summer. Summer.”

The chant of my name grows more insistent, and I search the swirling fog, trying to find the owner of this magical, seductive voice. The fae lights flicker again, and I look up at the canopy above. Suddenly, all the lights go out, and the darkness surrounds me.

The heat pulses almost violently against my chest. When I look down this time, my gaze snags on a set of footprints. There is only one set, and they follow the same trail I am on.

My head snaps up when the voice stops suddenly. The absence of it is more ominous than it calling to me. I take another step. When my foot hits the ground this time, there is a wet, squelching sound. The puddle doesn’t feel as I would expect. It is not cold and slushy. Instead, it is viscous and warm. My breathing grows shallow and difficult. I force myself to look down, and everything within me goes still. My white sneaker is spattered with thick, dark blood.

Suddenly, awareness surges through me, and my heart springs back into action. I look up and meet the gaze of… milky, out-of-focus eyes. Vacant. Cold. Dead.

The scream gets caught in my throat, and I stand there frozen. There is another jolt of heat from the necklace, bordering on pain. I stumble back, and the reality, the danger, and the adrenaline swamps me. I hear a blood-curdling scream, and it takes me a full minute to realize it’s coming from my lungs. Intending to run, I step back but trip and fall, landing in the pool of blood. Her blood. The dead girl who is sitting in front of me. Her body is propped up against the fallen tree trunk that I have sat on many times before.

And that sweater… Is that…? No.

Her sightless eyes pin me in place, but hers is not the only gaze I feel on me. That, unfortunately, familiar, malevolent presence is near, and I feel the hatred slither over me. Obviously, this kill wasn’t enough. It was simply the appetizer. I can feel the way whatever is out there is feasting on my fear.

Lured. I was lured, and like an idiot, I allowed it.

“Lost, little fae? Strange little fae…” the voice croons through the words, scraping over my senses like nails against a chalkboard. “No one to save you now.” The voice is all around me, a hideous mix of male and female, young and old.

My chest heaves as I try to focus. I force myself to think, trying to remember what I have learned. They are right. I am alone, and this time, I will have to save myself. We have only just started to practice runic circles, and I have not been able to curate them yet. Fuck. What the fuck did Max teach me?

Without looking away from the shifting fog, I slide my dagger from its sheath and slice my forefinger, ready to draw whatever I can think of that might help.

“Lost, little fae? Strange little fae…” the voice sing-songs. This time, I’m able to identify a direction. Quickly, I draw a combative rune on my palm and throw my arm out. A vibrant purple light blasts from my hand, tearing through the fog in the general direction of the sound.

I take advantage of the distraction and scramble to my feet, bolting back down the path. I can feel her blood on me, trickling down my legs and coating my skin like oil. The maniacal laugh follows me, but it gets further away with every step.

I burst into the headmaster’s office. I don’t remember deciding to come here, but here I am. He bolts from his chair and is suddenly in front of me,

“What’s happened?” he asks, his voice concise.

My gaze flits around his office, wondering why the room is trembling, shifting, and rocking like we’re in the middle of an earthquake. It’s only when he grabs my arms that I realize I’m the one shaking.

“Look at me,” he commands.

I try to focus on him, but I can’t breathe. The malevolent touch of that gaze lingers like putrid slime against my skin. Everything is blurring as tears build in my eyes.

“Look. At. Me,” he growls.

I blink and feel the useless tears fall down my cheeks. They won’t bring her back. They won’t erase the accusation in her sightless eyes. It’s my fault, just like before.

“Breathe,” he commands.

I try to take a breath, but my lungs fight back.

“Another.”

I take another breath, and this one is as difficult as the first.

“Another.”

This one is a little easier.

The headmaster waves his hand, and I feel a portal open behind me. “Go inside.”

I blink and look over my shoulder at the portal, seeing my dorm room door. The headmaster gently turns me around and pushes me through the opening. It snaps closed the second my feet hit the carpet of the hallway. I just stand there. My breathing has evened out, but my body is still stuck in a state of shock. I can’t move. My limbs feel like lead, and my joints have seized up.

Alice opens the door, her face etched in confusion. “What are you doing?” she asks.

I glance at her, feeling myself start to crumble.

Alice inhales deeply. Her nose wrinkles, but her expression softens with concern. “Sum?”

Emotions climb up my throat, and it feels like I’m choking on them. Another salty tear slides down my cheek, but I just stare at her.

Alice approaches me carefully as if she is afraid I will bolt. She gently turns me around, looking me over. “This blood isn’t yours,” she says with certainty, having already scented it.

“I found…” My voice is hoarse and broken. It sounds like I’ve been screaming for days, but I haven’t. I let out one scream, one show of pure terror.

Alice shakes her head, her hands still roaming over me, looking for invisible injuries. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it.”

The sob that had lodged itself in my throat finally rips itself free, and another tear falls. “She—” Another sob escapes me. “I think she was wearing my sweater.”

Alice looks around suspiciously and wraps her arm around me, pulling me into the dorm. She paces, glancing at me every few seconds as if assuring herself I’m still safe.

“Which sweater?”

I swallow, looking at the ground. “The pink one with the daisy buttons.”

“Shit. You were looking for that just last week.” She stops pacing for a moment, and I feel her gaze on me. “Maybe it was just a similar one?”

I shake my head. “It had the scorch mark on the cuff. The one I got when?—”

“When Zane was fucking about with runes,” Alice finishes for me.

I nod, another tear falling.

Alice’s jaw clenches, and her eyes flash crimson. “Get your stuff. We’re going tonight.”

Happy to comply with orders right now, I walk to my room on autopilot and start packing. Alice doesn’t let me out of her sight the whole time. She even follows me to the bathroom when I wash the blood from my hands, and as I’m shoving clothes into my bag, I notice another couple of my items missing. It is nothing big, but I had a black t-shirt with Ruin my Runes on it. The neckline had been cut so that it sat off the shoulder. I also couldn’t find one of my skirts and a pair of yoga pants that had a small hole in the inner seam, not to mention the multitude of panties that have disappeared.

“Ready?” Alice asks for the fortieth time since I walked into my room. I can feel her anxiety, and she must be scared if she thinks Dr?culea is the safer option.

I nod, and Alice places her hand over her heart. Black claws shoot from her fingertips, piercing her skin. She rotates her hand, and a portal opens beside her in an explosion of bright red light. Alice drops her hand, her blood dripping onto the floor. That is going to be a bitch to clean up. She looks through the portal at the gloomy gray skies and dark, oppressive buildings.

We step through the portal. “Welcome to Dr?culea,” Alice says.