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The Summer Evermore’s expression goes dark, and he looks to the Faun. “Basil, is she alive?”
The Faun shakes his head, and I can’t help but notice how he genuinely seems sad about her death.
Tears spring to my eyes before I can help it. I try to blink them away, but then I remember that I’m now disqualified from staying at this cursed school, which means I don’t have to pretend to be strong. So I let the tears fall.
And with them, my anger grows.
“A selkie attacked us,” I say to no one in particular.
The Summer Evermore frowns. “No, they were all fed and sedated.”
“Well someone forgot this selkie. She almost killed me but . . .” My hand goes to where my necklace rests, hidden beneath my shirt. “I scared her away.”
Basil steps from the boat, carrying the drowned girl in his arms. “If the selkie wasn’t drugged, you would be dead. I promise.”
Mack wraps her arms around me. “I didn’t know you’d gone back for her until I was in the boat . . . and then . . .”
“It’s okay.” I rub the last tear away with the heel of my hand and glance at the crowd in the distance. As my gaze falls on first Inara, then Reina, and finally my tormentor, I feel a potent rage spark inside my chest.
They’re to blame. Not Mack. Not the poor drowned girl. Them.
We walk toward the crowd, the bubble of warm magic the Summer Evermore gave me melting the snow at my bare feet. They’re grouped into two sides: Seelie and Unseelie.
A shrill voice I immediately recognize as Inara’s calls out, “How did you like the selkies? Guess they thought you were too ugly to eat.”
A thought comes to mind that I can’t shake. She’s responsible. She somehow made sure that one selkie wasn’t drugged.
If not for the selkie, I would have had time to get the girl to the surface before she died.
If I were staying, I’d recognize the uncontrollable rage and tamp it down. Even I’m not stupid enough to make powerful enemies when I don’t have an escape plan.
But I’m not staying, and I don’t care if they all want to murder me.
I’ll be long gone soon, out of their reach.
Fists balled at my side, I throw off my blanket and march the rest of the way toward them before Mack or the Summer Evermore can stop me.
15
“Hey a-holes!” I yell at the Unseelie court gathered to the right.
The mean girl who locked me in the cage, Reina, is the first to acknowledge my words, followed by a gorgeous male Fae who, with his spiky snow-white hair, deep lavender eyes, and sneer, has to be related to Inara.
Speaking of, Inara gives an incredulous gasp, her murderous gaze sliding to me.
I match her scowl with one of my own. What can she do anyway? What can any of them do? I’m about to get shipped off to somewhere far from her reach.
“I guess in your world, killing someone innocent is fine,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “But where I come from, that makes you cowards.”
Mack has caught up to me and gives a hard yank on my arm, nearly popping it out of socket.
“What are you doing?” she whisper-yells, her voice shaky.
“Go,” I order, “unless you want to be associated with this train wreck.”
Before Mack can respond, I prowl over to the trio. Anger seeps from my every pore. “Did you really think you could lock me in that cage and not face consequences?”
Reina shrugs. “Yeah, actually, I did. You weren’t supposed to make it to the surface.”
