My skin tightens. Every instinct in my body screams to either lash out more or dive into the shadows away from them.
The icy gleam of the stage around me flickers before my eyes, merging with memories of a snow-draped forest, of my fae mentor slumped amid pooling blood, the human hunters shouting and stabbing him?—
A pulse of warmth washes over me through my bond with Peri. I yank my gaze to her.
She’s smiling down at me, a bit sad but just as fond as always.
Sheknows I was only trying to protect her.
I’m not going to make a disaster of this moment the way Raze did with the idiots who charged at us the other day. I’ve got more control than that brute, don’t I?
I set my jaw and force myself to step forward to the edge of the stage. I haven’t done a good enough job of taking care of thewoman I love if I let her spectacle devolve into panicked chaos. It’s on me to fix it.
“I’m sorry!” I force myself to say over the clamor. “I was only trying to protect my mate. If I remove the ice quickly, he’ll be perfectly fine.”
As disappointing as that fact might be.
I keep the rancor to myself and leach the frigid cold from the man’s arms before anyone needs to respond. The man shudders and drops the pop can he nearly turned into a projectile weapon. He gropes at one hand with the other, confirming that his fingers still move.
The nervous energy of the crowd diminishes, but it doesn’t fade away completely. Many of the eyes that gazed as us with awe before have sharpened with wariness.
Fuck.
Did I completely screw up what Peri was trying to accomplish? Is it just not possible for me to interact with humans without wanting to freeze-dry them?
Peri believes the shadow realm wants to merge with the mortal one, that we need to find some kind of balance where the two can co-exist. But what if I’m simply not capable of playing nice?
13
Periwinkle
Iknow I’m in trouble when Rollick materializes next to me while I’m enjoying my first ever iced frappuccino. I got it from this wonderful woman who works at a coffee shop down the highway, who brought it along with dozens of other drinks for the refugees. When she grinned at me with a twirl of her multi-colored hair that might be even more impressive than mine—without the glow—and told me, “I saw you on TV! You were amazing!” my spirits lifted pretty high.
Rollick’s expression deflates them in an instant.
I gulp down the dregs of the frozen bitter-sweetness faster than anyone really should and wince. “Brain freeze.”
But worth it in case he was going to tell me I’ve lost edible treats privileges.
The glower hasn’t left his eyes since last night’s initial scolding after our TV performance. It’s out in full force right now.
He beckons me to join him in the shadows. “I think there’s something you should see, my glowing rebel.”
Iwouldlike to get back in the headmaster’s good graces, and not just because the ominous wafts of his demonic energy set off alarm bells all through my nerves. I put on my brightest voice. “Absolutely! Lead the way!”
Rollick’s eyes narrow. As he melds into the nearest patch of darkness with me trailing behind, I think I hear him muttering something under his breath about how cursed he is with mutinous underlings and what gods he offended to deserve it.
I didn’texactlystage a mutiny. I just… didn’t follow one little order that he gave.
Okay, maybe it was a big order. But still. I followed lots of others to the letter. It should balance out.
And I have to believe that revealing our presence to the world—or as much as the world watches the evening news—was a good thing in the long run.
I follow Rollick’s unnerving essence through the shadows to the area at the edge of the refugee camp where the army has hunkered down. They have their own tents and even a few temporary cabins they erected quickly, everything a dun brown that blends into the earth between the patchy grass.
No wonder they’re so grouchy all the time if that’s the kind of atmosphere they’re surrounded by.
Rollick draws to a stop by the cabin that I assume belongs to Colonel Hueber, because he’s standing right outside, with Major Yin and a few other soldiers poised rigidly nearby. A few humans not in uniform—but not as scruffy as most of the evacuees are by now—are facing them, one talking with broad gestures of his hands.
