Sam went to the bar to grab a notepad, and I used the time to take a bathroom break. On my way back, I spotted Alex clear across the living room in a rousing discussion with his fellow tutoring students. I smiled and waved, and he returned the gesture.
Sam had already jotted down two options when I arrived back at my seat.
I leaned over the arm of the chair and gasped. “No! Those would be awful!”
“That’s a vampire for you,” Andre said.
“What else?” Sam asked.
“What about an obstacle course of sorts?” Diana offered. “One that would require super strength and speed?”
Sam squished her lips to the side. “Maybe. It sounds a little too simple, but depending on the environment, I could see it. I’ll put it dow—” She paused, and a look of fear flashed over her face. “Does anyone else hear that?”
The music inside was blaring and difficult to hear over, but Sam’s reaction pushed me to try. I tuned out the music, and after a few moments, the sounds of growls and screams hit my ear. I hoped they were emanating from the theater room, but my senses informed me they were coming from the opposite direction—outside.
A sickening sense of déjà vu came over me, and I shot out of my seat. Spinning toward the window, I let out a yelp as a massive, black beast soared over the front lawn. I watched, mouth agape, as it flew over the trampoline and snatched someone straight out of the air with a vicious roar.
“What was that?” Diana appeared at my side.
It had moved so fast that I wasn’t sure, but the answer came a moment later when a skinny third-year burst through the front door. A spell, obvious by the amber magic that spewed from his hands, flew up around him.
“The fae are here!” The guy’s voice boomed over the music, magically amplified. “And they brought a dragon! Help!”
A dragon? What the actual shit?!
All of us champions dashed toward the door, my heart hammering harder with each step. I had no idea how we were going to fight the fae. The only other time I’d tried to fight one, he had gotten away. And a dragon?
My stomach sank.
Magicals had banished dragons to Faerie centuries ago. Occasionally, they emerged into our world, as they had when my parents were assigned to wrangle a wayward mated pair in their spy days. But mostly, the royal fae courts kept their dragons on a tight, metaphorical leash. Which meant few people outside of Faerie knew how to subdue the beasts.
But just because I’m ignorant doesn’t mean others are,I reasoned, trying to calm my raging mind.
Someone here had to know something about taming a dragon. Right?
My rational thinking lasted until I exited the front door and came face-to-face with what we werereallyup against.
Chapter Twelve
At least fifty fae ran across the lawn and through the woods, cackling with glee and lighting fires with magic. Ropes made of vines bound my peers’ legs and arms, while gusts of air tossed people around like leaves in the wind.
But what caught my attention most were the two students trapped in separate spheres of water. Their fists slammed against the aqueous walls, and desperation lined their faces as bubbles escaped their screaming mouths.
I sprinted toward the water spheres. Somehow, although chaos was all around me, everything else fell away as I worked out how to save the drowning students.
I wonder if I could—
My head snapped to the side as a body came hurtling my direction and tackled me to the ground.
“Not so fast, pretty,” a deep voice growled as someone pressed me into the dirt. A nail raked down my neck, burning the skin there, as the creature tried to pull my hair back.
“Get off of me!” I screamed. Magic flew from my hands, but since the fae had me stomach-down, my aim was poor, and I didn’t hit my target.
“Perhaps after I send you into slumber. We’re always looking for pretty and docile slaves in Dark Court. You might need help with the latter attribute, but it’s nothing a little fae wine can’t handle.”
My blood froze. Send me into slumber? Docile slaves? Ohhellno.
I kicked and tried to yell for help, but my throat felt tight. After a few more attempts, I could barely breathe, let alone scream. For a moment I thought it was due to the fae’s prodigious weight, but when my lungs began to burn, the truth hit me.
