“Okay.” I frowned. “See you tonight.”
Odette took a different path back to Theo’s cottage. When I found Theo again, he was sitting on a bench and staring miserably at the ground.
I sat beside him. “I’m sorry.”
Theo took a few deep breaths. He sounded like he was trying not to cry. “Do you think I should give up?”
I didn’t know. I hated to see Theo hurting, so part of me wanted to say yes. Maybe it was better if they both moved on.
But a bigger part of me wanted him to fight for her, so I said, “Just give her some space right now. She needs time to sort out her feelings.”
He didn’t answer. Just got up from the bench and changed into an alicorn, so he could give me a ride back. I climbed on. I’d had more than enough of alicorns for one day.
Theo flew me back to campus. We parted at the dorms, and he locked himself in his room.
Poor guy. Odette could do whatever she wanted, and Theo didn’t have the right to be upset about it… but still. He loved her, and I could see how imagining her with another shifter tore him up inside.
Did Ethan feel that way about Finlay and I? I wasn’t sure.
Speak of the devil… Finlay was just coming out of his dorm room as I was on the way to mine. His bright smile, usually so welcoming, seemed off-putting now. Probably because of everything that just happened.
“Hey, lass,” Finlay began. “You’ve been gone awhile.”
“I’ve been out with friends,” I said. “I didn’t forget about our date tonight.”
He curled an arm around my waist. “I don’t think the press has, either. They already have reporters stationed outside the wine bar I planned to take you to.”
Ugh. Assholes. Pictures of me and Finlay had been all over social media. On our last date, we’d gone to get ice cream, and by the time we were finished paparazzi were swarming the shop. The photos had been front page news ofThe Annual Arcanea.The comments on social media had been far from kind.“I’m sorry about all the attention you’re getting,” I said.
“I don’t mind it too much.” Finlay gave a casual shrug. “I’m a bit of an attention whore, and the ladies love a celebrity. The worst the reporters have called me is a brainless hunk, and I take that as a compliment.”
I laughed. “So what’s the new plan?”
“I’d figure we’d stay on campus. A corner booth in the cafeteria sounds nice,” Finlay purred.
“Sure. Just let me grab a sweater.” I was cold, and my uniform wasn’t doing much to keep me warm.
I entered my dorm room. The moment my hand touched the doorknob, I had the thought something felt very off.
My next clue was the sight of Tygrys lying on my desk. His eyes were moving, but his limbs were stiff and still— like he was magically bound.
I didn’t have time to react. A hooded figure stepped in front of me— a man, taller by at least a foot. He wore a mask that disguised his features, black cloak shadowing his movements. In his gloved hand he held a thin knife, smaller than the length of my finger.
I gasped as the figure shoved the miniature blade into my gut. Pain radiated through my mind, and blood bloomed from the small wound.
“Queen Antonia sends her regards,” the assassin hissed. He yanked the blade out, and I yelped in discomfort. The assassin had fled out the window before I could stop him.
My fingers trailed over the wound. The blade hadn’t gone deep. It’d barely cut me.
Then a familiar sensation began spreading over my body. It started in my stomach. My gut churned, and I immediately felt sick. I fell to my knees and began vomiting into the waste bin, but nothing came up. Hives spread over my skin, which reddened and felt terribly itchy. I put a hand to my neck and gasped as I felt my throat swell, closing me off to air.
I knew this feeling, because it had happened to me before, a long time ago in high school… but never this bad.
St. John’s Wort. The blade had been laced with it. It had to be.
The binding enchantment on my faerie folk fell away. Tygrys fluttered upward. With one look at my face, he gave an alarmed squeak and flew out the door.
I was having an allergic reaction. I’d die in minutes if I didn’t get an antidote. There was an Epi-Pen in my purse, which I had on hand for my infusions. I struggled to crawl to my desk chair, where my purse was hanging. It felt so far away. My tongue was so thick and swollen it began choking me, and my vision swam as I desperately gasped for air, black dots swarming my eyes.
