Evermore Academy: Spring by Audrey Grey

Author:Audrey Grey [Grey, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Starfall Press
Published: 2020-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

25

“Again,” Valerian orders. He’s posted on the far side of the gym, arms crossed and legs spread wide. When Eclipsa hesitates, he repeats, “Again, Eclipsa.”

I flash her a panicked look, and she mouths, sorry, before sending a wave of magic rolling across the mat toward me. Taking a deep breath, I square off to face the churning darkness as it rises, transforming into a hulking troll.

It’s an illusion spell. I know the troll isn’t real. I know it can’t hurt me.

And yet, my mind and body freak out as if it were real. I scream and duck, searching for a weapon. Pleading with them for anything to fight this monster. The troll barrels closer, and I can actually smell its rotten egg stench and feel the mat shake beneath its large, hairy feet.

Sweat pours from my body. I’m terrified, helpless to do anything but watch as it swings its huge, spiky club at my face—

“Enough!” Eclipsa snaps.

I must have closed my eyes, and when I open them, everything is sideways. Oh—that’s because I’m curled in the fetal position on my side, arms hugging my legs, trembling so hard my thigh slaps softly against the padded mat.

Relaxing, I stare up at the ceiling. The troll is gone and once again, I produced no magic.

None. Not even a tiny little whisper of the stuff.

Both Valerian and Eclipsa rush over to help me up, but when Valerian gets close, Eclipsa checks him with her elbow. “She needs space.”

He freezes, his face twisted with emotion. Agony and rage swirl inside his silver eyes as he slowly meets my stare.

It’s been two weeks since Hellebore kidnapped me in front of Valerian and my class. Two agonizing weeks of working every night to coax out my magic. Two weeks of looking into Valerian’s face and seeing his gut-wrenching guilt for not being able to stop Hellebore.

That plus the seething fury buried beneath the shame convinces me that I made the right choice.

If I’d let Hellebore take me to the Spring Court, Valerian would have burned the Everwilde to the ground, no matter the cost.

“It’s okay, Eclipsa,” I protest, even though my heart still races and my body is weak from doing this same thing for the last four hours. A nightmarish, never-ending game called let’s-scare-Summer-until-she-uses-magic or pees her pants.

My sanity isn’t the only victim. The nights after training that were supposed to go toward operation-get-to-know-Valerian are now horror-filled scenarios that leave me sweaty and shaking.

Not exactly how I envisioned getting to know Valerian better.

But Eclipsa’s wrong. I don’t blame Valerian for trying to help me control my powers. Control means I can keep my identity safe and—if needed—can protect myself from psychopaths like Inara and Hellebore.

I’m just convinced it’s a waste of time. I’m broken. My mortal body unable to harness the power tethered to my soulstone.

They’ve tried everything. Orcs. Lycans. Trolls. I even agreed to using the spider creatures from my hallucination, which ended disastrously with me dry-heaving on the ground.

At this point, I’d let Eclipsa conjure Satan himself if it helped draw out my magic so I can learn how to control it.

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