Into the earth, for frack’s sake. This is totally how I die.
Mack sweeps a concerned look over me. “I don’t have time to explain all of it . . . you know how to swim, right?”
“Swim?” Dear Lord, my voice is squeaky. Why do I have to hate tight, enclosed spaces? ”Sure. Why?”
I used to love it, but swimming requires enormous amounts of calories . . .
“They’re dropping us into a river system below the academy. We have to make it to the lake of sorrows.” Of course it’s called the lake of sorrows. “We’re supposed to be scared of the selkies that live there, but my parents told me they secretly feed the selkies a huge meal right beforehand and then drug them with magic.”
Selkies . . . what are those again? My brain supplies endless images of mermaid creatures with rows of pointy teeth.
Killer mermaids. They’re throwing us into water with killer mermaids. “So they’re . . . harmless?”
“Supposedly.” She shrugs. “The biggest threat, of course, is drowning. There were two during my parents’ Selection.” She shrugs again, but the conditioned response is unable to hide the way her mouth puckers at the corners. “Other than making sure we don’t die, we just have to be one of the first fifty to arrive.”
This just keeps getting better. “What happens if we’re not?”
“We lose our spot in the academy.”
A spark of hope blossoms inside my chest. So there’s a way to get kicked out of this place? “Is that a . . . bad thing?”
Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head. “I still cannot get over how little you know about how this all works. Yes, that’s a bad thing. A very bad thing. Once we entered Everwilde, we belong to them. Any human who loses their spot at Evermore Academy goes to work as a slave in the Unseelie Courts, or worse . . . fighting the darklings in the scourge.”
An image of those poor souls trudging mindlessly behind Magus flashes in my mind, and newfound fear pierces my core. I cannot let that happen. God only knows what life in the Unseelie Courts would be like.
And the scourge . . .
My hands clench the bars as we’re plunged lower. The Fae students peer down at us. Inara’s face is gleeful as she calls out, “Watch out for the hungry selkies, little humans.” Her cruel gaze flicks to me. “I hear they eat the ugly mortals first.”
I can’t quite catch my breath. I should have expected something like this in the beginning—the Fae are vicious jerks—but still, I’m caught off guard, and I hate the feeling.
Someone is crying—a tall girl with lavender -dyed hair wrangled into a tight knot. In between sobs she blurts out that she can’t swim.
“We should help her,” I say, but Mack puts a hand on my arm and shakes her head.
“No. She’s already panicking. In the water she’ll drown anyone who tries.”
I feel sick. This isn’t right. But I don’t have time to come up with a plan. In a few moments, we’ll have to swim.
Swim . . . with shoes. I lose my scarf and sweatshirt, pocket my mittens, then I bend down and rip my boots off. Mack catches on immediately and does the same, wincing as she has to get rid of her expensive Jimmy Choo’s.
Together we chuck our stuff through the cage bars. Mine barely miss a blond Fae boy’s head before disappearing above.
I’ll have to come back for those later.
The others follow our lead and shoes fly through the air, a few missing the dwindling ledge above and raining back down on us.
A giant greenish-yellow orb hangs from the top of the cage, illuminating tiny streams of water rivering down dirt walls as we’re dragged deep into the earth. The circle of light from above grows smaller and smaller, the faces of the Fae watching us becoming nondescript.
The others inside the cage are starting to group into packs of three to four.
“Here’s the deal,” Mack says, turning me to face her. “There are seven tunnels leading out from here to the lake, each with magical reeds placed along their length to let us breathe. But there aren’t enough of the breathing devices for all of us.”
A mixture of anger and fear roils my gut. “Why would they do that? Give us less than we need?”
“Because they’re the Evermore, and we’re their entertainment. The sooner you get used to that fact, the better.”
My jaw locks as anger pours through me. I’ll never get used to that idea. Never.