Turning, I saw four miniature fairies all dressed in what appeared to be flower petals—which reminded me of Tinker Bell, my favorite fairy from when I was a kid—flying towards me. Each of them was supporting a corner of a large parchment scroll that looked like a movie prop from a film about the Middle Ages.
Beside me, Bran gripped my knee under the table.
“Nixies,” he muttered. “Be very, very still, Emma.”
“He’s right—no sudden movements,” Lachlan agreed from my other side.
I frowned. None of the tiny fairies was taller than my hand—what were they so afraid of?
Then a fifth fairy—this one dressed in the royal purple petals of an Iris—flew right up to me.
“Are you the Fae who styles herself as ‘Emma Plunkett’?” she asked me. (Or was it a he? It was kind of hard to tell because the little fairies were so androgynously beautiful.
“Um, yes,” I said nervously, my voice going high and uncertain. “Who are you?”
“I am Chrisanther, head of Her Majesty’s Messengers. I have been sent to deliver a message to you, Emma Plunkett.”
“What…what message?” I faltered.
“Ahem…” The tiny Chrisanther flew back to the scroll and gestured to the other messenger fairies. They unrolled the scroll, hovering in place with it, their tiny diaphanous wings fluttering so quickly I could only see blurs where they were. Then Chrisanther began to read in a high, piping voice.
“Emma Plunkett: whereas you have caused grievous bodily harm and wanton destruction to a member in good standing of Queen Elia’s Court and whereas you are completely unrepentant of your sins and crimes, you are hereby summoned to the Summer Court immediately to be tried, convicted, and punished for your acts of barbaric evil. At once.”
“What?” Megan exclaimed. “But Emma didn’t do anything wrong!”
“She was just defending herself from that bitch, Morganna!” Avery put in. He glared at the head Nixie. “And it sounds to me like you’re not even offering her a fair trial!”
The tiny fairy flew right up and got in Avery’s face.
“She will come with us now by order of Her Majesty Elia, Queen of the Summer Court!” he (or she) declared.
Then the Nixie bared an amazing array of tiny, needle sharp teeth, and bit Avery on the cheek.
“Ow!” Avery gasped, jerking away and swatting at the tiny fairy. Chrisanther flew away, but he took a hunk of flesh with him.
I looked at Avery’s face in dismay—there was a tiny perfect bite mark about the size and shape of a nickel on his right cheekbone, just under his eye. Crimson blood was already streaming down his face.
The bite reminded me of a type of shark I’d done a report on in elementary school, called a Cookie Cutter shark. It earned its name because the perfect, tiny little bites it takes out of its prey, which are so neat and uniform they look like they were carved out by a cookie cutter.
But I wasn’t the only one upset at Avery’s injury. Saint, who was sitting right beside his roommate, roared in anger.
“You dare!” His voice was deeper than normal and his eyes were suddenly burning coals. He was about to lunge forward when Avery put a hand on his arm.
“No, roomie—it’s all right!”
“That creature hurt you!” Saint’s voice had gotten a lot deeper—there was a menacing echo of a growl in his tone that let me know it wasn’t just him speaking.
“Watch him!” Kaitlyn said uneasily. “If his Drake comes out…”
“It must not come out,” Ari said in a low tone. “It could kill everyone in the Dining Hall in a matter of minutes!”
“That creature hurt Avery,” Saint growled, his eyes glowing in a way that scared the crap out of me. His irises and pupils had completely disappeared and red and gold flames were dancing in their place. The smell of burning filled the air.
But the Nixies seemed undeterred.
“You will come with us, Emma Plunkett,” Chrisanther announced. “Or we will make you and your friends regret your choice!”
The little fairy hovered in the air, as if it intended to dive bomb Avery again. A low growl rumbled in Saint’s broad chest and the smell of burning got stronger.
I could see exactly what was about to happen. Saint’s Drake would come out and lay waste to the entire student body, including all my friends. Probably only the Nixies would escape because they were small and maneuverable enough to get away. But everyone else would be roasted to a crisp unless I acted now.
“Stop, stop—don’t bite anybody else!” I exclaimed. “I’ll go with you!”
“We’d better hurry,” Lachlan murmured, gripping my hand under the table. The beast that lives inside Santiago is cursed—I can feel its dark magic from here!”
“Yes, let’s go,” Bran said, taking my other hand.
“You’re coming with me?” I asked, as the three of us rose slowly from the table, taking care not to make any sudden moves.