Summer’s Crossing Read Online Free PDF Page A

Goodfellow?”
    â€œJust for a walk, princeling. But I’m touched that you care.” I smirked at him, and he turned away, back to the fire. I made a face at his shoulder blades. “You know, I’m getting a little tired of talking to a stone wall,” I continued, walking to the edge of the grotto. “I think having a conversation with a dead fish would be more rewarding than yapping at you.”
    â€œIt’s never stopped you before.”
    â€œSee? That’s what I’m talking about.” I rolled my eyes. “But you’ll have to excuse me for needing some time alone, Prince. I have to figure out how I’m actually going to smuggle your icy carcass into the Summer Court.”
    He looked up sharply. “I thought you had this planned out.”
    â€œOh, now we’re interested in a conversation, are we?” I chuckled and laced my hands behind my head. “Don’t worry, ice-boy, I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
    He watched me, silently. I stared back, still smirking, daring him to say something, to argue. Finally he sighed and turned back to the fire.
    â€œIt’s your court,” I heard him mutter. “You know it better than I.”
    Yeah, it is, I thought as I drew back and left him, walking into the forest. It is my court; I’m part of Summer, and you’re supposed to be my enemy, Ash. Do you ever think about that? How you’re walking into enemy territory with someone who is supposed to be loyal to the Seelie Court?
    I hadn’t been entirely straightforward. I already knew how I was going to sneak his royal iciness into Arcadia, right under the nose of Titania and the Summer Guard, without anyone knowing he was there. It would be challenging; Ash was a Winter prince through and through. You couldn’t just slap a fake mustache on him and hope for the best, not with his glamour aura. Fortunately I’d been doing this a long time. If anyone could get a Winter gentry into the Summer Court unseen, it would be yours truly.
    No, I just needed time alone. Time to think. Time to plan.
    Time to figure out what I really wanted to do.
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    â€œNo.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Ice-boy, come on. I least I’m not turning you into a lemur. This is the only way to get into the Summer Court without everyone knowing you’re…you.”
    â€œThere has to be another way.”
    â€œThere isn’t.” I crossed my arms and glared. We had reached the border of Arcadia, and stood at the edge of the wyldwood, gazing across the river to the Erlking’s lands on the other side. A wooden bridge, blooming with wildflowers, spanned the gulf, and two Summer Knights guarded the far side. Ash and I stood in a cluster of pine trees, watching them across the river, the churning rapids masking our hissed conversation.
    â€œIt’s a disguise, Ash,” I said again. “An illusion. We have to mask your Winter glamour with my Summer glamour, and we have to change your appearance so that people don’t freak out the second you walk into the court. Really, it’s the only way. How did you think this was going to go?”
    Ash sighed, tilting his head back. “You’re enjoying this far too much.”
    â€œWell.” I shrugged, biting down a grin. “I can’t say anything there.” He glared ice-daggers at me, and I raised my hands. “Do you want to get into Arcadia, or not?”
    â€œFine.” He made a frustrated, helpless gesture. “Do it. Let’s get this over with.”
    â€œThought you’d never say so.” I pulled him farther back into the trees, calling my magic as I did.
    â€œHold still,” I told him as he crossed his arms and tried to look bored and annoyed. “This won’t take long, but I have to weave Summer glamour into the illusion so that it’s strong enough to hide your Winter aura. If you were a redcap or an ice-gnome, it