“You do know that I’ve only ever done this shadowing thing once,” I finally said. “And until now, I didn’t even know I’d done it.”
“Twice,” Liam cut in.
When I turned to him with confusion, he gave me a strange smile. “Remember when you and Kael went in search of the Starlight for Bree? You mentioned how you’d scared off a Breking by just standing there with a sword pointing at the sky. I always thought that was strange and highly unlikely, even if the creature was wounded.”
Realization dawned in my mind. The creature hadn’t been trying to bait me in an attack. It hadn’t run from my ferocious stance. It merely hadn’t seen me.
“Okay, but again,” I said, holding up my hands. “I had no idea I was doing it then either, so who’s to say I can make it happen voluntarily?”
Phelan stepped forward and gave a nod. “A valid concern. You’ll stay here with us for a few days, and we’ll train with you. Alastar was close to Marin and knew her tricks well. With some coaching, you should be able to master it well enough to complete the mission successfully.”
“Right,” was all I could say. Truth was, I was more than a little nervous. Sneaking into the viper pit with only a couple of days worth of training sounded dangerous, impulsive, and hasty. A part of me wanted to do it, of course. The part of me that sang when the summer sun glistened across my skin. The part of me that had raged when Redmond had gone after Finn. The part of me that melted underneath Liam’s heated gaze.
But, as I was quickly learning, there were other parts to me. Parts that understood the violent, calculating nature of the Autumns. Parts that knew just how important it was to be prepared for the worst.
Liam showed me to my quarters. A small quaint little room with flowers climbing in through the frameless windows. A soft summer breeze fluttered against the white gauzy curtains, bringing with it the distant sound of chirping birds. Even though the storms had battered this place only an hour ago, Summer had prevailed. It would take a lot more than some lightning to chase the sun away completely.
Liam watched me silently from the open door as I tossed my small rucksack on the twin bed. The bag and all of the clothes within it were not my own. Or, well, they hadn’t been my own, not when I’d first arrived in Otherworld, but I guessed they were mine now. Alwyn had hired a seamstress to create a dozen outfits for me, since I hadn’t had a chance to pack myself a bag before being whisked away to this realm. Most of my clothes were for training at the Academy. Dark slacks, form-fitting gray shirts. But she’d added in a few dresses for special occasions, just in case.
“You know, I’m inclined to throw you over my shoulder and carry you all the way back to the Academy,” Liam finally said, his voice gruff. “It’s a dangerous thing what they’re asking you to do. And I certainly can’t imagine Alwyn would approve. They didn’t tell her they wanted you to spy for them.”
“I know. It is dangerous.” I paused. “But I haven’t said yes, you know.”
He cocked his head and let out a chuckle. “Oh, but you will, Norah. I know you, and I saw the look on your face when they gave you the whole song and dance about saving the entire damn realm. You want to be a hero. Hell, I can even see it in your eyes now.”
I swallowed hard. Liam was right. I did want to be a hero, but that didn’t mean I thought I was one. Alwyn had been right when she’d spoken to the changelings about me. What I’d done against Redmond? Pure blind luck. What I’d done to hide from the Autumn fae at the Feast? More blind luck. One day, maybe I could be stronger than that, but I wasn’t there yet.
Liam must have sensed my hesitation and my fear because he held out a hand. “Come with me. I want to show you what you’d be fighting for.”
The guards at the gates seemed hesitant to let us pass through, but Liam used his infuriating charm to convince them otherwise. They stepped aside, watching us trail up the side of the nearest hill, a perfectly sloping splash of green against the pure blue sky. We walked and walked, rising higher above the sprawling green lands below, following the gurgling blue stream to the crest in the distance. From the courtyard, this hill had looked like nothing but a small smudge of green, but I soon learned that it was another of the fae’s optical illusions. The hill was as tall as a mountain, and my breath was ragged by the time we reached the top.
“Here we are,” Liam said, spreading his arms wide on either side of him. “The second tallest point in all of Otherworld and certainly the tallest everywhere south of the Winter line.”
I took a deep breath and scanned the horizon. From here, I could see every single inch of the brilliant Summer lands. They stretched wide from east to west, and the southern tip of it crashed against an endless sea of blue. The Misty Sea, I realized. I’d read about it in the books, but I never imagined it to be such a brilliant blue, one that matched the perfect summer skies.
Turning toward the west, I spotted the hazy line where green morphed into reds and browns and oranges. The Autumn territories then. Craning my head over my shoulder, I scanned for signs of the Spring lands. They were in the far east, the lines blurred in a way. The sun wasn’t quite so brilliant there, but the greens were more vivid. The flowers were purple and pink and yellow, colors I could make out even at this distance.
And to the north was the free territory, home to the Academy, but hazy clouds obscured the view. Beyond it, further north, I knew would be the Winter Court, but it was too far to spot from here, even though I yearned to see it up close.
“You can see almost everything from up here,” I said.
Liam nodded. “If the skies were clearer, you’d be able to make out the Academy grounds, but it’s too hazy today after that damn storm.”
“Can you ever see Winter?”
“The edges, sometimes,” Liam said. “I would say that you’re not missing much, but something tells me you would find beauty in all that snow and ice.”
“I would,” I said. “It’s impossible not to find beauty in all of it, even the autumn leaves I know you hate so much. But these lands are not the problem, Liam. The seasons have not created this war. It’s the fae, the individuals using the magic of this place for their own gain.”
“I thought you might say something like that.”
I dragged my eyes away from the flourishing beauty of Otherworld to glance at Liam. “So, you’re not going to try to stop me if I decide I want to spy for the Summers.”
He shook his head. “As long as you’re certain it’s what you want to do, then I’ll support you completely, and I’ll be by your side every step of the way. Don’t forget. I’ve snuck into Autumn before. I can do it again. You won’t be alone there, Norah. You’ll have me.”
My heart filled with a strange kind of emotion. We were really going to do this. Liam and I. We were a team. Partners. The Barmbrack Ring suddenly felt very heavy in my pocket, a sensation that only intensified when I reached out and took Liam’s hand. Our gazes locked, and my breath caught. If we got through this, I would have to find a way to convince Alwyn to let him return to the Academy. There was no way in hell I could ever let him go.
Chapter Seven
“What do you mean I can’t go with her?” Liam stormed around the war table, his fists shaking by his sides. We’d returned from our trek up the mountain with what we both thought was good news. I was going to be their spy. We were going to go on the mission.
But Phelan was having none of it.
“The entire reason we want Norah to spy for us is because she can obscure herself from view,” Phelan argued. “You going with her only complicates things. Viola knows exactly who you are. You were her prisoner for years. She’d recognize you in an instant. And you can’t expect the changeling to keep both of you hidden. How far does the shadow radius even go? You would have to stick to her like glue.”
Liam’s lips curled, despite the anger flickering in his eyes. “Oh, there’d be no problem with that.”
Phelan barked out a bitter laugh. “And there it is. You only want
to go with her because you have some kind of delusion that she’s your mate. Let me guess, you think because she’s like Marin that she can claim all four of you.”
“Well, I don’t see why the hell not.”
“It’s been eighteen years since Marin had her harem. The realm thought the existence of the Greater Fae was over. Who’s to say the realm would accept it after all this time? Who’s to say it wouldn’t threaten the balance of our existence or anger the demons we’re bound to tithe?”
“The tithe is taken care of by the changeling exchange,” Liam countered.
“Yes.” A pause. “And Norah is a changeling, regardless of her unique powers. When changelings return home, they are to spend their three years at the Academy and bond with their mate. Singular.”
“Surely the demons don’t care who mates with who,” I said, finally speaking up for the first time since the argument began. I still felt a little weird, listening to people argue about my love life, but it was like they felt completely involved in who I did or did not end up mating with. In my mind, it was nobody’s business but ours. Sometimes, Otherworld was really weird.
“The Dark Fae, or the demons as some like to call them, like to keep a tight control on our realm,” Phelan said. “And they are just waiting for someone to do something wrong and give them a reason to invade.”
I shivered. “The demons are actually fae? But then why aren’t they here, in Otherworld?”
Frowning, Phelan glanced at Liam. “Honestly, how have we ended up with a spy who doesn’t even know the very basics about our world?”
“We haven’t quite gotten this far in her studies yet,” Liam said to Phelan. “We like to introduce them slowly to our history. Otherwise, we’ve found it overwhelms them. They’ve lived in the human realm all their lives. Dumping the entirety of the world on them at once is far too much.”
With a heavy sigh, Phelan continued. “There are two faerie realms, Norah. Otherworld, which is home to the Light Fae. That’s us. On the flip side, there is Underworld. Home of the Dark Fae and the more dangerous faerie creatures. They are cruel, chaotic, and violent, and they’ve longed wished to take over not only our realm but the human realm as well. Only our tithe keeps them satisfied for now, but it still means they can control us.”
“I think I need to sit down.”
“See?” Liam asked when I leaned heavily against the war table. When I’d first come to Otherworld, I’d felt overwhelmed by the knowledge that the world as I knew it was not the full truth. There was magic and faeries and I was one of them. There was an entirely different realm where the seasons held a magic of their own. Over the past few months, I’d come to grips with it. But now I was feeling a bit woozy from it all again.
Phelan let out an impatient sigh. “The Dark Fae don’t truly matter. Let’s get back to why we’re really here. The Autumn Court. What matters is making sure the Autumns don’t destroy our home.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. All this new information about the Dark Fae would have to wait. Phelan was very obviously impatient to get started on my training, and I understood why. The longer we waited to gather information, the more likely another Court might fall. It was imperative to find out what the Autumns had planned before they had a chance to carry out another attack.
Shouts echoed through the expansive hall, and the three of us turned to face the commotion. There was a scuffling noise, and then another round of shouts, before the two gate guards pounded their way into the room with a very familiar figure struggling in their meaty arms.
“This one showed up outside the gates demanding to be let in,” said the guard.
Rourke’s golden eyes burned into the face of one of his captors, the veins in his neck throbbing against his skin. My heart skipped a beat, half afraid, half happy to see his face.
“As you can probably tell, he’s Autumn filth. We were just going to ignore him, but he wouldn’t shut the hell up. Thought you might want to deal with him instead.”
The guard threw Rourke onto the marble floor. In an instant, my fae instructor was on his feet, and two daggers appeared in his hands.
All around me, steel flickered underneath the light of the summer sun streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Every Hunter, every guard, every fae in the room had a a sword. And they were all pointing the blades right at Rourke.
“Stop it.” I held up my hands and slid in front of my Autumn instructor. “Rourke is with me. He’s not an enemy.”
“He’s an Autumn,” the guard spit. “The Queen probably sent him here to find out what we’re up to. Don’t tell him anything. Hide the map.”
The Hunters quickly surrounded the table, blocking Rourke from spying any of the little pieces they’d so carefully spread out across it.
“Someone should take him to the cells,” one of the Hunters said.
Shea suddenly strode in from the door leading to the living quarters, her eyes wide as she took in the situation. In an instant, she was across the floor. She stood by my side, joining the protective circle around Rourke.
“Everyone needs to calm down. Phelan, you’ve known me all my life, yeah?”
Phelan nodded, his jaw flickering.
“Rourke here is a personal friend of mine from the Academy. He’s not like the Autumns we’re fighting against. He supported Marin. I swear to you on my mother’s grave that he isn’t a spy. There’s no need to throw him in a cell. If anything, he could help us.”
“Help you with what?” Rourke asked from behind us, his voice rising in anger. “What exactly is going on here and why have you brought Norah into it? Alwyn told me you’d gone off on some crazy mission to help the Summer fae, and I didn’t believe her at first. I didn’t even believe it all the way here. And now that I see it with my own eyes, I still can’t believe it. This is illogical.”
“You see?” Shea asked with a tight smile. “He’s just another idiot who cares about nothing other than the changeling.”
Phelan frowned but he flicked his fingers toward the Hunters and the guards. Reluctantly, they slowly eased away from the table and secured their weapons. I could see in their eyes that they still didn’t trust Rourke. Nothing we did or said would convince them that he was anything other than a typical Autumn fae. They would be on their guard.
I turned toward Rourke then, to face him. His gaze swept across my face, reading my heart and my soul in a way that made me feel as if I stood there naked and exposed before him.
“Tell me what’s going on, Norah.”
“The Summer fae have asked me to do them a favor. I’ve agreed.”
“What kind of favor?” His voice was edged in danger.
I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t know where to begin.
“Norah has a special skill that can help us get close to the Queen,” Phelan filled in for me, and I couldn’t help but notice the vagueness of his answer. He didn’t want to give Rourke the details.
Rourke arched an eyebrow. “Norah has a great number of skills, I’ll admit, but so do many other fae, particularly your Hunters here. Hunters who have completed their training, and are not in the middle of it.”
A beat passed. “None of my Hunters can weave shadows.”
Rourke blinked, surprised, and then his eyes cut to me. “Is this true?”
I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “I mean, I guess? Alastar over there said he saw me do it at the Feast of the Fae, but I didn’t realize it was happening.”
“Right. So, they’re asking you to do something that you have no idea how to control.” Rourke scowled and turned toward Phelan. “And, let me guess, you intend for her to do this alone.”
“She must,” the male fae said. “The odds of her getting caught only increase if Liam accompanies her. The Queen knows him. He cannot blend in, particularly not with that blazing red hair.”
Rourke pursed his lips. “I’ll go with Norah.”
Silence rained down on the hall.
“She needs protection, just in
case something goes wrong,” Rourke repeated. “I will go with her. I am an Autumn fae. They will not expect anything from me.”
“Fine. This isn’t my first choice, but it’s better than the alternative.” Phelan grabbed the wooden block from the war table and tossed it into the air. “You’ll go at dusk, two days from now. Now, it’s time to train.”
We waited until the sun had set in the western skies before venturing outside for my first round of training. Until then, Rourke and Alastar had patiently explained the basics of the shadowing power to me. Apparently, Rourke was also familiar with it. At one time, he had attempted to master it himself, but he hadn’t been able to wield the magic of the realm in that way, no matter how hard he tried.
First things first, it was easiest to control the power at night. Which made sense. There were more shadows at nighttime, after all. And it was best done under the cover of trees where tall, thick branches could block out the light of the moon. There was no explanation on how I was supposed to keep my shadowy mask going throughout the daylight hours, but we had to take this one step at a time.
In lieu of trees, Rourke and I stood in the shadows of the castle grounds. Liam had stayed inside, more than a little grumpy that he was being left out of the mission, and Alastar had joined the guards at the gates, filling in for the male who had fallen during the lightning storm.
Even though they were nearby, I was very much aware of the fact that Rourke and I were practically alone. For the first time in...well, almost ever. There was that time when he’d led me into the forest to trap the pooka. And then there was that time he’d rescued me from the dungeons. But that was it. And I felt far more nervous about the situation than I’d expected.
Rourke was...different than the others. Indeed, I wasn’t entirely sure he had any feelings for me at all. Everything about him unnerved me. His glittering eyes that pierced straight into my soul, seeing far more than anyone else. The way his lips pressed tight together in that slight, chilling smile of his. The way he stared into the distance, as if he were calculating the precise moment the sky would shift from light to dark.
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