“Is that what this is, Phelan?” Liam’s voice was a growl. “Because it’s not happening. Norah is not walking into that castle and murdering the Queen of the Autumns. You’ll have to kill me before I’ll let that happen.”
“No one is killing anyone,” Phelan countered, narrowing his eyes. “Yet.”
“So, then what is the point of all this?” I gestured at the map, at the fallen crowns. “Why do you want me to go into the Autumn woods?”
“We want you to be our spy.”
“Your spy.” I repeated the words, as if that would make them make more sense. “Wouldn’t it be better to find an Autumn fae who could do that? I highly doubt I’m going to be able to walk around in there without getting noticed.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” Phelan turned to Alastar and gestured for him to take over the conversation.
Alastar gave a nod and pointed to a circular clearing in the midst of the free territory. “At the Feast of the Fae, you were kidnapped, were you not?”
I frowned, wrinkling my forehead. “Yes, but I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
“I saw you.” He looked up, his eyes glittering. “I thought I was imagining things at first, but I saw you. The Autumn fae who were trying to get to you and your friend. They couldn’t, could they?”
I thought back to that night. It had all been so hazy. Fear had been pouring through my veins like molten lava, and my head had been so full of screams. I was there with Liam one instant, and then I wasn’t. The Autumn fae had shifted me halfway across the grounds. Bree was by my side, her back arched, her fingers curled into claws. Her body began to shift and change, black hairs sprouting along her arms. The Autumn fae had stared at her, glanced around the clearing, and then disappeared into the chaos.
“They couldn’t because Bree is a Redcap. Well, kind of. She’s a cured one, so she has complete control over her body now. She only changes when she wants to. She scared them off.”
Alastar exchanged a glance with Phelan, and then met my eyes again. “I had a feeling you had no idea what you were doing. It’s often the case when it comes to these kinds of powers. Norah, the Autumn fae fled because they could no longer see you anymore. They couldn’t see Bree either. They thought you’d vanished.”
I blinked. “Say what now?”
Liam leaned forward and braced his fist on the war table. “You mean she shadowed?”
Alastar gave a nod. “For a moment, I thought she’d shifted, but there was something about the way she melted into the night that looked familiar. I saw Marin do it a few times, when I was serving in her Court. It meant she was still there in the room, quietly watching, no one the wiser. Not very many fae knew she could do that.” Suddenly, his voice went soft. “Only her mates and her closest advisors.”
“So, you’re saying those Autumn fae couldn’t see me?” I pressed my hand to my neck and swallowed hard. It had taken a long time for me to get accustomed to the fact that I could transport myself from one location to another, but this was something far beyond that, at least to me.
I could make myself invisible.
No wonder the Summer fae wanted me to be a spy.
“No one could see you,” Alastar said, dragging his stubby finger from the free territory to the castle set atop of Esari, the glittering city of the Autumn Court. “Which means you can sneak into the Autumn Court, find out as much information about their plans as you can, and then report it all back to us. Then, we would know exactly what to do in order to beat them. You’d be in and out without a single Autumn soul realizing you were ever there.”
I nodded and gazed down at the map. I could see now why they’d been so insistent about my part in this, why they’d said it could affect the future of the realm. If we knew what Queen Viola was going to do ahead of time, we could prevent the Autumn Court from winning their next attack and from taking out another batch of Royals. But it was also a massive mission, one I wasn’t entirely sure I could pull off.
“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 into an attack. It hadn’t run from my ferocious stance. It merely hadn’t seen me. Ha! And all this time, I thought I’d scared it off.
“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. Boiled leathers for armor. 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. It’s what I love about you.”
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 near
est 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 border.”
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. You know how much you mean to me. Don’t you?”
A gasp left my throat. “No, I don’t think I do.”
I knew he was attracted to me. He’d made that much clear. But did it go deeper than that? I didn’t know.
It did for me.
With a slight smile, he palmed my cheek and dipped his face toward mine. Liam kissed me with so much hunger that I almost forgot my own name. His lips were hot and heavy, eager for more. When he pulled back, I saw in a wildness in his eyes and…something else. Something that made my stomach flip.
“Let’s just say that what I feel for you is far more than just friendship.” His breath was hot on my lips. We were barely an inch apart.
The corners of my mouth tipped up. “I could have guessed that by the way you kissed me.”
“I don’t want to just kiss you,” he growled. “And I’m not talking about sex either. I want you. All of you. Not just your body but your heart.”
I clutched his shirt in my hands, yanking him back down to me again, desperate to feel his lips on mine.
“I want the same,” I whispered just before he reached me. “I want everything.”
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. 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.
Not now. Not ever.
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. Together. As a team. After what we’d shared, I never wanted to leave his side.
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, his face the same shade of red as his hair. “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.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.
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 that just because she’s like Marin that she can claim all four of you.”
“Well, I don’t see why the hell not.”
I blinked at him. It was the first time he’d voiced that idea out loud, and I hadn’t known he felt that way. I, of course, did. Ever since I’d learned about Marin’s harem, I hadn’t been able to get the hope out of my heart.
“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 as if 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.
Not that a harem would be accepted in the human world either.
“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 the changelings slowly to our history. Otherwise, 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, turning to face me. “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 a
sked 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.
The demons were fae as well. And they controlled everything the Light Fae did.
Phelan let out an impatient sigh. “The Dark Fae don’t truly matter right now. 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.
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