I put the glass down. “Hilda said you’d tell me about how this place works, but I don’t think that’ll be enough. I need someone to watch my back.” Liora gave me a grim smile, confirming my worst suspicions. My stomach jumped a little. “And if you want an ally too, then we need trust. So, how about an answer for an answer? We can keep that going until all our nosiness has dried up.”
Cai made an appreciative snorting sound and Liora smiled. “You underestimated her, Cai. She’s as good as you are at wheedling information out of people.”
I surveyed her, concerned the question had annoyed her. But if anything, she seemed glad. “I knew my brother would pry the minute I was gone. I’m just glad you’re getting your own back.”
“Li, your lack of faith in my self-control astounds me,” Cai said, feigning sadness.
Liora didn’t grace him with a response. She answered me. “You’ve got yourself a deal, but it might be an idea to have that conversation with more privacy than we do now.” She shot a meaningful look at the one remaining fae left in the hall and then at Patti.
“Should we go somewhere else?” I lifted my legs over the bench and faced away from the table.
“No—that’s not what I meant. Cai?” Liora pinned her brother with a knowing look.
I waited for an explanation but I didn’t get one. Cai closed his eyes and muttered something. Next, a shimmering breeze blew past me, causing my skin to hum in delight.
I lifted a brow at Liora.
“Sound barrier,” she said. “No one outside the three of us will hear anything we say.”
“I’ve had to use it every blasted day, thanks to being around so many earwigging fae,” Cai said, his voice huskier than before.
He’d used magic.
My village, like most of the Gauntlet, had feared witches. But not Viola, John, or me. I’d always wondered whether their only crime was simply being too different. Too odd. They were the anomalies, the outliers of society, and their whole lives had to be conducted in a state of isolation, forever doomed to hide the very core of their being. All to escape a brutal end atop a pyre. The fear that must haunt them day after day … In my mind it forged a common thread; something linking me to their kind. Meeting Isabel had only strengthened that idea.
“So … are you both witches?”
A shadow passed over their faces.
“Yes, but Cai’s the one with the magic.” Liora kept her voice neutral, but pain blazed bright and true in her eyes. Before I could ask more, she said, “Now that we’re cloaked, what d’you want to know first?”
I ran through about a dozen different questions before settling on two. “What’s the training day like? And Hilda mentioned an elimination period—what does that involve?”
Cai blew a low whistle.
Liora began. “We train every day in our packs. There’s a bell that sounds at 7:30. They give us an hour for breakfast, then the bell goes again at 8:30. That’s the signal for us to meet in the training field.”
“The one next to the arena and armory?”
She gave me a quick nod.
“How long do we train for?” I waited for the hammer blow to fall.
“We don’t stop until noon. We get a half an hour for lunch, and then it’s straight back at it until 6AN.”
I blanched. Gods.
“And,” Cai rolled the word, extending it. “How painful that is depends on your instructor. Ours—Goldwyn, is amazing. Have you found out who you’re assigned to yet?”
“I’m in Wilder’s class.”
“Ah.” Cai stilled.
“What?”
Cai met my eyes. “His pack’s got a reputation.”
When he didn’t say more, I looked to Liora. She went on smoothly, “There’s nothing wrong with Wilder. He’s not cruel like Dimitri.”
“But …?”
“His recruits aren’t very nice.”
Cai tsked and continued. “Don’t coddle her, Li. His class has by far the best collection of fighters, but they also happen to be the biggest bag of dicks.”
Liora did an impatient sigh. “It’s not that bad. Adrianna and Frazer are all right. They just don’t like talking to anyone.”
Cai huffed a laugh. “Frazer hasn’t said a word since he got here, and he’s wingless, which in their world usually means dishonored. Then there’s Tysion, Cole, and Dustin.” Cai continued relentlessly. “They’re nasty little shits, so watch out for them.”
My bowels turned watery. “Will they hurt me?”
“Honestly?” Cai’s back went ramrod straight. “I’m not sure.”
Liora must’ve sensed my mounting dread, because she said, “If they bother you, tell us. Cai’s one of the better fighters here, much to his delight.”
Her lip curved, but she also rolled her eyes. I sensed she did that a lot when it came to her brother.
“You’re right—it does delight me,” Cai smirked. But when he faced me, his green eyes crinkled with genuine concern. “Avoid your barracks and stick with us. We’ll protect you as much as we can.”
I tried to smile but given his wince, I guessed I’d failed spectacularly. Needing a distraction, I followed up with, “So, what about the eliminations?”
Liora groaned and Cai laughed softly. “It’s the cloud we’re all living under,” he said. “In about a month they’re giving us seven trials. If we pass, we qualify as soldiers. If we don’t …” He rolled his shoulders, loosening them.
My pulse quickened. “We get thrown out,” I finished.
Cai’s face hardened while Liora nodded somberly.
And they were already half-way through their training. Stars, what did that mean for me? Hunter had promised to come back, but where could he take me? The slave markets? No, that could not—would not—happen. “What are the trials?”
“They won’t tell us.” Liora rested her elbow on the table, sighing.
Cai’s shoulders tightened. “We can guess though, and the most popular theory is we’ll have to fight one another.” He grimaced. “That’s why so many of the recruits aren’t bothering with allies—there’s too much paranoia they’ll get stabbed in the back.”
Doubt gnawed at me. I hadn’t considered that there would be good reasons not to befriend them. “But you want to risk being mine?”
“Yes,” Liora said without hesitation.
Cai gave me a lazy half-smile, and said, “Now that we’ve answered some of your questions, maybe you’d answer ours? Like, how did the Hunt capture you? And why they didn’t take you to the markets? I find it hard to believe your handler wasn’t aware we were midway through the training cycle.”
That stopped me cold. Had Hunter known and brought me, hoping Hilda would take pity on me? He was definitely pig-headed enough.
Liora interrupted my thoughts. “We don’t need to talk about this stuff, Serena. We can be allies either way.”
Allies, but not friends, I thought. And if I was honest with myself, there was a part of me that wanted to share my past with them. Maybe, then, I wouldn’t become lost amidst this new life. Some things I welcomed losing, like recollections of Elain and Gus, but did I really want John and Viola to become a distant memory?
While Cai had said nothing to contradict her, he didn’t look convinced by his sister’s optimism. I opened my mouth, hoping very much I wouldn’t come to regret this decision. “I’ll tell you.” I fixed my eyes on the hall floor, unable to look at either of them. “Although, you might change your mind about being allies once you’ve heard. The story’s long and horrible, but short version: my stepmother was …” I searched for kinder words, but there were none. “An evil bitch.”
With that, I outlined the events that had put me in the cage, and what had happened directly afterward. The Winged Fiends, losing Brandon and Billy, and then Isabel. After I confessed that Hunter had been rescuer and kidnapper, slaver and friend, Liora was slack-jawed and Cai wore a frown. I ended by telling them that he’d given me a choice—a crappy one, but a choice nonetheless.
Liora sucked in a rattling breath. “The rest of the Hunt wouldn’t have liked that. They’ve killed their own for less.”
My stomach jumped. Damn. I’d known it’d been dangerous, but execution? And now, that’s four people I’d told. I’d have to be more careful.
“If you don’t mind me asking one more thing,” Cai began, “why come here? You don’t seem all that confident that soldiering is for you.”