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.
“You do know that it isn’t polite to stare, Norah.”
I blinked out of my reverie, and a flush filled my neck. Ripping my gaze away, I stared into the distance, focusing hard on the white spires of the Summer Court’s empty castle. What the hell was wrong with me? I always acted like a complete idiot around Rourke, and now, he’d caught me staring.
“I was just wondering why you’re different than the other Autumn fae,” I said, still refusing to meet his gaze, afraid I might make an even bigger idiot out of myself if I did. “There must be a reason you decided to side with the rest of the realm instead of with your own kind.”
“I see.” A pause. “You do know that we’re meant to be training you for this foolhardy mission, yes? I’m not certain why exchanging war stories would help you learn how to cloak yourself in shadows.”
I just want to know what makes you tick.
Rourke was impossible to read, and I realized that was part of what intrigued me about him. The others I understood. Maybe not fully but enough to have an inkling of what they might say or how they might react to a certain situation. Rourke? He was an enigma, a total mystery. The fact he’d shown up at the Summer Court, beating down doors and demanding a presence with the current leader? Well, it had been unexpected, to say the least. It was far more fire than I had ever seen in him before now.
Of course, now that he had gotten what he wanted, now that he was standing here before me now, that mask of his was firmly back in place.
Or was it a mask?
It was so impossible to say.
“If we’re going to be teaming up to go on what you call a foolhardy mission, don’t you think I should know a little bit more about you?” I finally plucked up the courage to glance back at him again, and a small timid smile donned my lips. “Surely you can see the logic in that.”
“Hmph.” Rourke crossed his arms over his chest and gave a slight nod. “I’ll tell you what. Every time you make progress, I’ll answer one of your questions. Maybe that will give you enough incentive to properly focus on this task.”
“And you’ll answer them honestly? No twisting your words around to mean something entirely different than what you actually said?”
He regarded me for a long moment before he nodded again. “I will answer your questions honestly.”
I grinned and bent my knees, prepping myself the way I usually did when we were setting up to train back at the Academy. So far in our daily classes, we’d focused on physical confrontations, building up our skills with our fists, our swords, and our daggers, instead of relying on magic to save the day all the time.
This long night of training had just gotten a hell of lot more interesting.
He let out a eerie, quiet chuckle, one that was so much different than the booming laugh of Liam, the twinkling song of Finn’s merriment, and the sharpness of Kael’s tone. It was a sound that slithered under my skin and took roots, somehow tempting me closer to this strange, mysterious fae I so desperately yearned to know.
“No need to act like you’re going to pounce me,” Rourke said in a cool voice. “None of what we’re about to do will be physical, though I suppose you will feel something interesting if we do this correctly.”
My cheeks flamed as my mind transformed his words into something they most certainly didn’t mean. An image sprung into my mind. One where I leapt across this dark space and launched into his arms. Frowning, I shook my head at myself. Focus, Norah.
I relaxed my stance, though there was nothing that could release the tension that gripped my body.
“Good.” He nodded. “Now, as far as I can tell, you should focus on the varying shades of light in this world. There is the sun and the moon. Black and white and everything in between. Darkness and light, and therefore shadows, are a part of everything.”
That was a little more abstract than what I’d hoped for.
“See the shadows, Norah. Here, come closer.”
I hesitated, but then my feet carried me across the short distance that separated us. He held out a hand, and I slid mine into his. His touch was cold and electric, simmering with a strange humming energy that sparked goosebumps along my skin. Rourke smiled and brought my hand up to his face. Everything within me squeezed tight.
“Now,” he said, lowering his voice. “I want you to focus on my face. There is more light here.” He dragged my hand to touch his left cheek, the side of his face that was highlighted by the faint light of the distant moon. After a moment of tense, unspoken words, he then dragged my hand to his other cheek. “Over here, there is darkness. And here...” He curved my hand around his strong, angular jaw. “Shadows.”
I had no idea what was happening anymore, or why we were here, or what I was supposed to do. My mind and body were engulfed with the feel of him, with the sensation of electricity crackling between our skin. I had no idea if Rourke felt it or if I was only imagining it in my head, but it was the only thing in the world that existed in that moment. Rourke. And his jaw. And his fingers curled tight around mine. The shadows were there, too, yes. The darker shades that merely highlighted the strong curve of his jaw, and the lips that were slightly parted. The tongue that darted out between them when he smiled.
“Are you ready to make your first attempt?”
“Huh?” Heart racing in my chest, I moved my gaze from his lips to his golden eyes. He wanted to make our first attempt. At kissing, I hoped. Because I had a bone-deep certainty that Rourke was very good at kissing.