After the male fell, Rourke and I joined together to dispatch of the other fae. My hands shook, and my heart pounded, and my whole body felt weak and drained. Rourke took my face between his palms as he peered into my eyes. There was something comforting in the golden glow of them. Something soothing, almost as though he was speaking to me with his soul.
“It’s okay, Norah,” he said in a soft voice that sounded nothing like his usual steel. “You’re okay. You’re alive, and I’m alive, and the horses are okay.” He pulled back and regarded me carefully. “And you fought like that even after being drained from healing me. That is…unprecedented, Norah. Perhaps I’ve underestimated you. Perhaps we’ve all been underestimating you, including yourself.”
“I killed him.” And I’d done it like an assassin, shoving a sword into his back when he didn’t know I was there. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that.
“You did it so we could survive,” he said. “And as much as I hate to say it, we’re going to have to go now if we want to keep on surviving. This fight was noisy. It likely woke some others. It won’t be long before someone comes to investigate.”
I gripped Rourke’s hand tight in mine and nodded. As much as I needed to process the violence of what I’d just done, he was right. It would all be for nothing if we got caught now, and the crash of steel and tumble of bodies had been loud enough to wake the dead.
Rourke and I unchained the horses from the wall and led them back out through the front of the butcher shop. Several Wilde Fae were clustered at the bottom of the stairs outside, staring up at us with anger, revulsion, and hunger. I grabbed the reins and launched myself onto the back of the horse, and Rourke did the same. And then we charged.
The Wilde Fae stumbled back as the horses bore down on them, jumping out of our way as we galloped straight for the open gates. Cries of anger rang up behind us, and several of the fae pounded the ground in an effort to chase us down. We were outside the village within moments, though the cries rang out after us for a long time after. The Wilde Fae were out for our blood. We had to keep moving.
Dread pooled in my stomach when we finally approached the tavern at the edge of the Summer lands. The door was flung wide open, and splotches of red painted the outer walls. Several bodies littered the ground, their limbs twisted at odd angles. Rourke slowed his horse, and I followed suit, slipping my hand into my pocket to feel the comfort of the stone. I could hide us, if needed.
“No need for that, Norah,” Rourke said in a chilly voice. “Whatever happened here is over. The attackers are long gone.”
I loosened my grip on the stone, but the tension in my body remained. “Who would have done this? The Autumns? The Queen didn’t mention anything about trying to breach the Summer border.”
Rourke didn’t answer. The truth was, he didn’t know anything more than I did at this point. He flicked his reins and motioned for me to follow. Slowly, we approached the tavern. Despite the fact that the attackers were gone, my heart raged in my chest and my palms were slick with sweat. We passed one body and then two, and that was when I realized how Rourke had known the truth. Flies buzzed all around them, and the stench was…
I closed my eyes and twisted my head away. They had been like this for a couple of days.
The echo of footsteps reached my ears. Footsteps that very much sounded as though they were coming from inside the tavern. Rourke heard them in the same instant I did, and he was off his horse faster than I could even register what was happening. His sword was from his scabbard and his weapon held high as he stalked in front of my horse, his back turned to me.
“Hide yourself, Norah.”
But the face that appeared in the doorway of the tavern had thick red hair, blazing bonfire eyes, and a smile so bright that it could blind me for days.
“Norah? Oh, thank the forest.” Liam started running to me then, his feet pounding against the soft dirt. I slipped off my horse and found my own body moving instinctively toward his, my heart in my throat. Seeing him now brought back a rush of emotions. I had missed him. Fiercely. And there had been a small part of me that had been worried I’d never see him again.
I launched myself into his arms, and my feet left the ground. He twirled, pressing his nose deep into my hair and breathing me in just as deeply as I breathed him. Sunflowers, fresh rain, and fire. Those fresh, familiar scents that made my bones ache.
Finally, after several long moments of this, Liam set me back down on the ground. His eyes searched mine, and he frowned, and then he turned to Rourke, questions circling in his eyes.
“She looks exhausted,” was all he said to my Autumn companion. And then he glanced at the horses. “Why are they covered in blood?”
“Nice to see you too, Liam,” Rourke said in a voice clipped short. “Glad to see you’re not among the fallen here.”
Liam turned back to me. “Norah, are you all right? What took so long? Did you get the stone? I’ve been worried out of my mind, which is why I came here. And then I found…this.”
I’d almost forgotten that Liam and the other Summers would have no idea why we’d taken longer than expected.
“I’m so sorry, Liam,” I said, reaching out to squeeze his hands. “Things got…complicated.”
Rourke and I filled Liam in on what had happened. How the shopkeeper had betrayed us, and how the Autumn Court had taken Rourke as a prisoner. How I’d snuck in to free him and how I’d overhead the plans of the Spring Court. We even mentioned the storm, but we kept the details fuzzy there. But Liam didn’t miss how I stumbled over my words or the blush that began to creep up my neck.
“Something has changed between you two,” he said. “Hasn’t it?”
I swallowed hard and glanced at Rourke. He looked as calm and as undeterred as always. “We may have…realized we have some feelings for each other.”
“I see,” Liam said quietly before giving a nod. “Well, it was only a matter of time.”
“You’re not…” I lifted my eyebrows. “Upset? Mad? Jealous?”
Liam and I had never defined the relationship between us. We hadn’t yet had the chance. But we both knew there was something there, something neither of us could shake, no matter who tried to tell us we had to. That didn’t stop me from feeling what I felt toward Rourke, and toward Kael. I just hoped this—whatever this was—didn’t cause any of them to turn away from pain and anger.
“If he were any other Autumn fae, I would be very jealous. So jealous I would probably challenge him to a fight.” Liam shook his head with a chuckle. “But for some reason, the idea of you with Rourke doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe because I saw it coming a mile away.”
“You do know this doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings for you as well.” God, this was so complicated, and kind of embarrassing.
“Relax.” He grinned and winked. “You’re a Greater Fae. Of course you’re going to have feelings for more than one male.”
“Alwyn isn’t going to like this,” Rourke said to Liam. “And don’t forget about the Barmbrack Ring.”
Liam scowled. “Alwyn can bite it. And as for that ring…hell, maybe she’ll end up marrying us all.”
I rode between Liam and Rourke when we returned to the castle grounds. Two Lesser Fae immediately scurried over and took our horses and our stash of weapons, whispering about soap and water and brushes. They would clean the poor creatures while we took to the war table to discuss my findings with the Hunters. As I turned to go, one of the horses nudged my hand with his nose. Shocked, I turned and met his brown eyes. There was something in them, something soft and fierce and strong all at once. He nudged my hand again and whinnied lightly before nuzzling my neck. My heart throbbed and a strange sensation of pure unbridled love filled my soul.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered.
With one last nuzzle, the horse turned and trotted away.
Liam and Rourke fell into step behind me as we turned toward the hall where the Hunters were waiting for us.