At some point in the middle of all the waiting, I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I found myself in the master bed—alone. Glancing around, I spotted Liam stationed by the door while Rourke had decided to take a nap in the other room.
Quietly, I slid out from under the covers. One of them must have carried me here and tucked me up into bed. The thought of it, such a sweet and tender move, made my heart throb. One moment, they could be the tough and violent fae males that they all were. The next, they were making sure I was covered with fluffy blankets.
I tiptoed over to Liam’s side and eased onto the chair next to his. With the blacked-out windows, it was impossible to tell what time it was, but it must have been hours later. Almost time.
Liam jerked his head toward where Rourke was sleeping. “I never pegged an Autumn as a gentleman, but he refused to get into your bed without you knowing.”
I blushed. “That’s sweet.”
“Not as sweet as the way you look when you’re blushing.” He reached out a finger, traced it along my skin. I shivered. “Before we do this, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
My heart thumped. “What is it?”
“I think we need to determine who your parents are,” he said quietly. “Your powers are…impressive, to say the least. I think the realm needs you, Norah. They’ll especially need you if there’s another battle between Courts.”
“I…” I didn’t know what to say. “I’m just a changeling. They wouldn’t stand behind me, no matter who my parents are. Rourke said none of the couples that year had any ties to Marin. In fact, he said no one has ties to her. Not anymore. All her family is dead.”
Liam frowned and shook his head. “Yes, but there must be more to the—”
The murmur of voices drifted through the door, and Liam suddenly fell silent. He caught my eyes and nodded, jumping up from his chair to wake Rourke. With a deep breath, I edged closer to the window. It was boarded up and blocked off, but it would normally have a view of the courtyard. The courtyard where the horses were kept.
I had no idea if my plan would work. Still, it was worth a shot.
“Fly free,” I whispered into the silence.
In the distance, the whining and neighing of horses cut through the night. Hooves pounded on the ground, louder and louder until it sounded like the thunder of those terrible storms. Shouts of alarm echoed down the hallway outside our quarters, and footsteps thudded on the floor. Rourke and Liam listened at the door for the sounds to grow distant.
The Summer fae would try to stop the horses from escaping. I hoped they would fail.
Rourke and Liam pounded at the door, shoving their massive bodies against the wood. The noise was drowned out by the chaos outside, and the repeated thumps did little to draw any guards back to our hall. In moments, we’d escaped our room. We rushed down the hallway in the opposite direction of the charging horses. Soon, we were out in the night, running as fast as our feet could take us.
Three large forms thundered in front of us, blocking our way. We came to a sudden stop, our breaths heavy, our hearts racing. My gaze locked on the deep brown eyes of the horse I’d saved from the Wilde Fae. It bent its head and shifted to the side, as if in invitation for me to climb on.
I gaped at the horse. I hadn’t asked for it to come to me, and I certainly hadn’t commanded it to do a thing.
“Come on, Norah,” Liam said hurriedly as he glanced over his shoulder. “I think they’ve spotted what we’ve done. If we don’t go now, we might never get out of here.”
Chapter Fourteen
We outran the Summer fae and charged across the free territory as fast as our horses would take us. When I finally saw the familiar, moss-covered Academy, I wanted to cry. We’d been gone less than a week, but it almost felt as though years had passed us by. It was strange how quickly this place had begun to feel like home. It was like a lighthouse, soothing and warm, after being tossed in a turbulent sea.
Liam and Rourke nodded at the guards patrolling the edges of the grounds, and we deposited our horses in the stables. They looked as happy to be at home as we were. When we entered the Academy’s front doors, we were immediately surrounded. Questions were shouted, heads were craned, and elbows jostled elbows. It wasn’t until Head Instructor Alwyn skated across the marble floor that the crowd began to calm.
“I need to see the three of you in my office,” she said by way of greeting before turning on her heels and tossing the last word over her dainty shoulder. “Now.”
It turned out that Shea had filled Alwyn in on everything that had happened, up until a point. She’d returned to the Academy after Rourke and I had set off on our mission, both to resume her work as an instructor for the changelings and to keep Alwyn appraised of what was happening.
“Now that I have the three of you in front of me, I think it’s imperative that I emphasize the importance of following the rules here. Both for the Academy’s sake and the realm at large. Liam, I warned you what would happen if you went against my orders.”
“You did warn me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Loudly and repeatedly.”
She frowned.
“I’d like to say something if you don’t mind,” I said.
Still frowning, Alwyn gave a nod.
I took a deep breath. “I understand that in normal circumstances, it’s a good idea for changelings and their instructors to keep some physical distance. That said, finding mates is a part of this whole thing, right? So, if a changeling finds her mate, what’s the harm in…well, you know. Getting to know each other.”
“Mistakes can be made,” Alwyn said. “Besides, this situation is nothing like what you’ve just described. You have had physical intimacy with at least two of your instructors. That is not merely a changeling deciding she’s found her mate.”
“Except that maybe it is.” I swallowed hard and continued. “I know you were only trying to keep me safe by attempting to hide what I really am. But I know the truth now. I’m the kind of fae who isn’t of one Court but of four, which means I’m the kind of fae who mates with more than just one male.”
For a moment, Alwyn just stared at me. And then she suddenly pushed up from her desk, her eyes sparking with anger. She glanced from Rourke on my left to Liam on my right, an accusatory look twisting the sharp features on her face. “You told her? I thought you both understood the gravity of this situation. If Queen Viola discovers there’s a Greater Fae at the Academy, she’ll turn her attention right on us again. Viola will kill her, just like she killed Marin. And then she’ll turn her wrath on all of us. This is why we’ve kept it from Norah all this time. For her safety.”
“Phelan and Alastar could see what she was,” Rourke said quietly, his hands steepled under his chin. “They realized that her powers meant she’s not like the rest of us, though I’m confident Norah understood that herself far before that. She is not an idiot, Alwyn. We shouldn’t have been keeping it from her.”
Alwyn dropped her hands to the desk and pressed hard. “Wait. You’re telling me the Summer Hunters know? How is this possible? I thought the only reason they wanted to speak with her was to ask her about the Redcap presence in Manhattan. They said they were hoping to use them against the Autumn Court.”
“They lied. Alastar saw her shadow at the Feast. He wanted her to spy on the Autumns for him.”
Alwyn’s eyes went razor sharp when she looked at me. “You can shadow? Oh, for the love of the forest. What I wouldn’t give to speak to Magnus again about her lineage. Surely there must be some sort of explanation for this.”