“That’s right,” I said, frowning. “Though I’m not particularly excited about it anymore. Not after everything that’s happened.”
Sophia nodded and spooned some eggs, bacon, and toast onto a plate before passing it across the work surface. Even all these weeks later, she was still trying to make things up to me. I’d forgiven her for telling the Autumn fae about Bree, but that wouldn’t stop me from enjoying a freshly-made breakfast.
“Thanks,” I said, perching on the kitchen stool. “You know, as much as I appreciate it, you really don’t have to make me breakfast every morning.”
She shrugged, grabbed her own plate, and jumped up onto the stool opposite mine. “I like cooking. Besides, who knows how long you’ll be here since you’ve found that ring. Gotta convince you not to hate me while I have the chance.”
“Sophia.” I dropped my fork onto my plate where it clattered against the porcelain. “You know I don’t hate you, right?”
“Yeah.” She let out a sigh. “But you don’t trust me either, do you?”
For a moment, I hesitated. The truth was, of course I didn’t trust her. Even though I understood why she’d told the Autumn fae about Bree, it didn’t change the fact that she’d betrayed the unspoken clause between roommates. Between friends.
“You could have come to me first, you know,” I finally said. “I could have explained what was going on with Bree.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, that wouldn’t have helped.” She bit her bottom lip. “I was convinced that Bree was a murderous monster. If you’d told me that she wasn’t, I wouldn’t have believed you, especially not after the Redcaps attacked the Academy. I’m so sorry. I’m stubborn like that.”
Stubborn, like Liam. Stubborn, like a Summer fae. Was she his mate?
“Well, I’m stubborn, too, so I understand,” I said. “And you don’t have to keep making me breakfast to get me to trust you. Just...promise me that you’ll never do something like that again. If there’s a problem, a question, any kind of concern, just...come to me before you do anything drastic.”
Drastic. Like a Summer fae.
After she nodded, I lifted the fork from my plate and began to pick at my eggs, my mind zeroed in on a thought I couldn’t shake. The image of Sophia cuddled up to Liam. And I finally had to admit he was right. The Barmbrack Ring wasn’t some herald of good fortune. It meant I would soon lose three of the people I most cared about.
“What are the chances the ring picked the wrong girl?” I finally asked. “It just seems so unlikely I’ll even know who my mate is within a year, much less ready to wed him.”
Sophia lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts about Kael.”
Kael. Of course her first thought would be of him. As far as she and the rest of the changelings at the Academy were concerned, Kael and I were a certain match. My greatest strength so far was shifting, a specialty of the Winter fae, and we’d kissed in front of the entire school during the Royals Ball. No one else knew how conflicted I was. No one knew I’d shared a moment with Liam, other than Head Instructor Alwyn, and she wasn’t about to tell anyone about that. And no one else knew I felt drawn to them all, as if my very soul was torn in four directions.
“Well, you saw my powers in the forest that day,” I merely said. “I’m just not sure it’s a done deal, that’s all.”
She frowned. “Head Instructor Alwyn said that was normal, that you were able to tap into different powers because you’re raw and untrained and you were an emotional wreck. She said any of the rest of us were capable of doing the same.”
That wasn’t exactly what she’d said. I could remember the way she’d phrased her explanation to the other changelings as clearly as if it had happened yesterday, partially because it was the first time I'd truly understood just how well the fae could twist their words.
“Now,” Alwyn had said, raising her hands when we’d gathered into the gymnasium after everyone had a chance to shower and change into fresh clothes. We’d only just returned from the fight in the forest, but she wanted to have an assembly to make sure everyone was alright. “I’m sure you all have some questions about what you saw tonight.”
A hand shot up in the front. Griff, who had been giving me strange looks the entire trek back from the forest. “Yeah. What the hell is up with Norah’s powers? How come she was able to do all that stuff? I thought we could only have the power of one type of fae, but she clearly did more than that. Is she like Marin?”
Head Instructor Alwyn’s lips pressed together into a white line just as every gaze in the room turned my way. I swallowed hard, flicking my eyes from one face to the next, reading a range of expressions. Curiosity. Fear. Even anger.
“I understand why you all might be confused,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over a chorus of whispered questions. “But yes, Griff. You are correct. Typically, as a fae, you can only harness the powers individual to your natural-born Court. However, you’re all still so new to the faerie realm. Your powers are yet untrained. They’re raw. Norah was put into a terrifying, impossible situation, and the power of the realm answered her call of need. I daresay that could happen for any of you, if you were Norah. That said, it was a unique and unlikely situation. And as your powers become more focused and refined, you should not depend on receiving that kind of help from the realm. You need to focus on your own gifts. Understood?”
Her eyes laser-focused on me with those final words. A warning. She didn’t want me to explore the full truth of my gifts. But why? I’d tried to ask her—again and again—but I could never get any other explanation than what she’d said to the crowd.
And all these months later, I still didn’t understand.
One thing I did know was Alwyn’s words. I daresay that could happen for any of you, if you were Norah. The truth was hidden in that sentence. If you were Norah. But none of the other changelings were Norah, except for me.
“Maybe,” I said. “But...”
Could I share the truth with her after what she'd done to Bree? Could I tell her that—in secret—I’d been practicing every gift I could? With the help of my instructors, I’d begun to master not only shifting, but animal communication as well. I curled my fingers tighter around my fork as memories flicked through my mind. Bree’s anguished face. The look in Redmond’s eyes when he’d told me exactly where he’d heard the truth about my best friend. The way Sophia had turned away from me when Redmond had taken me into the dungeons. Yes, I forgave her, but could I ever forget?
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “But what?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I guess I’m just surprised I got that ring.”
And it seemed as though everyone else was just as surprised as I was. Including Finn, who darted out of his open classroom door when I passed by it on the way to my first class of the new Autumn Semester.
His eyes twinkled as he stepped in front of me, his familiar grin spreading across his golden face. “Norah. Just the changeling I’ve been looking for. Tell me. Is it true you the Barmbrack Ring has found you?”
“Maybe.” I said, raising my eyebrows. A sly little smile played across my lips. For some reason, Finn always had a strange effect on me. He brought out a side to me I’d never known was there. “Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.”
He let out a lyrical chuckle that sent my heartbeat fluttering in my chest. “That sounds like a yes to me. I suppose that means I should begin making the proper arrangements. Don’t want to leave it all to the last minute, do we?”
I blinked. “What arrangements?”
“For our wedding, of course.” He winked at me. “You found the ring, and I don’t fancy you the bride of anyone else. I’m thinking a mid-Spring wedding would be best, no? Blooming flowers and sunshine. Plus, a wedding in April would give us plenty of time to get everything in order.”