He sprinted through the gate and into the thicket of the forest. Another scream steered him on a path leading deeper into the woods.
A large figure pinned Scarlett’s hands behind her back. She must have wandered out into the forest to get away from Cade. Maybe Cade should have warned Scarlett about what would happen if she left the safety of the castle. Now she’d be eaten by a banshee. Too bad, too; she might have made the summer more interesting.
Raith could save her. He really should save her. A poor human seduced into a dangerous world. Here was Raith’s chance to be a hero. The good guy. The misunderstood brother.
Terror pulsed from Scarlett. Raith breathed it in. Magic buzzed inside him.
Sympathy for the human filled him. too.
“Stop,” Scarlett screeched.
“You smell so warm,” the banshee said. She slid Scarlett’s hair from her neck. “Ow,” she said as she dropped her grip on Scarlett’s wrists. “You burned me.”
Scarlett lunged from her as she held her hands in the air. The banshee was too quick, though, and snatched Scarlett’s leg and pulled her toward her. She lifted Scarlett by the ankle and sunk her teeth into her calf. Scarlett yelped and tried to break free, but she couldn’t. Whatever she’d been able to do before didn’t help her now.
Raith sighed. He’d helped a human once before. Out of pity, out of weakness, he wasn’t sure, and he was about to help another one. He darted from the cover of the trees and slammed his body into the banshee. The banshee screeched as she released her grip on Scarlett and rolled into a crouch, anchoring herself between Scarlett and Raith. She hissed.
“She’s mine now. It’s too late for her.”
Banshee venom was lethal to humans. It would kill them without the antidote, which Raith didn’t have. He could just leave her to the banshee—pretend he was never here. But if he saved her, at least she wouldn’t be eaten limb by limb, a less merciful death.
Raith pulled a knife from his boot and chucked it at the banshee. It hit her in shoulder. The banshee gasped, but she pulled it out and threw it back at Raith. Raith dove out of the way and landed with a summersault. The banshee pounced. She gripped his throat. Raith kicked her ten feet back. He hadn’t filled his magic since yesterday. He hadn’t expected a fight. A nice dinner, some banter, but not a banshee at his throat. The pain he’d absorbed from Scarlett was a start, but banshees were relentless. He needed more.
With his eyes closed, he breathed in the forest around him. He didn’t have much time before the banshee would return. Magic entered his fingertips and moved through his hands. He pushed his palms forward. A murder of ravens flew from them. They pecked the banshee’s eyes as she wailed.
Raith dusted himself off as he got up. The ravens struck until they faded away. The banshee clawed at her face. She would heal eventually—if nothing ate her first. But if he let her live, she might stick around for revenge. Banshees were spiteful like that. Annoyingly so. Raith brought his knife soaring to his fingers, and then he stabbed the pitiful creature in the heart, leaving it for something else to find as dinner.
Scarlett was curled into a ball on the cold forest floor. Blood dripped from the wound on her calf. Raith picked her up gently. She groaned but didn’t stir. Once they were in his tree, he carefully placed her on the bed where she should be safe. He needed to go to the healing wing of the castle. Without medicine, Scarlett would die.
Raith slammed the gate as he returned. The antidote for banshee venom was gone. A fae wouldn’t die from a bite, but it could get infected for a while without treatment. Apparently, a couple of banshees had moved closer to the castle and had been feeding off of unsuspecting fae.
He snuck into his tree. If Scarlett was still asleep, he didn’t want to wake her. Then he’d have to tell her she would die. When he glanced at the bed, she was sitting up, looking at her leg.
“Bad night,” Raith said.
Scarlett’s neck snapped toward him. “Oh, it’s you.”
She wasn’t afraid of him. That was good.
“What happened to me?” she asked.
“When I showed up, you were fighting a banshee.”
“Oh. That’s what that thing’s called?”
Raith didn’t remind her that she had burned the banshee. That was unusual. Raith wasn’t sure what it meant. When he checked her wound, he was surprised. It should have turned purple and started to spread already. Instead, it looked as if it were healing. He wet a cloth and wiped off the dried blood. All that was left was two bite marks. Somehow, Scarlett’s body was repairing.
“Will I be okay?” she asked as she rubbed the wound.
“I think so,” Raith said. He could tell her how unusual it was for her to still be alive. That even a fae would be more affected by a bite than she seemed to be.
But he kept it to himself.
Scarlett felt heat on her face. She remembered trying to leave the castle, the creature sinking its teeth into her leg and the searing pain that followed. Then everything went blank. Whatever happened next, she couldn’t remember.
“You’re awake,” Cade said.
She must not have gotten very far.
“How’d I get here?” Scarlett asked as she opened her eyes. Cade sat on the edge of the bed.
“You must have wandered off for a while. I found you in your bed with a ripped dress and dirt all over you.”
Scarlett pushed herself up and leaned against the backboard. Her body was sore and her head hurt a little, but she felt mostly normal.
“I have to go to battle practice, but when I get back, I want to show you around the castle,” Cade said. “I’m not going to lock you in. But I hope you’ll wait for me.”
After Cade left, Scarlett peeked out the door. She wanted to check if he was telling the truth, and it seemed he was. Her last escape attempt was an epic fail, so, for now, she’d stay put. While she waited, she decided to clean herself up. Whatever she’d done last night had left her caked in dirt.
Someone had to have brought her to Cade’s room. Had she passed out? And what happened to that thing that attacked her? It had wanted to eat her. Scarlett was thankful it didn’t.
Scarlett went to the bathroom and drew herself a bath. She dipped her feet into the claw foot tub and then let her whole body sink into the hot water. She lifted her left leg to rinse it.
On her calf, two round punctures swelled her skin.
Those were definitely new.
What else had happened last night, and why couldn’t she remember?
Chapter Twelve
Scarlett had bathed and dressed in one of the gowns Cade had put in her closet. Not as fancy as the dress she had ruined last night, this one was various shades of green, its top tied together with a forest green ribbon. Scarlett would find a way home; she was determined. But in the meantime, this world made her curious. The magic, the ritual. The fact that she actually felt the emotion of someone course through her. She wanted to ask Cade if that was normal for a human, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t, and that it meant something she didn’t want Cade to know.
Cade kissed her fingers before he took her arm in his hand and they began their day out of his room. Their first stop was at the top of one of the corner towers. A guard stood in front of the door, but he let Cade and Scarlett through.
Inside, weapons covered the walls of the round room.
“This is where I train.” Cade let Scarlett look around the room.
Most weapons she recognized. Swords, staffs, daggers, a huge bow and arrow. “Can I touch them?”
Cade nodded.
Scarlett took a staff from the wall. It was wooden and light. She twirled it through the air. She wasn’t sure how much good it would do against a metal sword that could chop it in half with one slice.
Some of the weapons looked like the ones she’d seen on television. Some looked fancier, though, decorated with silver jewels. “Why do some have these?” Scarlett pointed to the jewel on the sword. It looked like a mini crystal ball.