He laughed again. “Curious. Mischievous. We are prone to see the lighter side of things than thedark.”
“So, you’re a big jokester,” I grumbled. “Makes sense. Though I really think you should add annoying to thelist.”
“Some find us annoying, particularly those who don’t belong in the Spring Court,” he said. “It’s a shame. It would have been fun to have you by myside.”
Have you by my side.His words sent a sharp thrill down my spine. Which was weird. And annoying. Nothing about this fae thrilled me, especially not the thought of him being by my side. Nope. I wanted nothing to do with him. Nothing to do with his beautiful green eyes, his gorgeous glistening skin, that mouth that looked as though it knew howto…
What the hell,Norah?
“So, what about the others? What are they like?” I asked, desperate to change the subject, though there was a part of me that was also desperate to know what hemeant.
“Rourke, the Autumn fae, is…strange, as I’m sure you’ve gathered. Strong, devious, fixated on darkness.” He cleared his throat. “People assume that’s how the Winter Court fae would be, but Autumn is the season when the leaves pack up anddie.”
“Well, then what are Winter fae like?” I asked. “I mean, he seemed a little unnerving, I guess, but you all do.Sorry.”
He laughed again. “Trust me. We know how we come across to those who have spent their entire lives in the human realm. Kael is…sensible, I guess you could say. He focuses more on logic than on emotions, so he comes across as cold and unfeeling. He doesn’t have much patience for frivolousthings.”
I shivered, remembering how annoyed he’d come across when he’d asked to see my ears. “Yeah, that sounds aboutright.”
“The opposite ofSummer.”
We fell silent after that. The buzz of the thick forest rose up around us, sounds of insects and birds and rustling leaves. It was a nice sound, one I felt could lull me to sleep if I wasn’t careful. Maybe I really was part of the Summer Court. At the thought, I almost laughed out loud. How quickly the strangeness of this world and these people had begun to fade. Already I was beginning to feel as if I’d stepped out of a dream and into the true reality of myworld.
And it gave me a sudden burst ofbravery.
“So about that whole ‘stand by my side’ thing,” I started to say just as Finn came to an abrupt stop and deftly lowered me to myfeet.
“Ah, here we are.” He dusted off his hands and grinned. “Sorry. It’s probably best if the other students aren’t introduced to you by me throwing you inside the Academy. Start off with a good impression, if you know what Imean.”
My heart began to thunder in my chest. The whole training to fight monsters thing had drawn me here, but I hadn’t really considered that I’d be training withother people. High school had never really been a pleasant experience for me. I’d been the weird girl, the one no one really liked. Sometimes, I’d made friends, but they’d only stuck around until they realized that I just wasn’t like otherpeople.
The thought of going straight back into a school atmosphere? Well, it wasn’t making me excited, to say the least. I’d never planned on going to college. I thought school was in my past. Not in myfuture.
“I know what you’re thinking. Want to know how?” He grinned. “Because every single changeling who has come here has thought the same thing. You didn’t enjoy school. You didn’t have many friends. You got bullied, made fun of. Don’t worry. Everyone here has been through the same as you. You’ll fit rightin.”
“If I try not to go inside, you’ll just sling me over your shoulder again,” I said. “Won’tyou?”
He cracked a grin. “See, you’re catching onalready.”
Chapter Nine
The actual Academyitself was something out of a gothic horror movie, minus the dark and rolling clouds lurking in the background. The building was a dark gray, but a tapestry of thick green moss covered the bottom half. Spires rose up from every corner, and a large archway commanded the entrance. Through one of the thin rounded windows on the third floor, I spotted a hazy figure staring down at us. I shivered but kept my chin high as I strode through the archway behind Finn, who I could have sworn was chuckling under hisbreath.
Inside, we climbed a curving staircase that was carpeted in a deep red that reminded me of the color of Liam’s hair. Framed painted portraits lined the wall. Fae, I was guessing. They sat on thrones with various crowns decorating their heads. Twisting branches of bright and vivid flowers on one while another crown was nothing more than the deep gold of autumnleaves.
“Our Royals,” Finn said with a flick of his wrist at the paintings. “There’s Spring, Autumn.” We passed two more. This one had a crown of roses, and the thorns had remained intact, something that seemed a bit like a hazard to me. “And that’sSummer.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. “Makessense.”
Finn grinned and pointed to the next painting. “And this here’s our Winter Royals.” Their crown had no leaves, no flowers. Only knotted brambles twisted tighttogether.
The expressions on their faces were cold and uncompromising. Was I really like them? I’d never thought of myself as unfeeling, as calculating, or as cruel, but maybe I didn’t know myself that well. After all, it turned out I was a fae, something I’d never known about myself until now. Maybe there was more about me I didn’t know. Maybe I really wasn’t the kind of person I thought Iwas.
“Who’s that?” I asked when we passed the last portrait on thewall.
For the first time since we’d met, Finn’s face crumpled, and the lighthearted expression fell away. He clenched his jaw and kept moving up the stairs, his eyes turned away from theportrait.
I jogged to keep up. “Wait, who is that,Finn?”
