Outside,the moon was obscured by thick, rolling clouds, and thunder echoed in the distance. There was no moonlight to help us this evening, only a few torches the instructors had rounded up from the Academy grounds. I stood shivering, sandwiched between Griff and Sophia, though I wasn’t cold. My nerves were rocketing around in my gut like a bullet ricocheting from one metal object to thenext.
“Norah.” Kael flicked his fingers at me, of all people, motioning me forward. “Let’s start withyou.”
“Why?” I wanted to ask, but I kept my mouth shut. I could feel the eyes of the royals watching my every move. If they’d come here to see their potential new members, then there was no doubt in my mind that they had an idea of who and what I might be. Kael had probably filled them in on everything, including the Redcap’s strange attraction tome.
I stepped forward and took the bow. He pressed the arrow into my hands and locked eyes with me. No words came from those strained lips of his, but it felt as though he spoke to me. Through his eyes, through his mind, through the intense connection I suddenly felt withhim.
Stop pushing it away. Accept what you are and fightback.
Frowning, I slid the arrow into the bow and lifted the aim to my eye. If only it were that simple. If only my mind and my acceptance could make my body perform. With a deep breath, I pulled back the bow string and loosed the arrow across thefield.
And then it just sunk into the ground two feet from where Istood.
Kael let out a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his coal black hair. The two royals muttered something to each other, too low for me to hear. But I didn’t need to hear their words to know what they meant. I sucked ass. They probably didn’t want me in theircourt.
Kael’s hand landed on my arm, and he gripped tight. “Come withme.”
Suddenly, the world blurred around me and a deep cold settled over my bones. Everything went pitch black. The summer night became nothing but a darkness so pure that it felt as though we’d entered a blackhole.
And then the world was right again, the buzzing insects roaring up around me. Blinking hard, I stumbled back. “What wasthat?”
Kael’s eyes were pools of night. “I know you can do more than what you’re letting us see, and if you don’t improve, things are not going to go well foryou.”
“What are you talking about?” I glanced around me, but the royals and the recruits were no longer there. And neither was the Academy. Instead, we stood high on a cliff that plunged low on every side but one. One that led to a cave set deep into the side of a mountain. No lush greenery. No swaying trees. It was all rocks and mist. “Where have you taken me? How did you dothat?”
“There’s something we haven’t told you all yet because we didn’t want to frightenyou.”
My heart thumped at his words. “Okay, well, you sure are frightening menow.”
“It’s possible to fail at the Academy. Those who do not pass are banished from the courts. You must join the Wilde Fae, and it’s a fate I do not wish on anyone,Norah.”
“The Wilde Fae,” I repeated. “So, they’re...not part of anycourt?”
I mean, that didn’t soundthatterrible.
“They’re savages,” he said. “Vicious and cruel and violent. You wouldn’tsurvive.”
“Okay. Not ideal,” I said, wiping my palms against my jeans. “Look, I’m trying. I’ll work hard. We’ve only been here a week. Surely it takes a lot longer than that to learn how to shoot a bow andarrow.”
“You’re holding back.” He slid a quiver of arrows from his back and dropped them to the ground in front of me. “You’re better than you think you are. Goodluck.”
Before I could ask him what he meant, Kael disappeared from the cliff. As in, heactuallydisappeared. One moment, he was there, and the next, he was gone. A shimmer of darkness surrounded him, and then there was nothing left but the quiver of arrows he’d dropped onto the ground. A low growl sounded from behind me, a sound that skittered up the back of my spine. It was coming from the depths of thecave.
In an instant, I understood far too well what he’d done. He’d left me here with some arrows, thinking I’d be able to shoot like a fae if I had no otherchoice.
Mouth dry, I grabbed the quiver and slowly spun on my feet to face whatever beast hovered behind me. My eyes were met with a pair of deep, deep black sunken into a face full of fur and fangs. My body began to tremble, and my heart shook so hard it felt as though it might burst through mychest.
It was one of the creatures. It was aRedcap.
The monsters who had killed my bestfriend.
And now one would kill me,too.
Hands trembling, I grabbed an arrow and tried to aim the bow, but my body was shaking so hard that the arrow bounced all over the place. The creature growled and edged forward, dark saliva dripping off its sharpfangs.
“Shit,” I whispered, stumbling back. One swipe of those paws. One bite from those monstrous fangs. That was all it would take to end me. “Kael?”
No answer. Nothing but the crackling sound of the Redcap’s claws against the rocky cliff. It leaned closer, opened wide its massive jaws, and roared. Shivers coursed across every inch of my skin, and I lifted my bow once again, desperate to find a steadyaim.
