So he had been watching then. I didn’t know whether I should punch him or kisshim.
“If we don’t head back soon, we won’t arrive before tonight,” I said. “And I really don’t want to be late for classes in themorning.”
“Your wish is mycommand.”
We were back on the road within the hour. Luckily, the return trip to the Academy was much more uneventful than the ride to Esari. No one tried to stop us, probably because they realized we were on our way out of the Autumn woods. The sun was still shining in the sky when the horse trotted back onto the Academy grounds. Within moments, we were surrounded by five fae, and every single one of them was pointing a sword ourway.
One of the swords belonged to Kael. When he flicked his eyes across my face and then to Liam, he frowned and lowered his weapon, motioning for the others to do thesame.
“Liam, where the hell have you been? And why do you have Norah withyou?”
The muscles in Liam’s back tightened. “She has the weekend off, no? I was just showing her aroundOtherworld.”
Kael’s glittering dark eyes narrowed. “Her roommate reported her missing. We thought she’d been taken. Orworse.”
“It’s not like you to overreact, Kael,” Liam said with a chuckle. “Recruits explore Otherworld all the time on the weekends. There was no reason to jump toconclusions.”
“I wasn’t jumping to conclusions.” Kael frowned and glanced at the four fae who were watching the exchange with expressions ranging from irritation to anger to distrust. Kael raised his arm and waved at the looming Academy behind him. “Return to yourposts.”
As the four fae began to disperse, each heading toward a different watch tower, Liam dismounted the horse and held out a hand to help me do the same. This time, I only stumbled a little, though I did almost twist my ankle. I wasimproving?
“What’s with the armed guards,” Liam asked, gesturing to the retreating fae. “Night doesn’t fall for another fewhours.”
“While you two were having your little joy ride, the Academy has been undergoing a series of attacks from the Redcaps,” Kael said, his voice as icy as his eyes. “Last night, the recruit on Watch Duty in the northwestern tower was attacked andkilled.”
Horror pounded through me. I glanced from Kael to Liam, whose face reflected the same revulsion Ifelt.
“But that’s Norah’s tower,” he said, voice on edge. “That’s where she usually standswatch.”
Kael gave a curt nod. “So, you can see that I wasn’t jumping to conclusions, Liam. The Redcaps appear to want Norah dead. It’s not safe for her to leave theAcademy.”
Chapter Fifteen
My lifeat the Academy went from bad to worse after that. Finn, Liam, Rourke, and Kael seemed to think my life was in danger at every turn, and I was forbidden from stepping outside of the Academy walls. That included restricting me from participating in Watch Duty, something I would have once thought I wanted, but I hated that I could no longer breathe in the fresh air of summer and smell the wildflowers that dotted the campusgrounds.
Instead, Kael had taken it upon himself to add some in-depth one-on-one training to my curricula, which meant I spent an extra four hours a day doing coursework. He seemed to think it was the only way to keep me alive, a fact that did little to calm myfears.
Tonight, we were holed up inside the Academy library. It was almost midnight, and my eyelids were heavier than a Redcap’s paw. He was having me recite, from memory, the various types of shrubbery found in the Winter Court’slands.
“There’s the Winter Moonlight,” I said, chin on fisted hand. “It’s a white flower that turns to pink toward the end ofwinter.”
“Wrong.” He tapped a finger against the the bandage on his arm, something he’d had only the past several days. I’d been dying to ask him how he got it, but Kael wasn’t the most forthcoming fae I’d met. “It’s called the Winter Moonbeam. Come on, Norah. This isn’t rocket science. You can do better thanthis.”
“I’m exhausted,” I said, frowning at him. “And I don’t see how this is at all relevant for fightingRedcaps.”
He let out an irritated sigh. “Because you need to understand and know your world before you start swinging swordsaround.”
“Why are you even helping me?” I fisted my hands and leaned forward. “You act like being in my presence is the most annoying thing in the world. Like you’d rather be anywhere else than trainingme.”
“You’re just not what Iexpected.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “You know what? Neither are you. So, I guess you’re stuck withme.”
“At least I am trying to prepare you to join my Court,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You? You act as though you’d rather be frolicking around with Liam in thewoods.”
“Maybe that’s because you left me for dead on a cliff with nothing but a bow and arrow I clearly can’t handle.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “Of course, maybe that’s what you wanted. That way you wouldn’t be stuck with a mate you don’twant.”
“This is tedious.” He pushed back his chair and stalked over to the window, peering out into the darkness of summer midnight. His whole body was tense, the back of his neck rippling underneath the soft glow of the library lamps. Of all four of my instructors, Kael had been the hardest to get to know. He was so cold and distant, much more so than the other Winter fae who studied or instructed at the Academy. And it was as if he held all of it against me, inparticular.
