“Norah?” Sophia’s voice held a frown. “What are you doing? Is someone outthere?”
I took a moment to ready myself, but then I turned her way with an expression of intense weariness painted on my face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Kael has me learning about some plants, and I have to recite a bunch of stuff out loud to him tomorrow. I was justpracticing.”
She scrunched up her face, her eyes flicking to the discarded bedsheet on the floor. “I could have sworn I heard another voice in here. Agirl.”
I laughed and shrugged. “Must have just been me talking to myself. I think I’m so tired I’m gettingdelirious.”
“Okay.” A pause. “You should get some sleep. We have History of Fae in the morning. It’s so dull that you’re going to nod off if you’re thistired.”
“You’re right. I should get some sleep,” I said with a nod. “Probably a bad idea to burn out during my first monthhere.”
With a smile, she moved back to the door but hesitated before she left my room. “Are you sure you’reokay?”
“I’mfine.”
And I was. For the first time since I arrived at Otherworld Academy, I felt as if I knew exactly what I needed to do. I would no longer flail around, seeking answers to questions I didn’t even know I was asking. I would find a way to cure Bree, even if it meant lying to every single person here. And if any Redcaps came at me? I’d beready.
Chapter Sixteen
Finn taught History of Fae.Despite his upbeat personality, even he couldn’t make the long, boring tales he shared sound interesting. It was a class we had every Tuesday and Thursday, yet it felt as if we’d covered no ground at all. Maybe because he was keeping the juicy parts of history tohimself.
So, I decided to rectifythat.
Halfway through class, I raised my hand and gave him a steely smile. I’d been waiting for this moment all day. Hell, I’d been waiting all night. After Bree had disappeared through my window, I hadn’t been able to sleep, too worked up by the knowledge that my fae instructors had been lying tous.
Finn’s sparkling green eyes caught mine. It was hard to imagine he could be behind something like this. Rourke, I could believe. Maybe even Kael, though his anger toward the Redcaps would seem to suggest otherwise. Liam? It certainly wouldn’t be the first thing he’d hidden something fromsomeone.
ButFinn?
“What is it, Norah?” he asked. “Do you have the question about the lineage of Sterk, the great fighter from the Age of theMoon?”
I didn’t even know who he was talking about. I’d been so zoned out that I hadn’t been listening to the long list of Sterk ancestors. None of ushad.
“Sterk was clearly awesome and all,” I began, shifting on my seat. “But I think I can speak for everyone when I say that what we’d all really like to know? The history of thechangelings.”
Several of the other recruits murmured inagreement.
Finn raised his eyebrows. “I see. Unfortunately, that topic isn’t on our syllabus fortoday.”
“It’s not on the syllabus at all,” I countered. I knew. I’d looked in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. “Look, we all know you don’t want to tell us, so it must be something pretty bad. But that isn’t fair on us. These are our lives. We deserve to know the truth about where we came from and why we’re exchanged with human babies. Not to mention, what happens to them after you send them back to the humanrealm?”
“Yeah,” Griff spoke up from behind me. “What happens to thehumans?”
Liam crossed his arms over his chest and scanned the room. “Do you all want to hear thisthen?”
Every single changeling in the room spoke with a resoundingyes.
“Very well.” His eyes flicked to mine, full of amusement but something else. Suspicion,almost.
Still, he carried on. Most of what he told us, Bree had already explained to me. The Tithe. The human transformations. I was relieved to see that everyone was just as horrified as I’dbeen.
“Can’t you do something to stop it?” Lila asked, her voiceshaking.
Liam merely shook his head. “The Tithe cannot be broken. If it is, both the human and faerie realms will suffer. Yes, what happens to the human children is terrible. I hate it as much as you do, but we don’t have any otherchoice.”
Sam raised a hand, and Liam nodded to her. “What exactly is the Tithe? Is it sending sixteen changelings into the human realm or is ittakingsixteenhumans?”
“Ah.” Liam’s smile widened. “Clever girl. It is taking and returning sixteen humans each year. The fae changeling swap is merely a bi-product ofthat.”
