Frowning, I pushed up so that we were now sitting face-to-face. “I mean, in an ideal world, I’d track him down, take back what’s mine, and make sure he can never attack meagain.”
“Well.” He smiled. “Wouldn’t that besomething?”
With a heavy sigh, I flopped back onto the pillows. “Yes, it would be something. It’s too bad that’simpossible.”
“And why is it impossible, Norah?” heasked.
At the tone of his voice, I sat upright once again. “Because I’m assuming that attacking the Autumn Court is pretty muchnotsyllabus-approved. And also against the laws of thisrealm.”
“You’re correct.” He leaned forward now, dropping his voice to a low growl. “Do you know what else is against the laws of our realm? Planning assassinations. Attacking our Academy. And controlling the beasts. They’ve wronged us. They’ve hurt us. They have tried to take the most important thing in the world from me, and for that, wewillberetaliating.”
My heart lurched, and I sucked a sharp breath in through my parted lips. His words made my head spin, not to mention the fierce expression on his face. Kael was usually so calm and collected, so in control of his emotions, but something had set him off, revealing the true depths of hissoul.
“What have they tried to take from you?” I barelywhispered.
With a growl, he said, “You.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I leaned forward to wrap my arms around his neck. His lips were soft and gentle, but his kiss was full of hunger. There was something so fierce about him underneath that cool exterior, and it made every cell in my body comealive.
Our kiss deepened as he pulled me onto his lap. My legs spread wide, encircling his waist. His thumb caressed my neck and a thousand tiny sparks lit up my skin, much like the stars that I once saw dance in hiseyes.
I wanted nothing more than to stay here like this and to feel his mouth explore every inch of my skin. But there was something whispering in the corner of my mind, a voice I couldn’t hush even if I wanted to. With a heavy sigh, I pulled away from him, my entire body shaking with the yearning I felt deep within mygut.
“We can’t,” I whispered. “Not right now. Not when Bree is out there. All I keep thinking is how scared and alone she must feel. I want you to do what you said, Kael. Retaliate. Force an attack on the Autumn Court. And I want to come withyou.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As soon asthere was a break in the clouds, we set off to the Autumn Court. Alwyn had insisted the first-years stay behind, but she’d allowed me to tag along after a strange whispered conversation with my four instructors. She had cast me curious glances after that. Not for the first time, it felt as though they were hiding something from me. Something that had to do with my powers and the necklace and maybe somethingmore.
So, our rag-tag group consisted of eight instructors—three had stayed behind to keep an eye on the first-years—as well as Alwyn, me, and thirty-one second and third years. It was pretty much the entire Academy, and we were marching straight toward the Autumn tree-line. Half the recruits and instructors had swords while the other half had bows andarrows.
As the strange twists of the universe had it, I was one of the rangers. It was the only way my four fae males would allow me to come along. I was to stay on my horse in the back, and I was not to dismount under any circumstances. Rourke would stay by my side, since he was also strong with the bow. The others would go in with their swords, a fact that made me more than a littleuneasy.
If any of them fell in this battle, I’d never be able to forgive myself. While I knew they were forging forward in this fight in order to save the Academy, I was here to saveBree.
When we finally reached the tree-line, the heady warmth of summer fell away. It was replaced by an eerie chill, one that sunk deep into my bones. The leaves rattled in the wind, and trees creaked as they bent. We had truly entered Autumn now. There was no turningback.
And, I couldn’t help but notice, we were beingwatched.
“Rourke,” I said in a whisper, almost too low to hear over the heavy thud of the horse’s hooves. “I think we’ve beenseen.”
“Oh yes,” he said. “We were seen awhile ago. No one enters or leaves the Autumn woods without it being noted, and they would have seen us coming down the path, even though we were technically still in the free territory. The real question is, who saw us? A rebel? One of the villagers? Or was it one of the Court’s scouts? If it’s the latter, we will end up fighting verysoon.”
I shivered. I was ready for this. Or, at least I thought I was. Still, that didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous and maybe a little bit afraid. We had no way of knowing what we were walking into. We had no idea how many Redcaps they currently had in their control. And, we didn’t know how big their armywas.
Autumn fae were notoriously secretive. They’d kept the total number of their Hunters a private matter over the years. They could have hundreds. Or eventhousands.
We could be walking straight into atrap.
A horn sounded in the near distance, and our little changeling army slowed to a stop at the edge of a forest clearing. Rourke motioned to Kael, who was near the front. He shook his head, a signal that we should move nofurther.
“Does it bother you that you’re about to fight your own Court?” Iasked.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter now if everyone knows, not after what we’re about to do this day.” Rourke gripped the reigns tighter in his hands. “I’ve always been against Marin’s assassination. For several years, I joined the rebels. I left when I realized they were making no true difference to the fate of the Courts. I thought I could perhaps make more of an impact at the Academy instead. Make things better. Like they used tobe.”
“You? A rebel? But you’reso...”
“Yes?” He arched an eyebrow. “What is it that I am,Norah?”
