My heart filled with a strange kind of emotion. We were really going to do this. Liam and I. We were a team. Partners. The Barmbrack Ring suddenly felt very heavy in my pocket. If we got through this, I would have to find a way to convince Alwyn to let him return to the Academy. There was no way in hell I could ever let him go.
Not now. Not ever.
Chapter Seven
“What do you mean I can’t go with her?” Liam stormed around the war table, his fists shaking by his sides. We’d returned from our trek up the mountain with what we both thought was good news. I was going to be their spy.Wewere going to go on the mission. Together. As a team. After what we’d shared, I never wanted to leave his side.
But Phelan was having none of it.
“The entire reason we want Norah to spy for us is because she can obscure herself from view,” Phelan argued, his face the same shade of red as his hair. “You going with her only complicates things. Viola knows exactly who you are. You were her prisoner for years. She’d recognize you in an instant. And you can’t expect the changeling to keep both of you hidden. How far does the shadow radius even go? You would have to stick to her like glue.”
Liam’s lips curled, despite the anger flickering in his eyes. “Oh, there’d be no problem with that.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.
Phelan barked out a bitter laugh. “And there it is. You only want to go with her because you have some kind of delusion that she’s your mate. Let me guess, you think that just because she’s like Marin that she can claim all four of you.”
“Well, I don’t see why the hell not.”
I blinked at him. It was the first time he’d voiced that idea out loud, and I hadn’t known he felt that way. I, of course, did. Ever since I’d learned about Marin’s harem, I hadn’t been able to get the hope out of my heart.
“It’s been eighteen years since Marin had her harem. The realm thought the existence of the Greater Fae was over. Who’s to say the realm would accept it after all this time? Who’s to say it wouldn’t threaten the balance of our existence or anger the demons we’re bound to tithe?”
“The tithe is taken care of by the changeling exchange,” Liam countered.
“Yes.” A pause. “And Norah is achangeling, regardless of her unique powers. When changelings return home, they are to spend their three years at the Academy and bond with their mate. Singular.”
“Surely the demons don’t care who mates with who,” I said, finally speaking up for the first time since the argument began. I still felt a little weird, listening to people argue about my love life, but it was as if they felt completely involved in who I did or did not end up mating with. In my mind, it was nobody’s business but ours. Sometimes, Otherworld was really weird.
Not that a harem would be accepted in the human world either.
“The Dark Fae, or the demons as some like to call them, like to keep a tight control on our realm,” Phelan said. “And they are just waiting for someone to do something wrong and give them a reason to invade.”
I shivered. “The demons are actually fae? But then why aren’t they here, in Otherworld?”
Frowning, Phelan glanced at Liam. “Honestly, how have we ended up with a spy who doesn’t even know the very basics about our world?”
“We haven’t quite gotten this far in her studies yet,” Liam said to Phelan. “We like to introduce the changelings slowly to our history. Otherwise, it overwhelms them. They’ve lived in the human realm all their lives. Dumping the entirety of the world on them at once is far too much.”
With a heavy sigh, Phelan continued, turning to face me. “There are two faerie realms, Norah. Otherworld, which is home to the Light Fae. That’s us. On the flip side, there is Underworld. Home of the Dark Fae and the more dangerous faerie creatures. They are cruel, chaotic, and violent, and they’ve longed wished to take over not only our realm but the human realm as well. Only our tithe keeps them satisfied for now, but it still means they can control us.”
“I think I need to sit down.”
“See?” Liam asked when I leaned heavily against the war table. When I’d first come to Otherworld, I’d felt overwhelmed by the knowledge that the world as I knew it was not the full truth. There was magic and faeries and I was one of them. There was an entirely different realm where the seasons held a magic of their own. Over the past few months, I’d come to grips with it. But now I was feeling a bit woozy from it all again.
The demons were fae as well. And they controlled everything the Light Fae did.
Phelan let out an impatient sigh. “The Dark Fae don’t truly matter right now. Let’s get back to why we’re really here. The Autumn Court. What matters is making sure the Autumns don’t destroy our home.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. All this new information about the Dark Fae would have to wait. Phelan was very obviously impatient to get started on my training, and I understood why. The longer we waited to gather information, the more likely another Court might fall. It was imperative to find out what the Autumns had planned before they had a chance to carry out another attack.
Shouts echoed through the expansive hall, and the three of us turned to face the commotion. There was a scuffling noise, and then another round of shouts, before the two gate guards pounded their way into the room with a very familiar figure struggling in their meaty arms.
“This one showed up outside the gates demanding to be let in,” said the guard.
Rourke’s golden eyes burned into the face of one of his captors, the veins in his neck throbbing against his skin. My heart skipped a beat, half afraid, half happy to see his face.
“As you can probably tell, he’s Autumn filth. We were just going to ignore him, but he wouldn’t shut the hell up. Thought you might want to deal with him instead.”
