“What?” I whispered, heart stuck in my throat. “Is that…is that possible?”
“No, it’s not. All of her family died years and years past, and she never had any children. Besides, we know who the four fae couples are who gave up their offspring that year for the tithe. They are normal Lesser Fae of their Courts with no connections at all to Marin. It’s almost as though the realm realized it was time the Greater Fae returned to these lands…so it’s given us you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said, heart pounding hard.
“Is it?” He raised his eyebrows. “Look at what is happening now. War, Norah. And if Spring attacks Winter after Autumn attacked Summer, we’ll be nothing left but pieces soon. We need something—or someone—to remind us that we aren’t as different as we all think. We need to be united once again.”
“What a load of horse shit.” A growl echoed from the open doorway behind us. With my heart in my throat, I whirled toward the sound, coming face to face with a female fae that was as tall as the roof of the building. Her skin was a sickly green, and her red matted hair hung down to her waist. She leaned forward and sniffed before lobbing a mouthful of spit at my feet.
“Norah.” Rourke’s voice had been warm and full of passion only moments before, but that eerie iciness had settled back into his words now. “Come to me.”
The Wilde Fae snapped out her hand and twisted yellow fingernails around my wrist. “She’ll be staying right here with me until you tell me what you’re doing in my shop. You trying to steal my meat? Bad move on your part, you Autumn filth. I haven’t even had a chance to serve any of it yet.”
So I’d been right. The horses hadn’t been harmed. Not yet, at least. Relief buzzed in my heart.
“Let go of me.” I kept my voice steady and calm, doing my best to match Rourke’s tone, but my heart was galloping like a horse at top speed.
“You look familiar.” She narrowed her eyes and sniffed again. “Wait a minute. Weren’t the Queen’s guards searching this place for a changeling female last night? They said she had blonde hair…MALEK!”
Her sudden shout made me jump. Seconds later, a burly male fae stomped up behind her, sniffing and peering over her shoulder with squinted red eyes. “What’s this shouting all about? You catch some thieves trying to get our fresh meat?”
“It’s that changeling everyone was getting all excited about last night.”
“A changeling, huh?” He grunted. “Changelings are nothing special.”
“No, this one is,” she insisted, her eyes glittering. “The Queen’ll pay top marks for this one. Go get Quarn. He knows how to make contact.”
Steel whistled through the air by my ear as Rourke moved at a speed that could rival light. His blade stopped just before it hit the female fae’s arm, the one she was using to keep me trapped in place.
“If you go anywhere, I will not hesitate to slice through your mate the way you do with your meat,” Rourke said, his eyes locked on the male. “So, if I were you, I would stay right where you are.”
The Wilde Fae hissed, but he didn’t dare move an inch. “You’re going to live to regret this, you Autumn filth.”
The insult just rolled right off Rourke’s back. I was coming to realize he was more than used to it.
“Shadow,” he said to me. “You can slip out while I fight them.”
“Rourke, no.”
“Do it,” he said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t up for debate. Remember what you promised me.”
I did remember, and until now, I hadn’t felt prepared to break that promise. But something had shifted in me these past few days. Maybe it was because of my growing feelings for Rourke or maybe it was because I was quickly realizing I wasn’t quite as useless as I’d feared. It was still hard for me to imagine myself as a Greater Fae, but I now knew I had a strength within me that was far more important than my ability to call upon powers no one had expected me to have.
I wouldn’t leave Rourke here to fight these Wilde Fae alone. Not when we were better off working as a team.
Of course, he was probably going to kill me when he saw what I had planned.
Taking a deep breath in through my nose, I gathered the shadows around me. Instantly, the room exploded into chaos. Rourke danced back away from the door, most likely to give me space to escape. Both fae cried out in anger. They whirled, grasping at the air where I’d been only moments before. And then they turned their rage onto Rourke.
I’d trained for this. I was ready for this.
With my gaze focused hard on the fae, I pulled my sword from my scabbard and pushed the shadows away. My sword sliced through the air as I swung toward the male fae. He spotted me just in time, jumping to the side and grabbing an axe from the corner. Heart hammering hard, I tightened my grip on the hilt. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rourke battling it out with the female. She’d managed to produce two daggers, and her movement almost matched the speed of his.
I had to keep the male busy, even though his weapon was the size of my head and dripping with a thick, ghastly red.
I bent my knees and raised my sword before me, still and steady and calm.
The Wilde Fae chuckled. “You think a tiny little changeling like you can really survive in a fight against me?”
