My words were meant to make her feel better, but that strange haunted look filled her eyesagain.
* * *
Back at the Academy,Alwyn was waiting for us on the front steps just outside of the double doors that led into the lobby where we’d discovered Boyd’s body. The ever-present patrol of guards must have spotted us heading down the pathway on the hillside, and they had alerted her of our arrival. A part of me kind of wished they hadn’t. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle her yet. I knew what she’d want to do: execute thekiller.
Alwyn shot Bree a weighted glance, pressing her lips together, before she turned tome.
“Norah, I am glad to see you have returned to us safely. Liam tells me that you were the one who found the Redcap girl, hiding in some godforsaken hut by the Moire River. Thank you for that, and thank you for agreeing to bring her here, even though I know you wanted to avoid that outcome at all costs. Because of that, I will be giving you the gift Ipromised.”
“Wait a minute, Alwyn,” I said, wincing. If I were a different kind of person—a different kind of fae—I’d let Alwyn plunge headfirst into what she was about to say. I’d greedily take that information and use it before she could realize her mistake. But I wasn’t that kind of person, as irritating as that might feel sometimes. “Shai is not the Redcap you’ve been lookingfor.”
Irritation flickered across her sharp features. “What are you talking about? I have already spoken to Liam and Rourke. They informed me that the girl confessed to murder. Granted, I haven’t been able to confirm this myself since she is still unconscious at this time. But I trust Rourke. He is not the kind of fae to weave a lie of thatmagnitude.”
“You’re right. It’s not a lie,” I said. “Shai confessed, but it was for a different crime. Didn’t Rourke tell you about the four dead Redcaps we found withher?”
Alwyn pursed her lips. “I’m not certain I see your point. She had blood on her hands and on her clothes. She’d clearly killed four of her companions. When you arrived at the hut, she started to confess. Since she’d clearly just thrown a body at you several hours before, she would have known who you were and why you came to question her. She was giving you the confession she knew you came tohear.”
“Look, Alwyn,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady and calm. Sometimes, our Head Instructor really knew how to get under my skin. She often seemed more like a Summer than an Autumn, because she was stubborn as hell. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but you have to admit there’s a chance this girl did not kill Boyd. Even you’re smarter than to jump to that kind ofconclusion.”
She flinched, as if I’d slappedher.
Okay, so maybe that had been the wrong choice ofwords.
Grimacing, I tried to find another way of getting my point across. “What I mean is, don’t you think we should wait until she wakes up? Ask her what she meant by her confession? See what murder she was really admittingto?”
Alwyn’s gaze went razor sharp. “You are siding with a beastly changeling who has openly admitted to murdering at least four souls. I find many things you do baffling, Norah, but this really tops them all. This girl has clearly lost control of her beast.” A pause. “But don’t you worry, Norah. As much as I wish she could be punished, she’s lucky enough to be one of the chosen few. She will need to be confined behind bars until she reaches the Summer Solstice of her eighteenth birthday. For her safety and ours. And then she’ll be sent into the human realm along with therest.”
I barked out a harsh laugh. “You call that lucky? So, basically, you’re going to keep her locked up in a cage for two years and then throw her back in with the humans, fully beast-like and ready to kill? Don’t you see how wrong thisis?”
“Wrong or not, it’s the way of our world.” Her eyes narrowed. “The way ofyourworld. It’s at times like these that I’m reminded that you might be Marin’s daughter, but that you’re not truly one of us. I thought you’d make a good Queen, but I was wrong, even if you are the rightfulheir.”
I flinched and took a stepback.
“Why look so hurt? Why look so shocked?” She laughed and stepped in so close that I could see every speck of gold in her eyes. “You don’t even want to be Queen. If you did, you wouldn’t be hiding here in an Academy meant forchangelings.”
“Alwyn,” Kael said in a low growl. “I think that’senough.”
Her glittering eyes flicked to the Winter prince behind me. “Right. Because Norah is happy enough to take her harem, but she won’t take the responsibilities that come withit.”
* * *
“How are you doing?”I asked when I found Sophia in the living quarters that we shared. She was perched on a chair, a book spread open in her lap. Glancing up, she gave me a smile, one that almost lookedrelieved.
“Thank the forest you’re back,” she said in a whisper, eyes shining with unshed tears. “The last time you went off on a mission, all hell brokeloose.”
“Tell me about it.” I eased into the chair next to hers and propped my tired feet onto the matching stool. Sighing, I sunk into the cushions and let my eyelids flutter shut. “Though a part of me kind of wishes this trip had been more like my other missions. At least then I wouldn’t have let down my oldest friend, and maybe I wouldn’t have pissed off Alwyn, though there’s no telling on that one. She’s easy to set off. Anyway. I don’t want to talk about me. How are you? I can’t imagine how you must feel rightnow.”
“Well.” She shut her book with a snap. “I feel a lot better knowing that you tracked down Boyd’s killer. It’s closure, you know? So, thank you forthat.”
My breath stilled in my throat. How could I tell her what I thought about Shai, especially after she’d just said that? Sophia had comfort in the knowledge that Boyd’s killer was locked behind bars, bars she’d never escape from until the Summer Solstice Tithe claimed her as its next victim. But her comfort was not the truth, and I was done hiding things from myroommate.
“There are some doubts about her involvement. I think Alwyn wants to talk with her one-on-one when she finally wakes up.” A pause. “She was only conscious for a few seconds when I found her. We can’t be certain she killedBoyd.”
There. That came out wellenough.
But Sophia’s face clouded over all the same. “What do you mean? Rumors are going around that she admitted to themurders.”
“She admitted to murder, but she didn’t specifywho.”
