I stepped a little closer to Rourke, breathing in the deep, dark scent of him. “The rule only applies to the academy grounds, so we could always go somewhereelse…”
Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Kael, Liam, and Finn were striding through the trees to join us. They each wore an expression that matched Rourke’s shock at my ability to identify him from so far away. They’d no doubt heard that last bit of conversation, too, but none of them seemed bothered by my flirtations with my Autumn instructor. They’d all sort of accepted that I was theirs and they were mine. Jealousy just wasn’t part of the equation, notanymore.
“That was a fast identification,” Kael said slowly, flicking his dark eyes from Rourke to me. “The first time we tried the scent test, you weren’t able to make the identification until Finn was within five feet ofyou.”
“What can I say?” I asked with a grin. “I’m a quicklearner.”
“Oh no,” Finn said with a laugh, striding closer to poke a teasing finger at my chest. “You might be able to fool them, but you can’t fool me. Not with that twinkle in your eye. How’d you really do it,Norah?”
The trouble with trying to fool a Spring fae was that they were too tuned in to the classic signs oftrickery.
“Alright, you’ve got me,” I said, still grinning. “Technically, I used senses to identify Rourke, but they weren’t mine. And they weren’t the sense ofsmell.”
Liam arched an eyebrow. “Care toelaborate?”
My grin slowly widened. “Why don’t we play again, and let’s see if you can figure out what I’ve done to identifyyou?”
Liam let out a low chuckle, his fiery eyes bright even in the darkness. “Someone is feeling frisky, itseems.”
Heat filled my cheeks. “In more ways thatone.”
Kael cleared his throat. “As amusing as this seems to be for everyone, it really is important that Norah shares with us how she’s done this. It’s the only way we can discover the true extent of her powers, and therefore, how she can master them. Something that will be necessary when the timecomes.”
When the time comes.Four little words that sobered my lighthearted mood instantly. Out of the four of them, Kael was the only one of my instructors who shared my concerns about the Dark Fae, the demon-like counterparts to the Light Fae of this realm. They’d caused so much harm to this world already, and they’d manipulated Queen Viola into targeting me. If they truly wanted me gone, they wouldn’t stop there. And I had a sinking feeling that next time, their attack wouldn’t come in the form of an Autumn fae in way over herhead.
Something deep within me knew that I would have to face off against themmyself.
Finn, Liam, and even Rourke thought I was just being paranoid.We have a tithe with the Dark Fae, they’d said.An agreement.They haven’t come into this realm for centuries, they’d argued.Queen Viola was delusional, they wereconvinced.
But I knew the truth of it deep down within my bones. One day, the Dark Fae would return to Otherworld. And it would be sooner than my instructors wanted tobelieve.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms over my chest, and my heart flickered. Even though I hated keeping secrets from them, and even though I knew I should explain what I’d done, something about sharing it terrified me. In all my reading and all my studying, I hadn’t once come across anything to suggest that fae couldsee through the eyes of animals. It soundedinsane.
But I took a deep breath and said the words. “There was a rabbit in the brush near Rourke. It...no,he. He let me see through hiseyes.”
Rourke continued to stare at me, his expression betraying none of histhoughts.
“What do you mean he let you see through his eyes?” Finn asked with an archedbrow.
I shrugged. “Exactly what I said. I was crouching here, and I kind of reached out toward the sound of his rustling to see if I could scent whoever was out there. Instead, I found the rabbit, and he…I don’t know. He let me see what he was seeing. Which was Rourke. Please stop looking at me like I’m alunatic.”
“That’s…unique,” Kael finally said in a low voice that whispered through the small forestclearing.
Finn snorted and shook his head. “No, I see what you’re doing now. I’m not falling for this one. Classic Spring fae move, Norah. Come up with a wild story and see how many of us you candupe.”
I fisted my hands and propped them on my hips. “I’m not making this up. There was a rabbit near, Rourke. I swearit.”
“Come on, Norah,” Liam said, his lips cracking into a wide grin. “Nice try, but we’re not that gullible. You’re forgetting that we’re a lot older than we look. We know everything about Otherworld. Seeing through animal eyes isn’t something that anyone cando.”
“Then, explain how I knew it was Rourke. Like you all said, he was way too far away for me to identify his scent, especially since he smells like Autumn, and the free territory isinAutumn right now. His scent is practically masked as long as we’re in thisseason.”
“She’s not lying,” Rourke said quietly, his deep gaze zeroed in on my face. “There was a rabbit near me. I sawit.”
A distant scream ripped through the quiet of the night, a sound that sent a sharp spike of fear through my gut. The five of us whirled toward the sound. It was coming from theAcademy.
None of us said a word as our feet moved into action, pounding the rotting dirt. Kael, the fastest of us all, took the lead. I followed just behind, darting between towering trees. Naked limbs slapped my arms and legs, but I pushed forward, the scream echoing in my mind and my heart hammering hard in mychest.
My world had been so quiet and calm these past three weeks. The gnawing fear and unease in my gut had slowly begun to fade, replaced by the soothing knowledge that I was exactly where I belonged. Everything had gone back to normal. Everyone was finally safe. But in the back of my mind, I’d always known this day would come. The day when disaster struck my new home onceagain.
