“Okay, but then how does that help the DarkFae?”
“The Dark Fae, while similar to us in many regards, is a more demonic type of race. They need the energy of others to survive, but they can only feed off those who have no magic themselves. That counts us out, the Light Fae. So, they must depend on the energy of humans. Centuries and centuries ago, there was a war between our realms. The Dark Fae wanted to invade and enslave the human realm. The Light Fae wanted to protect them. That is how we came up with the Tithe. It’s a way to protect the humans just as much as it’s a way to protect ourselves. It minimizes the damage of the Dark Fae’sfeeding.”
“Wait a minute. Let me get this right.” I leaned forward and spread my hands across the table. “So, somehow, through these Redcaps, the Dark Fae are able to feed off human energy? And that is how theysurvive.”
“Every time a new Redcap is created, it feeds the Dark Fae,yes.”
“And when the Redcaps go back to the human realm after the Solstice, every new person they infect…that feeds the Dark Fae evenmore.”
Rourke nodded, his expression grave. “So, now you see why the changelings are so important. Without them, we would have no way to give the Dark Fae the energy they need to survive. And if we cut off their supply, they would destroy us all in their effort not todie.”
Chapter Ten
Ihadn’t foundthe information I’d been searching for in the library, but at least I’d found some more answers. I understood the motives of the Dark Fae far more than I ever had, thanks to Rourke’s candor. It also explained why they had orchestrated the manipulation of Queen Viola to not only revolt against Queen Marin but me aswell.
They must have known that she’d been looking into a way to stop the Tithe. And they must have realized that I might share her sensibilities. The pieces of a strange puzzle were beginning to take shape in my mind. We might have a spy deep within their realm, but they surely had spies here as well. They’d seen what I’d done for Bree. And they’d realized that I could be aproblem.
So, the question remained. What could be done about theTithe?
Their motive was simple. All this time, I’d thought they wanted nothing more than destruction and chaos and control. I’d imagined them as evil super villains sitting up in a tower, cackling madly while the world burned down below. But no, that wasn’t it at all. They just wanted tosurvive.
Without the Tithe, they had no way of drawing the energy of humans. And without human energy? They would die. This was how they survived. How could I come up with something both save the humansandallow the Dark Fae tofeed?
I turned the corner of the hallway, so deep in thought that my eyes didn’t register what was in front of me. My feet knocked into something soft and hard at the same time, and I stumbled back, words of apology on mylips.
But there wasn’t anyonethere.
My gaze dropped to the floor. There was a body. Face down. Dark hair spread out like a halo around her head. Heart rattling in my chest, I dropped to my knees, tears springing into my eyes when I recognized the face. It was another one of the Academy’s instructors, a third year female from the Winter Court. Shaking, I leaned over her and pressed my fingers to her neck to feel her pulse, but I found nothing more than a deep stickyred.
She’d been cut to pieces, and cuts and slashes had been made deep into her neck. The same kind of wound as the others. I jumped to my feet andran.
* * *
Rourke’scalming influence was the only thing that kept me from screaming my head off. By this point in time, I had seen so many dead bodies since arriving in Otherworld, but I would never get used to it. I had blood on my hands, too, though I had only ever killed when necessary. There had been battles. There had been violence. But something about this death rocked me like noneother.
The fae had looked so innocent just lying there like that. My hand had touched her blood. Her life force had clung to my fingers. And she’d felt cold to the touch. So cold. So far gone from this world when only hours before she had been soalive.
Alwyn stood just beside me, her pale face giving the impression that she’d transformed into a ghost of her past self. Kael and Liam lifted the body from the floor and carried it down the hallway, past a cluster of crying students. I’d tried to be as discreet as possible when I’d rushed to the Head Instructor’s office to inform her of what I’d found, but it was impossible to keep anything quiet in thisplace.
“I suppose you’re happy,” Alwyn said with a sniff. “This means that changeling girl of yours isn’t thekiller.”
I felt as though I’d been punched in the gut. “Happy that another fae has died? Come on, Alwyn. That’s harsh, even coming fromyou.”
“You wanted to save her,” she said, her voice as hard as steel. “So much so that perhaps you even staged this yourself. Don’t think I missed the blood on yourhands.”
“I can’t believe you,” Ihissed.
Turning from the scene, I stormed back down the hallway to my living quarters. Alwyn Adair was starting to seriously piss me off. My instructors said her attitude toward me had nothing to do with her true feelings, that all she wanted was to see me crowned Queen. But I was beginning to find that difficult to believe. If she truly wanted me to rule, why would she accuse me of killing an Academy instructor? Why would she believe that I was capable of such athing?
When I was halfway to my room, I made a sharp right toward the back doors of the Academy. I didn’t want to go sit in a stuffy room with nothing to keep me company but my own trouble thoughts. Instead, I pushed open the doors and stepped out into the fresh fae air. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the essence ofAutumn.
Distantly, I heard a shout. I frowned and opened my eyes, squinted against the soft glow of the afternoon sun. Along the horizon, several figures were sweeping across the grass. My heart thumped hard. What was this allabout?
As the figures grew closer, I could begin to make out their clothing and their faces. I recognized them immediately. It was four of our regular guards. And they were running. Toward what, I couldn’ttell.
A few more moments passed by before they grew even closer. And it was then that I realized they weren’t running toward anything at all. They were runningfromsomething. Six large beasts were pounding the ground on the hill just behindthem.
Shit.I stumbled back through the doorway, eyes wide, heart rattling. Six Redcaps, all in their beastly forms. All heading this way. And the guards were doing nothing more than fleeing like the cowards theywere.
