And then the Dark Fae wouldcome.
I was stalling, and I knew it. I’d faced off against dangerous fae and terrifying beasts, but the the thought of seeing my step-father against made my blood run cold with pure fear. I just wasn’t ready to facehim.
Instead, it was time to change the subject. “What do you know about Boyd? Did you know him back when you lived in the Springlands?”
Finn let out a lighthearted chuckle and leaned forward. “I know what you’re trying to do, Norah. You’re trying to change the subject. Don’t worry. We don’t have to talk about your step-father if you don’t wantto.”
“Good.” I flashed him a smile. “So, what do you know aboutBoyd?”
“Is this your way of asking if he’s a murderer?” He arched an eyebrow. “Because, no. He wasn’t. Just because some lunatic spelled something out in blood on the floor doesn’t make it true, especially the kind of lunatic that would rip someone’s throatout.”
My mouth suddenly went very dry. I’d seen Boyd’s body when we’d rushed into the lobby, and it had been clear as day that the wound was somewhere on his neck. But he’d been face down. I hadn’t seen the cut myself. To hear that his throat had been rippedout…
Heart thundering hard, I asked the question that I very much did not want to ask. “Ripped out how? Like…ananimal?”
“Now, don’t jump to any conclusions, Norah…” he began, but I was up and halfway to the door before he could finish his sentence. An old horror was beginning to creep into my mind, one I very much wanted to shove aside. But I couldn’t, not until I saw herfirst.
“I have to go talk toBree.”
Chapter Three
Bree lived at the Academy,even though she wasn’t a changeling. She was the only non-fae allowed residence in this place, though I supposed she kind of was fae now, in a way, even though she’d been technically cured of the Redcap disease. She still had the ability to shift into the beast within, but she now had fullcontrol.
After much begging from me, Alwyn had allowed Bree to stay within these walls so that she could be trained to fight. Bree would now never return to the human realm, not when the wolf-like beast would always be somewhere deep within her. The Winter Starlight cure had helped. It had given her control of her soul, but she’d never be human. She’d never fit in the way she once had. And it killed me knowing that her fate was myfault.
I paused in the doorway of her room, relieved to see her familiar pixie face. “Bree.”
She glanced over her shoulder and flashed me a smile, her long dark hair twisted up into a ponytail. She wore fighting leathers, and a sword was strapped to her waist. Alwyn had thought it was a good idea for Bree to learn to fight with more than her claws, and I had to admit, she looked seriouslyfierce.
“Norah, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be with one—or four—of your hunky instructors right about now. What are they training you on lately? Smell, wasn’t it?” She let out a light laugh. “If you’d told me a year ago that you’d be trying to sniff out men in the woods, I would have thought you werecrazy.”
I couldn’t help but grinback.
She was acting normal. So normal. Just like the Bree I’d always known andloved.
I eased into the room and perched on the arm of a chair. “Did you hear about what happened lastnight?”
The smile vanished from her pixie face. “To the new instructor? The one Sophia was going to mate with? Yeah, I heard. Someone killedhim.”
“Yeah,” I breathed, searching her deep blue eyes. Nothing in them spoke of worry or sadness or fear. I let out a slight breath of relief. Bree hadn’t done this. She couldn’t have. She wasn’t violent. She was fully in control now. It was just a coincidence that the murder looked like a Redcap attack. And it was just a coincidence that it must have been someone inside of the Academy. None of that matteredthough.
If Breehaddone it, I’d be able totell.
Wouldn’tI?
“It’s absolutely awful. And pretty terrifying if you ask me. How did anyone get into the building long enough to be able to do something like that? I thought there were tons of guards these days.” She shook her head. “Just when I thought we were all finallysafe.”
“Well, it gets worse. Finn told me that it looked as though someone had ripped Boyd’s throat out.” A beat passed. “I hate to ask you this, Bree, but have you kept in touch with any of the Redcaps you met while you were…out there? Would any of them know where youare?”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back as if by instinct. “Finn said aRedcapdidthis?”
“Not in so many words,” I said quickly. “He just that the wound was animalistic. It made me think that maybe it could have been a Redcap, especially since the killer wrote out a word on the floor with blood. What other creature can doboth?”
“I can’t believe this.” Bree gripped the arms of her chair and averted her gaze, her face paling. “But yes. I have kept in touch with a few of the Redcaps. The ones who haven’t fully succumbed to the beast. They would never do something like this though. I know you think all Redcaps are violentand—”
She cut off her words, and unshed tears filled her eyes. I hated that I had to question her like this, but we had to find out who had committed this crime. Before they did it to someoneelse.
I gave her a moment to catch her breath before I continued. “Have they been cured? Have they taken theStarlight?”
