At that thought, I pulled back, all the while yearning to pull Kael close to me once again. We were finally away from the academy grounds. We were finally able to express our feelings after weeks of drought. But I couldn’t shake the thought that those demon-like fae were somewhere out there, watching and waiting topounce.
I cast a glance over my shoulder at the others who were still sleeping soundly on the carpet of leaves. They were oblivious to the world around them, and they couldn’t hear a single word we said. Still, I dropped my voice to a low whisper just in case. “Did you manage to find out anything about what the Dark Fae areplanning?”
A slight shake of his head. “My contact has not been in touchyet.”
My hands found the ground, and my fingers clutched at the earth. “I know we can’t rush things, but I really wish he’d hurry up. I can’t relax, not without knowing what’scoming.”
Kael’s warm hand folded on top of mine. “I know, but just remember something. In this situation, no news is a good thing. He wouldn’t risk returning to Otherworld unless he had something to share. The fact he hasn’t come calling means there is nothing to worry about.Yet.”
Kael, as it turned out, knew a spy. Alwyn had introduced them years ago, back before she had left her spy life behind to become an instructor at the Academy. Our contact was apparently a Dark Fae himself, but one who didn’t wish to see our realm destroyed. In fact, Kael had described the fae as fairly reasonable, a total contrast of everything I’d thought they would be: red, lizard-like creatures with sharp tails and claws. It seemed my overactive imagination waswrong.
“Unless he’s a double agent,” I said in a whisper. “And he’s turned on us and told the Dark Fae that we’re trying to find out they haveplanned.”
“You’ve watched far too many of those human Hollywood films,” he said with a chuckle. “Trust me, Maher is not a doubleagent.”
A sharp whistle echoed in the distance, and the lighthearted smile vanished from Kael’s face. In an instant, he was on his feet, and his sword was in his hands. “Douse theflames.”
Heart roaring in my ears, I grabbed the bucket and dumped the water onto the flames. We were plunged into darkness within seconds, a billow of smoke the only signal of where we were. As I rose from the ground, I grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows before tiptoeing to where the others were stillsleeping.
With my breath held tight in my throat, I toed Finn’s arm. He was alert and on his feet in a blur of violent energy. Soon, we were all standing in the quiet darkness of the night, our backs facing each other, our weapons turned toward whatever lurked within thetrees.
I pulled an arrow from the quiver and slid it into place, aiming the pointed end at the thick darkness beforeme.
Nothing happened. Long, tense moments passed by so slowly that the seconds felt like years. The chirping of the crickets had vanished. Everything was deadly silent. The only sound was the creak of branches against the wind. But I didn’t let the silence fool me. Someone was out there—or something—and they knew exactly where wewere.
When my arm began to tremble from the weight of my bow, I decided I was tired ofwaiting.
“Show yourself,” I called out as I lowered my bow. “If you mean us no harm, then you have nothing tofear.”
The only answer was the whistle of thewind.
And then branches snapped from somewhere to our left. I whirled toward the sound and lifted my bow. I stared down the sight, my fingers trembling from the tension of the string. Another branch cracked, and then another. Fear and unease slithered across my skin as my eyes strained to see what was hidden in thedarkness.
A fae exploded from the dense trees, flying through the air. Heart hammering, I loosed my arrow, but it sunk into the nearest tree instead of hitting its mark. I jumped to the side, grabbing another arrow from my quiver. The fae fell on the ground, right where I had been standing only momentsbefore.
I blinked down at him. It was a male fae with golden hair curling around his pointed ears. Breath rattling in my chest, I aimed the arrow at hisheart.
But he didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. His vacant eyes stared up at the canopy of bare limbs that twisted overhead. Slowly, I lowered the bow and gaped at the figure before us. He was dead. And the wound on his neck was unmistakable. His throat had been rippedout.
Shaking my head, I lifted my eyes to meet Kael’s dark eyes. “What…?”
“Another victim,” he said with a chilly voice. “Whoever killed him is out there, and he—or she—threw him straight atus.”
Chapter Five
“This is awful.Whoever did this has to be stopped,” I said as I stumbled away from the mutilated body. Now that I’d finally registered what had happened, it was impossible to see anything but the gore. Blood streamed from the deep scratches, caking onto his green cloak. His eyes were hollow, but there was a wild look of fear plastered on hisface.
I couldn’t look at him anylonger.
Kael gave a nod. “I’ll change into my beastly form and go after him. That’s the fastest way I can travel and might be the only way I can catch up to the killer. He’s most likely inhis...”
He trailed off and glanced atBree.
The killer is most likely in his Redcapform.
Kael hadn’t said it out loud, but we’d all heard the meaning behind his unspoken words. The murderer was most likely a Redcap. Whoever had done this needed not only the claws to rip out the victim’s throat but also the strength to hurl the body through thetrees.
This was looking more and more like an attack by a beast, though one that was chillinglypointed.
