my shoulder when I was done. He’d been standing like that the entire time I’d been attempting the shots. I felt his breath whispering across my neck, and I heard the laugh I swore that no one could hear but me.
When I lowered the bow, I whirled on him, my own eyes as fiery as his. “You did that on purpose. You wanted to see me fail, so you made me lose.”
His grin widened, and I wished I could punch his face. This wasn’t fair. He’d been nothing but nice to the other changelings. It was only me whose life he wanted to make miserable. Anger boiled inside of me, but at least it was better than pain.
“I did nothing of the sort. And, don’t forget, I’m one of your instructors. You need to show me the proper respect. Otherwise…” His eyes sparkled. “I might have to add some more punishment on top of your Watch Duty.”
My mouth dropped open, and anger curled in my stomach. “Oh, so is that how things work around here? Women mates get punished if they don’t obey their men? What kind of archaic bullshit is this?”
“Oh, you’re not my mate yet, darling.” His voice was deep and dark as he curled a finger underneath my chin. “But I see that fire in you. Maybe you will end up mine.”
“Sorry about what happened out there,” Sophia said as we strolled back into our shared quarters. I only had an hour to “unpack” and settle in before I had to meet up with the other losers who had been assigned Watch Duty for the night. All the changelings who had come in last in their groups were suckered into a long night of watching the dark forest for any sign of dangerous creatures. Since we sucked so bad at the whole bow and arrow thing, we weren’t there to fight. Instead, we would waste away our sleeping hours by keeping watch.
I shrugged and slumped down onto the bed in Sophia’s room, watching her unzip the first of three massive suitcases. A twinge went through my gut. I wished I’d had a chance to pack my things. Instead, I was here with nothing from my past, except Mom’s necklace which dangled from my neck. Nothing else to remind me of who I really was.
Except the pain and anger still burning in my veins.
“It wasn’t your fault, Sophia. It’s not like you cursed me to be terrible at being a fae.” I sighed and looked around me. Compared to hers, my room would be brutally empty. No clothes. No signs of life. “And I could really use a shower and a fresh change of clothes.”
“Maybe if I’d been worse, it’d be me keeping watch tonight instead of you.” She pulled a black t-shirt from the depths of her bag. “Want to wear this? It’s sufficiently guard-like, and we’re about the same size.”
I lifted my eyes from the stone floor. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Nope, not at all.” She tossed me the shirt with a smile. “Until the fae manage to round up some clothes for you, feel free to wear anything of mine. We’ve got to stick together, right?”
I let out a relived sigh and nodded. “We’ve got to stick together.”
When I returned to the Great Hall an hour later, I expected Liam to be waiting to greet me with that egotistic smile of his. He’d been the one who had assigned me Watch Duty, after all. Instead, it was Rourke, the Autumn fae. The weird one who, I had to admit, made me feel a little nervous. There was something so unnerving about him. He was quiet and cool, his lips pressed together in a firm line. Next to Finn’s boisterous nature and Liam’s fiery flirting, Rourke just seemed…
Chilling.
“This may be your first evening at Otherworld Academy, but we don’t ease changelings in slowly here.” Rourke strode to the wall and took four binoculars off a wooden shelf before passing them out to each of us. “Each night, students assist with Watch Duty, an essential task for ensuring the safety of this Academy. And while you may feel this is a punishment for losing your challenge, it’s an integral part of your training. You should consider it a privilege to guard this place.”
A guy with fair reddish hair scoffed and crossed his arms across the kind of chest that could only be built from hours spent in a gym. “Right. A privilege. Then, why didn’t you give it