bring up what had happened. He didn’t.
Instead, he pushed a book across the table and told me to read about the various types of flowers found in the Winter Court’s lands. Candlelight flickered in the quiet library as I dragged my eyes across the pages. Kael just sat there, watching. An hour later, he yanked the book away and told me to recite what I’d learned.
“There’s the Winter Moonlight,” I said, chin on fisted hand. “It’s a white flower that turns to pink toward the end of winter.”
“Wrong.” He tapped a finger against the bandage on his arm, something he tried to hide under his sleeve but failed. “It’s called the Winter Moonbeam. Come on, Norah. This isn’t, as you humans say, rocket science. You can do better than this.”
“I’m exhausted,” I said, frowning at him. “And I don’t see how this is at all relevant to fighting Redcaps.”
He let out an irritated sigh. “Because you need to understand and know your world before you start swinging swords around.”
“Why are you even helping me?” I fisted my hands and leaned forward. “You act like being in my presence is the most annoying thing in the world. Like you’d rather be anywhere else than training me.”
“You’re just not what I expected.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “You know what? Neither are you. But I guess we’re stuck with each other, aren’t we?”
“At least I am trying to prepare you to join my Court,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You? You act as though you’d rather be frolicking around with Liam in the woods.”
“Maybe that’s because you left me for dead on a cliff with nothing but a bow and arrow I clearly can’t handle.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “Of course, maybe that’s what you wanted. That way you wouldn’t be stuck with a mate you don’t want. I bet you even hoped I’d get killed.”
There it was. All the words I’d been dying to say since the moment he’d vanished into thin air, abandoning me to pretty much certain death. I knew I’d gotten lucky. It wasn’t skill that had saved me that day. It was pure, unbridled fear zeroed in to determination.
“This is tedious.” He pushed back his chair and stalked over to the window, peering out into the darkness of summer midnight. His whole body was tense, the back of his neck rippling beneath the soft glow of the library torches. Of all four of my instructors, Kael was the hardest to understand. He was so cold and distant, much more so than the other Winter fae who studied or instructed at the Academy. And it was as if he held all of it against me, in particular.
It seemed like it was more than just the fact I was a lot different than what he’d wanted.
Why else would he have left me for dead?
After a moment of strained silence, Kael let out a bitter sigh. “The reason I want you to study the plants is because knowing them may come in handy one day. Winter Moonbeam looks a lot like another flower, one that can heal a Redcap bite wound if used quickly enough.” He looked over his shoulder and met my eye with a pained expression. “That one is called Winter Starlight, and it’s very difficult to tell the difference between the two flowers unless they are studied very closely.”
What?!
I swallowed hard, my head ringing at his words. “So, it could have saved Bree?”
“Perhaps.” He pursed his lips. “Perhaps not. Some wounds are too deep and too fatal, but others are...”
He trailed off as he clenched his hands around the window ledge. The move almost looked…pained. That was strange. Had he lost someone to the Redcaps? Had he tried to save them but had been too late? They were questions I was dying to ask, but I never would. Not with him. He’d only brush me aside like an irritating fly that wouldn’t stop buzzing around his head.
And as much as I hated myself for it, I felt a small piece of my heart soften toward him. But only a small one. Because he was still a jerk. One who didn’t deserve my sympathy.
“Well, can you show me then, please?” I asked through clenched teeth, hating that I was asking. It felt like he’d won. “If there’s something out there that can help save someone who gets attacked, I want to know what it is. Hell, I