some Academy guards?”
My heart began to beat wildly in my chest. “You said you would let her go if I came with you. An exchange. Me for her. That’s what you said.”
He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “Perhaps that was a mistake. I can’t very well release a monster, especially not in the midst of our precious changelings. What would our Queen think if she knew I’d allowed them to get attacked?”
I narrowed my eyes, and my breath began to expel through my nose in rapid bursts. My entire body shook, and I could barely think straight as the realization of what I’d done washed over me. Redmond had never intended on letting Bree go. He was going to kill her, right in front of me. And then he’d probably move on to me next.
“Let. Her. Go!” I squirmed against the warrior’s tight grip. He was strong, but a strange kind of power had begun to sing in my veins, one that made me feel almost invincible. I just needed a little more time...
Another set of footsteps crunched through the dead leaves. Another Autumn fae warrior came up behind us, and he had—
He had Finn. An unconscious Finn who had a bruise the size of the sun on his face.
“Found this one lurking around back there. What do you want me to do with him?”
“We’ll kill him, too,” Redmond said. “It will be a good training lesson for the changelings here. Don’t rebel against the Courts, or else there will be serious consequences.”
I’d had enough. I couldn’t stand here trapped while Redmond threatened everyone I knew and loved. The power boiled inside of me, and a furious fire consumed my soul.
“Let them go!” My voice was so loud that the ground beneath our feet began to shake.
And with those words, the strange, wild power of my soul spilled out into the forest clearing. A harsh and bitter wind whipped around me, and the intensity of my command made me fall to my knees. A sharp, splitting pain ripped my skull in two, but I gritted my teeth against the force of it.
I wanted to free Bree. I wanted to free Finn. And I wanted these Autumn fae to go down.
Everything exploded into chaos. Bree vanished into thin air, followed quickly by Finn. The horses began to buck and kick, slamming their massive hooves into each of the Autumn fae warriors. Redmond screamed and stumbled back. His horse knocked him sideways where he fell into a heap on the ground.
I had to glance away when the hooves began to pound into his body. Bones snapped. Blood painted the orange leaves. The sound of it would haunt me to my grave.
Squeezing my eyes as tight as I could, I dug my hands into the dirt and clung on to the earth. The wind that whipped around me had become a tornado of leaves and magic and pain, and I could no longer hear anything but the heavy roar of my blood.
Suddenly, the wind died. The leaves fluttered to the forest floor, and my heavy breathing was the only sound in the world.
I looked up. Bree knelt before me, her eyes shining beneath a face caked in dirt. She took my shaking hand in hers and squeezed.
“You saved me, Norah.” Her voice caught, and the tears in her eyes began to spill down her cheeks. “You saved us all.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I felt as though I’d been run over by a bullet train. Soon after Bree had come to me in the forest, I’d passed out. When I woke up, I was in the infirmary again, back at the Academy. The early morning light streamed in through the open window, and my four fae instructors were dotted around the room, each and every one of them fast asleep.
I cleared my throat.
Immediately, Liam was on his feet, glaring at every shadow in the room as if he were in search of an enemy to fight. I let out a laugh and coughed, rubbing at my throat. Even my vocal cords felt as if they’d been tossed through a blender.
“Take it easy.” Kael pulled his chair closer to my bed and took my hand in his. “You’re going to have some pain for a little while.”
“Where’s Bree?” I asked. “Is she okay? Did you get her away from the Autumn Court?”
“Bree is fine,” he said gently. “We brought her back to the Academy and administered the Winter Starlight. She’s recovering well. We think she’ll pull through