Page 46 of Fae Trials

He pulled out a black cloak. “This will cover your wings. Tomorrow, everyone will be looking for you.”

“Thanks.” I stepped toward Elijah and let him drape the cloak over my shoulders. After he pulled the hood over my head, we walked down the wooden staircase and toward the door.

It creaked open, and we stepped out into a star-filled night with a bright crescent moon that illuminated the mountaintops. The air was still with a lack of breeze, and a silence broken only by the soft nickering of a horse within the stables.

I sucked in a deep breath of jasmine-scented air and sighed. The Royal Fae Academy and its surroundings were gorgeous, but I was looking forward to living anywhere as long as it was with my sister.

Elijah grabbed my hand and led me around the stable block, where a fierce black mount awaited. It turned to us, baring a mouthful of gleaming fangs.

My left foot stumbled over my right. “Isn’t that—”

“A kelpie?” Elijah walked over to the beast, placed a horn to his lips, and blew, making the creature close its mouth. “Knuckles here has been trained for stealth. Air makes them weak to your commands, you see. Ride on his back, and no one will notice us leave the wards.”

“How do you know about kelpies?” I whispered.

He squeezed me around the waist. “It’s the only way to get in and out of the United Nations stores without being detected.”

“Oh.” The girls had been right about Elijah being a rogue, but I shoved aside any reservations about having received his stolen goods and walked alongside him to the kelpie.

“Did you tame it yourself?” I asked.

“Yep.” He mounted the monster, pulled me up to the saddle, and settled me against his chest. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not as sensitive to iron as other faeries. It gives me an advantage in all kinds of situations.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” I gave his muscular thigh a gentle pat.

With another gust of air from his blowing-horn, Elijah got the kelpie to leap into the sky. Breathing through the lurching of my stomach, I gripped the beast’s silver mane.

“Mmmm…” He sniffed my neck. “You smell so good.”

“Different?” I leaned into his muscular chest and let the breeze caress my hair. He had never complimented me before on my scent.

“Sweeter than honeysuckle.” He nibbled my ear.

We flew over the castle and its mishmash of ivory towers, over mountaintops, and over lakes that reflected the crescent moon. Throughout the journey, joy surged without my chest. I was finally free. Free of the princes, free of the Fated, and free of the soul-crushing fear that the dead faerie had wiped Sicily out of existence.

“Let’s go to the Mound,” I said.

“Whatever for?” he murmured into my ear.

“I want to check on my sister.”

“Sicily?” he asked.

“They could be mistreating her down there.”

Elijah chuckled. “That particular auction house trades virgins. When they get a new girl, she’s plucked and pampered and made plump enough to attract a sale.”

“What kind of creature would buy a human?” I asked.

“Brothel-keepers, hags for spell-making, lots of people, but none of that matters.” He gave me a tight squeeze around the middle. “In two days, we’ll find her at the viewing, and she’ll be free.”

“Right,” I gazed down at a flash of magic glowing through the forest treetops. “Where are we now?”

“Temperance Forest,” he replied. “One moment, and we’ll reach the family vineyard.”

After several minutes, the kelpie straightened his wings and swooped low, over what looked like a graveyard of gnarled, dead trees.

“This is a vineyard?” I asked.