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Below me, I could hear a struggle ensuing, and then the low murmur of voices.
Training, I answered.
I’m coming over there.
My consciousness was slipping, but even then, I could feel my wolf attempting to argue on my behalf.
Don’t. Don’t come.
I was tired of depending on other people to save me. The whole point of training was to be able to defend myself—I couldn’t depend on Sariel to save me all the time.
I can do it myself.
Just as that thought left me, I was released and falling through the air.
I yelped, flailing for a few seconds before several pairs of hands caught me. The vine woman was gone, and the grounds had returned to being yellow, those thick vines back at their post.
I was suddenly face-to-face with a hulking fae. He was even more significant than Commander Grel, and obviously one of the older fae. His hair was so long, he wore the braid coiled around his throat like a scarf, and he wore everyday clothing unlike the other fae that surrounded me: linen pants, a vest, and slipper-clad feet.
Perched on his shoulder was a huge owl, too, its eyes glued on me.
“You Newbies always create a stir with Lady Magnolia,” he chided, exasperation coloring his tone. The soothing baritone of his voice washed over me. “Someone heal the human.”
I assumed Lady Magnolia was the giant vine woman who’d just tried to kill me. I turned to where a pair of fae squatted over Reese, their hands glowing.
“The rest of you, get back to your breakfast,” the first fae said. He was clearly in charge, based on the way the other fae scattered back to the building.
“Andyou,” he said, crooking a finger at me to urge me forward. The owl shifted, flexing one huge wing, its head cocking to the side in interest. “Let me heal you.”
He didn’t give me time to process what was happening before he grabbed me, sending scalding energy through me, where he held me on my upper arm. Ifeltmore thansawmy skin knitting together.
Up close, this guy’s eyes reminded me of a pair I’d seen before. His face was so symmetrical it was unnerving to stare at him for too long, and his lashes and eyebrows were the same shade of gray as his hair.
“Take your friend and wash up,” he instructed, motioning to where Reese sat with her hands on her head. “You’re expected to be here at four AM for breakfast with the others.”
I finally found my voice as he moved to step away. “What… what was that, sir?”
He eyed me curiously, the white sheen over his eyes sparkling. “You can call me Commander Thorn, and that was my little sister, Magnolia. Don’t worry. She won’t bother you again. She gets a taste for the blood of everyone who comes to her grounds. She won’t bother you until it’s time to train.”
Reese was just as stupified by Commander Thorn’s words as I was.
The two of us washed up in the bathroom, and I soothed Sariel’s worries by explaining what had happened. He wasn’t pleased, naturally, but there was nothing he could do.
I could tell by the way we were sneered and smirked at when we finally entered the Food Hall—as the label on the door had clarified—that if he caused a scene, he would undermine any respect I hoped to gain by working as hard as everyone else.
The first thing Reese and I noted was that there were many more males than females. I counted four other women that sat together at a table, their scathing looks not going unnoticed.
Reese and I collected our meals and found an abandoned table near the trash.
I’d never considered how difficult this might be for us until now. Reese still looked jarred by our run-in with Lady Magnolia, and… Jesus, she was far more fragile than I was.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I found myself blurting as I watched her push her breakfast around her tray. “We’ll protect you, Reese. You don’t have to go through with this. No one will think less of you.”
She dropped her fork. “Aren’t you making this suggestion because you think less of me, though?”
“No, absolutely not. But you’re— you’rehuman, Reese. I wouldn’t forgive myself if you got hurt….”
I trailed off at her glare. “I’mnotgoing to be deadweight, Aria. I don’t care if I get bruised and sore. If I can learn anything that will give me a fighting chance, I want to.”
