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Bim chuckled. “It’s supposed to be a portal, but I have no idea where it spits you out too.”
Fascinating.
The next shift came to relieve us. Bim bid me goodnight, then disappeared down a pathway we hadn’t explored. I was left to retrace my steps back to one of the castle’s entrances.
I was just stepping out of the garden when I spotted a familiar face over a hedge.
It was the woman from the welcome party.
I made a beeline for her before I could stop myself.
As I approached, stepping around the hedge, I heard her muttering something as she stitched something into a small square of fabric.
“Hello,” I called out.
Her head snapped up. The color drained from her face the instant she spotted me.
The oddest sensation overcame me as we made eye contact. Goosebumps erupted along my arms, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I said, “I don’t know if you remember me—”
She bolted to her feet before I could finish. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ll get out of your way.”
She turned to escape me, but I reached out and snatched her by the arm.
Wait a minute,” I pleaded. “I just wanted to ask you about what you said at the welcome party.”
Her eyes widened briefly. If I hadn’t been paying explicit attention, I would have missed how she quickly scanned our surroundings, as if she had expected someone to jump out of the flowers surrounding us.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she finally answered, straightening up. “I don’t even know you.”
I blinked.
She was lying. My angel didn’t like that.
In fact, there was somethingoffabout how he was responding to her, with begrudging respect, like he knew something I didn’t.
“You tried to warn me...” I tried to explain, but trailed off when she glared, her eyes narrowing on me.
“I don’t know who you are,” she repeated. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“You’re lying,” I hissed, taking a step towards her.
Her eyes flashed, the hazel darkening briefly before she shook her head slowly. “I’ve never met you before,” she stressed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
When she turned away this time, I let her disappear down a pathway.
Obviously, she was trying to hide what she’d done. I knew that I hadn’t hallucinated her warning. I hadn’t touched a drop of their food or drink that day, and even now, I only ate at night, when I knew I wouldn’t be around the fae for long. The others had done the same, but whatever they were feeding Aria and Reese at the beginner training grounds didn’t affect them like how regular food affected others.
I stood in the garden, staring after the woman.
There was something strangely familiar about her. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though. Her hair was platinum blonde, nearly white, and her features were oddly symmetrical, almost perfect. She had no beauty marks, but from her eyes alone, it was clear that she was older and had suffered something extraordinary.
I glanced down at the bench where she had been moments before. I frowned; there was the square piece of fabric she’d left in her haste to get away from me. The needle and thread were still stuck in it, even.
It took me only a few seconds to realize she’d been sewing something into a silk kerchief. When I picked it up to inspect it, my brows rose into my hairline.
Wings. She’d been stitching a pair of wings into the fabric.Blackwings.
My interest in her was infinitely piqued now. A sense of foreboding settled upon me as I stuffed the fabric into my pocket and turned back to the path.
