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Chapter Forty-Seven

KEIR

R ain's shadows were everywhere. They engulfed the Huntsman and pulled him away, but I knew it wouldn't kill him. The Wild Hunt was invulnerable. Maybe he'd be twice as gaunt next time, but there would be a next time. There always was.

Yet the moment the thing was gone, Torian turned for the girls' side. "Asp?" he begged.

"I promised not to come out!" she called back.

"It's over," Rain told her. "You're good!"

The words were barely out of her mouth before a gust of wind slammed into the building. Swirls of mist and paleness were wrapped in the tendrils of Rain's shadows, and all of it was going up, over the roof of the atrium, and away.

"They caught the storm," I said, turning to watch it. "They're gone. We need to check the other doors."

"I need to repair the wards!" Torian hissed, moving towards the glass again. "He cracked them. So they can get in!"

"What?" They shouldn't be able to do that. "How?"

"It's what they were made for," the kid almost growled.

But when he pressed his hand against the glass, nothing came out. Leaning in as if trying to push harder would give him more power, Torian tried again, but still nothing. Aspen hurried over to press her hand against his back .

"We got this," she breathed. Reaching back, Torian held an open hand towards her.

Aspen clasped it with both of hers, and then the glass turned milky.

Solid shapes appeared again, but Torian didn't move anything but his head.

Looking at first one, then the next, the boy repaired all the symbols.

The glow of his magic shifted from the palest green into a blinding white that was nearly impossible for my eyes to capture fully.

The color was so white, it was almost iridescent.

I found myself looking down at my hands just as the kid finished.

Rainbow. White. Winter magic with iridescence and a jevadu draining his own sister for power?

Was that why it was colored? Did my own family have some wildling ancestry? Was that why my magic was so fucked up?

"Torian Hunt!" Ms. Rhodes snapped, storming into the atrium. "That is the responsibility of the staff."

"And you were doing it wrong," he growled at her.

"Our protections have held this long," she reminded him.

But Rain said, "The Huntsman cracked the glass."

Even in a satin robe, Ms. Rhodes was a stunningly terrifying woman.

As beautiful as she looked, there was something about her that did not make "young" spring to mind.

It was the same unnamable thing that had always made me convinced she was unstoppable, but Rain's words proved that was not the case.

Ms. Rhodes' face paled, her eyes widened, and in the millisecond before she could control her expression, I saw pure fear in her eyes.

"You did good, Torian," she told him.

"The Wild magic weakens them," he explained. "But Rain can make the Hunt leave."

"I know." She clasped his shoulder. "You look drained. Go back to your room."

He immediately looked at Aspen. "I'm good."

"All of you," Ms. Rhodes said. "To whichever room you want. Because you helped with the Hunt, I'm waiving your curfew." Then she sighed. "We'll be canceling classes momentarily. Just be in a room when the staff comes around for a head count."

"Rain, grab his other side," Aspen ordered. "Tor, you need to sit down."

I stepped forward. "Let me help, Torian?"

"I'm fine ," the boy grumbled.

Rain and Aspen didn't seem to care. Each girl wrapped an arm around his waist, supporting him whether he liked it or not.

When Torian wrapped an arm around Rain's shoulders, Jack rattled and took off, but he didn't go far.

Surprisingly, the crow came straight for me, landing on my shoulder the way he usually did with Rain.

"Court!" he announced.

"Yeah, whatever," Torian said. "C'mon, Keir. Guess I'm outnumbered."

"Man, I haven't done shit to you," I told him - but I did follow.

Luckily, we didn't even make it to the stairwell before the emergency lights went out and the elevators reactivated. Aspen immediately pressed the call button, opening the doors, and the four of us piled on. At the top, we passed Torian's room, aiming for the third one down.

There, Torian pulled away to open the door without knocking. "I have Keir and the girls," he announced.

"We were watching," Wilder called from the opposite suite.

A moment later, both he and Hawke came in through the bathroom, the six of us swarming the open space of Hawke's room. Hawke didn't hesitate.

"Torian, sit," he said, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and driving him towards the bed. "Rain, you get the chair."

"Floor's good," she announced, lowering herself down by the wall, then leaning on it.

"Rain, court," Jack said, scanning the area.

"I got you, man," Hawke said, pulling out a practice stick.

He balanced that between two shelves in the corner, making a diagonal "perch" of sorts between them.

With a happy caw, Jack left me without a second thought, landing on the bar and only rocking slightly.

Once it settled into place, the bird fluffed his feathers, shifted his feet, and then squatted down like he was ready for a nap.

But there was one thing missing. "Rain?" I asked. "Where's your shadow?"

"Hunt," Jack mumbled.

"The Hunt took it?" she asked.

The bird shook his head. "Morrigan. Hunt-Shadow-Morrigan. Shadow-Rain. Court."

Hawke laughed once. "Wild guess here, but your shadow is part of your power, it chased off the Hunt because of that, but it will come back soon enough. You're supposed to stay here and hang with us?" He looked at the bird for confirmation.

"Court-Rain!" Jack agreed, nodding to prove it was either right, or at least close enough.

"Hey, Tor," I said. "How'd you know to shield the wards? "

"It's Torian," he countered.

I just lifted my hands, holding off his temper. "Sorry. Question still stands, though."

"I was trained on those wards," he explained. "It's also easier for one person to do an enchantment than three - or however many Ms. Rhodes uses. I can repair them, Keir, and that asshole was trying to drain them."

"Can I do that?" Rain asked.

"What?" Wilder gasped. "Why would you want to?"

"Not ours," she groaned. "In general."

"Probably," Torian said. "I'm not sure. We can try it later."

My brows jumped into my hairline. "Just ward something and let her break it?"

Torian shrugged. "Sure. My bathroom door works. If she wants out, she has to break the wards or knock and admit she failed."

Which made my eyes narrow. "Yeah, because it's gotta be a sink or swim thing with you, huh? Instead of just learning, someone succeeds or fails? No middle ground?"

"The world doesn't offer a middle ground," he shot back.

"Tor, you're wiped," Hawke said. "We'll get more pillows if you need them, but you're being a dick."

"Sorry," he said, everything about the kid softening when he looked at Hawke.

To me, that felt like a slap in the face.

No matter how hard I tried to help - even running into the atrium during a lockdown - Torian always acted like I was in the way.

I'd still helped hold the Hunt back. I'd stepped up and done something, but he wasn't even willing to give me a civil tone, let alone anything else.

"Look," I said, "I'll go so you can all rest, but - "

"No..." Rain broke in. "Keir!"

"I'm with her," Aspen assured me. "Stay, Keir."

"It's my room," Hawke said, "and I saw you down there. Torian didn't. He was staring at the Huntsman, so he didn't see you ready to shield his ass from that fucker."

"What?" Torian asked.

I just waved it away, because Hawke had just reminded me of something else. "What did he say to you, Torian?"

"He said," Rain replied, "that Torian wasn't on his list. Aspen was, and he knew she was there. He also keeps asking me to ride with him." She looked from person to person, her eyes landing on all of us in turn. "Does anyone know why?"

"The Huntsman recruits," Torian said, sounding truly exhausted. "He invites the strongest to ride with him, filling the ranks."

"They're invulnerable," I countered. "Means there are no spots to fill."

"There are always spots to fill," Torian said. "And with a list as long as 'every fae on Earth?' I'm pretty sure he wants more hunters."

"Do the others do that?" Rain pressed.

"Never heard of it," Torian admitted.

"They don't talk at all," I assured her. "But that's the thing. The Huntsman doesn't either."

"He talked the first time he saw me," she countered.

"He didn't until you," I said. "Now Torian. He also discussed Aspen; he didn't talk to her."

Wilder murmured thoughtfully. "Think the spell on them is weakening?"

"Hopefully," Torian said.

"Doubtful," Hawke added. "Wilder, it's the Wild-Fucking-Hunt. They've been around forever."

"Not this particular one," I reminded them. "They change with each monarch. Maybe this one's screwed up? I mean, the King of Winter is gone. The Queen of Summer is mad. Wouldn't the Hunt reflect it too?"

"Jack!"

Hawke just pointed at the bird. "His dad is the monarch they change with, I bet."

Jack nodded. "Hunt, Jack."

"Wait!" Aspen begged. "Jack, is your dad still alive?"

"Jack..." He ruffled his feathers.

"Pretty sure that's Jack saying he doesn't know," Rain told us, but the wall was now holding up her head.

"You're wiped too," I realized.

"I'm fine," she insisted, but I felt the edge of her near-lie.

Which made Torian laugh. "I shoved enough power into you to make a mountain walk. What the hell did you do, anyway?"

Her eyes closed in a blink that didn't seem to want to end. "I woke up the night. I mean, nighttime is just a really big shadow of the Earth, right? So I figured - "

"Fuck me," Wilder breathed, cutting her off. "The whole night?"

"As much as I could," she said, wrenching her eyes open.

Aspen just tapped Rain's foot with her own. "Baby, you need to sleep. Tor's going to want to run over this about a million more times. Since Ms. Rhodes said any room, I bet Keir would share a bed."

"She can have mine," I agreed. "The other suite is open."

"Yeah, don't use it," Wilder said. "You know you wouldn't rest."

"And I bet Rain's a really cute thing to cuddle with," Hawke added, giving me a very not-so-subtle wink.

"I can go home," Rain suggested.

"I'll walk you," I offered.

"Oh, yes!" Aspen agreed. "Throw him in your bed!"

"Bad idea," Torian told his sister.

"Hush," she told him. "It's a great one, and I happen to like Keir. I'm also dying to see what he sleeps in."

"Alone?" I said. "My underwear. With a friend, I have pants."

So Aspen leaned in to Rain. "I bet he has those sexy ones that do the sexy thing." She grinned. "Let me know which type count as sexy, ok?"

"Aspen!" Rain moaned.

"Bed," she told her girlfriend. "Rain, go sleep with someone to remind you that you're not alone."

"I'm supposed to do that for you," Rain reminded her.

"And I'm going to do that for my brother.

Hawke's going to curl up with Wilder. We're short a bed in here, we're all wiped, and Keir's room is about as far away as Torian's or yours.

" Aspen looked at her for a long moment, but something about the way the girls were watching each other convinced me to keep my mouth shut.

"Please? I worry about you, but if you're just down the hall, I know you're close. "

"And they want me out of the room," I added.

"Not true," Hawke said. "I want to go back to sleep. The teacher will be around in just a minute, and then I'm going to sleep until noon, just because I can."

"Classes are canceled," Aspen assured him, "so you actually can."

"Classes are always canceled after the Hunt," Hawke reminded her.

"Middle of the night," Torian pointed out. "Most people slept through this one."

"But not the head count," I said. "But yeah. I'm wiped. Gonna get some sleep. Rain, you're welcome to the bed. I can crash on the floor."

"Bed too," Hawke said. "I have a feeling that'll entice her better."

"And that's one skill I don't have," I reminded him. "I also understand a kiss is not the same as permission. Let her make up her own mind. "

But the girls were sharing a look again. Rain smiled, Aspen nodded quickly, then tilted her head my way.

"Ok!" Rain relented. "But you're not going to freak out about the Hunt again, right?"

"I didn't see him," Aspen assured her. "I barely even heard him, and I'm fine.

There was a wall between us and you were there.

Rain, that's the thing. I'm ok because you were there, making sure my idiot of a brother was too.

I feel..." She bit her lips together. "Confused, relieved, and both tired and wide awake.

The kind of thing where closing my eyes means I'm going to pass out almost immediately.

I also trust Keir. I'm not pawning you off.

I'm giving you permission, because I bet Torian would be happy to fit all three of us in his bed. "

"Makes it weird with you there too, Asp," he joked.

And that was what made Rain pull her feet up and shift. "And Torian just convinced me," she said.

But before she could stand, I offered a hand. "I can be a gentleman, you know."

"Yeah, fuck that," she said. "Just make sure I don't run into a wall?"

"I will do my best," I assured her.

Then she bent to give Aspen a quick kiss. "I will never let him take you from me, ok? Remember that, and hopefully no nightmares."

Aspen cupped Rain's face, leaning in for another kiss. "And Keir had your back. Then and now. He always does, Rain, so the least he deserves is half the bed."

"Kinda planned on it." Then the girl turned and grabbed my arm, using it to pull herself towards me. "Lead on, my good knight."

This time, I actually felt like I deserved the title. I also liked that Aspen had noticed. Most of all, I liked that we were all ok after that mess. The Hunt had once again left empty-handed. I hoped Rain and I could keep it that way.