Page 88 of When the Woods Go Silent

Kier takes a step toward me, then seems to change his mind, pivoting and pacing my room as he mutters under his breath. I can’t make out any of the words, and it’s making me nervous as hell.

“I would know, right?” I blurt, suddenly not so sure. I’ve read plenty of books where the main character suddenly discovers her magical powers and goes forth to save the kingdom after a funtraining montage. I just never figured I’d be the star of one of them.

Because they’re notfucking real, I want to scream. Not to mention, I’d be the worst kingdom-saver ever.

“No. Magic can be hidden, even from the one who wields it.”

I let my head fall back and bang against the wall. Just great. “Is there a - I don’t know - a test or something?”

He laughs hollowly. “There is. You failed it.”

“What?” I freeze for a second, uncertain what emotion is bubbling up inside of me. Am I disappointed that I failed a test I didn’t know I was taking? No. Nope. That’s definitely anger.

“What test, Kier?” I hiss.

He has the decency to at least look a little ashamed. “I... I had your blood tested. By the court doctor. He’s spent plenty of time on Earth. He knows humans well.”

He’s babbling, but I’m fucking fuming. “Where did you get my goddamn blood, Kier?” His name is suddenly like a curse in my mouth, but he meets my eyes.

“I’ve been looking for the changeling for three years, Rose. My family has been searching even longer than that. You have no idea the lengths any of us would go to find her.”

“Where?” I practically growl, jumping up from the bed. I feel like screaming at him, but I can’t risk waking up Ruby and bringing her in here. Not with all this magical vine bullshit going on. My whole room is green, for fuck’s sake.

“After I brought you here, to your bed, after sleepwalking. I needed to know why the dreamwalker would be hunting you, so I sliced your thumb and brought the sample to Aralia. You never felt a thing.”

“Well, I fucking feel it now,” I snap, glaring at him. “You had no right.” But even now, the anger’s fading as I realize there are a hell of a lot of words in his sentence that I need moreinformation about. “What is a dreamwalker, and why is one hunting me?”

“Dreamwalking is a rare magic. Very rare. And illegal, frankly. When I scented the remnants of the magic several nights ago, I began tracking it. That led me to you. Meeting you was no accident, Rose, as much as I’ve enjoyed it.”

I flop back against my pillow, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. He’s been playing me this whole damn time. Does he even like me at all?

“Do you even read?” I cry, and he chuckles.

“I do, actually. That book was very informative. However, I still don’t know the reason you were targeted.”

“And what’s a changeling, really? I know the legends. Human babies swapped with fairy babies and all that.”

“It’s been outlawed for centuries, although it was often risked to escape my mother when she ruled.”

“Oh my god. Can you stop with the crazy truth bombs? What did your mother rule? Are you like a prince or something?” I press my palms over my eyes, wishing this were all a dream. Why is this happening to me, and not to Ruby? She should be the one getting her world rocked, not me.

If there are fae princes in the world, she deserves to be the one talking to them.

“My mother was Queen of Aralia, the fae land in Haret, for a very long time. She was killed by another Queen, and now my brothers and I split the rule between us.”

“I’m going to have a few more thousand questions, but I don’t think I can take any more now,” I grumble, peeking through my fingers to look at him.

“I understand it’s a lot, and that’s why we so rarely tell humans anything. But... I did think you might be a little intrigued, at least. Don’t you want to see some of the beautiful parts?” he asks softly, holding out his hand as a familiar whiteflower forms in his palm. It’s the twin to the lotus-like bloom I found on my nightstand.

I stare at the bloom for a moment, my brain split down the middle between curiosity and “killed the cat.”

“Okay,” I say finally, taking a deep breath and commanding myself to be brave. “Show me some magic. But only beautiful things.”

Kier’s smile lights up his face, and despite the roar of chaos in my mind right now, I can’t help but match his grin, feeling a flutter in my chest. I stand slowly, and he grasps my hand, pulling me close to his chest.

“I don’t have wings or the magic to fly, but how do you feel about vines?” he asks, as a sweet-sharp scent of blossoms and growing things washes over me.

I suck in a gasp as several thicker green vines snake over the windowsill, knotting together into a rope and weaving themselves into something that looks very much like a fucking seat built to swing me across open air. I peek out the window and see the braided vines trailing away into the treetops.

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