Page 94 of When the Woods Go Silent

At the single-floor hospital, I stride right past the human at the desk, completely invisible to her behind my fae glamor. It doesn’t take long to locate the narrow records room they keep, stuffed full of beige file cabinets and pair of humming computers that are pass-coded.

I check the drawers first, finding only a thin file folder with Rose’s name on it. She hasn’t been back to this hospital since she was an infant, according to the record. But the procedure she was recommended to have...

My heart pounds and I nearly drop the folder as I realize how close I am to solving this mystery.

When Rose was three months old, she was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. This hospital was too small to do the treatment, and they sent her to a larger city. But the recommended treatment described here in the doctor’s notes is a complete blood transfusion from a compatible donor.

If that is indeed what happened...

The paper crumples in my fingers as the possibilities open before me like storm clouds parting to reveal the sun. Young Allegra Rose McKinley is walking around Clearwater right now without even a drop of her own blood in her veins. The tests Marcel did have no relevance any longer, and whatever blood was removed, might have been proof of Rose’s real identity as a changeling. It could be a coincidence, of course.

Or it could be the bit of luck we’ve been due for a very long time now.

Whatever magic Rose had as an infant would have been hidden easily if her blood was replaced - it wouldn’t be gone. Magic runs deeper than blood. But it would be severely stunted, and certainly easy enough to hide from my mother’s trackers.

Of course, this means I have dozens more questions to answer. Someone skilled did this operation, if Rose began life as a fae. Someone who knew enough about magic to ensure the transfusion wouldn’t kill her. And although she would still have access to magic, she would be weak. Untrained. Certainly not the weapon we need.

I curse my dead mother again, as I do every day. Even from the grave, she makes our lives dangerous.

If there’s an afterlife like humans believe, she’s there watching our struggles with a smile, no matter what torture she might be under.

I fold the paper into my pocket and leave the hospital. There’s no reason to go to the other medical center - it’s time for me to confront Rose herself. I want to know why Kier has become so interested in her, even though Marcel told him she likely isn’t the changeling.

What is it about this human that keeps my brother hanging around, suspecting otherwise?

The bookshop is empty when I arrive, and the sign on the door tells me they haven’t opened yet. I’m too early. But I see someone bent down behind the counter, and when she stands, I recognize her curves and flame-red hair.

I knock on the door, and she startles, her mouth popping open in a small circle as she sees me through the glass.

She points to her bare wrist, but I glare and knock again. I can hear her huff all the way out here, but she walks toward the door, unlocking it anyway.

The second she opens it a crack, I wedge my foot into the space.

“We’re not open for another hour,” she says, scowling down at my foot. I bend a knee and widen the gap between the door and its frame.

“I’m not here for a book, Rose,” I say, and she sucks in a breath at her name, her gaze darting behind her at the empty shop. When she looks back at me, her eyes travel a little slower, taking in my appearance. Fae, even glamored to look human, are always more noticeable than even the best of their kind. We’re taller, more beautiful. More exotic, in ways their human features never are.

Her eyes widen, although her mouth forms a firm, angry line.

“Do I know you?”

“My name is Ronan. My brother-”

“Kier.” Her voice is flat now, and her eyebrows lower into a glare. I can’t help but smirk, pleased that Kier has already earned her annoyance. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Not even about this?” I pull out the folded paper and hold it up, sliding my way straight into the shop while she’s distracted by it. The force she’d been putting against the door slams it shut behind me, and she gasps a little at my trick. I can almost hear her brain toeing the line between anger and fear, wondering if she can get to the apartment upstairs before me.

I smile at her. She can’t.

Instead, I walk a few steps farther into the shop and lean against the counter, spreading the paper out onto the gleaming wood. “Explain this, and I’ll leave.”

Rose snatches it, her eyes widening even more as she understands what she’s reading. “Where the fuck did you get this? Are you two, like, stalking me now?” The paper crumples in her trembling fingers.

“What has Kier told you?” I ask, the question feeling dangerous between us.

“Enough. Enough that I want your kind far, far away from this store, from me. And from Ruby.”

I don’t know who Ruby is, but I can’t get past the words “your kind.”

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