The lights flickered as we all scurried into the ‘safety’ of the gymnasium. The fae were right. It was probably the safest place on campus, but it almost felt as though we were trapping ourselves inside with no hope of an escape. There was just the one set of double doors, now blocked by a growing mound of gym equipment. There were no windows. No escape hatches. One way in, and only one way out.

The Head Instructor stood at the front of our worried huddled group, a sword dangling by her side. “Listen up. Now, I know you all are scared, but there’s no reason for worry or concern. Some Redcaps have been spotted on the grounds, but they won’t be able to get to you in here. All we have to do is sit tight until morning, and then we can go back to our regularly-scheduled classes.”

Griff stood from the back of the room, his hands curled into tight fists. “Shouldn’t we be out there fighting them instead of hiding in here like a bunch of cowards?”

“I agree.” A third-year girl with short dark hair moved to Griff’s side, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know the first-years are just starting to learn how to fight, but us third-years have been practicing for months.”

“Your safety is paramount,” Alwyn said. “No changeling will engage in fighting these creatures. Our team of guards is just outside this door. Even they won’t be going out into the storm to face these beasts.”

“This is ridiculous,” Griff said with a scowl. “First, we let the Autumn fae attack us and now this.”

The Head Instructor’s voice went chilly. “We have reason to believe the Autumn fae are the ones controlling these beasts. They’re using them to attack our Academy.”

Gasps rang out through the gathered changelings. I whirled toward Rourke, who didn’t look the least bit surprised. He gave me a nod and dropped his voice to a whisper. “I wondered as much. It’s not usual for the Redcaps to be so interested in our Academy. I thought something else might be at play here, and clearly Alwyn believes the same.”

A heavy thud sounded outside of the barred doors, and the room immediately fell into a tense and uneasy silence. The thudding continued down the hall until it sounded so close that it might as well have been coming from within the gymnasium.

Steel sang through the silence, and roars rose up in response. My heart began to hammer as all I could do was stand there and listen to the violent sounds of battle. I held my breath and backed up so that I was pressed tightly against Liam’s chest. I didn’t care if Alwyn saw. I didn’t care if she scolded the both of us until the ends of our days. I needed to feel his strength against me. I wanted to feel his warmth when every cell in my body felt brutally cold.

Screams and shouts and roars and whines sounded over and over and over again. There must have been at least five Redcaps outside the door, and it sounded as though our fae guards were no match for the brutality of the beasts. Liam curled his fingers around my arms, and his soft breath whispered against my neck. If I closed my eyes, I could disappear in his embrace and block out the horror of the night.

But I didn’t want to block it out. Our fae were out there dying. And we were in here doing nothing to stop it.

Slowly, timidly, I pulled away from Liam’s comforting embrace and strode to the front of the room where Alwyn was staring at the door with pure horror plastered on her usually stoic face.

“We should do something,” I said, clearing my throat so that everyone could hear me over the roar of the battle. “They’re dying out there.”

She turned her chin over her shoulder to frown back at me. “What do you expect to do, Norah? You’re incompetent. Your failed challenges have been evidence enough of that.”

I fisted my hands. “I’m actually not. I may not have had much formal training yet, but I have raw power. We all do. Not to mention the second and third years who have had some training. All of us together could easily fight these Redcaps.”

“Like you did in the dining hall?” She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. “I appreciate your willingness to help your fellow fae, Norah, but the safest place for all of you is in here.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I continued. I wasn’t going to give up that easily. “If the Redcaps kill all of our guards, then they’ll aim all their strength at that door. After seeing them in action, I don’t think it’ll hold them off for very long. They had the element of surprise in the dining hall. We know they’re here now, and we’ve got enough weapons to go around.”

“I agree with Norah,” Sophia said, striding up to stand by my side. For a moment, all I could do was stare at her in alarm. She hadn’t spoken to me since she’d told Redmond about Bree. A part of me wanted to hate her, but another part of me understood why she did what she did. In her eyes, all Redcaps were murderous creatures who had killed her friends. She didn’t know Bree was different. How could she?

“Same.” Griff joined us, along with Lila and several of the third-year students. Soon, the entire gymnasium had moved to stand beside me, along with my four instructors who looked torn between giving me a high-five and hiding me away in a corner somewhere.

Alwyn rolled her eyes and glanced at each of us in turn. “I shouldn’t go along with this, but something tells me I won’t be able to stop you even if I say no. Just...be smart. Don’t do anything stupid. And let us instructors take the lead.”

As the battle raged on outside, the changelings worked together to move the gym equipment away from the door as quickly as possible. When we’d finally moved the last barrier out of the way, Alwyn unlocked the door and threw it open.

The first thing I saw was blood, and the sight of it clogged up my throat. A fae guard’s body flew through the air and landed before us all with a heavy thud. We gasped and stumbled back, and a large mangy paw stepped into view. Liam threw himself in front of me as the Redcap slowly strode into the gym. It took one long sniff around the room before opening up its massive jaws and roaring in rage.

Everyone sprang into action. At least a dozen changelings and instructors launched themselves at the creature, swords and daggers swirling through the air. Many of the blades made contact, and soon enough, the creature had fallen to the floor. Those fierce beady eyes slid shut, and its last breath whooshed from its lungs.

We all stood staring at the creature. No one was certain what to do next.

“Is that it?” asked Griff.

His answer came soon enough. Four more beasts hurtled into the gymnasium, each one storming toward a different cluster of changelings. Everything turned to chaos in that moment. I no longer knew what was up and what was down. Instead, I lost myself in the dance of the fight.

Liam pressed a sword into my hand, and as soon as my finger curled around the hilt, it was as if the weapon became an extension of my hand. I whirled through the air, slicing the blade at the creature I fought. There were five of us on one. Me and my four males against the Redcap. Liam’s roar was as loud as the beast’s, and Rourke moved with a speed and grace that matched the most glorious of ballets.

My sword found its mark several times, and after what felt like hours, the beast finally fell.

I whirled on my feet to face the next. It rose up before me, its brilliant blue eyes catching onto mine.

Blue eyes. Not black or red, but blue.

My heart shook, and I stumbled back.

No. It couldn’t be. Bree would never do such a thing.

Alwyn’s words rang in my ears. The Autumn fae were using the Redcaps, controlling them as a way to launch violent attacks on the Academy. Somehow, they’d found my friend, and they’d sent her here to kill me.

She hesitated, the deafening roar in her throat dying away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Griff charging toward her. Before I could think, I jumped in the way, holding up my hands as his sword swung toward me.

“No!” I shouted. “Stop!”

His sword froze in mid-air, only inches from slicing right into my neck. Griff frowned, stumbling back, his eyes locked on Bree’s monstrous form behind me.

“Get out of the way, Norah,” he said, voice harsh and full of furious emotion. “That’s the last Redcap here. It needs to be killed.”

“No,” I said, more quietly now. “This isn’t a Redcap. It’s Bree, my oldest friend from home. She doesn’t deserve to die.”

Griff shook his head, letting out a harsh laugh as he gestured at the carnage in the hallway. “She helped kill all those guards, Norah. I get that you think she’s still the human girl you knew back home, but she isn’t. She’s a monster now, one who attacked us. Now, move out of the way.”

“No. She didn’t do this.” My heartbeat was so loud in my ears that I could barely hear my own voice. “The Autumn fae are controlling her, just like Alwyn said. She would never attack anyone. Not on her own.”

“You’re talking about a Redcap, Norah. A Redcap.”

With tears in my eyes, I turned my back on Griff to look up into my friend’s beastly face. Those eyes. They were so sad, so tortured. She was in there, somewhere deep inside the Redcap’s monstrous body. She didn’t want to be doing this, and I knew exactly how I could make this all okay.

“I’ve got a plant that can heal you, Bree,” I whispered to her, reaching up to press my shaking hands against her rough fur. “You don’t have to be like this anymore. Just...turn back into your real form so that they can see what you really are. Human.”

“Norah,” Kael said quietly as he inched up behind me. “I don’t think you’re going to get through to her, not when she’s like this.”

But I could only ignore him. “Bree? Come on, I know you can do it. I’ve seen you change back before. Remember?”

Tension filled the room as I faced off against the beast. We stood in the center of the gymnasium, her sorrow-filled eyes locked on my face. She shuddered underneath my hand, and for a moment, I thought I’d made her realize what she needed to do.

But then her body stiffened, and she jerked her head toward a distant sound that none of us could hear but her. And then she was off, charging down the hallway. Griff let out an exclamation of surprise. He rose his sword and took off behind her.

“No!” I screamed, but it was too late. More changelings joined him in the chase. At least a dozen of them took off to hunt down my friend.

With a heavy sigh, I fell to my knees and pressed my hands flat on the cold floor. Bree was in there somewhere. I knew it. Even after everything that had happened, I couldn’t give up on her. She’d certainly never given up on me. But I didn’t know how to get to her. Not when the Autumn fae were controlling her mind, and not when my fellow changelings were desperate to shove their swords into her throat.

There was nothing I could do now. As hard as I’d tried, I’d lost.