Kaye slipped away from the festivities as soon as she could. She grabbed her ruined dress from the cot and was pulling it over her head when the door flap opened. She tugged it down quickly, gasping as the fabric scraped over her injured wings.

"Scared you, did they?"

She turned at Gabe's voice, her arms wrapped around her chest. "I'm not Faye. I’m Aledan."

"But also Faye. I did not think any Faye would be stupid enough to come here."

"I didn't know. I was just trying to get away from the Obsidians." She hugged her arms closer and looked at the hearth fire. She had really gotten herself into trouble. "I have to leave," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "Tonight."

"And go where?"

"Home."

He shook his head and laughed silently. "How will you get there? Climb the mountain again?"

Kaye’s fingers were raw and her muscles sore from the last trip, but she couldn't stay here to be enslaved when someone other than the Breens found her secret out.

"You are not the first Faye-girl the Aledans have run out." Gabe said.

Kaye exhaled. "They didn't run me out. I was supposed to be their priestess."

He nodded. "That's what the last girl said, too."

The last girl? Kaye sat heavily on the cot, head spinning. She wasn’t the first Faye priestess to leave Fie Eoin? That would explain why she was so much younger than all the other priestess-apprentices. She was the replacement for the last one.

She put her head in her hands as her breath quickened, fighting off tears as the High Priestess’ betrayal stung fresh. What if they had already chosen another girl to train? Everyone said Kaye was chosen for her wings—what if that was all she had? What if she had no talent as a priestess, and now she had no wings, either? They wouldn't let her come back.

A heavy, warm hand touched her shoulder. "Kaye."

"Yes?" She looked up at Gabe.

"That was her name." A faraway look invaded his eyes, as if he finally let in the image that he didn't want to remember. "Kaye Conal."

The other girl was a Conal? The High Priestess had chosen her own family to be the next priestess before Kaye? That wasn't allowed. No wonder the other Kaye left.

"What happened to her?" Kaye asked.

"She returned to Fie Eoin." Gabe pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. "A man named Fennec retrieved her and I never saw her again."

Kaye was reeling. Her father had retrieved the other Kaye? "There is no other Kaye in Fie Eoin," she whispered. What would happen if she went home? Would she disappear also? The Conal name hadn't saved the last girl, and there were no Odions left to save Kaye, except her sister.

"I don't know what to do," she said. "I can't stay here—it's too dangerous."

"They cannot take off wings that are already gone," Gabe said. "You will be safe for now. Wear your cloak and tell no one what you are."

"Not even Timin?"

"No." Gabe shook his head. "My son does not believe in the Faye. I would like to keep it that way."

"And if someone discovers?"

He shrugged. "They fear the Faye. Their shock and terror will give you a chance to run."

It wasn't a very good option. There was no good option. She could go home and face whatever had made the last Kaye disappear, or she could hide here and hope no one found her secret. Going to Fie Obsid was out of the question, and she was willing to bet any tribes to the south would be no safer for a Faye.

"I need fresh air." She stood as Gabe stepped aside. As she passed him, she paused. "Where are you from that you don't fear the Faye?"

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I never said I do not fear them, but I will not attack a girl who clearly cannot harm me."

That wasn’t promising. Kaye left quickly and ducked into the shadows behind the hut to think.