Free Banished by Liz de Jager

sure about shoes, but we’ll
find something.’ I look at his riding boots and at the torn trousers he’s wearing and am relieved that I have several boy cousins and uncles whose wardrobes we can raid.
‘Let’s have a look at the cut on your arm first. The bathroom is through here.’
    Thorn takes a seat on the side of the bath and shrugs out of the button-up shirt. There’s definitely been some bleeding but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. The cut looks
surprisingly good, with the edges starting to knit together, and my stitches look clean and neat. There’s bruising too, along his ribs, but the bruises look a few days old already, not fresh,
as if they had happened a few hours ago.
    I look away to find those blue eyes watching me closely. I’ve seen boys look at Megan like that in the past but personally I’ve never had to deal with anything this intense. And to
be honest, I’m not entirely sure I dislike it.
    I clear my throat, lean back and attempt to ignore my suddenly pounding heart.
    ‘It looks okay,’ I say lamely. ‘How fast exactly do you heal?’
    ‘Here, a few hours, maybe a day at the longest. By tomorrow morning the cut will be a pink scar. In the Otherwhere it’s faster, depending how close I am to the songlines.’
    I’d only read about the Fae’s ability to heal rapidly. It is what gives credence to rumours of their immortality. I am also charmed by him using the term ‘songlines’.
It’s another word for the earth’s energy, the ‘leylines’ that criss-cross the world.
    ‘You can definitely die, then?’
    His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. ‘Why, are you planning something?’ When he sees the shock on my face his lips curve into a smile. ‘Sorry, that was a stupid joke. But, yes,
if the damage done to our physical bodies is severe enough, we can die.’
    Now that’s really interesting. The magic and energy from the songlines in the Otherwhere must be linked to the Fae’s longevity. I wonder what would happen if I ever visited there,
how my magic would react. Would my lifespan become longer? Would I become tougher to hurt and kill?
    ‘We have some books in the library at the Citadel that will help explain it,’ Thorn says, watching me with curiosity. ‘It’s clearly something that interests
you.’
    I smile. ‘I promise to look after the books,’ I say. ‘I won’t even drop them in the swimming pool or anything.’
    He senses that it’s a joke and grins at me, standing up. ‘Well, that’s good. They are very old books and the librarian is very fierce.’
    For a second the awkwardness kills me as he’s very close, but then I remember why he’s here in Marc’s en-suite. ‘Shower is right there, clean towels, soaps. If you need
anything, just shout.’
    He gives me a grateful smile and I click the bathroom door shut behind me. For the briefest second I lean against the door, listening to him moving around behind it.
    What have I let myself in for? This is going to be big. I can feel it in my bones. The banshee’s words come back to me, the smug way he spoke of darkness and not being able to cope with
what’s coming my way. I almost regret not hurting him more.

Chapter Nine
    My shower takes longer than I would have liked. I felt tired and had trouble getting redcap blood from underneath my nails and resorted to using a spare toothbrush to clean
them. Soon enough I find myself in Kyle’s room, dressed in jeans, a clean T-shirt, hiking boots and my spare hoodie. The place is as immaculate as a dormitory. The bed is made with hospital
corners and looks pristine. An old large floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, triple stacked with well-thumbed paperbacks, is propped up against the one wall. It contains everything from spy novels,
political journals to heavy computer coding to contemporary literary fiction. There are also books in Latin and a scroll that looks very fragile, and I wonder if he had to fill in forms to get
permission to take it out of the