"Would you like to try some snacks?" I offer Samson as he sits up in my bed, he hasn't spoken a word in minutes since he woke up. He just stares at me. "Food?"

He nods.

"Were you told not to speak to humans?" I say.

He nods again.

That's why he spoke earlier because Blake was with me, and asked most of the questions. He's that terrified of his owner that he won't break his orders. It's the cruellest form of suggestion control. I grab a biscuit tin from the shelf and I take it over to him, he peers in with curiosity. His hand trembles as he picks up a ginger biscuit, he smells it first and then takes a nibble around the edge. He's like a mouse with a tiny block of cheese. I fall back in the chair, my heart breaking just by watching him.

"Your name is Samson," I say. "That's what your parents called you and what they would have called you at the nannery. Is that familiar?"

He looks at me and then nods his head.

"Okay," I say. "That's good. Samson, you can talk to me. I promise he isn't going to hurt you ever again."

He lowers the biscuit and he's just about to speak but his eyes go over my head and he suddenly cowers in fear, trying to escape along the covers. I look at Cain, he enters carrying the blade. The silver edge rests against his side.

"Put that away!" I say. "You're scaring him."

"Oh." Cain hides the blade behind his back. "I didn't mean to."

I look back to Samson. "That blade is not going to kill you. He's just got to make a small cut along your palm, okay?"

Samson shakes his head. "Please."

"Cain, give me the blade," I say.

"Why?"

"To show him. Get the medical kit."

Cain brings the medical kit over and places it at the bottom of the bed, he opens it and extracts some bandage rolls. I take the blade from him, holding my palm out. I stare up at him suddenly.

"This won't do anything to me, will it?"

"No," Cain says. "We have to hold it. It's more complicated than that."

Samson stares at my hand and I drag the blade along my palm. I wince for a moment, clenching on my teeth as the blood starts leaking down my arm. Cain gently moves a wipe up my wrist and then tightens one of the bandages around the wound.

"See?" I say. "It's over in a few seconds. It will make you strong again."

Samson is still unsure, he keeps his eyes on Cain as he takes back the blade and walks around the bed. Cain is very patient, he doesn't force him or become irritated. He waits for Samson to go to him.

"I don't think the palm will be big enough," Cain says. "A lot of his soul was taken. I might need to make the transfer through his arm."

"Don't talk to me," I say. "Talk to him."

Cain smiles at me from across the room. He drops his eyes to the boy that is edging closer and closer to the edge of the bed. "Is that okay? I need your arm."

Samson places his arm out and Cain gently twists it so that his inner arm is facing upwards. He doesn't even flinch when Cain makes the cut, he sits so still that I wonder if Cain is even doing it. Is he used to that much pain that this is nothing to him?

Cain places the blade into his jacket pocket and then rolls the bandage around the boy's arm. Samson is very quiet, he's probably adjusting to the sensations of having his energy returned to him. Cain has a strange expression on his face as he tightens the bandage. When he's done he places his fingers into Samson's throat, as though he's checking for a heartbeat. He looks startled, his eyes widen with amazement.

"Aurora," Cain says. "Have you been touching him?"

"Yes. Why?"

"How long for?"

"I held his hand for a couple of hours while he was asleep. I just wanted him to know that he wasn't alone."

"This is impossible," he mutters, crashing to his knees. I stand up and walk around to them, Cain keeps his hand against Samson's cheek. "Take his hand again."

I sit beside Samson and I ask for his permission first. He nods. I hold his hand and Cain stares into Samson's eyes. Cain looks on in wonder, finally staring at me with adoration.

"His soul is getting purer," Cain says. "It shouldn't be possible. When it was split it was depressed but now it's getting stronger. Given his injuries and his trauma, his soul should be anything but this."

"I don't understand," I say.

"Your touch is giving him energy."

"How? I'm not doing anything."

"A part of me is inside of you too," he says. "Just like you changed me, I am changing you. But this isn't an ability of mine, I cannot force souls to become purer. I take energy but you are giving it, it is my ability but backwards." Cain steps back and looks down at the boy. I remove my hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Samson says. "Much better. Thank you, both of you."

"Your owner is dead," Cain says. "To be blunt, he is spending the rest of eternity in a volcano. I hope that will bring you some closure."

Samson nods. "It does."

"Your friends are at peace now," he says. "I have taken his souls and I build worlds for them. All eleven of them are together, it is your choice if you would like to join them."

I shoot him a warning glance. "Cain, not now." Out of all the human traits he has acquired, sensitive timing still isn't one of them.

"Join them?" Samson says.

Cain looks at me. "Would you rather we lie to him?"

"I'd rather Blake checks him over first," I say. "To be sure."

"Very well. We have to go anyway. The world leaders will be arriving. Come, we will take you to your new room."

We leave the room. Samson has no problem walking. He looks so different to earlier. He's still pale, probably from lack of sunlight, but he doesn't look as sickly. His eyes are more alert, his walk is more confident. I know I gave him energy but it's like it's also erased all of his fear too. I'm not surprised that Cain has already had a room set up for him. Samson isn't owned, nor is he a slave. He's just a visitor. We don't know how long he has left or if his next seizure will be fatal. We can only make him comfortable.

"Blake will come get you later to take you to a breeding centre for an MRI scan," Cain says. "In the meantime, Natalie and Jackson will wait with you. They are friendly."

Cain opens a door on the floor below mine, two of Cain's guards remain outside of it. They move aside instantly to let us pass. The room is spacious with a black carpet and multiple furniture. Natalie and Jackson are waiting on a set of beanbags, they gaze up from the floor and then rise.

"This is Samson," Cain says. "He'll be staying with us. Please make him feel welcome."

"We will," Natalie says. "Christian is already preparing him some food."

"Excellent," Cain says.

"What if he has a seizure?" I whisper to Cain.

"Blake has already coached them on what to do," he says. "If the seizure becomes life-threatening then the guards outside have consumed doctors."

"You thought of everything," I mutter.

Samson walks over to the window at the other side of the room. He stands in front of the sunlight and takes a deep breath. I can't imagine what's going through his head right now. This morning he was chained, he was broken, and now he is free.

"Take care of him, okay?" I say to them. "He's been through a lot."

They nod. Cain and I leave the room. I've been so invested in Samson and making sure that he's alright that I haven't had time to dwell on what Cain is about to force me to do. Blake already called me the Queen earlier to many witnesses so we have to do it now before the rumours start to spread.

He takes my hand as we walk, our fingers entwine tightly. Each hallway seems longer than the last and there's hardly any guards. I imagine they've all been positioned at the throne room, which is where he is taking me. I start to tremble as we near it.

"Hey," Cain says, stopping us outside the door. He places his hands on my face and leans down to meet my eyes. "You do not have to fear anything when you are by my side. Understand?"

"Are you sure about this?" I say. "Once it's out there then there's no going back."

"I don't want to go back," he says. "I want to go forward. If you are having doubts then tell me now and I'll call the whole thing off. But I am committed to this."

I take a deep breath and I press my fingers into his shoulders, our foreheads softly press into each other. "Do you promise that we can leave if it becomes too much?"

"Just give me a sign and we're out of there."

"Okay. I think the sign will be all over my face."

He smiles. "Are you ready?"

"No," I say, grabbing his hand again.

He laughs and opens the door. "Me neither."

The throne room isn't empty this time, it's full of them. Dozens and dozens of red eyes stare up at us as we take our places on the chairs above them. I rest my shaking hands on my lap. Blake walks out from the shadows and positions himself right next to me. He keeps his gaze on the crowd, moving his head occasionally to tell a guard to change position.

"My apologies for keeping you all waiting," Cain says. "Something important came up."

I spot Axel at the back, not at the front this time. He is sitting down on a chair with a look of boredom. I guess he's the only one that doesn't care what this is about, he has already been offered his deal and he wouldn't jeopardize that. The others, however, are glaring at me with a mixture of frustration and hunger. The all-male council take up the front row while the other world leaders scatter around the hall. They all know that I'm completed, that's one rumour that Cain couldn't stop. Towards the far-right wall, there is a black sheet covering something. Many of them keep looking at it.

"I have gathered you all today for an announcement," Cain says. "For the first time in three hundred years, I have chosen a Queen."

Many of them gasp, their eyes scrolling around the stage trying to find the Queen he is referring to. This is so awkward that I want to laugh. Blake takes a step forwards so that he's slightly in front of my chair.

"She is right here," Cain says. "Sitting next to me."

"A human?" a council member shouts. I remember him as Demetri.

"Yes," Cain says. "A human."

They break out into concerned whispers, keeping their attention on me as they raise their eyebrows in disbelief.

"Aurora is your Queen and I order you to respect that."

"You cannot order our respect," Demetri says. "This is outrageous. First, two humans a month and now this?"

"I understand that it isn't. . . natural. But what about our existence is? I am not asking that you accept it because I know that you won't, but from this day on you will follow her orders just as closely as you follow mine whether you accept it or not."

"We are to take orders from her?" a creature demands. "This is insanity!"

The whispers turn to protests very quickly. Cain becomes angry and clicks his fingers towards a guard at the wall. The guard moves towards the black sheet and removes it. The entire hall falls silent. I widen my eyes at the sight of the guard from earlier, the one who smacked me in the courtyard. He squirms against the wall, his limbs pinned to it with blades through his wrists, stomach and legs, while his throat is chained by a tight collar that forces his head up. He doesn't look in pain but the position must be extremely uncomfortable.

"This guard attacked the Queen earlier today," Cain says. "He is to serve seven days impaled to the wall. The only reason I spared his life is because he didn't know. But now you all know. And I can assure you he will never touch her again."

The crowd remains silent but a confident voice breaks through it.

"Is that what you did to Dominic before you took his life?" A female creature with curly, dark hair and mixed-race skin walks through the crowd, keeping her glare on Cain. Her human disguise is beautiful, I can only imagine that the person she stole it from was a model. "Without even letting him say goodbye to his companion?"

"Dominic broke the law, Thea."

"No." She shakes her head. "He wouldn't. He was loyal to you for centuries."

"He stole Aurora for feeding," Cain says. "There are witnesses."

"Witnesses that are so terrified of you that they'd say anything." She looks across the line of guards below us for a moment. "What did you do to him? Is he in pain?"

"He is suffering to the same extent that the Queen suffered."

"Stop calling her that," Thea hisses. "You are insulting us by calling her that. She will never be Saffron."

"You dare to speak her name in my presence?" Cain says angrily. "You only seem to have this bravery when there are dozens of witnesses beside you, just like the rest of them." Cain glares down at the council members. "I know how badly you want me removed from the throne but unless you actually do something about it then I will continue to sit here. I will continue to make the laws and you will follow them. I am the reason that you are even on this planet so you all owe me."

"This isn't right," Demetri says. "And I don't know what the hell you've done to Axel but that isn't right either."

Axel remains relaxed in his chair as they all turn to look at him. He shrugs at them and glances away.

"We will not accept this and we will not tolerate a human Queen. Humans are our food. She." Demetri stares at me. "Is food. Prepare yourself for the consequences because we will be bringing an army here."

Thea straightens at the mention of an army, her lips twisting into an excited smile.

Cain relaxes back into his chair. "Do your worst. I believe Axel commands the outside armies. Don't you, Axel?"

"Yes," Axel says.

"Will they fight for Demetri?"

"No."

Demetri glares at Axel. "What is wrong with you!"

"Me? Nothing's wrong with me." Axel chuckles and admires his fingers. "You know we could never match his guards. And I don't wish to die."

"We don't need a trained army," Demetri says. "If enough of our kind learn about this then we will bring millions to your door."

Cain laughs. "Millions? You are underestimating their fear of me." He looks across to Blake and they exchange amused grins.

"There are many that are not afraid," Thea says.

Cain takes the blade out and holds it vertical above the armrest. The entire line of creatures at the front jump backwards, knocking into the groups behind them, including Thea.

"On your knees, leaders."

They all drop. Like the last few minutes didn't even happen. Thea keeps her head down, her lips snarling to herself. I honestly believe that they could bring millions to the palace and Cain still wouldn't care. He won't retract anything and he won't try and convince them of his reasoning, he just demands that they fall in line and they do.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add, Demetri?" Cain says.

Demetri shakes his head.

"I didn't think so. Thea?"

She scowls but shakes her head.

"Funny that," Cain chuckles. "Aurora is my equal and you are to treat her as my equal. If her life becomes a target in any way because of our conflict then I will kill you with or without witnesses. I probably don't need to remind you of the worlds I can create. You cannot feel pain in these physical bodies but you will certainly feel pain without them." He considers something for a moment as he looks over them but he eventually sighs and leans back. "You are dismissed."

Thea moves first. She turns and charges through them, ordering them to get out of her way as she makes a quick escape. In a strange way, I do actually feel bad for her. It wasn't her fault that Dominic tried to kill me and she never got to hear his side of it before he died. I can understand her anger.

Cain waits until they have all left before he turns and looks at me. "You survived. Well done."

I grin at him. "That was intense."

"Follow them," Cain orders at the guards. "Make sure they leave the kingdom. Increase the security."

"Do you want me to join them?" Blake asks.

"No, I want you to take the boy for his MRI scan," Cain says. "Be careful out there."

"I will be."

When we're alone, Cain flicks his fingers at me and I walk over to him, dropping down onto his lap. My arm stretches around the back of his shoulders and I bury my head into his. The gruntled sound of the pinned creature against the wall makes the moment less appealing and I twist my head with discomfort.

"Are you really going to keep him like that for seven days?"

"Yes. At least it'll give his humans a break from him."

"True."

"Sometimes watching them like this is more satisfying than killing them," he says. He notices my cringed gaze and laughs. "For me anyway."

"That's because you're psychotic," I whisper, removing myself from his lap. He narrows his eyes at our distance. I put my hand out and he takes it with an amused expression as I pull him to his feet. "Let's go to your office. I want to discuss my idea with you."

"Just the idea?" he says as he gently brushes my cheek.

My cheeks flush with heat. I can't hide my smile as I take his hand and lead him away. "Maybe."