Ezra didn't look at me. He kept his eyes aimed straight as he carried me down the hallway. We didn't go far. Once we reached his bedroom door, he stopped and shifted me in his hold so he could open it.

Walking in, he headed straight for the bed and gently lowered my stiff body onto it. His own body was stiff too, with anger. It showed in his movements and features and was as strong as it was when he barged into the other room earlier, worse even.

Once he had placed me down, he backed away.

I slowly released a sigh of relief. Part of me feared that he would have escalated the already horrible situation I was experiencing by preying on me like his friends.

After all, I never thought Cassius would touch me inappropriately and it turned out I was wrong about that. Who knew what else I was wrong about?

He paced at the foot of the bed. Every so often he would run his fingers through his hair, pulling the soft, chocolate curls back. His lean body flexed with his movements. The muscles in his body that could be seen moving under his well-fitted clothing were taut with stress. His stride was long and steady. He continued back and forth, seemingly trying to shake off the anger that lit up his eyes with his pace. Once he had paced for a few moments, he seemed to have calmed down somewhat, enough to get his hands to stop shaking. Coming to a stop, he turned to face me.

His eyes scanned over me closely. It was like I could feel them caressing my skin that had gone clammy with shock. I could still see hints of strain in the occasional twitch of a muscle in his expression, showing just how outraged he was at the situation he walked in on.

Was he angry at me? Did he think that I cheated on him, betrayed him? Did he blame me? His strong reaction had terrified me and my thoughts only worked to make my fear grow greater.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them like the action could protect me from anything he could throw my way.

Ezra's lips flattened and his fingers curled into fists. "What do you need?" he asked after a moment of contemplation.

I looked up at him through my lashes, once again surprised by the words that left his lips. Maybe I'd make it one day to a day where kind, considerate words did not shock me.

What did I want?

To be left alone.

I just wanted a moment without fear, a moment where I could just exist and breathe.

No fear. No pain. No one else.

Just me.

A moment where I could forget.

But I couldn't tell him that.

He didn't want to hear anything that I actually wanted. No, he wanted to hear an answer that he could help with to make himself feel better.

So I gave him an answer that would help us both.

"Water." I grimaced. My voice was thick from holding back tears. I hadn't noticed the pressure behind my eyes or the slight burn in the back of my throat until now.

He nodded his head a few times as he once more ran his hand through his hair. For a moment he seemed lost. He was not ready for an answer to his question. He glanced around the room seeming to search for the next step he needed to take. He found it when his eyes locked onto the door.

"Okay," he said as he started walking towards it. Grabbing the knob, he pulled it open before turning to face me again. "I'll get you some from the kitchen. The good stuff." He turned around to leave, but stopped again and turned to face me once more. "Lock the door behind me," he said. "Don't answer it for anyone but me."

He didn't leave immediately, hesitating for a moment as he stood on the other side of the doorway. His eyes looked over me from head to toe once before lingering on my eyes when I met his. He finally left, closing the door behind him. Although he was hesitant to leave, I could see the relief he was trying to hide at being given a moment to himself.

A loud silence followed the click and fading footsteps he left in his wake.

I was glad he didn't just grab some from the tap in the washroom. That would have ruined everything.

Asking for water was an answer that would help us both because while it gave him a distraction to focus his attention on, it gave me a chance to obtain the time alone that I needed to process everything that had happened.

Sitting straight, I strained my ears to listen to his footsteps that quietened as he got further away. Once I could no longer hear them, I counted to thirty before jumping off of the bed and rushing towards the door. This was my moment to find a place to hide away, to be alone. I knew it would anger them, but I'd be ready for it.

I was almost at the door, an arm's length away, when my eyes caught something out of the corner. On a few loose papers thrown hap hazardously on the dresser sat a thicker, smaller square of material. A picture. One that was familiar.

A loud creak had me jumping from my skin. Startled, I looked around as my heart raced in my chest. I knew the sound could have just been those of the house settling, but after the last half-hour, I was too jumpy and ready for the worst for that to matter. I quickly grabbed the picture and bolted out of the door.

Hopefully, when Ezra returned he would understand that I needed some space to get over what Cassius snd Axel had done and let me be. I would be fine in a few hours once I had dealt with the mess that was in my head. It was making it difficult for me to focus on anything other than the bad thoughts running through my head.

I lightly jogged down the hallway in the opposite direction from the one Ezra had gone in. I didn't have a destination in mind when I first left. My mind was solely focused on getting away unnoticed. As I continued down the hallways that branched off further into the follow, leaving behind the bedrooms, I recalled a location I had discovered and fallen in love with.

The greenhouse.

I had stumbled upon a glass room filled with hundreds of plants one day after running and hiding from Jaxon's approaching voice that I knew would torment me. I was surprised to find the vibrant and soothing plants in the bright room built with square panels of glass. Since discovering it, whenever I had a moment to spare when passing by, I would pop my head in. I had been mindful in keeping Ezra's lesson on dangerous plans in my head, keeping my hands to myself during each visit. It was always empty when I would intrude and I was hoping the pattern would hold true for this visit as well. I just needed a moment to sort myself out. Just a moment. Once I had processed and locked everything away, I could pretend nothing happened and move on.

I walked down the hallway lined with windows while alert, passing some hallways that branched off into the twists and turns of the floor. It housed various rooms that held different and unique purposes each.

Everything seemed to be going well until I passed by a particular one of the darker hallways that didn't have any windows. When I walked past it, I felt a shift in the air.

One moment I was briskly walking to my intended destination, the next I was landing hard on my hands and knees on the ground, grimacing in pain. My knees would without a doubt be bruised tomorrow.

Before I could right myself and identify my assailant, my head was violently pulled back by my hair. My eyes watered as pain spread across my scalp in sharp pinpricks. The presence of another warmed my cheek.

"You know, it's rude to refuse to eat what your master offers, slave."

I shivered at the brash tone of Jaxon's voice by my ear. His warm lips brushed against my cheek as he spoke the words. The feather-light brush burned against the cold, clammy quality my skin had taken from the shock of emotions I had just gone through. If his presence alone wasn't enough, his voice definitely was to send chills of fear crawling down my spine.

Jerking my head once more, he pulled me up to my knees as he moved away. I reached up and grabbed his hand where he gripped my hair. Tugging and pulling, I tried to unravel his fingers to release his hold and put a desperate end to the painful pull that made water pool at the corners of my eyes.

He sharply tugged my head back once more, drawing a yelp from my lips.

It was funny how things worked out in life. I had just been looking at a picture I was going to give to the man gripping my hair in hopes to prevent instances like this from occurring, but here I was, in his painful hold as my intended peace offering lay faced down on the ground in front of us.

My neck ached from the sharp pull that angled my face up into his. "But that's alright, I forgive you. I brought you some sweets instead."

The smile he gave me sent chills creeping down my spine. I had a feeling I wasn't forgiven.

Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out his hand to reveal a few small red marbles in the center of his palm. I had an idea since the moment he had mentioned giving me sweets of where this was going. I wouldn't be enjoying these so-called sweets he had for me if my predictions were correct. And I had a feeling I was correct, after all, there was no place for a break in my life.

He smiled down at me. It seemed strange, but that could have been because he seemed to be trying to appear sincere.

He failed.

"Open," he ordered with a flash of excitement in his eyes.

I didn't listen, but that didn't matter. It seemed he expected my disobedience since he didn't hesitate long enough to even give me a chance to listen before acting.

Holding the small, red marbles cupped in the lower part of his hand, he used his thumb and index finger to pinch my cheeks, forcing my mouth open. Everything had happened so fast from the moment he had tripped me that it didn't take him much effort. Once my mouth was open enough, he didn't pause before tipped the small marbles into it. When they were all in my mouth, he forced it shut by cupping my jaw in his hand and snapping it shut. A few of the red marbles got caught between my teeth from the action. They cracked open. Using his holds on my hair and jaw, he manually forced me to chew.

The small, red marbles had soft insides that were covered in a red, hard, candy shell that cracked like glass when bitten into it. I couldn't help but swallow some of it as he forcibly controlled my movements.

It didn't immediately register. No. It crept up on me. First, I got a hint of sweetness off the hard candy shell that surrounded the softer insides of the treat, and all I felt was a slight warmth on my tongue. The soft warmth turned into a tingle. The tingle grew warmer until it became hot, unbearable. It burned. It hurt.

Jaxon let go of my hair once he had accomplished what he had wanted to and stepped back while laughing.

Without his hand holding me up, I dropped onto my hands panting as the burning in my mouth crested to levels that seemed unimaginable. I wasn't even able to squeak out a cry of pain as tears freely streamed from my face.

Jaxon's amusement echoing off the walls.

I panted for air that seemed to get more difficult to breathe with each passing second. My mouth was open, a pathetic attempt to cool the burn that consumed me from the inside out.

It felt like I had been punched in the face.

No.

Being punched wouldn't have hurt this much.

A steady, uncontrollable stream of drool dripped from my lips into a puddle beneath me. I could no longer breathe past the burn in my throat.

Balancing on a single trembling arm, I clawed at my throat as my body started heaving in an attempt to expel the horrid pearls. I couldn't feel it past the numbing pain that was spreading throughout my chest and further through my body, but I could see the contents of my stomach spewed out on the floor in front of me, covering the small puddle of drool that had been forming.

I was so overwhelmed by the painful sensation that I didn't register the hands pulling me away from the puddle of vomit by the shoulders. I only started noticing that someone was trying to help me when I felt those very hands push me down onto my back. The hands firmly flattened my shoulders against the cold marble. It felt like a blessing as the coolness seeped through the fabric of my clothing.

My ringing ears couldn't register what his moving lips were saying, but I could recognize Ezra's green eyes through my tear blurred vision. I never knew how happy I would be that my wish from earlier hadn't come true.

Ezra's face was strained when he shouted something in Jaxon's direction when he tried to step closer. Whatever it was he said, I was glad for it because it made him take a step back instead of closer like he was trying.

Ezra pushed away my desperate hands that were searching for a solution to not only the burning caused by the small, red marbles Jaxon had fed me, but also a solution to the added burn that was a result of suffocating. He replaced my hands with his own, wrapping them around my neck like he was preparing to strangle me. But he didn't. Instead, his lips faintly moved as his hands grew cool, a soothing sensation against the burn. In seconds, the burn started to dissipate, faded to one that would expect after consuming too hot of a meal.

My chest rapidly rose and fell as I tried to replace the missing oxygen from my body. Each breath burned, but it was nothing I could complain about after knowing how much worse it could be.

As my body recovered and the shaking of my limbs decreased, the sounds of an argument began to register in my ears.

"You almost fucking killed her!" Ezra's shouted words sounded off the walls, echoing in the silence that followed.

I looked over to find him standing over Jaxon, his shoulders squared and hands fisted. He had saved me more times than I ever thought anyone would in a single day. Jaxon who was sprawled out on the floor on his side with a visible mark on his cheek, on the other hand, was paying him no mind. His attention was focused on something else.

His eyes were locked onto the picture that lay on the ground in front of him, now face up.

His golden eyes rose, meeting with mine.

They darkened to near black.