We danced until I tripped on my pants and fell backward onto the grass. It didn't hurt, I didn't feel the impact. It was as if the wind cushioned my fall with the softest cloud. Caerus toppled down with me and we became a bundle of arms and legs. His face hovered closely over mine.

We just stared silently at each other until I spoke at last.

"You are not one of the fae, are you?" I mumbled and placed my hands on his broad shoulders.

"No, I am something far, far worse," his voice was hoarse and low, like rumbling thunder.

I inhaled slowly and kept my gaze with him.

"You are not as cruel as you think yourself to be, Caerus," I whispered sincerely. "You could've killed me in those woods, left my sister to be run down."

"I did those things for selfish reasons," he dropped his gaze from mine in something similar to shame, but not quite.

Guilt perhaps.

"Everyone wants something," I rolled out from under him but he clamped his arms around my waist as if he were afraid I was going to abandon him.

"You're not allowed to leave," Caerus commanded, I turned back to face him. A large gap separated our chests, but his hands still lingered on my hips, "why don't we play a little bit before you scurry off like a frightened mouse?"

I felt my back arch slightly into him as he rolled me on top. This position was far more humiliating than being beneath him. I bit down on my lip as he jerked my legs on either side of his waist.

"Play with me. Hit me. Command me. I don't care," I muttered defiantly and his eyes glazed over slightly and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

How to play, how to make me beg. His mind was filthy.

"I would love to play with you darling," the pet name he added made me grimace with disgust, "but you're still so untrained."

"Why are you so tired?" I asked to change the topic and stared into his blue eyes. The feeling of him beneath me was unimaginable. He was so undeniably attractive. Unlike the boys from the village, he was a man. He was handsome and experienced in ways they couldn't even begin to imagine.

I found myself wanting his rough fingers all over my torso. All over my body. How great could he make it feel? To be touched that way? I shuddered at the images that flitted through my mind. Unsatisfying fantasies that would never be fulfilled.

"I haven't slept in a hundred years, no one in this house has," he loosed a heavy sigh and I furrowed my brow. Did that make Floss... immortal? She looked human, but then again, so did Caerus. But they were different.

Caerus stalked and moved with the predatory grace of an immortal. But the servants all had that human touch. Something that couldn't be replicated or made.

"How is that possible?" I murmured and let my hands fold against his warm chest.

"I angered someone very powerful too many times, and to make me suffer he forced everyone living in this home to endure the same curse he placed upon me," Caerus explained and slid his eyes shut as if remembering.

"Is there anything you can do?" I asked and slid my palm over his chest and up to his shoulder, memorizing the curves and lines under my fingers.

"There is a way, but if I haven't used it in this long, then I never will," Caerus clenched his jaw and his grip tightened on my hips.

"Why not?"

"The price is too high to pay," despite myself, I wanted to help him. I wanted to break this curse. For all of them, not just Caerus. But Floss too and the head cook and all the others who I didn't know.

I don't know what possessed me to open my mouth but I did. "I would pay the price for Floss," I promised and meant it with all of my being.

Caerus gave me a long, sad look and brushed his lips over my cheek.

"It is too high to pay."

--------------------

The next morning it was as if nothing had happened. Caerus and I were back to hating each other and hurling insults over breakfast. This time I was allowed to sit in my own chair beside him.

I tried to eat the whole plate of food. Just to convince myself that I wasn't sick. That I could keep it down. Even when bile rose in my throat I swallowed it back and told myself I was just tired and sore.

"Come with me," Caerus commanded as I pushed the plate away. So I did, he wouldn't touch me today. He'd barely looked me in the eye. It was only his actions that made me believe that last night hadn't been a dream. We'd danced in the gardens, laid together on the grass.

Caerus led me to a different room this time. In the center was a waist-high stool, and over by the corner was a small cabinet.

They appeared to be the only items of furniture in the room.

"Put your hands on the stool," he demanded and walked to the cabinet, rolling up his sleeves.

Surprisingly, I wasn't as afraid as I should've been. Even as I placed my palms on the flat surface and pulled out a long rod.

Ah, a cane.

Caerus walked back over and pulled my sleeves up my arms. His fingers brushed against my skin and left goosebumps on my wrists. Let him think they were from fear, but I was not afraid of Caerus.

He was just a child and a coward. I would not be afraid of him. The power he could wield and him as a person were two different things. I never feared Caerus, I feared what he could do to me.

"Ten lashes sounds fair, doesn't it Kellen?" He mused and ran his index finger down my wrist.

"No," I answered and looked him in the eye as I said it.

"That attitude is what got you here in the first place you know," Caerus whipped the cane through the air a few times to intimidate me.

"No, it's not, what got me here was your obsession with serving justice," I sneered and clenched my jaw, his expression was unreadable, "you just want to exact authority over me because-"

I grit my teeth but held eye contact with him as he brought the cane down on the backs of my hand. Stinging pain rocketed up my arms and down my spine but my glare never faltered.

"You were the one that said I wasn't cruel," he whispered and got closer to me. His face mere inches from mine as I resisted the urge to press against his firm body. I blinked and momentarily forgot my anger, I didn't think he'd mention last night at all.

"You're not," my voice was softer; more in pity than gentleness, "you're just a coward."

Caerus whipped the rod down on my hands two more times.

"I might be a coward but at least I can keep food down," he cut the insult low, my gaze smoldered with fury.

"That is not my fault," I growled and he just grinned at me and whipped my hands again. I winced and curled my toes in pain.

"I should've let her die, she wasn't even worth-"

I slapped my palm against his cheek as hard as I could. His head twisted to the side and my blood boiled with rage that I'd never felt before. Blinding white and crawling like vines.

"Don't you ever talk about my sisters again," I snarled and left him standing there as I slammed the door as hard as I could.

He didn't try to follow as I stumbled outside and vomited into a clump of weeds. I spat the disgusting taste out of my mouth and walked into the woods. Tears blurred my vision as I tripped over roots and bushes. And soon I was running, as fast and hard as I could. I let the wind overtake me and sing in my ears as my legs pumped. But I wasn't tired, I wasn't exhausted.

I was free.

The wind carried me forward as I pushed deep into the forest. It filled my lungs and my head and wiped away my salty tears. I shut my eyes and felt raw instinct take over, twisting and jumping and running through the trees and branches. It didn't stop until I stepped wrong and rolled to the ground and into a clearing of trees where the golden light of the sun fell on my face.

I laughed and laughed until they turned to sobs and I curled my body into a ball. The welts on my hands burned and ached as I sat up to survey them more closely. Four long lashes overlapped each other and stared up at me.

I tilted my head back and let tears run down my face.

I missed them so much. I missed Callista and Juno and Elise and mama.

So much, so, so much.

A breeze wrapped around my body in something like an embrace. I sobbed and let it hold me when nothing else would. I hoped Caerus would never find me, but it was a fool's wish. He'd hunt me down and drag me back inside that damned house. I didn't want to go inside. I didn't want to go inside anywhere.

I wanted to stay here in the sunlight and let nature rock me to sleep. I wanted to feel the wind on my body and hear the babble of a brook in my ears.

"I hate you, Caerus, I hate you, I hate you," I sobbed and clenched my hands into fists.

I hate him.