Time froze.

All I could hear was the roaring in my ears as my breath hitched in my throat.

Damien's eyes were violet again. They watched me in concern. "What's wrong?"

I stepped back immediately, trying to place as much space as I could between us. His arms dropped at his sides as I pulled away, confusion creased his features.

My hand reached for my throat, my fingers closing around my neck. I was hyperventilating, panicking - the walls were closing in around me.

No, I wanted to scream. No, no, no.

He stepped towards me and I stepped back. I missed a step and fell backward on the floor landing on my elbows.

Robyn. I saw Robyn.

Robyn was looking at me through Damien's eyes. I saw him.

I know I did.

Damien reached for me again but I instinctively flinched back in terror. He held his hands up as if to show me he had nothing to hide. "What is it?"

I shook my head vigorously.

I'd imagined it. I imagined Robyn watching me. It was only Damien. They shared the same form of the lips and the same strong jaw but the similarities ended there. It was Damien's violet eyes that watched me with concern, Damien's brow that was furrowed.

It wasn't Robyn. He was dead.

Damien said so himself.

Damien crouched next to me, my eyes followed him all the while. "Emylin, what is it? What do you need?"

It was Damien. The same mannerisms, the same voice ...

I shook my head. "Sorry. I just had an awful flashback. Sorry."

Damien shook his own head and sat down on the marble floor next to me. He still didn't move closer. "Are you all right?"

"I - I think I need some sleep." I was lying. Sleep? I couldn't sleep, I had pure adrenaline pumping through me.

"All right," he said gently. "Would you like for me to take you to your room?"

Slowly, I nodded.

He watched me as we stood but didn't take a step closer - he kept his distance the entire time we walked. We didn't say a single word to each other.

We made our way down some of the familiar hallways but stopped before a pair of doors I didn't recognize.

He turned at the doors back to me. "I know you've been staying with me in my room lately but I think it's time you had some space to yourself."

I didn't mind that we'd been sharing his room while I was feeling unwell. He had his own bed while I had mine - mostly to keep an eye on me he'd told me, just in case anything happened.

"It's not a guest room like before," he explained. "It's your room. Your space to do with whatever you want." He cleared his throat. "Since you might be here for a while."

"Where's yours?"

He nodded towards one side of the hallway. "A couple of doors that way on the left."

He pulled down on the handles and the doors opened towards the room.

It wasn't as large as the original. It was a bit smaller but still just as gorgeous. It had large windows along the entirety of one of the walls with large curtains from floor to ceiling that billowed in the wind. The view of the windows was of the entire river - I could follow it up as it curved around the woods and up the mountains.

When I pointed them out he said, "You'll always have a window."

A flat-screen television sat on one of the ebony dressers that looked like it had been carved from stone. I recognized some of the knick-knacks and pictures on it. "Did you get them from my room?"

He shrugged. "It had to look like you packed for an internship out of state. I took the liberty of packing some things for you so you'd be comfortable here."

A fireplace quietly crackled nearby but the room stayed at a comfortable temperature due to some magic, I imagined. It had its own bathroom and a large closet that seemed to be stocked wall to wall with clothes I would wear. They were the ones I would wear - I recognized the sweaters and T-shirts hanging in the closet.

I turned to him with questioning eyes. But he only shrugged.

There was even a desk in the corner of the room near one of the windows. A laptop sat on it with a phone I didn't recognize.

"Yours," was all that he said.

"You didn't have to-"

He shook his head. "Yes, I did. I told you whatever it takes for you to heal. You're a faerie now, no need to hide anymore. The castle is your home now so you can go anywhere you like."

I smiled. "Except the west wing? Is it forbidden?"

He frowned. "We don't have a west wing."

I laughed at my own joke even though he didn't get it. "Never mind - but I do foresee a Disney movie marathon in our future."

He shook his head with a smile.

There. It was the smile that did it.

I'd imagined the eyes. This was Damien.

My Damien.

And I'd rip anyone apart that tried to change that.

He grinned. There was that cocky smile again. "What else do you see in our future?"

I crossed my arms. "Our future?"

He nodded, a small gleam in his eye.

I answered earnestly. "I hadn't thought about it actually. I was so resigned to not have one I didn't think about what would happen now that I'm this-"

"A faerie."

I watched Damien as he spoke.

"You're a faerie, Em. Call yourself what you are. Embrace it. You're the last of the Light, there is no shame in it. No need to call it less than what it is. You are power, life and light." He cleared his throat. "One day you'll learn to control it."

"At least I haven't lost control of it yet."

He looked away. "Well, I've been mostly keeping it under control."

I frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Now don't get mad," he started.

I placed my hands on my hips. "That's a great way to start a conversation by the way."

He placed a hand on the back of his neck and chuckled. A new nervous trait. "I've been very closely monitoring you, making sure you don't hurt yourself - I've been ... controlling it -"

"Controlling it? Like your uncle did?"

"No. Not quite. You freed yourself from the Mark, you no longer have it - What I'm doing is dampening your power. Keeping it quiet - for lack of a better term. It's really so you don't hurt yourself or anyone else."

I couldn't be mad. I really couldn't.

"The first day after you woke up, you panicked. You completely lost control and practically showed up at your parents' doorstep. That same day too - you almost threw the bed, the dresser, and the nightstand at me. It's really for your safety and ours."

I took a deep breath. He was right, I didn't want to hurt anyone. "Will I ever learn to control it?"

He nodded. "Yes, you will. But until that time I have to do this."

I picked up a small jewelry box I recognized from the dresser. I recognized the stacked silver rings inside it, they were the ones I would wear and take off every night. I cleared my throat. "So when am I going to learn how to control it? I want to go back to school."

The sooner I could leave, the sooner I could go back to my life as it had been. Then I could put everything behind me and heal.

I watched Damien's reflection in the mirror in front of me. "I don't think you can be around humans anytime soon. At least not for a year."

"Haha, really funny, Damien. A year." I scoffed. "I have to go back to school. I have a degree to finish - a career to start - an actual internship that I need to follow up with Chris on." I sighed. "If he'll even have me now."

I watched a muscle twitch in his jaw as I finished then he looked away.

I crossed my arms. "I had a life - dreams, aspirations. Whatever I am, doesn't change that."

"No," he said through gritted teeth. "I suppose you would want to go back to school even after everything that's happened.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes," he replied. "Yes, there is. If you lose control, Emylin, even for just one second ..." He sighed. "Others will pay the price."

I sighed heavily looking back at the dresser again facing away from him.

After a moment, he spoke. "You're angry."

"No," I used as much sarcasm as I could muster.

I heard him chuckle behind me as he approached. His hand grabbed mine. White electricity danced and cracked across my fingers like I'd seen on Damien right before he unleashed some of his magic. As soon as the sparks touched the contents on top of the dresser, they cleared off but were held in place in mid-air.

I looked at Damien's reflection in front of me as he spoke. "You lose but a little bit in front of humans and I won't be able to help. At least these are inanimate objects that don't feel pain - humans won't be so lucky."

At once the sparks started to fizzle and disappear from my hand. The small jewelry case and small objects clinked as they were settled back on the dresser.

"Fine," I sighed. "You proved your point."

"Control it first, then we can talk about going back to school."

I turned around and faced him. "Fine."

He was close again just as close as he had been when he kissed me earlier. He smiled and just when I thought he was going to do it again, he spoke, "Have dinner with me tonight."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Only with me."

I frowned. "Who else would be there?"

He threw back his head and laughed. "All right, I guess I'll just have to be blunt. A dinner date, Emylin. I want to take you on a date. I want to be in a relationship with you." He took my hand and kissed it. "I want you to be mine just as I would be yours."

My heart started doing somersaults, my cheeks were blushing. "A date," I echoed.

He was watching me as I watched him. "Is that all right?"

It was too fast. I barely got my hands around my situation and he already wanted to date?

What was my hesitation?

Wasn't this what I wanted?

Yes. But not so soon. Not immediately after what just happened.

I couldn't say no. Even though a part of me wanted to, I couldn't.

I wouldn't lose him again.

Slowly, I nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly, he frowned. It was like the light in the room was too much for him. "I- I have to go take care of a few things." He started to walk away towards the doors. "Go anywhere in the castle you like. Just don't get lost."

Right. As if I knew where I would be going. As if I could move my legs that had suddenly turned to jelly once I heard his proposition.

"I'll see you at dinner," he waved as he left the room and sprinted down the hall.