Faryn dug her hands into her jeans. "And you're the asshole."

         His lips stretched into a mirthless smile, and he slung his legs off the side of the chair. "I'll admit I've heard very little about you until recently."

         The only other Acurials present were Elves stationed along the walls. Her mother was not here. Nor was there a throne for her. Her heart that was already racing sped up.

         "Nothing good I imagine."

         He leaned forward, eyes sharpening. "Where's my father?"

         She curled her hands into fists. "Where's my mother?"

         Klaus flinched before he settled back in throne. "Somewhere safe."

         Her heart collided to a stop, the force nearly knocking her over. "She's not here?"

         Klaus's eyes flicked past her, and Jack stepped alongside her. "If you aren't the one responsible for my father's disappearance," her half-brother said, "we had to be sure she was not easy to find."

         But . . .

         Jack's eyes slid to her. He had known her mother wasn't here. He knew this would all end with her as a prisoner and no closer to her mother.

         Her cousin smirked, and she shoved him, her hands pressing into his chest with enough force to make him stumble back. What did it matter if she lashed out? The terms of her sanctuary had run out. She needed him away from her. She needed to be able to breath.

         As the Elves along the wall drew their swords, Jack's eyes narrowed a second before a whirlwind of ice and snow whipped around his feet.

         "Faryn." Cassian's hand closed over her arm.

         "Let go of me."

         "Don't do this, please."

         "I said let go."

         And he did.

         Jack took a step toward her and raised his arm as she went for the dagger her mother had given her. This day would end with her as a prisoner, but she wasn't going to drop to her knees and surrender her wrists to be cuffed. They'd have to force them on her.

         Before either cousin could attack, her half-brother's voice rang out, "Cassian Etend. Even after hearing how you defended her in Eiraacia, I'm still surprised to see it now. Could it be that you feel guilty she was accused in your place?"

         "I didn't touch your father." The Fata's voice was almost a growl.

         "And you, Peter?" Klaus's voice only sounded mildly curious. "Or are you just here because you screwed my sister?"

         Faryn whirled from Jack to stare at Klaus. He had called her his sister. She hadn't expected him to acknowledge what she was to him.

         Peter laughed as if the idea of having slept with her was humorous. "She is a friend. Nothing more."

         "That's not what I heard."

         "I'm sorry to tell you that someone has been leading you astray, Niklaus."

         Ziva lingered near the doors while Harumi and her family had stationed themselves in one of the corners beside the doors.

         Clíodhna stood between Peter and Cassian, her posture relaxed, while Faryn trembled, anger, fear, frustration coursing through her veins.

         For once in her life, she had counted on her mother, needed her to be here. But she let herself be hidden while her only daughter was being hunted.

         Someone placed their hand on her arm, and she flinched. With a hiss, they yanked their hand away.

         She was going to be a prisoner of the Winter Court. Nick would never be found, and she would never see Oxford again. Never escape from her world and enter the one of Humans. She would be imprisoned by her kind for however many years her half-Alkine half-Elven body would last.

         "Faryn."

         The temperature around her lowered—Jack's power closing in on her, she suspected, but all she could focus on was Klaus on Nick's throne. There should be one for her mother. Why wasn't there one for her mother?

         Why couldn't her mother be there for her when she needed her most?

         The temperature continued to drop, and pressure began to build as if she was sinking underwater, away from the sun, away from everything, her friends, Cassian.

         She squeezed her eyes as the pressure concentrated behind them and reached for her dagger. She didn't have time to unsheathe it before her body jolted with enough force that she fell forward, landing on her hands and knees. Pain flared at the base of her hands. She must have been hit by Jack's power, but when she opened her eyes, a thick jagged line of ice ran from her straight through the throne.

         Her breath grew ragged as she starred. Once the ice melted, the throne would split in two. Why had Jack done it?

         Klaus was unharmed, but he gaped at the ice, as did everyone in the room except Cassian. He reached out his hand, the tips of his fingers red, and placed it on her shoulder, his fingers stretching out under her neck. The muscles there relaxed.

         Jack's gaze moved from the throne to her, and her stomach twisted, seeing the truth in his eyes. The ice was not his.

         Her magic had reared its head in a room full of her enemies.

         She might vomit over the shiny floor that showed her haggard self.

         Cassian helped her to her feet as Klaus stalked from the dais.

"Take her."

         The Elves hesitated. Were they scared of her? They didn't know she could barely harness her power. That she understood nothing about it.

         "Now."

         The command had the Elves moving toward her and Cassian. Faryn didn't want to let surrender, but with her unpredictable powers and only a dagger, she might as well be useless. It would be up to Cassian to keep them out of chains, but if she let him do that, he'd be hurt. Because of her. With Peter's and Clíodhna's help, they might stand a chance but then what? No sooner would they defeat the enemies in this room then they would have a whole castle's worth baring down on them. They'd all be locked up and there would be no one left to save them.

         So she didn't fight and hoped Cassian wouldn't as well. She needed Peter and Clíodhna free. They both did. She let him pull her against him, and she found comfort in the feel of his body against hers. Her last moment of freedom.

         The Elves circled them, swords pointed outward at Faryn's and Cassian's chests.

         "You know where to take them," was all Klaus said, and as the Fata and Elf were shuffled forward, Peter looked as if he was about to summon his magic, but Faryn shook her head. As long as he and Clíodhna remained free, there was a chance for her to experience more than winter again.

         Cassian and Faryn were taken to a bedroom, simple, plain, and unadorned, but it was not a dungeon. They stole Faryn's dagger, and the door slammed behind them as they left, followed by the click of a heavy lock sinking into place. Jack would probably do something to reinforce the door.

         Running her hands through her hair, Faryn let out a breath and sagged against the door. She was officially Winter's prisoner.

         She raised her eyes, expecting Cassian's hardened gaze, expecting him to chastise her, but he wasn't looking at her. His jaw was locked as he stared at the empty wall. There wasn't even a window.

         "Is what Klaus said true?"

         Her brows furrowed. "What part?"

         "Don't play ignorant. Don't do that to me."

         "I don't know what you're talking about."

         "That you had sex with Peter."

         She stilled. Hadn't he been thinking that since he found Peter in her bed in Sleet City?

         "It's true, isn't it?"

         "Cassian—"

         He stalked across the room to where a painting of a snowy landscape hung on the wall.

         "Does it matter if we did?"

         He wouldn't look at her. "How many times?"

         She blinked. He really did believe that she and Peter had slept together.  "Please enlighten me on when Peter and I have been alone since we left his home besides in Sleet City. I've almost always been with you, Cassian."

         He only stared at her. 

         "Peter told Klaus those rumors aren't true. I don't know who put the idea in his head."

         Cassian finally turned and faced her. "Peter can say whatever the hell he likes. I want to hear it from you."

         "Why?"

         In a few strides he had crossed the room and was staring down at Faryn. She took the slightest step back, and Cassian followed. "Just answer the question, Faryn."

         "Why do you care? I don't know how you can even stand to be this close to an Elf." Her scent still bothered him, and it frustrated her. Why did his now torture her in the sweetest way, and he still acted like hers burned his nose? She took another step back, and his hand grabbed her arm.

         "I care because I would have worshipped you."

         His words struck her like a punch to the gut. "What?"

         "Do you think I haven't lain awake almost every night we were in the same room, wondering what it would be like to taste every inch of you?"

         Her legs felt weak. Her stomach tightened. She didn't understand what he was saying. It didn't make sense.

         "I wanted to kiss Peter." She kept her voice steady. "He rejected me." He dropped her arm but didn't move away. She wrapped her arms around herself.

         "You wanted to kiss him?"

         She felt her lips quiver, and she knew if she wasn't careful tears would follow. "Everyone thinks I did something to Nick. My cousin had already tried to kill me once. And I was sharing a bed with a Fae who was tolerating my scent. I just wanted someone to want to hold me. To make me feel wanted. Who didn't want me dead in the snow. It didn't have to be Peter, but he was there."

         "And he rejected you?"

         "He said you'd be pissed." She rolled her eyes. "And then went on about how he magically knew we'd be able to have strong children."

         Cassian's eyes, always a light gray, darkened. Faryn tried to back up, but Cassian matched her step for step until her back hit the door.

         "And how would he know anything about our offspring?"

         She swallowed the lump in her throat. He made it sounds like they already existed. "Something about his magic being linked to fertility."

         His eyes dipped to her stomach. "An odd thing for him to mention."

         "You should have been forced to hear it in person."

         "It's probably best I didn't." Turning away, he crossed the room again, and Faryn was almost certain her legs would fail her.

         He wanted to worship her.

         He'd never mention any of this again. Not now that he knew the truth. That she and Peter hadn't slept together, that he had rejected her. Even now, she hated that it still felt like a slap in the face.

         What did any of it matter now though? She was going to be locked up in this palace until one day when she would be taken to the Frozen City and thrown in a cell for the rest of her life. They'd never get Cassian that far. He had his mother's Court and as the next Tooth Fairy, the world had need of him.

         It didn't need Faryn.

         Peter, when he realized there was no hope of freeing her, would return to his home because he had responsibilities that were bigger than her, and Clíodhna would go back to Arlo. They'd all be safe, and Faryn couldn't even say she'd be rotting in a cell. The ice would make sure that wouldn't happen.

         One day Cassian would find another Fata and have a strong and healthy heir, and if her name was ever mentioned by him, it would be as a cautionary tale to share with his ch—tears blurred her vision.

         She was going to be alone. And forgotten. Even if Nick was found safe and unharmed, once she was in the Frozen City, no one would see fit to free her. Best to dust Mrs. Claus's bastard daughter under the rug so the perception of the warm and happy Clauses could go back to the way the Human world believed it to be.

         Aurelius would remember her, but he wouldn't risk visiting her, not once she was in the Winter Court's strong hold. And he wouldn't speak up to free her because of his friendship with Klaus.

         She turned away from Cassian and faced the door. She placed her hand against it. "Your mother will come for you, right?"

         "Faryn." His voice was low but finally soft.

         "She will, right?"

         "She probably won't come herself. She's still a suspect. She'll send someone else. But, Faryn, they won't try to help you."

         "I know." She sniffed. If she wiped her eyes, he'd know she had cried. It was best to keep facing the door. "You shouldn't be locked up here though. Not when you were only trying to keep Jack from killing me. It's my fault you're even here right now."

         "It's not your fault your cousin decided he wanted to kill you."

         "Are you sure now I didn't kill Nick?"

         "I'm not."

         She flinched.

         "You're scared that the moment you trust me, you'll turn around and I'll stab you in the back." He began walking toward her. "Do you not think I have the same fear about you?"

         "You think I'd kill you?"

         "Is it that far of a stretch when you're busy thinking the same about me? You might be Alkine, but you're also an Elf, and there have been plenty Fae killed at the hands of Elves they thought they trusted. And yet, despite all of that, I still find myself wanting to be closer to you with every day that passes. Needing to be closer." Only a few inches separated them. "There are some times when I think getting to feel you for even a few minutes would be worth the dagger in the chest." He wrapped her hair around his fingers, and, stepping closer, he pressed himself against her and buried his nose in her hair. She felt him breathe in her scent, his chest rising against hers. "You shouldn't smell this good to me."

         Before she knew what she was doing, she pressed her palms to his arms to steady herself. "I thought it bothered you being near me."

         "It used to." He released her hair and lowered his head to her neck. "Now I want to lose myself in your scent." His lips pressed against her neck, and she arched against him.

         "Cassian?" She could barely get his name out.

         She felt him breathe her in again as the tip of his nose skimmed her neck. Hands cupping her back, he held her in place.

         "I will not leave you here." He kissed her neck again, and his tongue was against her skin. Ata, it felt good. She understood what he meant about how dying might be worth it for just a few minutes of this, her body pressed against his, breathing in his scent.

         She wanted him and that felt woefully and wondrously dangerous.

         He pulled back only enough to meet her eyes before his dropped to her lips.

         She wanted to believe she was safe with him, but could she ever be sure? Plenty of Elves had trusted a Fae before they met their end.

         But right now, this gamble felt thrilling.

         Behind her the door creaked open, and Cassian quickly pulled away from her.

         Moroz and the Snow Maiden stood on either side of Clíodhna. 

         "Klaus wishes to speak with you, Cassian," Clíodhna said, and if she somehow knew what they had been up to, her face didn't show it.

         "Alone?" Cassian asked, and Clíodhna nodded.

         "I'll be standing right here until you return. If anyone wants to assassinate her, they know they'll have Peter to contend with." They wouldn't know to fear her power, but there was little doubt that Clíodhna could make someone drop to their knees and beg forgiveness.

         Cassian nodded, his jaw tight, and moved toward the door. "What does he wish to discuss?"

         Moroz shifted his cold eyes from Faryn to the Fata. "I imagine what you've learned about her."

         "If Klaus wishes to get to know his sister, he can speak to her himself."

         Faryn shook her head. "Go. Maybe he's heard from your mother."

         He was silent for a few seconds before he allowed the two Winter Court members to lead him away. The guard shut the door, once more sealing her in.

         "Faryn?" Clíodhna's voice came from the other side of the door.

         "Yes?"

         "I'm here. Peter and I won't let anything happen to you." An empty promise but one that brought some comfort to her. "Try to get some sleep while you can."

         Though her body was heavy, Faryn wasn't sure she could sleep. She was a prisoner in her family's home. But Clíodhna was right. She didn't know when her family would finally have need for her, and it was unlikely she would walk away from those encounters unscathed even if she might still appear physically fine afterward. They would take a toll on her emotionally.

         After using the ensuite bathroom and showering, Faryn crawled into the bed. She didn't feel comfortable going sans-pants for multiple reasons—after what happened with Cassian and because she could be pulled from her sleep by her cousin or Klaus. She didn't want to try to fight them pantless. Her jeans were lined with fleece making them feel as if they were already pajama pants.

         What had happened between her and Cassian?

         When she closed her eyes, she could feel him against her, feel his mouth on her neck. When he returned, would they go back to that or would he revert to his normal behavior of acting like he barely tolerated her?

         She frowned. He was scared of her? It was hard to fathom. Faryn knew how to fight but if she was caught weaponless, she wouldn't be the strongest of opponents. And he was Cassian, the son of Flozzie, and she'd seen what his powers could do. They could bring her to her knees in a few strokes.

         Her powers—she curled deeper into the blankets—they felt nonexistent for how much control she had over them. Maybe they could be something great, but she would never get the chance to learn how to hone them.

         The thought tugged at her heart

         She was Faryn Morozko, Alkine, Elf, and no longer a fugitive. She was a prisoner. Her grand plan that her mother would be able to save her had failed miserably and now she had brought Cassian down with her.

Did Cassian surprise you?