I fought Smith every step of the way, and though his grip remained firm, he never hurt me. But it did not console me. Nothing could after what had happened in the throne room. Not only had I let go of any hope that there was something redeemable in Calix, but Smith's refusal to help me made me feel like a fool. How easily I had fallen into the trap of his kindness, thinking it meant something more. Kindness didn't equal honor.

"You lied!" I shouted when we reached my room, and he released me. "You told me Jones was safe."

"No, I didn't lie. When I saw him last night, he was safe." Smith circled me, his body tensed like an unsprung spring. "I am your guard, not a member of the king's inner circle. He does not tell me his plans."

"But you said you had a suspicion about what Calix wanted from me."

Smith scoffed. "I'm not in his inner circle, but I'm not an idiot. Do you know how many months we spent hunting you? From sunrise to sunset, we scoured the Summer Court, and when someone had the audacity to suggest you had escaped into another court or were dead—let's just say it only happened once. Those that weren't searching for you, searched for unbound humans."

"Why does he want unbound humans so badly?"

Smith didn't respond. Yet another reminder of where his loyalty lay. I rubbed my eyes and screamed internally. This was such a foolish, tangled mess. Jones should never have been swept up in it, but I reminded myself if he had been honest from the beginning, I might not have pushed him until he took me back on a whim.

Or maybe he could have taught me how to return alone? I glanced at my arms and legs. Still so thin that my wrists and knees protruded like knobs. No matter what I wanted, I would have had to return to Faerie, or I would have wasted away. Whatever magic that protected Changelings clearly didn't protect me.

"Does he want humans for the same reason he wants me? To break the Vow?"

Smith flinched and gripped the footboard. I sat on the edge of the mattress and stared into the stormy skies. The lightning put on quite the display, likely mirroring the king's furious mood.

"Why do you think he wants to use you to break the Vow?"

The edge of my lip twitched. "I might have answered that question this morning, but I don't trust you anymore."

"You trusted me?"

I gathered my pale red hair in my hands and pulled it over my shoulder as I nodded. "I did."

"Such a foolish human thing to do."

"I see that now."

"Good." He spoke so softly I had to strain to hear the word beneath the rumbling of thunder.

"So, what is my punishment to be?"

Now that my wrath had gone from a full boil to a simmer, fear crept in. Calix might want me alive and well enough to participate in a wedding charade, but this was Faerie. They would not settle for simple and straightforward.

"About that..." Ire bound his voice like iron, and his footsteps were hard slaps against the stone as he walked in front of me. "What the hell were you thinking? Attacking him outright is as suicidal as jumping off this ledge. Have you no sense of self preservation at all?"

Smith was almost screaming now, but instead of leaning back to escape his anger, I shot to my feet and reached out to shove him. He caught my hands and pulled them behind my back. Pinning them above the swell of my ass with one hand around my thin wrists, he caught my chin with his other hand.

"I am not the king. You will need more than the element of surprise to land a blow. Do you understand?"

Tingles spread to my fingers as his hold cut off the blood supply, and I swallowed a whimper of pain. He would not get the satisfaction of that sound.

"Luna," Smith snarled, freeing me so quickly I fell backward. With his back to me, whatever he muttered was taken away by the winds into the storm.

"What is my punishment to be?" I repeated as I rubbed feeling back into my fingers.

"Something neither one of us will enjoy."

Laying back on my pillow, I closed my eyes. Exhaustion clung heavy to my limbs. The rejuvenation I'd felt upon my return to Faerie was no longer enough to keep me going. Not after weeks of illness, and the mental toll of today didn't help.

"Be creative," I murmured.

"You don't even know what you're suggesting."

"I survived eating Druil blossoms. Little can top that pain."

Or the pleasure. A vivid image of Calix moving over me filled my mind, and my eyes flew open, two hot tears spilling from the corner of my eyes.

"Luna?"

I rolled to my side. "Do whatever you must. It matters little to me, but I'd rather yours be good enough to avoid receiving both punishments."

The squeal of wood scraping over stone echoed in the chamber as he dragged a chair to the bedside. The mattress dipped beneath the weight of his boots on the mattress. I fell asleep then, comforted by his nearness. I might not trust him, but it felt good to not be alone.