"What?!" Gion and I exclaimed at the same time.

Goodfellow pulled out an envelope from his sleeve. "He is to be sentenced tomorrow and I am to watch."

Holy shit. First, my best friend gets kidnapped and my other friend is about to be sentenced to death. It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

Darien was going to die.

He was going to die and I could do nothing, just like I could do nothing when Fallon was taken away.

"Poor master Darien!" Gion cried out, fat globs of tears falling from his eyes. "Why does that woman punish him so? He's just a boy!"

I swallowed thickly. "Is there any way to save him?"

Goodfellow crumpled the letter and tossed it into the flames. "I cannot since the king is on Oberon's Hunt." He flickers his eyes towards me, the anger simmers in them. "But you can."

"What?"

He leans forward, his nails digging into the armrest. "You have no allegiance to any court. You have no master. Your loyalties are only to yourself."

I lean back. "Please explain. I am a very lost human who has no idea what's going on."

"Hmm...your beauty is fine but a lack of brains is not." He flicks my forehead. "I cannot believe you are friends with those two troublemakers. How do you keep up with them?

"Ow! Hey!" I rubbed my forehead. "That's just mean."

Gion jumps down, landing on the pillow. "My Lady is a wonderful beauty. Mistress has declared it so!"

Oh, he's so adorable. I take back all the things I thought about him when I first met him. I'm going to reward him with a whole candy shop the moment we get back to the Fae Realm.

"Ugh. As if the opinion of a brownie amused me." Goodfellow lies back into his armchair, his hands folded over his stomach and went still. It was as if he was never moved at all. "How much do you know, child?"

"Not much. I know about the Fae, I know there's a thing called glamour and I think it's supposed to hide you guys from us, and Fallon is a princess that has been kidnapped," I recounted, putting fingers up. "Oh! And there's a crazed psychopathy smoke lady who is trying to capture me for some reason."

"That's it?" He tilts his head, confused.

"Yup."

"Darien has told you nothing?"

I shrug. "Well, Darien has also lied to me from the moment I met him so...yeah, obviously I don't know much. Fallon did try to give me a crash course but a bunch of ghouls were trying to kill us."

Goodfellow stares at me, his face blank. I blink at him wondering if I had done something wrong.

He lets out a deep sigh, his fingers pressed to his lips. "I cannot believe my grandson has been so careless with his lover."

My mind screeches to a halt. "L-Lover?" I squeak out.

"Of course, you are my grandson's lover." He stated as if it were a matter of fact. "I thought I taught him better but clearly not. His grandmother would be disappointed."

I knew Robin Goodfellow was a trickster but that was a little too far. Me and Darien? Lovers?

Yeah, right!

I don't have a single romantic feeling towards this guy. Not one! I am angry and disappointed in him, sure! And maybe a bit hurt that he left me behind but that's it! My feelings of friendship aren't even that deep. Sure, he's been there for me and he took care of me after Fallon got kidnapped but that was just out of consideration for Fallon.

Right?

Even if I did have any romantic feelings, I wouldn't act upon them. Darien is way out of my league. And hypothetically speaking...I wouldn't want it to affect my friendship with Fallon. What if it messed everything up and I become alone again?

What a silly thought.

Right?

I laughed awkwardly. "I'm not sure how to break it to you but I'm not his lover."

"You are not his lover?" Goodfellow looked confused. "Odd. His letters were full of praise for you. My grandson has seldom ever let me into his personal thoughts. Even his mother approves of you, a fact that surprises me."

"We're just...friends," I said lamely.

I think briefly about the moment he left me behind in Fallon's apartment. He kissed me on the forehead and said he was sorry. At that moment I wasn't sure if I would ever forgive him and now I wish I could see him again.

"Well, it matters not. Lover, friend, or whatever he is to you. At least he is important enough and that is all that concerns me." He shrugs. "Let's make a deal, child."

Gion stops crying for a moment. "Lord Goodfellow, you must not make a deal with her for I already have!"

"Silence, you little imp or I shall toss you into the hearth," Goodfellow growls, showing off his teeth in a wicked grin. "Your deal has brought her into this mess. At least mine will help her."

"Mistress will not accept this!"

"Your mistress couldn't protect herself. How can she protect her?"

I hop off the bed and scoop Gion into my arms. "I think that's enough. I'll be going now. Thank you so much for your hospitality but—"

"Come back here, child!"

I feel something tug at my heart in my chest, my foot hovering over the floor before I'm pulled backwards. My limbs move of their own accord no matter how hard I try to fight against it.

My body is forced to sit back down on the bed. I can no longer move or breathe or talk...I can only sit there like a doll. Odile had tried something similar except her way was more seductive and easing. This was much worse, it was aggressive and forceful like an iron shackle weighing me down. I felt so helpless and alone.

Goodfellow was still seated across from me. His silhouette stood tall in the background of flames and his eyes now burned like coals. He was no longer indifferent or blasé, now there was a fury and determination that was directed towards me.

Gion was calling me but there was nothing he could do. He didn't have enough power to overpower someone as powerful as Robin Goodfellow.

"This is glamour," he said. "It's the power we have over your kind. I can bend your will in any way you like and you can't lift a finger to prevent it."

I made a low whimpering sound in the back of my throat as I couldn't breathe, my lungs trembling for air.

"Now do you see?" Goodfellow asked. His sharpened nails drummed against the armrest. "A little human like you wouldn't survive here. You've been fortunate so far with the help of that brownie and my interference but luck is as fickle as fate is. I've glamoured you so easily. And other Fae will too and well...they can do anything they wish to you."

He snaps his fingers and I collapse forward, finally able to breathe.

I take in several large lungfuls of air. I grasp at my throat, glaring up at him.

He looks down at me, a small smile gracing his lips. I wanted to tackle him to the ground and gouge those gold eyes out of his socket. "How fucking dare you?!" I rasp out.

"Please. Spare me the dramatics. Even if you were my grandson's lover, this still would've happened," he says, pushing a strand of my hair out of my face. I flinch away. "If you want to hunt, you must know how your prey feels."

"Ugh." I sit on my knees, too tired to get back up, "Enough of the riddles, get to the damn point!"

"Normally your insolence would guarantee your demise but I have no choice. My mercy is your reward." He extends out his palm, the lines are deep and worn. His eyes are no longer glowing but I can feel them trying to pry into my mind. "Here is my deal, child. Assist me in freeing my grandson from the clutches of that power-driven she-devil of a queen and I shall ensure that no Fae can ever glamour you."

I narrow my eyes at him. "What's the catch? Isn't there always a catch?"

He shrugs. "Of course there is. You'll have to be at my beck and call whenever and wherever you are."

"So you'll glamour me?"

"Yes, but I'll grant you your immunity once we succeed."

"My Lady, please. Reconsider!" Gion tugs on my pinky finger.

"And if we fail?" I ask. "What then?"

"Simple. You'll stay glamoured forever by me." He says. "But I highly doubt that'll happen. If what Darien said was true, then you'll manage fine."

His hand hovers between us. This is a terrible idea but I don't want to feel like that ever again. I'm so sick of being useless and helpless. I take his hand, gripping it firmly.

"Deal," I said solemnly.

My fingers start to tingle and then burn. When I try to pull away, he tightens his grasp.

"Excellent!" He exclaims. "Consider this proof of our payment. After all, we Fae cannot lie but there are always other ways."

I don't like the sound of that but before I can protest My hand starts to burn but Goodfellow watches on. His eyes glow once more and I feel a searing pain.

What have I done?