Cara was forced awake by the gurgling of her stomach. It rolled again, the contents in her gut forcing their way up her throat. Panic flashed through her before she glimpsed part of a sink through the doorway tucked in the corner. Dashing through the room, she made it to the sink as her stomach expelled the unsettled food.

She turned on the tap, thanking the gods for running water underground. The town had plumbing installed over a decade ago but her mother swore well water was the only way it should be harnessed. Cara hadn't been ill in a long time, but washing vomit down the sink was a lot easier than having to clean it up with a rag and a bucket of water.

Her stomach twisted again from thinking about it. She left the water running, scooping some in her hand so she could rinse her mouth. Totally exhausted, she sagged to the floor, bending her arm up to use as a pillow, the cool stone floor chilling her side yet settling her stomach. Did the faerie wine make her sick? Nothing else about her diet had changed, and the temperature fluctuations were beginning to settle, approaching the end of autumn.

Gaelish had recommended the wine with a wicked grin on his lips, showing off his feline incisors. After her mother admitted she was part Fae and Cara wasn't her real name, she figured she had nothing to worry about. But then Kiran had shown up in a rage.

She sighed. Kiran. The Fae she had come with the intention of bedding, spurred by her mother's insistence she couldn't do it. And then he had almost raped her, until he had stopped.

Or had he? If she hadn't been crying, would he have taken advantage of her in his anger? Babies are still made, despite rape. It wasn't how she had wanted her first time. Then again, she doubted any woman planned to be raped, first time or otherwise.

Unease slid down her spine, unsure on what to make of their interaction. He hadn't gone through with it. Had it even been his intention, or was he trying to scare her? He had said the women he bedded begged for it. But what did that even mean?

Voices carried through the wall and then the sound of creaking wood carried through the bedroom. Cara froze, barely daring to breathe tucked inside the tiny washroom.

"Well, where is she?" a woman asked.

"She's right–" Kiran's voice stopped abruptly. "Cara?"

"Ew. What's that smell?" the woman's voice asked as footsteps stormed into the room, their pace heavy yet quick.

Kiran stood over Cara within seconds, the terror clear on his face. Reaching to turn off the water, he crouched in front of her and touched her arms, neck, and forehead. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"I vomited. But I feel better now. Just super tired."

His face screwed up. "Forgive me, Cara, but we cannot stay here."

His sister, Breena, stepped into Cara's line of sight, her face twisted in disgust as she went to plug her delicate nose with her fingers. "You're wasting time. Pick her up."

He cut her a scathing look before focusing his attention on Cara once more. "Are you able to walk?"

"I think so."

"I'm about to carry her myself," Breena snapped. "I actually like Tatiana's court and I'm not about to get kicked out because you want to ensure your human feels well."

Kiran ignored her and helped Cara stand. Her knees wobbled as the room tilted around her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and urged her forward, telling her, "We're running out of time. We have to put ample distance between us and Tatiana before the sun rises."

"Why?" Cara asked, only wanting to sleep. Her body felt sluggish and heavy, too heavy. She was surprised Kiran could hold her upright. She leaned on him for support, not trusting her legs to keep her up by themselves. With each step across the bedroom, her world became more level, but she still felt weak.

Out in the hall, it seemed darker than before, more ominous somehow. There was an oppressing feeling, and Cara felt as if they were being watched, though she couldn't see anything peering at them.

Gravel crunched under their feet as they walked deeper into the cavern system, Breena trailing behind the pair, checking behind them every so often. It began to get chilly, Cara's hair and skin dampening in the misty air. She released Kiran to rub her hands down her arms in an effort to warm them, and clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. A cold breeze came from a deeper part of the cavern, swirling around her bare calves.

"Your human is turning purple," Breena remarked in a bored tone.

Kiran turned, cursed, and pulled his tunic over his head. He gently eased the shirt over Cara's head and she did her best not to stare at him. She had seen shirtless men before, out in the fields during harvest, particularly on the scorching days. Kiran looked similar enough to them, but he was also different.

His abdomen was the same, thinning from broad shoulders to a narrow waist in a luscious display of muscles. It was his chest that was different. The men she had seen in the field were almost boxy, the bottom of their chest a straight horizontal line between their pecks and abs. Kiran's pecs were mostly triangular, nearly extending to his collar bone, with a slight curve between his sternum and his sides.

"Thank you." Cara forced her tongue to speak, amazed by the warmth of his shirt. Every time she had touched him, his skin had been cold.

He stiffened, turning away abruptly. Kiran took the lead now that she could walk on her own. She studied his back as they continued their trek. The bottom half was human-like, but his shoulder blades jutted out in the middle of his back, similar to how a starving person's would. However, his shoulder blades are pitted from the ball of his shoulder, as if his shoulder blades are bowls beneath his skin.

Between his shoulders, the vertebrae of his spine also protruded abnormally, although they leveled back out when they reached his neck. In order to pass a human, he would definitely need to leave his shirt on.

"Are you going to address what just happened, brother?" Breena wondered, incredulous.

"It's an open-ended debt, Breena," Kiran responded, sounding as if he were speaking through clenched teeth. "I may address it whenever I choose."

Cara stumbled, realizing her mistake too late. She had thanked him, which meant she now owed him. Whatever, whenever, he decided to claim his debt.

Breena huffed. "It better be something good. I'll ask Olga about it. That's where you're going, isn't it? To visit our sister?"

He was silent for a few paces. "I thought about it." He turned left, down an adjacent hall, the passage significantly darker. As if he knew she had lost her sight, Kiran reached his hand back for Cara's and guided her through the void.

Soon enough, she heard water crashing and the tunnel began to get lighter. They emerged near a familiar waterfall. Everyone in town came here on really hot days to cool off and socialize. Shocked, she turned around, seeing only a stone cliff-face and Breena sneering at her. More specifically, at her and Kiran's joined hands.

"Well, well," a disembodied voice crooned. "Going for a late night stroll in the middle of the party, are we?"

***Do you think Breena will continue to help them? Are her loyalties to her brother stronger than her loyalty to Tatiana's Court?***