Zoey stopped herself from screaming and jumped out of bed. He had a coat around himself – but it was open at the front – so she could see the gashes in his flesh. He sank to his knees before falling forward, onto his chest and face. Instantly, Zoey was by his side, and she put her arms on his left shoulder. He groaned but turned when she tugged. Had he not decided to turn by himself she would not have been able to move him.
“Caynin…” She soaked her hands in blood as she touched his chest. His wounds were burn marks. Iron burnt Fata, but no iron lay around in the castle…
Where had he gone?
She rushed to her bathtub and poured cold water over her towels before putting them onto his chest to absorb the heat. Caynin’s breath was shallow, his face sweaty. What could Zoey do? It was Rane’s job to look out for Caynin... Rane’s…
“Where is Rane?”
“You can’t fetch Rane.” Caynin’s voice was barely audible. “He will kill them for doing this to me.”
“Kill who?” she asked, but Caynin did not answer. His eyes were closing, and Zoey shook his shoulders frantically. “Don’t sleep!”
He could not die; she would not let him. Zoey tried to calm down and think. She did not know if they had doctors around here, and she couldn’t think of anyone else to help. Yet there had been that Fluver-luzile in the windowsill earlier that day.
“I’ll be back,” she told Caynin, who did not respond. She rushed through the garden toward that room and was glad that she did not struggle to find it. The window could not be opened from the outside, thus without thinking, she slammed her fist into the glass. The glass broke, and she cut her hand on it when she plucked a flower. She did not focus on the pain as she ran back to her room.
Once inside, she emptied a body lotion bottle, washed it, and refilled it with water. She crushed the flower then added it to the water. She shook the mixture before returning to Caynin. She placed his head in her lap, so that it was slightly lifted, before she brought the bottle to his lips.
“Drink,” she ordered.
He drank the first few sips slowly then closed his hands around the bottle and gulped all of it down. When he was done, he threw the bottle aside and kept his eyes closed. His breathing was deeper now, and Zoey removed one towel from his chest to look at his wounds. They were slowly closing.
She gently touched his cheek, and his eyes snapped open. His cat-like pupils focused on her hand, and he sniffed the air.
“You’re bleeding,” he said.
She removed her hand from his cheek but left a bloody handprint behind. She turned her palm upward to inspect the wound. “I cut myself on some glass. It’s not serious.” She wiped her hand on her blue night gown.
Slowly, Caynin sat up, and the towels fell off his chest. The flower was working quickly, and Zoey stared at him like she had stared at Violet once she was healed.
“Fluver-luzile,” Caynin said. “That was some quick thinking.”
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” Zoey realized she was shaking. He touched his cheek, where her blood was, and that made her reach for the wet towel.
“Here, let me.” She wiped away the blood. His canines were so close to her throat he could rip it out in a second if he wanted to. Zoey gently reached for his torn shirt and opened it. Caynin’s wounds were healed but he was covered in blood. She started wiping it away – and he let her.
Caynin watched her clean off his blood. Did he think that she cared about him? Did she? They hadn’t known each other long, but Zoey’s feelings were human and intense. He made her nervous, and from the way his eyes twinkled, she could tell he knew it and liked having that effect on her. Whatever she was feeling for him now was better than the terror she had in the beginning.
Caynin kept still as the towel rubbed over his body. Did he notice how soft her hands were? His eyes darkened every time she paused, suggesting he longed for her touch every time she stopped. Once she was done, she dropped her hands into her lap, unsure what to do with them. He watched her every move but did not say anything.
They sat in silence until Zoey finally asked, “What happened?”
“I was caught off guard by some Slaerie,” he said. “I couldn’t go to my chambers, because then I’d pass the queen’s bedroom and risk being seen. I can’t let her see me as weak.”
Zoey’s chest tightened because he’d come to her when he needed someone. He’d trusted her to keep what had happened to him, to herself. “Did any other Fata see you?”
“Yes, but I hid my wounds with my coat, and I managed to walk up straight, until I reached your room. No one will suspect anything.”
There was more to the story than he was telling her. He had argued with Rane because he was going somewhere that night instead of dining with the queen. Where had he been?
“I don’t ever know what you are thinking,” Caynin mumbled.
Zoey ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
“I can’t tell you everything.” He studied her seriously.
Her gut twisted, and she hated his words. He’d trusted her to save his life, and now he was keeping secrets. Maybe, just like the other Fata, he did not trust her because she was human. Or was he withholding information because he didn’t respect her enough to tell her?
“Will you tell me everything after I have completed the Three Trials?” she asked, bitterly.
“I don’t think you should do the trials.”
His muscles, which were sculpted more perfectly than the ice in the garden, were visible through his torn shirt. She tried to focus on the conversation, instead of his body and the heat between her thighs.
“Because you think I’d fail?”
“Because I can’t protect you during the trials. I can’t interfere.
“Careful, Prince,” she sneered. “You’ll make me think you actually care about me.”
She got up from the ground and her satin dress fell around her body. She was not wearing a bra and felt self-conscious when Caynin’s gaze lingered on her chest. He got up as well and towered over her. He was standing close to her, and she refused to back up and rather embraced the suffocating feeling.
He touched her cheek lightly. “Is it that hard to believe that I care about you?”
Zoey almost believed him, but he was still a Fata. He and his kind looked down on humans. He did not care about her; he saw her as nothing more than a toy. Whatever game he was playing, she was not going to participate.
She pulled her face away from his touch and shoved him backward – out the door. As he stumbled outside, he gaped at her, and for once, she knew she had caught him by surprise.
“Yes.” She closed the door in his face.
***
The next morning, Zoey chose to wear a tank top and jeans with knee-high boots. These clothes seemed too mundane for the Everwhite Kingdom, but she felt more comfortable in them than in the fancy dresses. Of course, she also wrapped herself in a scarf, pulled on gloves, and finished the ensemble with a vest and jacket.
She opened her door to find Delia there with her hand raised, ready to knock. Delia dropped her hand to her side and looked into Zoey’s eyes, unflinching.
“The prince is waiting for you near the big trees at the back of the castle.” She then walked away.
Zoey watched her go without saying anything. Delia did not like her, and it was slightly weird that she had been sent to deliver the message.
“You humans sleep forever,” Fleur complained as she approached from the direction in which Delia had disappeared. Fleur wore her maid outfit and carried a bucket of what Zoey assumed was cleaning supplies.
“I am sorry,” Zoey responded sarcastically. “Were you in a hurry to clean my room?”
From the look in Fleur’s eyes Zoey could tell she should have kept her mouth shut, but she was so tired of being bullied.
“Watch it,” Fleur said, “with a tongue like that, you might not wake up one of these days.”
“Are you threatening me?” Zoey asked without a hint of fear.
“I don’t need to threaten you. If Delia is showing up at your door, you are in enough trouble already.” With that, Fleur pushed past her, into her room.
Zoey marched off, not wanting to spend another moment in Fleur’s company. She headed to the back of the castle where it was quiet. Caynin was not by the big frozen trees.
“Caynin!” she called.
“No, just us.”
Zoey spun around to face Kismet and Delia. Kismet had a satisfied grin as she said, “Did you really think the Fata prince had summoned you here? Do you seriously think you are that important?”
“Stupid human,” Delia added.
They had lured her into a trap, and foolishly she had fallen for it. Why had she been dumb enough to trust what they had said? They were alone, and even if there were other Fata, she doubted they would come to her aid.
“You’re not allowed to hurt me,” she reminded them. She hated using Caynin’s protection as a weapon, but she did not have anything else. She was vulnerable. “The prince forbade it.”
“What the prince doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Delia said.
“What did I ever do to you?” Zoey asked.
“Last night you stole from me,” Kismet responded angrily.
Zoey recalled seeing her and Delia going into the room that had the Fluver-luzile in the windowsill. She had stolen a flower, but it had been an emergency. She couldn’t tell Kismet she had stolen it to help Caynin. Even if she did, she doubted it would change Kismet’s feelings toward her. Clearly, she wanted revenge.
“You’re a thief,” she said. “Do you know what happens to thieves around here?”
“They say they’re sorry and then everyone forgives and forgets?” Zoey tried.
“They are fed to the leopards,” Delia corrected.
Zoey opened her mouth to scream for help, but Kismet clasped her hand over her lips to stifle her scream. She struggled against the Fata, but to no avail. She was dragged past the big trees, thrown into the ice, and felt something hard poking into her side. When she looked up, six winged leopards were watching her. The hard object she had fallen on was a bone, they were everywhere, and she was the leopards’ next meal.
Kismet slammed her fist into Zoey’s mouth, splitting her lip. Zoey opened her mouth and the blood dripped to the ground as Delia and Kismet ran away before the leopards could attack them. Zoey wiped her mouth and stared down five hungry leopards. They were drawing closer. Zoey could not fight them with her bare hands, and even if she had a weapon, her chances of survival were slim. She was shaking uncontrollably.
The leopard closest to her hand a blue jewel hanging from his horns – the same blue jewel Caynin wore as a ring. The beast approached, baring his teeth, and stopped a few inches from Zoey’s face. He sniffed her and covered his teeth with his lips before he licked Zoey’s cheek with a rough tongue. She opened her eyes as the leopard lay down next to her and turned onto his back so that she could scratch his chin.
“Did you smell Caynin’s scent on me?” Zoey wondered. After all, Caynin had been in her room last night when she had healed him…
The other leopards kept their distance, swishing their tails, and Zoey scratched the one who had helped her. He purred, and she couldn’t help but smile. If the other leopards were staying away from him, it must mean that he was the alpha.
“You must be crazy,” Lore said.
Zoey hadn’t even heard him and Bane approach and looked away from the purring snow leopard.
“Chet doesn’t let just anyone pet him.” Bane frowned.
Zoey didn’t mention Caynin’s scent on her. “Do the others have names?”
“Ray, Blaze, Knight, Frost, Fang,” Lore answered after a short pause.
The leopards didn’t react when their names were spoken, but then again, they weren’t dogs. Lore and Bane looked at the leopards as if they expected them to do more than just lie there in the snow.
“I guess the leopards won’t dare to eat the prince’s pet,” Bane said.
“Not before she has tried to pass the Worthy Trials,” Lore added.
“If she can’t even fight off the leopards, she won’t survive the trials,” Bane said.
“I’m right here,” she reminded them.
They turned their eyes toward her as she got up. Chet groaned, and she jumped slightly.
“Who threw you to the leopards?” Lore asked.
“What makes you think I did not wander here on my own?”
“Your bleeding lip,” Bane said. “Someone clearly dislikes you.”
“Everyone here dislikes me,” she told him. He didn’t need to know about Kismet and Delia.
Lore smiled. “You’re not telling?”
If she told on Kismet and Delia, she would appear whiny and weak. Besides, it was not like Lore or Bane were going to defend her.
“I like you,” Bane decided. “You are tougher than Caynin’s previous pets.”
That captured her full attention. “Excuse me?”
Lore raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you know?”
Bane laughed. “Did you seriously think you were the first human Caynin accepted into the castle?”
Zoey decided to walk away and not answer them. Neither attempted to stop her as she went. She had not thought about Caynin accepting other humans into the castle before. Why did it bother her? Maybe it made her feel less special.
As Zoey walked, she could not help but wonder: if Caynin had accepted other humans into the castle, where were they now?