Later that night we stopped to make camp. Ronan collected wood and then returned to light a fire for the first time in a while. The air, though an improvement over the icy winds of The Greys, was still brisk, especially under the clear night sky. That was without the bone-deep chill settling inside me knowing that the dead trees hovered nearby. Though we had moved further away from the forest, it still loomed within sight.

"Are we safe now?" I asked, breaking the silence. "Is that why you can light a fire?"

He stoked the flames and then rolled on another piece of firewood.

"Safe," he said with a humorless smile. "I'm not sure safety exists here the same as it does for you mortals."

Something in his tone carried a bite, and I frowned. He had been sullen all day. It had been intimidating before, but now that I knew him better, I couldn't help a flicker of irritation igniting inside me.

Ronan's eyes reflected the flames as they flickered across his face in a gentle caress. He held his hands over the fire, giving it more power. I watched him, fascinated despite my irritation with him. As a child, I had always wanted to see faerie magic. I had hoped if I ever met one, they could teach me how to use it.

If I stayed with Ronan would he show me how he used his?

I frowned at the thought. Stayed? What was I thinking?

"You know what I meant, faerie."

Ronan pulled away from the flames, coming around the side of the fire to perch next to me on a log. He pulled out a hunk of bread, breaking me off a piece along with a slab of hard cheese.

"Here," he said, holding it out to me.

I took it reluctantly. Chewing on the stale bread, I stared into the flames in an attempt to avoid looking around us. The forest around us appeared full of shadows around the outer reaches of the fire. They danced and leaped across the ground, moving to the sound of the crackling flames.

"The Dead Forest is nearby, and we enter the land of the Dark Courts. There is a lot to be cautious about until we get to the Sand Sea," he answered finally.

"You mentioned the Dead Forest, why are you avoiding it?" I asked as I finished off my meager meal. It wasn't the feast we'd had in Ashthorne Castle, but it was still food.

Ronan looked up at me, his lips pursing as he considered my question. "It's cursed," he said, his tone darkening. "There used to be a fourth court within the Night Courts. But they were cursed before Mab left the lands. They were called the Dream Court—the forest used to belong to them, but now it is as dead as the fae that once lived there. My mother and the other vampyr used to be a part of their Court."

"That's terrible," I replied. "Why did Mab curse them?"

Ronan gazed into the fire, hesitating a moment before continuing, "It is said that she fell in love with a human man. I'm not sure exactly how the story goes, but a prominent Dream Faerie named Aeker was jealous. He wanted to marry Mab, and rule beside her as High King of Faerie. That was before we were divided as we are." Ronan shrugged. "It is said the Dream fae could manipulate the mind, and often would visit human in their dreams, turning them into nightmares. Aeker did this to the man Mab loved."

My eyes were wide, and I thought back to when Marlais had mentioned Faerie's High Queen leaving.

"And then she left..."

Ronan nodded. "She forced Aeker to wipe the human's mind of his experiences in Faerie before reaping her deadly storms on Dream Court's land, then returned him home herself. She never came back. No one knows the exact curse she wrought upon them, but it is said that it caused those that survived to never be the same, and they died off one by one." He hesitated. "All except for Queen Kiera's half-brother.

I shook my head. "That's so sad. Mab's lover forgot about her completely."

Ronan remained blank-faced, unaffected. But then he glanced at me, his gaze lingering on me for several moments. It was like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how.

"Well, she had her vengeance," Ronan said. "I think I would've liked Mab."

He returned to his bread, revealing one of his elongated fangs and he tore off a bite. He looked deep in thought as he chewed.

The fire sparked, and I picked up a longer stick, using it to push a piece of wood deeper into the flames. We sat quietly for several moments, but I wasn't ready to stop talking yet. Something about the dark trees and the looming shadow of the Dead Forest beyond them had me feeling uneasy.

"So Mab's lover," I looked ahead into the fire, not quite able to meet Ronan's eyes. "He was a man. So was Eaven and Theodan's uncle. Were they from the Hunt? I remember there only being women."

Ronan shook his head. "No, they weren't from the Hunt. The Hunt isn't the only way mortals enter Faerie, or so I hear." He grabbed another log of wood leaning over my arm to place it directly on the flames, his hands unscathed by the fire's scorching heat. "Many mortals wander through on their own. The Hunt is just a game where we actively seek you out."

The admission sent a flicker of anger through me. I knew it had been a game to them, but perhaps a part of me was still hoping it hadn't been just a game to Ronan.

I wasn't sure why it mattered so much. I had made it clear I had no desire to be here. What did it matter how he saw me?

"I see."

My mood darkening, I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees and staring into the flames.

Ronan took notice of my change in mood.

"You are upset," he said, matter of fact.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my irritation getting the best of me.

"I'm upset? You barely talked to me all day!"

Ronan turned from the fire to look at me. There was a flicker in his eyes, but otherwise, his expression remained blank.

"I didn't have anything to say."

His lack of emotion just pissed me off more.

"You were talking just fine before our conversation yesterday," I said, irritation seeping into my voice. "And look, it's hard for me to have sympathy. All I am to you is some prize in a game. A trophy you're taking home from the Hunt. A nice little bride you managed to capture after you went and killed the Day Court Prince."

Ronan exhaled slowly. He looked into the flames, not meeting my eyes.

"You aren't just a 'Prize.'"

I held out my hands. "Then what the hell am I? Why won't you just let me go home? If you cared about me you would realize I will never be happy like this, so stop expecting me to act like I am."

My breaths were hard and ragged, and I watched Ronan closely as he remained completely still, his eyes boring into the flames. Shadows moved across one side of his face, as if they were waging a war of their own, threatening to take over.

"Happy. Care. These things, these human ideas, they don't exist for me," he said, his voice low. I noticed his eyes flickering redder, but I wasn't ready to back down.

I laughed humorlessly. "Really? So when you were bothered by me being sick, that was just for your own gain? When you got angry at Theodan about the Day Courts trying to assassinate me, that had nothing to do with caring?" I leaned in closer, my anger making me harsh and spiteful. It always did. "And when I said I didn't want to go home with you, that didn't make you unhappy?"

Ronan's claws dug into the wooden log underneath us.

"Stop it," he snarled. His eyes glowed, his features sharpened. "Stop doing that."

I grinned, and I knew it was just as maniacal as the one Ronan had worn at the dinner in Ashthorne.

"Why, fae, have I angered you? Or is that too human for you to understand?" I sneered harshly, some wild demon finding its way into my voice. It took over, not letting me take the time I should to consider my words.

Ronan spun on me, looking away from the flames. But it was then I noticed his face wasn't angry. It was something else. It was the same emotion he had worn when he had asked me if I had thought about staying with him.

Fear. Only this time much more of it.

The look gave me pause, it was so unexpected and vulnerable it made me deflate, my anger leaving me as quickly as it had come. I had been taunting him, but maybe these were all things he hadn't experienced before.

Before I could say something else, however, Ronan's hand grasped mine. His nostrils flared, the sharp feral features of his face wavered, his eyes steadying as he met mine.

"No, I don't understand what it all means." His grip on me tightened, his voice growing lower. I watched as his face slowly settled back to normal. He looked down at our intertwined hands, his claws dark slashes across my skin. "But no one has ever seen this side of me so many times and lived like you have."

He lifted a hand, brushing the hair off my face. I found myself speechless as I stared back at him. His hand lingered in my hair. My wavy strands curled around his finger, and his sharp pointed nails scraped against the thin skin of my skull. He could kill me in an instant.

"That's because of the wedding ceremony," I said licking my lips. "It bonds us through blood, makes you want to protect me."

He shook his head, his eyes darkening as they wandered over my face.

"No, it's not."

Heat flared from our joined hands, and a breeze brushed past us. He must have felt it too, because his eyes fluttered closed. He exhaled, and I saw the tension leave his body.

"When I saw you with Eirian, I knew I couldn't leave you there and let another male have you. Seeing you fall sick, or thinking of your life at threat makes me feel a strange fury that only you can quell. All this talk about going home... it is unpleasant for me."

I made to pull my face away, my heart thudding in my chest. The heat from his hands, the things he was saying. It was all just too much.

"I'm sorry, I can't--"

He shook his head. His gaze flickered over me. And it looked like he was hesitating. Like he might run away again. But then his shoulders slumped, and when he looked back at me, something in his eyes had shifted.

"I don't want you to go..." he said softly. "I never expected it to affect me so."

Ronan was looking down at my lips. The hand in my hair tightened, and I felt more heat rolling off of him. A breeze brushed past us, making the fire flicker. It came up behind me as if urging me closer to Ronan.

For a moment, it looked like he might kiss me. All my anger and frustration dissolved, leaving just the sensation of his heated touch and the undeniable draw I had to him. Flickers of flames beneath my skin roused something inside of me. A shift in the emptiness, the void suddenly becoming more full.

It felt right.

Ronan's chin lowered, his breath heated my skin. I waited, my breath caught in my chest.

Snap.

Ronan pulled away, his gaze darting around the woods. The hand that had been in my hair dropped to his side, pulling out one of his knives.

"What was that?"

He shook his head. "Stay here."

"Wait--"

But he was already gone.