“I… No… I can’t be…” Caeo drags his fingers down his face. “Fuck.”
A weight creeps slowly down my chest. He’s not the same person I fell in love with at the Academy. He’s a fae prince now, with all the power that comes with it.
I lean closer to Owena. “Are you alright?”
She nods shakily. “Well enough.”
Caeo drops beside her, his hand quaking as he rests it on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Owena. I didn’t mean to—I didn’t know I could bend people.”
She meets his eyes, a slight smirk forming on her lips. “You’ll need to learn to control that.”
He takes a deep, trembling breath. “I’m sorry, but I still need—”
Taran cuts him off, the force of his voice hitting hard. “Quiet, Caeo, before you do it again.”
Caeo’s lips continue to move, but no sound comes out. Panic floods his face as he brings his hands to his mouth, trying again and again, but there’s nothing. His eyes widen in horror.
My spine shudders. “Taran, stop it!”
“He could hurt someone.”
“And you’re hurting him!”
Caeo crumbles to the ground. I scramble over, helping him up. He leans into me, shivering, his eyes frantic.
Taran bends him again, his voice heavy. “You can make noise, Caeo.”
He coughs violently, gasping for air.
I pull him close, hugging his head against my breast as he convulses in my arms. “It’s alright, Caeo, it’s over. You can speak.”
Taran stumbles back a few steps, shaking his head. “I didn’t… No one’s ever reacted like that before.”
This doesn’t make any sense. I know what it feels like—Taran’s bent me twice. Even Merfyn didn’t respond like that.
There’s something more going on.
Owena shoots Taran a hard look. “Your mother’s been bending him ever since she brought him here.”
She rests her hand on Caeo’s shoulder as I squeeze him tight. I can’t imagine what he’s been through. But he held on. For me. Only to find out I’d fallen for the brother he never knew he had.
Taran slumps. “I didn’t…” he repeats, his voice trailing off. Turning away, he lets out a guttural roar that rips through the air, then buries his face in his hands.
Silence. Then Caeo pushes himself up, wiping his face on his sleeve. With a heavy breath, he slowly lifts his head to Owena. “Can you give us a minute?”
She bites her lip, then nods. Getting to her feet, she takes a few steps away, keeping her distance from Taran. Cadoc’s people have all left, the eerie quiet interrupted only by the pops of the campfire.
Caeo reaches out, running his fingers gently along my braids, leftover from earlier. “You look so different, dressed all fae-like.”
My heart hiccups between a laugh and a sob. “You, too.”
I slide my fingers through his soft hair, and a flicker of warmth stirs at the memory of the last time I did that. It seems like ages ago—like the memory belongs to someone else.
They come to rest atop the pointed tip of his ear.
He’s changed. Not just in appearance, but his spirit. During our weeks apart, something shattered him.
No. Not something. Someone.
