in my bed, and wearing my clothes.” His head tilted as he reached up with his other hand and traced a finger along my neck. I leaned back, and he chuckled as if I amused him. “You’ve already agreed to be with me. How exactly am I not breaking you, little bird?”
Anger flashed through me, causing my heart to pound in my ears. I lifted my gaze to his. “You will not break me.”
His grin widened, freezing the fire in my veins. It was also secretive and knowing, like he’d already read the book and knew how it would end. “I’ve only met a few halflings over the many centuries I’ve been alive.”
Centuries? I knew he was old, but good lord.
The prince turned, leading me over to where the woman lay. She didn’t move or look up at us. “We once had many humans in the Otherworld. They didn’t last very long. The feeding or the environment always got to them in the end, but we bred them, replenishing our stock before their inevitable deaths.”
I shuddered with disgust. The fae truly treated humans like cattle.
He didn’t seem to notice my distaste. “Unfortunately, the Otherworld is dying. Everything is turning cold and dead. The environment is no longer suitable to sustain human life, and without humans, we age . . . and we die.”
Something occurred to me. “Turning cold? Like the weather?”
Drake nodded.
My eyes widened. “It’s happening here. The cold spell.” I thought of the withered, dying vines outside of my apartment. “It’s because you’re here.”
“It’s adjusting to our needs,” he replied.
“But will your presence have the same impact here, like it did in the Otherworld?”
He shrugged. “It could, but it will take thousands of years. The weather will continue to cool. Winter is in our blood, after all.”
Shock rendered me speechless for a moment. “I thought the courts were dismantled. That summer and winter joined together and—”
His deep laugh silenced me. “The two courts did not simply join together. We overtook the summer court centuries ago. Winter rules all.”
I was barely able to process this before he started speaking again.
“Every so often, a fae would impregnate a human. Things sometimes got out of . . . control while feeding,” he said, grinning, and I remembered what Tink had said he’d seen once in the clearing in the Otherworld. The prince with several women. I imagined that could get kind of complicated. “Before we knew of the prophecy—the loophole surrounding the doorways—halflings were generally seen as an abomination. They were killed.”
“God,” I muttered.
“As if your kind treats halflings any better?”
I pressed my lips together, because he had a point, but whatever.
“But there were times when one of our kind took a liking to the human, to the child, and the halfling would grow.” Drake walked between the cots, tugging me along with him. The woman’s gaze drifted toward us. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he pushed me down with enough pressure that I couldn’t resist. He forced me to sit beside the woman. “Do you know what we discovered about halflings?”
A prickle of unease quickly grew until it felt like a thousand tiny needles dragging across my skin. Every muscle in my body grew rigid as he sat beside me. The cot was small, so there was very little room. The side of his body pressed against mine, and my thigh rested against the woman’s leg.
Drake leaned in, curling an arm around my waist, tightening the chain. “We learned that halflings could feed just like us.”
My wide eyes met his as a new horror gave birth, chilling my skin. “No,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he replied, his voice low. “It’s quite simple. It’s like a kiss. You just have to inhale and want it, and it will happen. You just need to know that you can do it. The first couple of times is like . . . taking a hit. It’s a lot for your system to handle, but you will get a handle on it.”
I shook my head, suddenly understanding his earlier smile. This wasn’t going to happen. No way.
“I think you need to explore your other half.” His hand left my waist, moving behind me and toward the woman. She stirred and started to sit up. “It’s time that you discover who you truly are.”
“No way.” I tried to stand, but he held the chain, forcing me to stay seated. Panic clawed at my throat, and I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. “There is no way I’m feeding off of anyone. That’s not who I am.”
“You don’t know what you are,” he responded. “You have no idea.”
“I know who I am.” I glanced at the woman. She was staring at us. Waiting. Her expression was blank, devoid of all thought and emotion. Did she know what was happening? “I’m Ivy Morgan. I’m a member of the Order. I’m human, and I don’t feed on other humans.”
“You are a halfling, and you will do as I say.”
“Never,” I whispered, my hands curling into fists.
The prince leaned over as he curled his hand around my chin. His grip was controlling, and I hated every place his skin touched mine. “You do remember that I can make you.”
My heart plummeted as realization set in. Drake could make me. He could make me do anything. Strip naked and dance around the room. Get on my knees before him. Jump through a window. I no longer had the protection of the clover. I could be manipulated just like any other human. For some foolish, horrible reason, I’d relied on the fact he couldn’t force me into bed to conceive a child, but that barrier didn’t extend to anything else.
“No.” I tried to yank my head out of his iron-clad grip. Real fear erupted in my gut. “Don’t do this. Please. Don’t make me do this.”
“You will want to do this.” He guided my gaze to his, and before I could squeeze my eyes shut or even prepare myself, our gazes locked and there was something in his eyes, something about him that I couldn’t look away from. Time seemed to slow down, and all that existed was the fast, erratic beat of my heart and his gaze. His eyes weren’t just one shade of blue, I realized. They were several dizzying shades of pale blue and violet. Like a glacier deep in the ocean, there was so much depth. “You may even like it,” he murmured, smoothing his thumb over my jaw. “My will is yours.”
My lips parted. I didn’t agree with him. I couldn’t exactly remember why, but I knew I should, especially when Drake spoke to the woman beside me. I’d forgotten her and jumped a little when she placed her small, frail hand on my shoulder. I twisted toward her even though I knew that wasn’t wise.
“Show her,” Drake said.
He was talking to this woman, and I didn’t understand what he meant, but she seemed to know, because her eyes drifted shut and she leaned into me, the front of her body against mine. I thought she was going to kiss me. Her mouth lined up with mine.
Drake’s hand slipped from my chin to the band around my neck. I hated that band. It symbolized everything that I had lost.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Drake murmured in my ear, derailing my thoughts. “You’re so thirsty. A need is burning bright in your stomach, lighting up every cell in your body. You need.”
He was right.
My stomach felt hollow. My throat felt parched. I’d eaten earlier, but I was . . . I was starving now. I needed.
“It’s not food you desire. It’s not water that will quench your thirst. You need life. You need a part of her. And she can give you what you need,” he explained, his voice as smooth as a lullaby. “Take it.”
My heart thundered in my chest. I couldn’t . . .
“She wants to give it to you,” he said, and I thought for some reason that might not be true. “Show her.”
Another hand curled around my shoulder, and I was tugged forward. There was no chain stopping me. The woman spoke and her hands moved, but I didn’t understand what she was saying. My eyelids were too heavy, and I couldn’t keep them open.
“Inhale,” the voice ordered, and that one word was everywhere, outside of me and in me, and I did what felt . . . right.
> I inhaled.
The woman jerked, her fingers spasming around my arms. An odd coolness slid over my lips and tongue. It reminded me of iced coffee on the hottest summer day. It was like stripping down and diving into water. But it was more. It was like electricity. A jolt of pure caffeine wrapped in ice. It rushed down my throat, hitting that empty spot.