At some point when Pan is walking me back to the Aerie I fall asleep again, only to wake up on a comfy queen bed in what looks like one of the guest rooms. The pain and fatigue I once felt is replaced with a feeling of power and exhilaration. I sit up to see that Pan is sat forward on an arm chair in the corner. He looks up at me and when we make eye contact I invite a feeling I haven't felt since I was on Neverland. I want to be devious and play with his emotions like putty.

"Come on, we're leaving." He says, moving to his feet.

"Where are we going?" I ask, sitting back against the headrest.

"I don't care, anywhere. I don't like that they hurt you and I don't know what else is going to happen." He walks to the end of my bed and I climb out from under the covers.

"I can't just leave, I'm Veela. This is my home now." As I say it the door opens and Felix walks into the room with us.

"You're one of them?" He asks.

"Yes, I'm one of them." I say dryly, adding, "Do you have a problem with Veelas?"

"I don't like what they can make me do." He says, folding his arms. I narrow my eyes at him and feel some anger building up. I lean back on the bed and look down at the covers.

"If you two hate this place so much then leave; I don't need you to stay and I never asked you to come find me." I look up at Felix, "Some of us need more time to heal than others." Felix rubs his chin with a look of shame before looking at the floor. There is knock on the door and I hear Laura speak from behind it,

"Felix?" She calls. Felix looks back up at me and I make a point of staring back.

"Go on; your fiancé wants you." The words come out smoothly and it feels like I'm hearing them through a sheet of glass. There's a tingling around my heart that lets me know I'm using my charm and I notice Felix' eyes widen slightly and his pupils dilate. It feels like our eye contact has created a tunnel and everything beyond our faces is blurred. He mouth gapes open and he simply nods before opening the door and leaving the room. As soon as he turns away the blurriness goes and I feel like I'm back in my own head. I swing my legs off the side of the bed and move to stand, these new things I'm feeling excite me. I look at Pan who's staring at me intently then glance down at my dress to notice that it's still the dirty one I had on before.

"I'm going to bathe." I look up at Pan as I say it. That mischievous tug on my heart is strong and I feel devious enough to add, "Are you going to join me or should I go get Aetius?" As soon as I say it I notice his jaw clench and his eyes darken. A small part of me feels bad I can't help but smile wickedly.

"What's happening to you?" He asks after a pause. Before I can answer him the door is opened by Emmeline. She narrows her eyes at Pan and looks over to me.

"Hello, cousin." She says with her usual lying smile.

"Emmeline." I nod back to her.

"My mother wants to see you. Though, I suggest you bathe first." She looks to my clothes and hair and I look back at Pan with the same wicked grin. There's a voice inside telling me that I need to get a hold of myself, but being cruel just feels so good. I head to the en-suite without another word to either of them and swiftly bathe, dress and style my hair. Once I return to the room I notice that's its empty so I head off to the throne room to meet with Cassiopeia.

"Lena!" She says with a smile as she greets me. "You did so well my darling niece!" She's sat up in her throne but offers for me to sit in one of the arm chairs to the side of the throne. I walk up the steps to join her in sitting and look out across the Hall to see Emmeline scowling at me with folded arms.

"Someone's upset." I say with a nod in her direction. The Matriarch notices where I'm looking and purses her lips while Emmeline storms off down the hall.

"She's jealous that I'm allowing you to sit up here. I don't like to play favourites but you are royal now and I don't believe I've ever seen a new Veela do as well as you did last night. Your body can take quite a beating." She nods to me with a smile. I raise an eyebrow.

"You beat me?" I ask.

"Of course not, I just meant that the rituals can take quite a toll on the Veela." She says.

"Yes, I remember that." I purse my lips and she places a hand over mine.

"So how do you feel now?" She tilts her head.

"Great, actually- I think I used the charm before when I encouraged Felix to leave my room."

"Hmm, I've noticed Pan and that blonde boy staring at you quite a bit." She smirks, continuing, "Though you really must be careful with the charm. You're very new to it and it can happen without you meaning to use it. Humans are very susceptible to it."

"Am I only able to charm men?" I ask, tilting my head.

"There are a few exceptions to the charm, though most humans capable of being attracted to a female are able to be charmed, unless you're related to them."

"What about Nyx?"

"Nyx will probably love you anyway but no, you can't charm them. A grey area exists for other magical identities; generally the ones capable of love can be charmed. But then witches these days are coming up with all sorts of spells and enchanted charm-protection jewellery for their men to wear; and for them to sell, of course. I know I can't blame them for being cautious - we can do damaging things with the charm – but if we really wanted to hurt them we would just go harpy." She finishes with a pensive sigh and leans to her side to rest her chin in her palm.

"How far can we go with the charm?" I ask her.

"It's like magic- it depends on how powerful the user is. Though I'm not going to lie, the most powerful of our kind can drive men to homicide." She says it like it's nothing, like it's an everyday occurrence. I find my mind drifting off, wondering if I was right to dive headfirst into this new world. That is, until Cassiopeia interrupts my train of thought.

"So- on the topic of those boys… I've also noticed my dear Aetius staring at you every now and then." I look at her timidly and she responds with a smile.

"Darling, I'm not Emmeline. I'm all for one of my girls ending up with that handsome boy, he's very clever. Though, something tells me you're not the type to settle."

"I like to keep my options open. I would have thought that's common among Veela."

"Oh, it is. You should just be careful; others might not take to your breaking of hearts kindly."

"Hmm… so what can I do about keeping my emotions in check?" I change the subject.

"You're feeling the pressures of your many impulses?" She asks.

"Yes. It's like part of me wants to give into a violent anger – to release the harpy. Another part of me wants to hurt the feelings of everyone around me and then a different part wants to throw a party and dance and laugh. But then yet another part of me wants to-" I stop and feel myself blush, "Well… give into my other impulses." I finish.

"Well, as your matriarch I would advise you to focus solely on not letting out anger. If you have to go overboard on your other impulses then so be it. You're young and independent- do what you will." Hearing this makes me feel like smiling. I nod as I consider what she's said and she continues,

"Now, you'd better go - I've got to go meet with some people. But if you have any troubles go to Emmeline, she's a teenager at heart but is a responsible second-in-command." She nods with a smile and I move to my feet.

"Thank you for your advice." I give her a slight bow before hurrying off to find the guest house.

The guest house is a detached building on the mountain but isn't too far away. It looks very similar to the main building and I find myself getting lost a few times when trying to navigate it. Eventually I wander into a hall and notice Felix sitting alone on a balcony. I open the glass door and Felix turns to face me, his mouth gapes slightly but he remains silent.

"You cut your hair." I say with a slight smile. He nods to me and turns to look out at the mountain range again. I walk over to the loveseat he's on and smooth my dress as I sit. A moment of silence passes before one of us speaks,

"I'm sorry if my moving on hurt your feelings." Felix says. I stare ahead as I consider my next words.

"Do you love her?" I ask him finally.

"I thought so… but then I saw you again and I just remembered everything that happened on Neverland." I look up at his face.

"So what did happen after I left? How did you meet her?" I ask.

"Pan had us all leave Neverland and we moved between worlds quite a bit. Pan said it was so we could go find more places to partake in celebration and just enjoy ourselves but I knew he was trying to find something. He was very secretive once we left Neverland and didn't tell me much. Along the way I met Laura and she was the first person Pan encouraged me to get close to. I wanted to finally have something real and meaningful and I began to feel quite strongly about Laura. So when Pan showed me this ring he'd found in an antique store I kept it. One day Laura found it in my bag and I knew I had to make up my mind then and there."

"So you proposed?" I ask him in disbelief.

"Well, I told her to wear it." He shrugs. I almost laugh at this thought.

"Felix, that doesn't mean you two are engaged!" I laugh, while he remains deadpan.

"I never said that, you did… and also Laura." He says.

"So she thinks you want to marry her? Oh my god that hilarious." I say with another laugh, slapping his arm.

"No it's not." He shakes his head, tilting it back in exasperation. "Stop laughing." He orders. I calm myself down and look back at his face. I can't hold back my smile and he turns to look at me. I slowly slide my hand to rest on his. He looks out over at the mountain again and I place my free hand gently on his jaw, turning his head to face me. I lean my forehead to his and we embrace for a moment.

"Lena- it's difficult now." He says in a low tone.

"It was difficult before." I whisper, moving my face to his some more. Our lips brush and he sits back some more.

"This can't happen this time." He says with seriousness. I feel the same anger creeping up and my mind spins with thoughts of lashing out or charming him to kiss me. I have to work hard to stomp them down, attempting to let my old morals come back. I exhale in disappointment but this seems to interest him. I think back to something I heard in the rituals, about how Veela are special in that every single thing about us was genetically designed to draw men in. Felix moves his hand to my leg, grips under my knee and pulls me closer to him. This moves me off balance and I let out a squeal of surprise as I fall forward. He catches me in his arms and pulls me onto his lap. I'm smiling at him brightly but he keeps his eyes fixed on mine in a determined expression. I move my hand up and run my fingers through his hair.

"Felix?" a voice says from the doorway. He lets go of me suddenly and turns to look to the voice. I move to my feet and turn around to see Laura standing at the door, looking pissed.

We all go silent.