We walked – well, he walked, I limped – through the woods. The question that kept popping up in my mind was why I kept following this man. I didn't have to listen to him. Hell, I didn't have to do a thing he said! The rebellious part of me was not overwhelming the bit of me that said that if I did something stupid, something really bad would happen.

Silence permeated the air between us. I didn't mind. It gave me time to sort my thoughts. I wasn't really sure how I felt about this whole 'your mom is a kelpie and your dad is a wizard' thing. I'd read books like this before. What had happened? Oh yeah, the girl fell in love with the guy who took her from her boring life. Glancing at Arion, I thought that hell would freeze over first.

I guess this is what every girl is supposed to secretly want; a secret life. As a person reading Harry Potter, you secretly pray that when you are eleven you'll be whisked off to Hogwarts with the arrival of your letter. Let me tell you, I wasn't so pleased with this turn of events. My life had been pretty good. I had been all set up for my senior year. I had had plans for it to be the best year of my life. So much for that.

Furthermore, what was Mom going to do? She couldn't very well explain why it was that I was suddenly gone. Worry gripped me, and my anger began to fade. Glancing back into the woods, I grimaced. What was going to happen to her? According to her story, she couldn't go back to our old life. Would I ever get to see her again?

"She'll be fine," Arion said, as if reading my mind. "Your mother is a resourceful woman." I tilted my head at him. What did he know about my mother?

"What will happen to her?" I just had to ask. I couldn't leave it at that. I had to know that nothing back would happen to her.

Arion shrugged. "If it were me I would kill her. She betrayed our bargain, and I don't think that she deserves to be pardoned." His voice was bland, as if it didn't matter. That made me furious.

Stopping, I held my place. I would not go an inch further. "That's my mother we're talking about. Don't you dare go near her." He tried to pull at me, and managed to move me only slightly before he realized that I wasn't going to go anywhere before he amended what he said.

"Alright," he turned, those gray eyes dark again. Getting to close for comfort, I backed up a little. I really needed to stop shooting off my mouth. "I don't know what they'll do to her. I do, know, however that the Fae are not forgiving. I can, however, guarantee that you'll never see your mother again." I gaped. Never. Again. The words sat heavy on my heart.

"Never?" the word came out softly as I tried to comprehend it's full meaning. "As in never ever?" He nodded curtly. My heart felt as though it could break, and I finally did it. I collapsed to the dirty forest floor and emptied the contents of my stomach.

Heaving, I was surprised by how much was left from breakfast. Feeling ill, I shuddered as the remaining tremors wracked my body. Those were always the worst – when you were choking on the taste of your vomit and then you had those empty heaves. Pain made tears roll down my face.

"Never again. Why not!" I cried out angrily to the floor. I felt broken, sick, and defeated. It was the worst feeling ever.

He knelt by me, and sighed as if deeply annoyed. "We can't risk her trying to steal you away again, or putting ideas in your head. You'll be distanced." That emotionless I-don't-care voice again. I wanted to punch him for it, but I was too sick to do so. "Now get up. We need to keep moving."

Making a wobbly attempt at standing, I fell to the ground. My knee. My freaking knee was in pain. Glancing at it, I noticed that it had been dirtied, and my skin around it was plastered with blood, leaves, and dirt. Hah. Even though I was resisting him only because my knee refused to be stood on, it felt good to resist. Especially when he growled in annoyance.

He mumbled something that I could have sworn was, "Curse your human gene's fragility." Not my fault because I was half human. Talk to my parents. Wait. You couldn't, because you killed one of them. The thought rekindled my need to fight whatever was going to happen to me. Like hell I was going anywhere with the people who had killed my father.

Perhaps that was why I was surprised when he scooped me up and carried me princess style. Our closeness made me uncomfortable, and I squirmed in annoyance. A warning glare and something akin to growl from him made me stop. Pouting, I crossed my arms. We traveled the rest of the woods in silence.

Deeper and deeper we went. Mother and I had never traversed this deep into the forest. Honestly, that didn't surprise me much. Why tempt fate? But what really got me was how deep we did go. Who knew that there had been so much woodland out here? It was wild. The journey seemed to go on forever, and I quickly lost track of time and the number of trees we passed. Playing a lame car game like I Spy would have been boring on this trip. 'I spy with my little eye something brown.' 'Let me guess, a stick. Again.' 'Yep.' Not much entertainment at all. I even got tired enough that I allowed my head to rest against Arion's chest.

It was ideal. Not at all. But I didn't want to hold my head erect any longer, and that was my only option. He didn't protest. In fact, he didn't do much of anything. His arrogant façade had faded after his anger, and he remained as blank looking as a stone. It was nice, though. He was well-built, I could feel that. The rise and fall of his chest provided a peaceful rhythm to the trip beyond the pace he was walking at. I hate to admit it, but I fell asleep.

I would have really loved to know what had happened next. There must have been some awesome and magical transition between the world of Faerie and ours. I missed it all during my nap. But who could blame me? I had just gone through the most stressful day of my entire life, and I was tired from all that running.

Needless to say, it was something of a shock when I woke up to see a little green thing flitting around in front of my face.