I shake my head no, but then realize I actually have no idea. I crawl out of bed slowly and take small but urgent steps toward the door Fen pointed to. It's dark, but the light of the ever-burning fire gives enough illumination to keep me from falling on my face and pissing myself.

There is nothing more instantly gratifying and pleasurable in the most basic way then relieving yourself when your bladder is close to busting.

When I return to the room, Fen is already standing. I walk to him and wrap my arms around his waist.

He holds me, and we stand there for I don't know how long, just being.

"Stay?" I ask as he eventually pulls away.

He looks down at me, then leans in. I stand on my toes to reach his lips. The kiss starts sweet. Gentle. Then deepens into something that makes my whole body wake up.

It ends too soon. "I can't. If I did, we'd do things."

I grin. "And that's a problem because… ?"

"Because you might feel better, but you still need rest. I don't want to hurt you." He leans in and whispers in my ear. "I don't want to have to hold back our first time together."

Heat pools in the center of my body and I crave him so badly I can hardly contain myself. "You don't have to hold back now."

He shakes his head and steps away, putting space between us. "I am not human," he says. "I'm much stronger. I have… more stamina and endurance."

He dances around the words, but I get the picture. "If that's supposed to dissuade me, I'm afraid you've failed miserably."

There is a long pause as we stare at each other. Then he turns and opens my door. "Soon. Very soon." He pauses, his hand on the knob, his eyes locked on mine. "I'm just across the hall if you need me… for anything else."

He leaves, and Baron trails after him with his head hung. I close the door behind them and sink into my bed, suddenly exhausted by the effort of walking and talking and containing all the pent up sexual energy between us.

I can feel sleep stealing me away within moments. I guess Fen was right. I am more tired than I thought.

***

When the door creaks open, I awaken, my body instantly on alert. He came back. My heart beats wildly in anticipation of what is about to happen.

I roll over, about to say something to him, when a knife lands in my pillow where my head just was.

I scream.

My attacker backhands me and tries again with the knife, but I knee him in the groin and use my body to flip him off me. His sharp blade grazes my cheek, leaving a crimson stain behind, but I barely feel it. My body is pumped with adrenaline and I am ready to fight. I reach for my sword under my bed and stand to face the man in black just as my door slams open.

Fen is there, wearing only pants, his eyes wild. He raises his sword and attacks the man.

They fight. Blades clash.

The attacker's knife is wicked sharp, and it lands a few blows against Fen. Each time the blade hits his skin I feel the pain inside me.

But it's all over fast. Fen waits until the moment is right and then raises his sword and swoops it down, cutting off the attacker’s hand. It falls limply to the floor along with the knife.

The man screams as he stares at the stump left at the end of his arm.

Lights turn on.

Sly appears as if from smoke, wrapped in a black silk robe. "What the devil is going on in here?" he asks.

Fen, whose sword is dripping with blood, points to the attacker. "He tried to kill Ari."

Sly turns to the man. "Is this true? Have you defiled the sanctity of my haven?"

The man shakes his head in denial. "He attacked me. I'm the one missing a hand."

Sly stares at the man—who is still masked—long and hard, then laughs. "We'll just have to see who's telling the truth, won't we?" He pulls out his wand and speaks words in a strange language.

There is a booming sound and the air rips open around us, revealing a new scene. It is the past, the recent past. It is me, in bed. Everything plays out as it happened, only I'm seeing it from an omniscient point of view.

The attacker shakes from fear, or maybe blood loss. Sly stalks over to him and pulls off his mask. He's a ruddy man with a bulbous nose and a mean mouth. No one I recognize. "Who sent you?"

"The Prince of Envy," he says without hesitation. He is clearly scared out of his mind. What kind of reputation does Sly have, I wonder? I fear I'm about to find out.

"Toward what end?" Sly asks.

"To kill her. Then capture him," he says, pointing to me then Fen.

"You know the penalty for harming anyone under my protection at The Black Lotus?"

The man lowers his head.

"They never learn," Sly says as he waves his wand.

Nothing happens for a moment, and the man looks almost relieved despite missing his hand.

But then…

Oh God.

I've never seen anything so awful.

The man screams again, and this time it's a gut-wrenching sound that tears out of his throat. His body begins to convulse, as his skin peels off bones and muscles essentially turning him inside out.

It seems an eternity before the man finally lays silent in a pool of his own insides.

I'm still standing in stunned shock as blood spreads across the hardwood floors, staining my bare feet red.

Sly puts his wand away and sighs. "I'll have another room prepared for you. Please accept my apologies. It's rare for anyone to risk my ire by breaking the rules, but it does happen on occasion. The Prince of Envy must be truly desperate."