Rath looked up in surprise as Char stormed into their cave, his green eyes dark, every muscle of his taut.

"What's up?"

Char didn't answer. Rath followed him into his room, where Char spun to face him.

"Leave me alone," he warned, his green eyes flashing.

"What happened with Iris?"

Char flinched and turned away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Char-"

"I said, leave me alone!" Char shouted, turning back and shoving Rath with such force that Rath stumbled back and almost fell.

"Not when you're like this," he said, righting himself at the last second. "Tell me what happened."

Char groaned in exasperation and headed into the bathroom. Rath followed him, leaning against the open doorway as Char started the bathwater.

"Char."

"She told me not to come back," Char said.

Rath's blue eyes widened. "Why?"

"She doesn't want me around anymore."

"And that didn't strike you as odd?"

"She flinched whenever I tried to touch her, like there was something wrong with me."

"So, something's happened to her."

"What happened is that she's made up her mind to hate me," Char said bitterly.

"I don't believe it."

"If you had been there-"

Char's voice broke. He clenched his jaw, determined not to cry. Iris wasn't worth it. Not after the way she rejected him.

"You said something felt wrong last time. What if she's trying to push you away to protect you from something?" Rath pressed him. "What if she's in trouble, and she needs your help?"

"Get out."

Rath sighed. "Fine. If you're not even going to fight for her, I guess she deserves better than you, anyway."

Char stared down at the water filling the stone bathtub, watching the steam rising from the surface. He didn't know what to think anymore. She'd been happy to see him the first time he came to visit, but tense, twitchy, flinching at his initial touch and then leaning into his embrace. He hadn't bought the excuse that she was thinking about Father John before he arrived, or the next fabrication about the magic lessons being more grueling than she expected. She'd seemed...almost scared. Of Jonah. Which made no sense at all, after the sheer joy they both expressed at seeing each other after years of being apart. But she wouldn't tell him anything, and he ended up leaving with a gnawing in the pit of his stomach that told him he should have stayed.

And now this.

I thought I loved you.

Her words echoed in his head. The shock on her face when he finally allowed the truth to spill from his lips wouldn't leave his mind. He could still vividly feel the way she stiffened when he kissed her, the way she shoved him back. She had burst into tears as if his kiss burned her. As if she couldn't stand being around him.

"What the-" Rath shouted from the other room.

Char looked up as dozens of golden orbs of light zoomed through the open doorway to swarm him. The fairies were surprisingly strong, grabbing his shirt, lifting him to his feet and shoving him toward the door.

"Hey! Stop it!"

They didn't listen, pushing and pulling him on. Rath was in the living room, staring wide-eyed as they emerged with Char in tow.

"Hold on!" Char exclaimed, grabbing the doorway and bracing himself against it. The fairies tugged harder, lifting his feet off the floor. "What is this about?"

The fairies dropped him and hovered in midair, radiating impatience and frustration.

"What are fairies doing here?" Rath asked.

Realization dawned, along with a sickening feeling in Char's gut.

"Why aren't you with Iris?" he asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

The fairies all quivered as one, and then they grabbed him again, tugging him toward the door. Char didn't fight them this time, but he still had to trot to keep up the pace they were setting.

"I'm coming with you," Rath said.

"No," Char called back over his shoulder. "Cover for me with Kelnor."

The fairies stopped in the door to the flight cavern, leaving Char to go on ahead. He forced the ice through his veins to transform, racing for the exit and launching into the air, his heart pounding in his ears. Rath was right. He shouldn't have left Iris alone.

The skies were cloudy but calm. Char pushed himself, flying as fast as possible in the dead air, no headwinds to force him back, no tailwinds to help him along. The sun set, leaving the sky devoid of lights, moon and stars hidden by clouds. He was making good time. At this rate, he would be there by midnight. He hoped that was soon enough. It had to be soon enough. His aching wings couldn't keep up this pace much longer. He made one final push, landing on the clearing of dead brown grass beside the tower. Her drapes were drawn closed; no lights were visible through any of the windows. A single fairy alighted from his back and darted toward the door. Ice tore through his veins, and he was in human form, running through the open door and taking the spiral stairs two at a time to her room. He threw it open and froze.

She lay on the bed, deathly pale and drenched in sweat. Her dress clung to her as if she'd been caught in a heavy downpour. Blood stained the front of it and dripped from her right hand, dangling limply over the edge of the bed. Sitting at her side was the mage, stroking her hair almost tenderly. His frigid blue eyes turned toward Char, and he smirked.

"Well, isn't this convenient?" he mused.

"What have you done to her?" Char roared, storming toward him, but an orb of red magic surrounded him. He pounded on it and yanked his hand back, burned by the contact.

"I told you what I was going to do with her," the mage replied. He shifted and changed before Char's eyes, shrinking in height a few inches, stretching across the shoulders, facial structure rearranging itself, until a familiar pair of warm, pale blue eyes looked at Char beneath a head of disheveled platinum blonde hair. Char sucked in his breath.

"When you entrusted her to the care of Jonah," Jonah said lightly. He chuckled, and then he was shifting and changing again, and the mage was back and smirking at Char. The red orb tightened down to the point that Char couldn't move without touching it. Anger surged through his veins, but he couldn't do anything.

"She's been a good girl until today," the mage continued, turning his gaze back to her, his fingers absentmindedly combing through her hair. "Doing as I said to keep you and her precious fairies safe." He sighed and moved his hand to caress her cheek. "I was disappointed in her insolence, but I suppose it was inevitable. She's always had the annoying tendency to fight back."

"Get your hands off of her!" Char shouted.

The mage looked back at him with that smug smirk. "She's mine now, Char," he replied. "And so are you. In fact, your timing is perfect. I have already begun her punishment, but the rest has to wait until she regains consciousness in the morning. You'll get to watch." He chuckled and turned back to her. "There is a point after magic extraction when she can be roused, but she is unable to move without intense pain. I'll summon the fairies and kill them one by one in front of her, and then..." He slid his hand down to her chin and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, turning back to Char with a challenge in his eyes. "Then I'll rape her."

Blood rushed to Char's head. He roared again and pounded at the orb, ignoring the burning pain from each touch, desperate to break through. The mage was laughing, but suddenly he stopped, his gaze caught by something on the opposite side of the room. Char stopped for a moment, panting for breath, and saw that single fairy, that single golden light, heading for the bureau.

"Little pest," the mage muttered, sending a spark of blue toward it. There wasn't even time for Char to shout a warning. The blue was faster than the zipping golden light, and then, suddenly, a wall of white appeared in front of the fairy at the last second. The blue smashed into the white and dissipated, and the fairy continued its flight undaunted. Char and the mage both look at Iris in disbelief. She was still apparently unconscious, but her bloody right hand had taken hold of the amulet.

"You are trying my patience, Iris," the mage ground out. He sent a thin red line snaking from his finger toward her hand, wrapping around her wrist and palm, twining in and out of her fingers, plunging into the amulet. She winced and furrowed her brow, and the orb around Char burst. He lunged for the mage and grabbed him by the collar, throwing him across the room into the unforgiving stone wall. The red line snapped, and the fairy flitted across the room to her, carrying the book Char brought her at his first visit.

"How are you doing this?" the mage shouted angrily, his cold blue eyes narrowed and focused on Iris as he climbed to his feet.

Char forced ice through his veins, roaring in pain as his transformation pushed him through the thick stone walls and ceiling. He shielded Iris from the falling stones, and a white shield arose between him and the mage to block the tongue of blue flames headed for his chest. The fairy placed the book on her stomach and zipped around the bed, tucking the blanket around her like a cocoon. Char picked her up and spread his wings, ignoring the mage's angry curses and useless attacks, all blocked by Iris' impenetrable shield. He launched into the sky, sending another cascade of heavy stones crumbling from the tower to the ground below. A line of fire streaked out of the sky, passing him to hit the tower and explode against a blue shield.

Got her? Rath asked, circling up above as he waited for Char to reach him.

Char didn't have the energy to question Rath's presence. After his frantic flight to the tower, it was going to take everything he had in him just to make it home.

Yeah.

Then let's get out of here.