The next thing I knew, the sun was just beginning to rise. I jumped up from the hay pile where I had fallen, grateful I hadn't slept in any manure. The horse was alert and ready for the day. The entire barn was cast in a soft morning haze.

My stomach rumbled loudly, and my bones clicked as I stretched. It would be another hour until the foremen and dewloi woke up. I stood up and ran a hand over the horse's side gently. She swung her head toward me and I rubbed the soft skin between her eyes as she closed them gratefully.

"What the hell are you doing her, bug?" a voice asked.

I blinked and realized a foreman was staring at me from the other side of the horse's gate. He pulled open the gate and stepped inside with a shovel.

It was Tuck.

My heart began to thud frantically—he must have been on horse cleanup duty.

I stammered, trying to find a good reason for why I was sleeping with the horses. The only reason I could find was the truth, but I couldn't tell him that.

"Uh," I stammered. "I was told to...clean the stall." I glanced down at the stall, which was clearly in need of being cleaned.

Tuck set the shovel down and stood in front of me. I was reminded once again that he was over a foot taller than I was.

I didn't even have time to flinch before he backhanded me. A hot pain crashed down on my face and I ended up on the ground. Except this time, someone followed me soon thereafter, and pinned me down with his knees on my shoulders.

I opened my mouth to scream when a meaty hand around my throat.

"Open your mouth and you'll lose your life," he warned. His thin, stringy hair fell down his face and tickled my face. I froze in fear as I realized his intentions. "It's time for you to find your fugging place, whore," he muttered and stood up, yanking me after him by my hair. I whimpered as my scalp felt like it was being ripped from my skull.

He pushed me face-first against the back wall of the barn and grabbed my neck from the back, pinning me in place and smashing my face against the splintered wood. I felt him moving behind me and realized he was tugging down his pants with one hand. Once he succeeded, he thrust his hips against me, eliciting a sob from me. He retaliated by pulled me back and slamming my face back against the wall roughly, "Shut up, whore. The problem with you is that you're a new toy. Everyone's afraid of being the first one to play with it. So, I'm really doing a service by breaking you in," he whispered into my ear.

He used his free hand to pull up my tunic and he growled realizing that I had my high waisted pants tied. They wouldn't make it past my hips.

I seized the moment and grabbed the farrier rasp hanging on the wall. He sensed my change and grabbed it too. He yanked it out of my hand as my fingers gripped it and the edge of the metal sliced my palm in the process. I yelped.

His hand disappeared from my neck as he readjusted and I whirled, bringing my hand down against him, catching his temple. Somehow, I caught him off balance and he toppled, tripping on his pants which had pooled at his feet. My eyes avoided looking at him.

I stumbled backward toward the back corner of the stall and tripped on his shovel, which had fallen at some point. The horse began to move, clearly unsettled by the commotion behind her.

Tuck stood up, and I stared at him in horror. He was pissed and his anger only seemed to enhance his lust for me. His face was beet red. Tuck stalked up to me a gratuitous grin plastered across his face. He paused. "Well, maybe I'll make you my breeder. Or maybe I'll let all the foremen have a turn and let them fugg you to death. How about that, you slut?!" he roared.

Suddenly, the horse leapt up and lashed out with her back feet.

I stared in shock as the foreman crashed against the back wall—the very one he had me pinned against only moments before.

My hands pulsed.

Should I heal him?

Before he could move an inch, I sprinted out of the stall, clutching my bleeding hand.