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the cave, they were surrounded by all of Faery
arrayed on horseback. Some of the horses had wings and were hovering
a foot off the ground. Abigail thought she might faint from the
knowledge of it. Everything was too strange, too wondrous and she had
to consciously remember to keep holding Caden.
    "Let go of our prey," commanded Celeste.
    "If I hold him until sunrise, he's mine," said Abigail
defiantly.
    "Who told you that?" demanded Linden. "It was him
wasn't it? The rhymer? Where is he?"
    "Let's see if you can hold him now," said Celeste and waved
her hands in Caden's direction. Abigail was no longer holding Caden,
instead she held a lion by its paw. It roared in anger, saliva
dripping saliva from its mouth but by sheer will she held on. Caden
was lost if she let go.
    The trial went on, Celeste turning Caden into all manner of
creatures, a wolf, a snake, a shark, but still Abigail held on. She
knew that Caden's life depended on it.
    He was back as Caden and Celeste waved her arms again. Nothing
happened. She cursed angrily.
    "It is the sun," said Linden. "We must go back. You
have lost this one."
    "NO!" shrieked Celeste and she rounded on her brother,
punching him in the chest. He rocked her gently and then he and the
others faded from sight, vanishing into the early morning mist.
    Abigail glanced around them. They were on a hill, inside a circle of
toadstools, what her grandmother used to call a fairy fort.
    She stood up and moved out of the circle. Caden followed her, a frown
of confusion on his face.
    "Abigail? What happened?" He glanced at her bruised wrists.
"I did that?"
    "It's okay Caden. You weren't yourself."
    "Who was I then?" he asked bitterly and Abigail knew that
no matter what she told him, he would still blame himself for hurting
her. It wasn't his fault, how could she make him realise that?
    She sat down beside him, resting her arms against her knees.
    "Abigail, how could I do that to you? How could I?"
    "It's all right, Caden. It's all right," she said again.
Maybe if she said it often enough he would believe her.
    "How can you say that, Abigail? After what I did? I almost raped
you for God's sake!"
    "But you didn't," she said quietly and he turned to look at
her.
    "No, I didn't," he agreed sadly.
    "Why did you stop?" she whispered, afraid to know the
answer.
    "Because - because I didn't want our first time to be like
that."
    Her throat constricted and she tried to swallow around the golf ball
that had lodged there.
    "What did you say?"
    "I think you know what I said, Abigail."
    "Yes, I do," she nodded at him and smiled, reaching out for
his hand.

Part
Two
    Six
Months Later

    She knew
it was bad news even before she answered the phone. Good news just
wasn't issued at three o'clock in the morning. She barely heard the
voice on the other end of the phone but some words she caught. Caden.
Hospital .
    Abigail called a cab dressed quickly in a pale blue sweater and a
pair of jeans. She was shaking so much she didn't trust herself to
drive. This was the third time Caden had been admitted to the
hospital in as many months, suffering from seizures that no doctor
could find a reason for.
    He'd been poked and prodded, given every test modern medicine could
devise, but nothing came up in any of them. Abigail didn't think
they'd find the cause of his illness in any modern science, nor the
cure for it. What ailed Caden was older than that, a lot older.
    Matthew, Caden's brother, was pacing up and down in the waiting room
when she arrived at the hospital. He gave her the sympathetic glance
that she'd come to know ever since Caden had started showing
symptoms.
    "What room is he in?" She wasn't in the mood for small
talk, she had to see him as soon as possible.
    "405," replied Matthew. "But I don't think you should
go in there, Abigail." Was he going to turn her away because
she wasn't family? Now, with Caden so ill? They weren't married yet,
and the engagement ring on her hand felt heavy with the knowledge
that it was