"Seven, as far as I know. I'm not sure when I was born." His hand stilled, coming to rest on my hair. "She was my father's third wife. He didn't love her, but… I think it was the horror of it. It changed him. Very shortly after that he met the man who would sire him. The man bought our bond and we moved away from the village to live in fealty to him. Father told us to forget everything before. It was a new start."

"How did it happen?" If someone had told me even an hour ago that I would feel something other than hatred for the Soul Eater, I wouldn't have believed it. But the look I'd seen on his face, the suppression of emotion that was clearly intended to hide his pain from his son…

"She was hanging the pot over the fire, and her skirt brushed the embers. That's all it took." Cyrus cleared his throat. "It wasn't uncommon, then."

"Whether common or not, it was horrible." I couldn't stand it anymore. I put my arms around him. "For you and your father."

It didn't absolve Jacob Seymour of all the sins he'd committed, but it did explain them a bit. It also explained why Cyrus was so desperate for affection from any female at all, regardless of whether she was willing to love him in return, or was even capable of doing so.

Our eyes met. His were red, from unshed tears. "The only women who ever loved me were taken from me. Once by fate, the rest by my father. I can't forgive him that."

"You shouldn't have to." I wanted badly to tell him how much I'd loved him, but it would have been a lie.

"You didn't love me." Even though he was now on the opposite side of the blood tie, my emotions were still transparent to Cyrus. "But I believe you wanted to."

"I did." I couldn't hold back my tears. Not over this. "I did."

"If it makes you feel any better, it's a credit to your character that you couldn't." He smiled a little, but it faded quickly. "I know that now."

"You hated me for it." I leaned my forehead against his. Our lips were so close to touching. My mouth went dry. I touched my tongue to my lips, and he was on top of me, smothering my mouth and crushing my body beneath his.

I still do. But his thought was swallowed up in a tidal wave of longing and… fear?

Cyrus leaned back and gave a curt nod to the door. "The last time I did this, your boyfriend beat me up."

"He's not my boyfriend." I paused at the sound of the door in the living room closing. "And I don't want to talk about it."