"That is one thing you shall not hold over me," Felwinter replied, slowly finding his mental footing. "Perhaps fortunate for others. I may keep them at a distance, but if I do not know their secrets, then neither can I betray them."

He remained against the tree, watching as the teenager began to walk away, waiting until he'd gone off a fair distance before he pushed himself from his sole support, lurching off into the woods in the opposite direction. He would find no solace here, nor satiate the hunger that gnawed at him from within.