"Of course you do," Cora said sourly beneath her breath, a shudder of disgust running down her spine. Her repulsion seemed to increase tenfold as he whispered that command into her ear. Her hand lifted as if he'd slobbered on her and wiped away the feel of his breath on her skin. The woman didn't doubt the readiness of the men on the other side of that door any more than she doubted what Magnus was capable of. She twisted around him again, knowing better than to keep an enemy at her back. And at that moment, that's exactly what Magnus was.

Cora didn't want to know what was coming. In fact, her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she tried to fathom how he'd make an example of her. Her jaw tensed slightly and she extended her arms outward, shoulders lifting as an exasperated noise left her lips. It wasn't that she was surprised; Cora knew what she'd done as she was doing it and in the days that followed. She'd broken that rule, and though the loss of all her belongings and subsequent turning of the woman out into the street was a heavy price to pay on its own, she wasn't surprised by those words. She was, after all, no better than a horse turned feral--and that was something Cora understood.

"Fine," she said after a moment and she did as he bade.