Page 22 of Lies Within the Darkest Tower

But it had been dark, neither of us had completely undressed, and it had been over shortly after if had started.

And really, if that was what sex was like, I was fine remaining chaste. Clearly the minstrels exaggerated it. It wasn’t breathtaking and romantic, and since a woman married whomever her father told her to, there wouldn’t ever be any professions of love for me.

I sucked in a steadying breath. Yes, the two fae men I’d seen had been shockingly beautiful and had captured my attention inways it had never been captured before, but I could ignore them and the other fae here, even if they were fully naked.

And I wasn’t going to think about what sex with them would be like?—

Nope. Not going to think about that at all.

Besides, I didn’t have to stay long in the bathhouse and fight my embarrassment. I just needed to be there long enough to grab a couple of towels and hopefully a bar of soap and return to my room. Having the pump and basin was an unexpected, wonderful blessing. I hadn’t known how I was going to bathe and keep my secret. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. But now I could wash myself in my room and not have to worry about sneaking down to the baths in the middle of the night.

I might just be able to do this… at least long enough for Sawyer to get away.

CHAPTER 14

Sage

My nerves steeledagainst seeing more of the men of the Black Tower than I really wanted, I slipped out of my room and down the stairs just outside my door.

Grefin had said any of the stairs in the barracks would take me to the bathhouse and the stairs closest to my door meant I wouldn’t have to try to look masculine while walking past that group of men who’d stared at me before — although I now realized they’d been staring at me in part because I looked like a child but also because I was covered in shadow monster blood.

The stairs ended in a plain wooden door like all the other doors I’d encountered in the barracks, and I cracked it open to peek first so I’d be prepared for what lay inside. But the only thing on the other side of the door was another stone hall that stretched ahead and to my right and was brightly lit by more fae lanterns.

Heat and moisture filled the air, indicating that there was hot water nearby, and I stepped into their embrace, savoring how much it was like the Herstind I loved and had left. Ahead, there were a few doors, but only on one side of the hall, as if I stood on an outside edge and the hall traveled the perimeter of thebathhouse. Other than that, there was nothing to indicate what lay behind each door.

In search of something to tell me where I was going, I headed right. At the end of the hall was another door at the corner leading to a stairwell and more hall stretching to the left that looked identical to the hall I’d just walked down: long, stone, brightly lit, and with a few unmarked, wooden doors.

That hall turned left to another hall and another, and I was back where I’d started. I hadn’t run into anyone, so I hadn’t been able to ask directions, and each door had been identical. Even the stairwells had been the same, and I’d really hoped one of them would have been bigger indicating a main entrance. Which meant I was going to have to open a door at random and hope for the best.

I looked at the two doors closest to me.

If I was setting up a bathhouse, I’d set towels just inside the door of every pool. Which meant all I’d need to do was open one, pop in, grab a towel, and leave. Maybe no one would notice me.

Maybe no one would be in the room?

Except I didn’t even know if there were rooms on the other side. Maybe it was one big open area.

Shadows!

All right, if I was going to put the sacrifices anywhere, I’d put them in rooms the farthest away from anything useful and that included the baths. Which meant the door closest to me was probably a storage closet or a servant’s entrance… not that they had servants in the Tower but?—

Just pick a door!

I grabbed the latch for the closest door and eased it open a crack. Steam billowed in my face, blinding me for a moment, but once it cleared all I could see was a gold and white tiled corner and no towels. Not even a rack or a bench.

Swell.

I pushed the door open wider to search the room, and my gaze landed on the most stunning fae I’d seen so far.

He lounged in a pool large enough for two dozen people with steam curling from the water and caressing his skin. He was exactly like the fae from the tales with long white hair that surely reached his waist when he stood. Four thin braids at his temples held it back from his face and exposed his delicately pointed ears, while the rest was splayed across the tiles behind him, and a gold earring, adorned with tiny pearls, capped the tip of one ear and looped through three holes pierced down the side, catching the light.

He’d hooked his arms over the edge of the pool behind him, his muscles sculpted to perfection, and the water lapped halfway up his chest, giving a tantalizing glimpse of his muscular torso.

Then he looked at me, capturing me with eyes that were soft mesmerizing swirls of white, pink, purple, blue, and gold, and my whole essence stuttered, trapped within the whirlpool in his gaze.

“Ah, so you’re the reason Rider’s in a foul mood,” he said, his words sliding through me, sending a shiver of sudden, shocking need thrumming low within me. “Why would you risk going through the ring after dark?”

“It wasn’t fully dark when I stepped through,” I said, barely managing to remember to sound gruff.

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