Page 58 of Iridian

Taland cut me off, though. “Shower first. You’re covered in his blood and I can’t keep looking at it. Then we eat.”

Goddess, the relief I felt could have been funny.

“Hisblood,” I said—again, just repeating it because I was too scared to even say his name.

Taland nodded and stepped back, took my hand in his. “Hill’s blood.” I could have sworn those eyes darkened when he said his name, or maybe it was just my imagination.

Goddess, it was so strange to look at him like that. His entire face had changed. Had become…less human. I always knew that eyes made the most difference, but I’d never seen a face like this before.

Well, except for those soldiers…

“He’s dead.”

“He exploded.”

“Cheining,” I said with a sigh—one of the most brutal kill spells out there.

“The bracelet worked for the both of us at the same time,” Taland said, raising his right hand to show me that the bracelet, in fact, was right there. And he was just as dirty as me. He hadn’t showered, and I would bet anything that he hadn’t eaten without me, either.

“Is it the same?” I asked because those soldiers had had bracelets around their wrists, too, and they’d called up magic—without chanting,if I recalled correctly.

“Kind of,” Taland said, but before I could ask what that meant, he added, “Let’s shower and put on some clean clothes first.”

Again, that relief.

“What time is it?” I asked, and the wooden doors engraved with pretty flowers and chipped paint in all colors were right there in front of us now. Taland pushed them open, and I looked back at the trees surrounding us on all sides, but luckily, they’d didn’t let me see very far in case those dead soldiers were there somewhere.Around,like Taland said.

“Just after eight in the morning,” he said. “Welcome to this safe house, sweetness.”

Shivers ran down my back. Those words awakened another memory in me, so when he walked inside the house, I remained outside still and said, “Do you promise to not disappear on me for any reason in the world while we’re here?”

His lips stretched into a wide smile. Those eyes made him look like a fucking alien for a moment.

“I promise, baby. I amnevergoing to disappear on you again for any reason in the world.”

I released a long breath, both because of how he looked, and what he said. “Good. Then it’s good to be here.” It really,reallywas.

The house, just like the first safe house of Selem he’d taken me to, was on the smaller side. Here, the hallways were wider, full of light, the walls dotted with small windows everywhere. The rooms were bigger, too, and it smelled clean even though the furniture was covered in white sheets. Taland didn’t stop in the three rooms across from one another that we passed, but when we turned the corner, he headed for the wooden doors at the end of the corridor.

The bathroom was unlike any I’d ever seen, and I stopped by the door again to take it in. Half of it was outside, and those big branches and leaves curved over the low wall that surrounded the bathtub area. Birds and geckos on the walls, rushing away at the sound of us. On the left was the toilet, the shower on the right.

“It’s safe,” Taland said. “I checked every inch of this place. We’re safe. The wards are working. Nobody can get to us, baby, I promise.”

I stepped inside on the dark grey tiles. “It’s not that. It’s just…wow.I’ve never seen a half-open bathroom before.”

“This whole place is very beautiful. I’ll show you my favorite spot later,” Taland said, and maybe it was just the exhaustion he must’ve been feeling, but his voice was duller than normal. It lacked the excitement he spoke with normally.

“Are you wounded?” I asked when he began to pull my shirt off.

“No. I’ve done healing spells.”

He threw my shirt back and began to unbutton my jeans. I touched the bracelet around his wrist, and he reacted instantly. Looked up at me—again, it was so fucking weird that he hadwhiteeyes, and weirder yet that I could feel it when he was focused on me. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, then moved behind me to unclasp my bra.

I looked to the side. “Did you just freeze because I touched the bracelet, Taland?” Because it seemed to me like he did.

A deep sigh escaped him, and he rested his forehead to the top of my head. “I’ll explain everything later.”

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