Page 389 of Hunters and Prey

“You’re excused.”

“You’re an arrogant, rude arsehole, you know that?”

“Yes.”

Vesper made a sharp turn, leading us off course.

“Hey. Wrong way.”

He ignored me and picked up the pace. Damn him. But then the distinct sound of running water reached my ears. We stumbled into a clearing and a frothy, cheerful river.

Vesper knelt by the water’s edge and scooped some up. He washed his face and swilled some in his mouth. “It’s clean,” he said. And then he looked up at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Now strip and get in.”

Like hell. I crossed my arms under my breasts. “No.”

He stood slowly. “We aren’t going anywhere until you’ve bathed, Skin. So, I suggest you get on with it.”

“What are you going to do? Make me?”

He shrugged. “No. I’ll just leave you here, and without me by your side, without the protection of my contract with the fey folk, you won’t last an hour.”

“The glowy guy gave me a pass.”

“And do you really think that will deter the hungriest of his subjects if I’m not there to remind them of the gravity of breaking the contract?”

Dammit, he was right. “Why the heck does it matter so much if I bathe? If we keep going, I can bathe once I get home.”

“Let me explain something to you, Skin. I can smell you. Not the usual kind of whiff but the I-have-my-head-shoved-in-crap whiff. My Dreki senses are ten times stronger than yours, and there is no way I am spending a whole day and night with you smelling like you rolled in pig shit.”

Wow ... When he put it like that. I shrugged. “Fine, turn around.”

He arched a brow, and for a moment I thought he was about to refuse, but then he shrugged and slowly turned his back on me. Now let’s hope Dreki didn’t have eyes in the back of their head.

Stripping off was harder than expected. My clothes were stuck to me with sweat and grime. Man, I did reek. Taking a deep breath, I slipped into the icy cold water. Gooseflesh tightened my skin as I quickly scrubbed at my flesh, and then, taking another deep breath, I dunked my head in the water. I resurfaced, spluttering and shivering, to see Vesper gathering my clothes.

“What are you doing?”

He dunked them in the water and began to scrub them.

“Hey! What the heck am I supposed to wear?”

Ignoring me, he wrung the garments out and threw them on the grass behind him, and then he inhaled deeply and then exhaled. His breath was a shimmering wave that hit my clothes and set them smoldering. Heat ... he was blasting my clothes with hot air. Another puff and he was done.

He held up my pants. “All dry now, Skin. You can come out.”

“Turn around.” My teeth chattered uncontrollably.

He dropped the garment and turned his back on me. Wet and shivering, I ran out of the water and tugged my dry clothes over my damp body.

“I could have dried you off,” Vesper said.

“No, thanks. I’m done.” I wrung out my hair and tied it in a knot. “Let’s just get going.”

He glanced over his broad shoulder and inhaled. “Much better. I may be able to tolerate you for the next few hours now. Come on, we can talk while we walk. I suppose I should educate you since you’re joining the cause. But if you speak these words to another in an act of betrayal, your tongue will turn to ash.”

I crunched after him, back into the tree line. “Wait. Did you just curse me?”

“I sure did. I’m not Dante. I’m not a trusting fool.” He shook his head. “He took you into his confidence in a blink, not once wondering if you would betray him to the Bloods in exchange for your freedom.”

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