Page 139 of Hidden Kingdoms

Knowing I had nothing better to do than make use of what I had, I put the book still clutched in my hand, on the highest shelf I could reach. Covering it with a towel in case by some freak accident it jumped off the shelf and into the bath. Digging through the bottles lined up, I found one that smelled like candy floss and poured half the bottle into the tub as I turned on the shiny gold tap. The rush of water filled quicker than expected, and I stripped, folding my clothes neatly in the unit. I would likely be putting them back on.

Sinking into the hot water, the bubbles now outrageously high, I turned off the tap. I willed my mind to remain blissfully clear as I sank under the water, holding my breath until my lungs screamed. The water was a painful comfort I didn’t want to escape, and as the memory of Kaius’ tattooed hand squeezing my neck invaded my mind, I broke the surface, wiping the water from my eyes. Heat that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water, and everything to do with the grey-eyed god who had made me come on his tongue flooded me, and I groaned loudly in annoyance.

As if my life wasn’t complicated enough without finding myself naked with one of the men who had made me a prisoner here to begin with. I couldn’t deny I had enjoyed it, and wouldn’t say no to round two, but that was definitelynota good idea.

Wrapping my arms around my knees, I stayed there until the water began to cool and the ache of hunger gnawing at mystomach grew too much to ignore. Hauling myself from the tub, I wrapped a towel so achingly soft around me that I considered adding some to the pile of blankets already covering the bed.

Standing in front of the mirror, I stared at the bright eyes blinking back at me. No longer the muddy pools I was used to, now they were rich and dark—flecks of gold dusted through them. A contrast to the white hair falling around my face.

I was sure it had been my mum I’d got my colouring from, though I couldn’t be sure. Now, as an adult, I could see why I was always othered by the children around me. I was just a little different. With white hair and eyelashes and eyebrows almost as light, I didn’t look like any of them. I wasn’t like any of them.

My gaze caught on the pink lines now marking my skin. I brushed my finger over the slightly raised scars that crept over my shoulder; the real reason I was trying so hard not to think. I shuddered as the phantom pain of my wounds pierced me, smelling the sharp tang of lemons mixing with blood and dirt. Could feel Marcellus’ comforting presence behind me as he carefully cut away at my ruined clothes. Fingers dancing across my skin, a light wind tangling through my hair, a palace shaking as I fought and lost my ability to hold back my agony.

I knew that something within me called to him, as it did with Kaius. But that was wrong... wasn’t it? Wanting two men. Did Marcellus even want me, or was I picking up all these signs wrong?

Rolling my shoulders to relieve the stiffness of being sat in the bath for so long, I redressed, rubbing my hair with a towel as my stomach grumbled again. Intent on finding something to eat, I had just stepped out of the bathroom when the sight of flaming hair and a freckled face made my heart skip more than a few beats.

“Morning, Killer,” Alouette called from her seat on the sofa, boots propped on the low table in front of her.

“What if I had been naked?” I answered, recovering quickly, and not bothering to fight a grin as I saw her, a lightness filling my heart.

“Blondes aren’t really my type.”

“I’m not blonde.” I threw my wet towel at her, which she caught easily.

“True,” she said as she stood, chucking the towel back into the bathroom.

“How you doing today?”

“Let’s come back to that question after you tell me what I’ve got to do to get fed.”

She laughed. “We’re going to Arden again, so we’ll eat with him. Also, I brought you these.” Without warning, Alouette launched a pair of shoes in my direction.

I flinched as they flew towards me, throwing my hands up automatically, and a pulse of magik flooded my fingertips. Before I had a chance to think of anything other than not getting hit in the face, both our eyes widened as we stared at the shoes now frozen in mid-air halfway between us.

“Well fuck me,” I murmured, staring ahead at what I’d just done.

“As impressive as that was, no thank you.” Her already big eyes rounded as she, too, looked at the footwear hovering between us.

We both started laughing at the same time, the shift of energy causing the shoes to crash down to the floor and inciting another round before I recovered enough to grab the shoes and put them on.

“Of course they fit,” I said as I laced them up.

“Just like magik.” Alouette winked at me as she crossed to the door. I followed, my steps lighter than they had been moments ago, looking up at the carvings above it that I had missed earlier. Deep etchings of a woman twisting in firecovered the doorframe, runes I couldn’t see properly from below twining through it. Alouette’s hand reached the handle, and the flames around the room began to dim.

A different light assaulted my eyes, and I blinked hard, trying to adjust to the change. I felt strange, untethered. No longer present within my own body, and as my eyes focused, I realised why. I wasn’t looking at the back of Alouette’s head anymore. Now I was looking at two men, the edges of my vision blurred.

“What has Arden told you?” the first one asked, voice laced with demand.

“Arden’s told me nothing,” the second man replied, and I moved further into the room towards them, heart thudding.

It was full of light, yet dark all the same. Everything in varying shades of black, from the walls to the furniture. The only colour were the rubies set into most surfaces, and the huge fireplace that blazed with flames taller than me.

No heat pressed against me as I watched them. Nor did they seem to affect the man who stood so close that I didn’t know how they hadn’t pulled him into their embrace.

Long dark hair fell over the arm of one of the sofas arranged next to the fireplace, and as I willed myself forward, Kaius’ angelic face came into view. The memory of it buried between my legs had heat flaring over my body. He was sprawled across the cushions facing away from the fire, eyes closed and a wry smile on his face.

“But you do know something, don’t you?” The first man spoke again.

---