Page 67 of The Last Slayer
She shrugged. “In about two hours. Our day is essentially over now that the moon’s gone. Do freshen up and join us. One of my liliths will assist you.”
“Thank you,” I murmured softly. There was no reason to let her know how upset I was, although the glint in her eyes said she knew and was enjoying herself.
“Ashera, we need to talk.” Ramiel’s voice was quiet but had returned to its usual strength.
I looked at him over a shoulder. He looked as gorgeous as ever, and it made me even more furious. I wanted to claw his heartbreakingly handsome face. I wanted to pull all his hair out and give him acne. I wanted him to experience what it was like to be ugly and ignored and treated like a nonentity by the opposite sex. The sheer depth of my fury surprised me. I’d never felt it this badly, not even visceral punch to the gut I’d gotten when the first boy I liked had ended up with Valerie in the backseat of his
car.
The appearance of a petite redhead spared Ramiel my anger. She bowed to me. “My name is Charity, milady. Would you like a bath?”
“A bath sounds like exactly what I need.”
Charity led the way out and I followed without a backward glance.
Once we were outside the main hall, I took a deep breath and shoved Ramiel and all the complicated emotions he created out of my head. I had what I’d come for. It pulsed inside me. Now I needed to clean up, eat dinner with Nahemah and get the antidote for Valerie. Then I was going back to my life—the one that I’d built for myself—sans Ramiel and his buddies and enemies and all the other interfering demigods. Leh was right. There was no reason for me to jump through hoops just because some Advisors said so. It was my life. I would do what I wanted with it.
“Are we going to the Lunar Pool?”
Charity bowed. “I’m sorry, milady. But with the moon gone, the Lunar Pool is empty. In about twelve hours or so you should be able to enjoy it again.”
I wasn’t going to be hanging around Nahemah for that long. Looked like I’d have to settle for something more pedestrian.
Bathing helps me think. Something about loosened muscles and warm joints performs miracles. I don’t always have great ideas or come up with fantastic solutions to my problems. But at least it helps me organize my thoughts. They were so jumbled at the moment I couldn’t even begin to figure out where to start. Why hadn’t Leh told me about the metamorphosis? Didn’t she think it was important? Or had the glamour she’d put over me vanished when I’d entered the Mystic Forest? And what was the relationship between Leh and Ramiel? Why had he promised her—a slayer—that he would protect me? Why had he said he hadn’t failed when he thought I was Leh?
Vows of undying devotion.
Had Ramiel made one of those? Was that why Nahemah talked about it with such relish?
So many questions and no real answers. No one seemed interested in letting me in on what was really going on. Compared to Ramiel and Nahemah, Jack in the throes of his visions seemed like a straight talker.
I was getting tired of the whole charade.
Charity and I walked along the path that wound around the garden of the night plants. Closed behind dark leaves, the red flowers no longer dripped petals. I pulled India’s heartstone out of my pocket and fingered it. My body heat clung to it like a muslin shroud, thin and lifeless. The stone was just an ordinary gray pebble now, nothing special. Nahemah’s spell must’ve drained it of all its magic. I tossed it away into the darkness.
Charity stopped when we reached a cottage sitting primly on top of a tiny hill near the edge of the dragonhold. A small garden surrounded it, and cheery yellow light came from within. It reminded me of Leh’s place. I wondered if the effect was deliberate.
I missed Leh already. Now I wished I had asked her how to deal with Ramiel, make him stay in his world and let me return to mine. She obviously knew how to make him do the things she wanted him to do. Was it her beauty that compelled him to obey her? If so, I had no doubt I could control him…eventually. Once I figured out the right way to exploit my new looks, of course. It couldn’t be that hard. The first step would be just to imitate Valerie.
Of course, Ramiel probably had his pick of women, and it could very well be that he required a bit more than a pretty face. I found myself hoping that was the case.
Charity opened the door and bowed me into the cottage. Several orb lights floated around and scented candles burned on the windowsill. Gentle wind toyed with the silver chimes by the windows. The sound was haunting yet lovely, like Leh’s voice, but it didn’t have the magic of her singing. I suppressed a sigh.
“We’ve added lavender and lilies to the water. I hope you enjoy it,” Charity said.
Was this another of Nahemah’s sick jokes? Ramiel’s stunned face flitted through my mind, and my mouth tightened. “Thank you.”
“I will be outside in case you need anything.”
She left, and I stripped. My new dress crumpled at my feet in a deep violet pool of silk. All the robes and dresses the supernatural world had offered seemed to slither off my body with a gentle tug at the belt. Very convenient, since I seemed to be changing and taking baths here quite a lot. I hid the necklace from Leh under a stack of clean towels just in case anyone barged in unannounced.
I stepped into the porcelain tub and sighed. The water temperature was just right. The purple, blue and white of crushed lavender and lily petals floated on the surface. I’ve always found the scent of lavender relaxing, and this time was no exception. The liquid warmth heated my tight muscles and weary bones, and I closed my eyes.
Dinner with Nahemah. Visit Enmesaria. Get the antidote.
Then Valerie would be fine. At least that was the immediate plan.
The second and third heartstones? Those I’d think about later, after I went back home…or checked into a hotel since I was now homeless, thanks to Ramiel.
