After a base layer of cold lake water, I thoroughly saturated every square inch of my body with lathered bubbles. Even in my hair, though I much preferred the vanilla and honey scented shampoo Nora had in her guest suite.
The final cold waterfall poured over me until all the soapy suds ran onto the forest floor. Gods it felt nice to be clean. With the water that still remained, I dunked my dirty clothes, rubbed them with soap, and scrubbed the material against itself. Then dumped the remaining water over them until they ran clear. I’d accurately rationed the remnants and was quite impressed with my gauging abilities. I rang the clothes until the excess dripping ceased.
Being free of dirt and grease and sweat was a brief dose of warm sunlight upon my clouded soul. I picked up the clothes Dae had brought for me, which were a couple sizes too big. They fitted like a child trying on their parents’ clothes. The drawstring around the pants had been pulled and knotted so tightly that the band bunched and bulged before me. At least they would stay on. His shirt had so much hanging material that I gathered it to my hip and twisted it into a knot. I didn’t want to fight through billowing fabric if I needed to defend myself.
“I’m done.”
In an instant, he shifted. The view of the lake was beautiful, but enhanced more so when Dae reappeared shirtless again. His beautiful brown skin held a map of his life, marked by scars and a few beauty marks. His chest hair was fine, dipping slightly between his pectorals where maybe a faint line continued down to his—
“Shall we?” That deep cadence had me questioning if my feet were still on the ground.
My lungs fought to circulate air. “Shall we, what?”
“First bathe, then food, remember?” He quirked an eyebrow at me while strutting over and plucked his clean shirt before effortlessly slipping it over his head.
“Oh.” The air rushed out of me, though not enough to cool me down. “Yes, food. Eating.” Clearing my throat, I sent my gaze straight to the ground as I started walking down the path.
My head was swimming. The past week almost didn’t seem real. It had been confusing and heartbreaking. Yet I found myself essentially drooling over the first man I’d developed physical attraction to in…years? A man who held my fate in his hands, who still had the opportunity to screw me over if he saw fit. I’d heard what he’d said to the check-in lady. He’d taken claim over me, just like Val suggested doing for herself.
Naïve of me to consider this could be anything else. A camp filled with ruthless, power-hungry individuals, all seeking whatever praise they could from their leadership.
Except Dae had said he didn’t want power. So easily I found myself believing that, trusting him. Was that intuition? He had yet to fail me in any capacity. He didn’t attack me on the trail when he could have easily killed me after I’d collapsed. He’d even retrieved water to revive me, and this was before he knew I possessed magic. Then he didn’t rat me out to his accomplices. Stood up for me, even backed my lie.
The fact that my feet walked upon this soil now was a testament to how he’d cleverly orchestrated it and assisted me. And he didn’t even know why, despite having his own reasons for being here. Reasons he deemed important enough to keep under wraps.
“Left,” he said from behind as we wended our way through the unorganized distribution of tents and firepits.
I’d done my best to memorize the route, and had done well for the first bit, but now I was drowning between repeating tents that looked alike, no obvious landmarks sticking out to helppinpoint my location. Hesitation slowed me, and Dae brushed past my shoulder, taking the lead.
A fight broke out a few tents down. Punches and insults and glimpses of magic. Those surrounding only cheered, encouraging death blows. Lawless and cutthroat, the absolute opposite of what was acceptable at Rahana.
We veered away before the conclusion, which I was admittedly glad about. Death still had a fermenting tang in my mouth. I wanted to avoid it as much as I could.
Dae arrived at his tent, holding the flap open. I hadn’t realized we’d come back to it, which caused me some worry. It was going to take more effort to navigate this place than expected.
I dipped inside, and he followed right behind. He’d carried my damp clothes in his bucket and pulled them out, whipping the wrinkles away before draping them upon a homemade piece of furniture. A slat of wood bearing holes where thick uneven twigs jutted from. A place he hung clothes.
“Did you make that?” I asked, my cheeks feeling warm as I watched this man tend to my laundry.
He snickered. “Yeah. Exquisite craftsmanship, isn’t it?”
I smiled, comfortable enough to do so only because his back was to me. “So, the food situation. I’m surprised there will be any.”
He finished, adjusting the fabric so wrinkles were pulled taut before he tossed his own dirty clothes into the bucket and kicked it to the corner. He faced me, and my fingers dug into the cot I sat on.
“They serve rationed portions. I don’t know what you’re used to, but I’m sure it’ll feel like a feast compared to how much we’ve eaten the past few days. I’m guessing you hadn’t eaten much in the days prior to meeting me, considering you passed out.”
My lips twisted. How much to reveal? I’d managed to siphon information from him during this trip, but now that we werehere, he seemed more tight-lipped. Perhaps I’d have to change up my tactic. The prospect of doing this solo became more and more daunting, considering I couldn’t even retrace my steps yet.
“It’s been a while,” I admitted softly.
He took up all the air in the room by merely standing there, a presence of quiet muscles. His hand flexed, and I watched the muscle jump along his forearm. My brow creased. “What was that?”
“What was what?” he asked flatly.
“You’re…tense about something.”
His chest inflated but he didn’t break his gaze from looking down at me. “I’m angry.”
