I hurried, deliberately not looking at the huge, steaming bath. Water was almost as enticing as naked Xander, and I had no time for either right now.
There were a ton of spare toiletry items in that drawer, so I grabbed the few things I needed. Within two minutes I had my teeth brushed and my hair pulled back into a loose braid.
“You ready?” Xander said, appearing in the doorway.
“Yep.” I smiled, snapping the band around the ends. “I’m ready to go.”
We didn’t touch as we walked toward the bedroom door, but there was so much energy between us it almost felt like we were. Or maybe that was my nerves. For some stupid reason, I could be naked as the day I was born around him and not feel any unease, but now that our clothes were back on….
I had no idea where we stood when we weren’t sexing.
Before I had time for an existential crisis, Xander opened the door and we were out in the hallway. A group was standing near the end—our friends. As we got closer, I tried really hard to keep my expression neutral. “Sorry,” I blurted out, not sure where to look. “I must have been more tired than I thought. I really crashed after Xander let me use his amazing bath.”
There, that was normal, right? No one would be suspicious.
“No problem!” Maya said, smiling. “Chase had to drag me away from my family. It was so hard leaving them again, especially knowing that this part of our journey might be the most dangerous of all.”
That sobered everyone up.
I took a step closer to Callie. “You look great,” I said. “Are you feeling much better?”
She nodded. “Yep. So much better. Dan got me back in time, thankfully. I had to sleep for a few hours, but now I’m ready to go.”
She looked amazing, her skin golden and flushed with health. She wore all black, with a silver-studded belt holding her boyfriend jeans up. She ran her eyes across me. “I see Star put you in the secret keepers uniform.”
I chuckled because I’d thought the same thing. “It suits me perfectly. I prefer clothes that are lightweight and easy to remove for swimming. Shorts and T-shirt dresses are my favs.”
Maya’s eyes got really wide as she clapped her hands. “One day we’re all going shopping together. I love my casual clothes, don’t get me wrong, but I also love dressing up. Girls’ night!”
Callie grimaced, but she didn’t say anything. Something told me she wasn’t that big a fan of shopping.
“Are Emma and Lexen not back yet?” I heard Xander ask Daniel and Chase. His question drew our attention back to the boys.
Daniel shook his head. “No, but Lexen sent word that they were going to meet us in about ten minutes. So we should start moving.”
Everyone began to walk then, and I waited to fall in at the back of the group. Xander paused, settling in at my side. I didn’t miss the knowing looks Maya and Callie shot us. Xander was right, matchmaking was totally on their agenda, but they were fighting a losing battle. Xander was a Royale, and even though he said the overlord family had a stable family to ensure their bloodline remained clearly identified, he’d also told me on more than one occasion that that was not the future for us.
No long-term commitment.
We ended up back in the room with the huge dining table. It was empty when we arrived, so everyone took a seat to wait. “So, the next step of the plan is to go to House of Royale?” Callie asked, holding one finger up like she was counting down. “Figure out the map?” A second finger came up. “Then go and get the stone before Laous tracks us down?”
The guys all nodded. I started to feel really nervous that I was going to let them all down. That maybe the map wasn’t on my body like they hoped.
“I’ve never seen anything on my skin which could be used as a map or coordinates,” I told them. My eyes flashed to Xander’s for a split second and he gave a minute head shake. He hadn’t seen anything either, and he probably knew some parts of my body better than me at this point.
“She doesn’t even have any freckles,” Maya added.
I literally didn’t have a single freckle. The only marks that marred my skin were a few faded stretch marks on my thighs—thank you, puberty—and the scars on my hand.
Chase replied immediately. “I think it’s going to have something to do with the legreto you were born in, Ava. Likely you have to go back there again.”
Daniel nodded. “That would be the place the map was first placed on Ava, so it makes sense.”
Xander straightened, his eyes going faraway for a moment. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he said, “Lexen is almost back. He found out something about the Draygo.”
We all turned toward the main door, waiting for them to enter. But, instead of the two familiar faces we were expecting, a silver-haired woman burst through the door.
Daniel shot to his feet. “Colita! What are you doing here?”
