My heart feels like it’s trying to race right out of my chest, and I’m breathing hard in preparation for a fight that I now know isn’t coming. Instead, I get to deal with a pissed off Scorpion, which I knew was an inevitability when Eacon dropped me off in my room, but I was really enjoying my soak and thought I’d have a little longer.
“Why are you in the bath?” Curio demands, his hickory-toned eyes dropping down my body for the first time.
Desire instantly begins to swirl with the vexation in his gaze, but he blinks and shutters the heat almost immediately. My body responds to the flash of need I just witnessed. My nipples go hard, and a warm tingle settles low in my belly, but if he can fight his need, so can I.
“It is what one does when they’re dirty and don’t want to be,” I snark, and Curio’s glare deepens.
He steps closer before noticeably stopping himself just past the threshold.
“Notwhyare you bathing,” he grumbles menacingly. “Why are you here in my room at all? When did you get back?”
“My room,” I correct.
“Our room,” he counters. “You know what? Leave it.”
Just as abruptly as he arrived, he spins on his heel and marches out of the bathroom. I can hear his angry stomps all the way out ofourroom and even further down the corridor until they finally fade away. Sighing, I step out of the tub. I set my weapons down on the window seat and grab a large towel. I expected to feel some frustration from the Scorpions over what happened, but Curio’s display is unwarranted. I was with Eacon. They knew what she wanted and what we would be doing, so why are they being so dramatic about it? Yes, there was a moment when I thought Eacon was trying to kill me, but they knew she wasn’t, so what else is there to freak out about?
I run a comb through my hair, having to pull my ends forward over my shoulder to get to them. It’s getting too long, and I can’t decide if I like it or if it’s time to take some shears to it. I’ve never had control of how I look before. My head was shaved when I was first thrown into the ludere, and Tilleo only approved Wilik growing it out after I’d begun to prove myself in the pit. I’ve always been coiffed and styled to his liking. In the past, I’ve associated the length of my locks with success, but now that I can choose how I want to look, I’m not sure what suitsmebest.
The towel is soft and cozy against my skin as I wrap it around my body. I turn toward the door, ready to dress and deal with a little Scorpion drama, when the distinct sound of heavy tread reaches me. I thought maybe Curio ran off to sulk, but I was wrong, he went to get reinforcements. Squaring my shoulders, I prepare for the onslaught that’s headed my way. Just as I pull a fortifying breath in, three tall, muscular frames spill into the large washroom perfectly in sync. They move so fluidly and confidently that it’s impossible not to be slightly intimidated and impressed. Eyes filled with fire, arms crossed over broad chests, and clenched jaws meet me as I look them over.
I exhale. It isn’t laced with the irritation I intended, sounding more relieved instead.
“You’re back?” Tarek asks, but it feels more like a declaration than a question.
“I am.”
“When?” he demands.
“Forty minutes or so,” I supply, keeping my eyes on his even though I can feel the heat of other gazes grazing my damp skin.
“Are you hurt?” Tarek stiffly inquires, and I narrow my eyes at him.
He’s in front of me in three long strides, forcing me to look up into his angry ice-blue eyes, and I don’t know if I like the challenge I see there or if I want to stamp it out.
“Don’t give me that look, Auset, it’s a fair question. The planning of this hunt was nonexistent. The outcome could easily have been disastrous,” Tarek practically growls.
I meet his angry glower head-on and match Riall’s and Curio’s stances at the doorway by crossing my arms over my chest. In doing so, I brush the soft material of his shirt and feel a hint of the hard muscle hidden beneath.
“You have little faith in the fae who saved you,” I retort, feeling protective of Eacon and everything she showed me today.
“I love Eacon, but hunts go wrong when they’re rooted in emotion instead of strategy and skill,” Tarek states matter-of-factly.
We stare at one another for a moment, and just when I think the Scorpion is about to double down on being hard and unyielding, he blows out a breath and softly asks, “Are you okay?”
My eyes flick back and forth between his in an effort to glean where this change of heart, this hint of vulnerability, is comingfrom.I thought the Scorpions’ overreaction was based on control, on their desire for me to give in, but maybe I’m wrong.
Was he worried for me, is that what this is all about?
Habit and routine would have me crushing this show of emotion under my boot, treating it like the dangerous pest I used to think feelings were, but I ignore that instinct and choose instead to remove my internal armor. Piece by piece, I take down the wall. I swallow the daggers waiting to be released on my tongue and quiet the defensive ire humming in my limbs. I douse the indignation in my stare and unclench the stubborn set of my jaw.
I’m not sure where this ceasefire might lead or if I’ll regret it. All I know is that I don’t want more of the same things that have poisoned my existence up to this point. I crave death and destruction in some facets of my life, but I don’t want to battle and bleed and run inallaspects of who I am.
I want more than that. I just never knew it until now.
“I’m not hurt,” I reassure Tarek and the others. “There wasn’t a blade or hand that came close enough to even threaten injury let alone inflict it. It was nice to help Eacon,” I answer, and Riall snorts from somewhere behind Tarek.
I lean to the side so I can take the Scorpion in, and he shrugs.
