But the craziest thing was the wall behind the bed.
It was some kind of floor-to-ceiling screen with a view of the glimmering lake. The tower to the left. The black castle I assumed belonged to the Shadow King up ahead. And that uninviting mountain fortress on the right.
The picture was a level of resolution I’d never seen before. Not even on the one big screen in the Faoiltiarn pub where everyone gathered to watch rugby and soccer matches.
Technically, I knew it had to be some kind of video. But it featured birdsong. And what sounded like an actual breeze. If not for the framing of the room—and knowing the lake wasn’t really on the back wall—I would’ve thought I could walk right past the bed and onto its shore.
“These digs are just temporary for now, but make yourself comfortable,” Tadhg invited. “Maybe wash up. It’s been a journey for you, hasn’t it?”
Hold on, he was going? No!
“Tell me where am I first,” I spun around to demand. “Are we underneath the place where I woke up? Like, inside a cave or acliff? But with some kind of overlay—like a magical sketch, but made of technology?”
“Ah, fair play to you for figuring that out,” Tadhg said with a conceding grin. “The whole Secret Kingdom business isn’t exactly something we’ve ever had to explain to an outsider before—never mind one raised away off in rural Ontario, Canada. I wasn’t sure you’d take to the idea of god tech at all, to be honest. Jaysus, I barely get it myself, which is why I stick to the logistics side of things down here and leave all the fancy overlays, as you called them, to Cian. Right. I can see I’ve lost you again.”
I didn’t realize I was wearing my confusion so plainly on my face until he started backing away with a, “I’ll explain everything later, but right now, I’ve truly got to go.”
“But wait, I have so many more questions. How do you know where I came from, and how was any of this even made?”
“We’ll get all of your questions answered at lunch, I promise, Strawberry.” Tadhg kept backing away—this time clasping his beefy hands with an apologetic wince. “Truly, make yourself comfortable, and we’ll be back as soon as we can manage it. Unfortunately, you can take the COO out of the human world, but my job is never done.”
I swear, my mind nearly collapsed under all my befuddlement. “What’s a COO?”
Tadhg just promised, “I’ll tell you all about my boring job once we’ve secured the kingdom. Rest for now.”
This time, I didn’t get the chance to argue. He stepped over the threshold, and the door slid closed behind him.
Leaving me alone in the luxurious studio apartment that apparently belonged to me.
Washrooms Without Bathtubs
Okay,maybe Naomi had a point about me being too compliant.
For as long as I could remember, she’d accused me of just going along with everything I was told to do. And she might have been right.
After all, there I was, standing in the most luxurious washroom I’d ever seen, after the most confusing day I’d ever had, putting more effort into figuring out the controls in front of me than coming up with an escape plan.
Though, calling this place a washroom felt like a huge understatement. It sported a toilet covered in those strange red symbols—the same ones on the Shadow King’s ebony jewel castle and his hands. There was also an open closet space, complete with places to hang clothes, and a large mirror on top of a unit of drawers, framed in soft, bright light.
The so-called washroom even had a velvet-covered couch. For sitting, I guessed. In case, I don’t know, reading books in the same place where you pooped was your thing.
But what it didn’t have was a bathtub.
Just a large glass room with several nozzles and a wall that looked more like a cockpit control panel than something a regular person could operate.
Again, I missed Naomi.
She’d grown up just as sheltered as me, but somehow always knew how to work every piece of tech we’d run into on the way to and in Scotland.
Was she okay?
The image of that awful wolf licking her neck flickered across my mind. Both of those males had seemed intent on her, tracking her every word and breath, even while going back and forth with Alban.
Naomi’s well-being—yet another question for the brunch list. Which was getting really, really long. I’d have to find a way to formally write all of them down so I could remember everything. Just as soon as I figured out how to work this shower.
“Oh, you poor thing!”
Suddenly, the sweet smell of some kind of baked bread hit my nose.
