I wasn’t sure if it was worth locking at all. What was there to protect inside? A grass rug and a plain wooden chest? But maybe the beach dwellers would find those things valuable enough to steal them? And then where would I sleep?
Timur sounded calm now and looked to be in control. But I kept a careful distance from him, remembering his earlier episode and how suddenly it had happened.
“Are we going somewhere far that you locked the door?” I asked.
He gave me a tired look. “You wanted to relieve yourself? Do it now.”
“Here?” I looked around.
The night was young. The stars had just started coming up, with the pale glow of dying sunset still coloring the edge ofthe horizon. Back in Teneris, the Joy Vessel Keepers would be opening the roof over thesaraialready. The guards and servants would be up in the palace. The stores would be opening up, getting ready for a busy night.
Here, the beach still seemed quiet. There were only a few huts on this side of the stone path. All of them looked deserted.
“It’s the calmest time of either night or day in Ashgate,” Timur said. “Most sleep in after staying up long into the morning hours.”
“Why are mornings such a busy time here? Isn’t that when shadow fae usually go to sleep?”
“Yes, the law-abiding ones do. But that’s when the crime thrives in Ashgate.” He stretched his neck jerkily, peering at me with that blue eye of his from under his hood. “Do you no longer need a bathroom?”
“No I…I still do. Only it’s not like I’m going to find one here, am I?” I snapped, pulling my sweater tighter around my shoulders.
He didn’t deign me with an answer. I sighed and headed around our hut in search of a suitable spot to relieve myself.
“Do it here. Stay close.” He stopped me just a few steps away from the rocks and the short tree between them.
Even if I stepped behind the rocks, he’d hear me pee. But the alternative was to walk farther away into the dark night and whatever shadows may be lurking on the beach.
“Fine.” I shrugged, then stepped behind the closest rock and lifted my skirt.
Maybe Erik’s indifference had rubbed off on me, but I felt better with Timur close by. For all I knew, Timur wasn’t much safer than any other criminal in Ashgate, but he had an interest in protecting me, even if just as his property. Though he’d never actually said what he needed me for.
I finished my business, pulled up my panties and adjusted my skirt, making a mental note to get my clothes washed at the first opportunity. Even if I had to wash them in the ocean without soap, it was better than nothing.
“Time to go,” Timur informed me when I returned from behind the rocks.
“To go where?” I asked. “Where are you taking me?”
He steered his chair toward the path carved in the face of the cliff. “Just follow me.”
I planted my feet into the black sand of the beach, however, without making a single step.
“Where are you taking me?” I repeated, not moving from my spot.
He veered around. His wide shoulders raised then dropped with a deep breath of exasperation.
“You have work to do,” he said evenly.
Apprehension seized my chest.
“What kind of work?”
“It’s time to make back the gold I spent for you.” His harsh words sounded even worse when said in a clipped, emotionless voice like that.
I fisted my hands at my sides, anger rising inside me anew. It was hard to contain it, but I tried.
“I didn’t ask you to spend anything for me. I never wanted to be bought or owned by anyone.”
“Yet this is your purpose in this world. Youronlypurpose. If I didn’t buy you, someone else would have. Either way, you’d be pleasured tonight, and your pleasure would be sold.”
