She sank into the water, feeling it warm the muscles that ached from hours of swimming—not to mention pulling Finn along with her to the ocean floor.
“Ugh,” she grumbled, sinking under the water.
The bathroom swam around her, and pretty soon, all she could hear was the thump of her pulse in her ears.
It was the most peaceful she’d felt since the boat made it back to shore.
She stayed there in her forever-warm bath for what felt like hours.
Selene came in twice. Once, to drop off some clothes to wear. The second time, to brush her teeth before bed.
When Iris finally dried, dressed, and made her way back into the main area, Selene was passed out with one arm draped over her face and the other hanging off the couch.The book she’d been reading was on the floor, face down, holding her spot until morning.
Music drifted through the air, soft and sweet, like a music box, though Iris couldn’t find the source and had to conclude it was another of Selene’s spells.
After grabbing a glass of salt water, Iris made her way back toward the bed.
She hadn’t meant to look.
Truly, she hadn’t.
Her gaze just so happened to glance down as she moved past Selene’s altar. There, she noticed that the spell her friend had been working on had something to do with Arden. Because it was his name written on that paper she’d spotted earlier.
Despite knowing it was rude, she looked at the spell book sitting open on the tabletop.
Open to a page for a banishing spell.
To Douse the Flames of Desire.
Iris glanced toward her friend, who claimed love was a scam, but read romance novels whenever she had a spare moment. It was just then that Iris recognized the song that was playing. Selene played love songs to go to sleep.
It seemed like she wasn’t the only one with confusing feelings toward a particular man.
There was something comforting in that as she slipped inside the fresh sheets that smelled like nag champa and patchouli.
But sleep didn’t claim her until the sun was already creeping across the sky.
29
Finn
“Get the hell out of here,” Finn snarled as Henry made his way through the penthouse.
The empty penthouse.
Once Finn had untangled himself from the swarming, insensitive gossip reporters, he’d rushed back to Manhattan, rehearsing what he was going to say to Iris the whole way.
Only to find the apartment dark, the bed empty, and no sign that Iris had been back at all.
With a sinking stomach, he wondered if she’d gone back home. To the palace. To her mother and sisters. To the one place where she wouldn’t have to tolerate the curious gazes of people who wanted to know about her relationship with an up-and-coming politician.
The look on her face right before she’d turned and walked away had been gutting him endlessly ever since.
“We need to talk about that disaster last night.”
“The disaster that you created.”
Henry held up his hands, palms out. “Wait. Hear me out.”
