“We need to talk.” Reid pushes the door open and pulls me inside.
Ellie stands there, startled, wearing nothing but a towel. She turns completely red as she meets my eyes.
“Ellie,” I say. “Hi.” My eyes won’t stop wandering all over her exposed skin. Perfectly smooth, just begging to be touched.Why was I trying so hard not to come here?
“Oh,nowyou remember,” Reid mutters, running his hand through his hair.
“What are you doing here?” Ellie pulls her towel tightly around herself, which only reveals more of her legs. Just a little higher and…
“Something’s wrong with Caeo,” Reid says sharply.
“Not this again,” I mumble.What’s gotten into him?
Worry flashes across Ellie’s face. “Let me get dressed.” She hurries into one of the other rooms, closing the door behind her.
Reid plops down on a purple settee, and I glance around—the room’s lit by several lanterns hanging from wainscoted walls, with five pale wooden doors, all closed. Two fancy armchairs, also purple, and a low table covers most of the floor.
I don’t recognize this place at all. “Where are we?”
Reid’s eyes widen. “Do you remember coming here?”
Do I?“It’s kind of fuzzy…”
He groans. “Just sit down and wait.”
Despite my growing unease, I join him on the settee, forcing a relaxed posture. A few minutes pass, with the tapping of Reid’s foot growing increasingly antsy as the hands on the wall clock tick by. I almost jump when his tension finally bursts, pushing him to his feet, and he bangs on one of the doors.
“What’s taking so long, Ellie?”
It opens a few seconds later.
“Reid? I was getting ready for bed.”
Who said that?
“Arandur’s fiery mud hole, get out here!” Reid yanks Ellie into the room. She’s wearing a loose chemise that doesn’t hang much longer than her towel did, and she still hasn’t brushed the tangles out of her wet hair.
I bump the tea table as I rush over, the sight of his fingers digging into Ellie’s arm lighting a fire within me. “Stop it, Reid. Don’t touch her like that.”
Ellie’s hands come to rest on my arm, a smile flashing across her face as she looks up at me. It fades when she glances back at Reid, her eyebrows pressing together. “You said something was wrong?”
He curses. “Yeah, something’s definitely wrong.” Then he pinches the bridge of his nose before letting out a heavy exhale. “Just to confirm, you two know each other, right?”
“Of course I know him. What’s going on?”
Reid holds up his finger, looking at me.
I sigh. “Yes, I know her.”
“Don’t move.” He grabs Ellie by the shoulders and turns her around, her back facing me.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!” She pulls at his hands, but he keeps them firmly in place.
“Ellie, do you know Caeo?”
I’ve had enough. “Let go of her.”
He shoots me a glare. “Let her answer the question. Do you know anyone named Caeo?”
