“Then you’ve been surrounding yourself with the wrong men,” he said as his gaze met mine across the pools.
“Are you implying thatyouare the right man? That I should roll over for you—bear the heir that you so desperately need andthen be put down like a retired bitch afterward?” I argued. I couldn’t help it, even as I revealed my greatest wounds.
“You think I’m a monster, don’t you?” He shook his head, and only then did I notice the dark bags beneath his eyes. “Ask yourself—how much of that manifestation is truly aboutme?”
It had only taken a short time for me to find myself infuriated with him again. I snapped, “Maybe I wouldn’t think you such a monster had you been upfront with me.”
“Right. As though that would have gone any better.” He ran a hand down his face as though I knew nothing. I knew a great deal about the workings of Kings who cared not for their consorts. I wouldn’t fool myself into thinking that a happy life by his side awaited me; we had a duty to the realms, not to each other.
Too tired to handle that line of conversation, I let myself submerge under the water again. All my breath left me in bubbles that tickled my cheeks as they rose. I stayed there for as long as my body would allow.
When I surfaced with a gasp, he had stepped out of the pool and was wrapping a towel around his waist already. Pity. I’d missed a good view.
He exited the baths momentarily before returning with divinely soft-looking clothing and a towel, which he set on a bench by the door.
“I’ll be outside,” he said with ice in his tone. The click of the door separated us.
Whatever fabric the breeches were made ofwassplendidly soft—it felt like butter against my skin as I slid them up my legs. The tunic Krait had left behind was loose-fitting enough to billow off me and smelled faintly like his pillowcases. I wouldn’t have been caught dead in such an ensemble in Luz.
Clothed and clean, I padded barefoot to the door. He was waiting on the stairs—well, napping. I studied him. Leaned back against the stone wall, in a black tunic cuffed to show strong forearms, and his skin still dewy from the bath, he looked like a fucking deity. The most peculiar thing was that his Shadows were cocooned around him like a shield.
Something warmed inside me to see him waiting there, too sleep-deprived to stay awake—all shadowy and sleepy.
I was definitely still feverish.
One wisp of a Shadow stretched out toward me. At first, I flinched, but then it wrapped around my hand and gently lifted my arm. It felt like a cool breeze over my wet skin.
I watched the darkness loop between my fingers.
“They like you—that’s unusual.”
I pulled my hand away abruptly and met Krait’s bloodshot eyes. “You fell asleep?”
He nodded. “I Shadowed across the realms last night. I’m still recovering.”
The thought of him depleting his energy tugged at my will to stay angry with him. “You didn’t have to take care of me. There are healers for that.”
He grumbled, “You scared mine away—she said you tried to bite her.”
“I would not!”
He smirked. “You didn’t. But I wouldn’t put it past you.”
I half-heartedly glared with a shrug. “I don’t think I’d put it past me either.”
He cleared his throat and said, “They’re having a fresh cot brought up to Elsedora’s room, if that’s where you’d prefer to rest.”
My cheeks heated. “Your bed is more comfortable,” I said as he offered me a hand to walk up the stairs. I reluctantly took it before muttering, “Darvan-dick.”
He leaned down and whispered into my ear, “You use the word dick around me far too frequently.”
I shot back, “You almost sound like that excites you.”
“Masochistically, it does.”
His fingers entwined with mine felt warm and steady. I wanted to keep thinking of him as my enemy, wanted to hate him for his intent to use me, and wanted to keep fighting him. But I was so damn tired, and the light of morning when we hit the landing reminded me that I needed sleep.
We rounded the hall to the bottom of the main staircase. I stared up, feeling hopelessly run-down. Those steps seemed equivalent to climbing the Hussa mountains.
