Chapter 27 Serena
SERENA
“We need to get on the road.” Jace stands above me, blocking out the bright sun at its midday peak. “We’re pushing it by staying here any longer.”
“Furi isn’t ready to fly yet.”
I squint down the beach toward my dragon, lapping up saltwater from the ocean. Sometimes I don’t know how a creature so ancient and wise can be so dumb.
“My shield is thinning, Serena. We need to move.”
“I can’t leave her, Jace. It’s out of the question. Where will we even go?”
“We could head back to the city,” Zadyn suggests, his eyes linking with that female—Ilayna—who’s rejoined us. “I’ve been renting a place for us. We can hide out, just for a day or two until she’s ready to fly again.”
I frown, making my way over to Furi’s side to smooth her warm scales. “Where will she stay?”
Here. I will stay here. You must go.
No, Furi.
I will be fine, Blackblood.
I don’t like leaving you like this.
She blinks a giant green eye at me. I can protect myself. I’ve been doing it in my sleep for two thousand years.
I roll my eyes. I don’t trust Kylian.
I can hear you now, wherever you are. You must go. Stay hidden. When I can fly, I will call.
If you hear so much as a tree rustle, I want you to call me. Okay? Promise. I will rip Kylian apart if he touches you.
So will I. Now go.
Her head swings, nudging me forward with her snout.
“Well?” Jace prods.
Furi gives a light growl in response to his voice. She’s never been his greatest fan.
“She said to go. She’ll stay here until she’s fully healed, and then she’ll call me.”
“Alright. Good. Let’s move.”
We pack up the camp and make our way through the forest, toward a run-down city that smells like absolute shit.
“Where are we?”
“Solmead,” Zadyn says, close by my side.
“The glittering gem of Vod,” Kai pipes, leaning on a broken tree branch we fashioned into a walking stick for him. I hang back to keep his pace as he limps alongside us.
I was worried he would never smile, never joke again after Kylian all but wrecked him with his brutality. I thank god his spirit isn’t broken after all.
Zadyn leads us toward a decrepit building that looks like it could collapse at the drop of a sneeze. The wooden stairs groan as we make our way up to his apartment. But when we reach the door, we find it slightly ajar.
Heavy boots sound on the other side.
Someone is here. And they’re looking for something. Or someone.
Zadyn freezes, his hand coming out to block me from taking another step. I hold my breath as he lifts a finger to his lips and Jace sneaks around his other side, silently drawing his sword with the onyx hilt.
Zadyn cranes his head to peer through the door and turns back to us.
Go, now, Zadyn mouths.
We retreat silently the way we came, bursting out into the hot sun. Zadyn’s hand wraps around mine as we fly down the rat-infested alleyways.
“This way!”
We follow Ilayna onto a narrow street lined with trade booths, past an old female seated behind a cart of crimson apples. As we pass, she stands, clamping a crinkled hand around Jace’s arm with shocking strength.
“Heed my warning, boy,” she says to him.
He wrenches free and marches away.
“What was she talking about?”
He shakes his head, ignoring my question. But I’ve studied and dreamt of that face enough to know what the strain in his eye means.
“Zadyn, can you glamour the six of you?” Ilayna asks. “It’s best if no one sees you come in.”
He nods. “Is this safe?”
Her eyes dart around the empty corridor. “Safe as you’ll get right now.”
“Come on.” He urges us forward. “No one say a word.”
Under the invisibility of Zadyn’s glamour, we make our way down a long, red-tinged corridor and into a perfumed parlor with luxurious curtains and daybeds. Beautiful females in expensive-looking dresses strut around on the arms of well-kept males, fawning over them flirtatiously.
Is this a brothel?
No one says a word as Ilayna turns down a few hallways and holds open a door for us.
“Okay,” she says, closing us in.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“A whorehouse,” someone answers mildly.
Ilayna looks at the ground. “These rooms are usually reserved for our highest paying patrons, but there are no reservations today. I doubt anyone will come snooping. It’s a suite, there’s another room through that door. You should be safe here for a while.”
“Thank you, Ilayna,” Zadyn says sincerely. He turns to me. “Stay here. I want to go see what those men in my flat were up to.”
“Don’t go alone,” I protest, wrapping my bandaged hand around his arm. Jace takes a step toward the door.
“No,” Zadyn says. “One of us should stay. Just in case.”
“I’ll come with you,” Dover volunteers.
“Stay out of sight,” Mar warns him with a quick peck on the lips. “Don’t go picking a useless fight.”
I pace around the room after they leave, too restless to sit. Peeling back the curtains, I scan the pitiful streets. When a flash of gold appears in my eyeline, I gasp, yanking the drapes closed.
“What’s wrong?” Jace is beside me instantly, his brows threading together.
Shaking my head, I move away from the window and sink into a seat. “Golden guards.”
He cracks the curtains the tiniest bit to peer out.
Getting a whiff of myself, I mutter, “God, I need a bath.”
“I can show you to the baths. The girls should all be heading to dinner now, so it should be empty.” Ilayna looks around awkwardly.
“Mar?” I ask.
“I’m going to take a look at Kai’s leg.” She settles onto the bed beside him and helps lift his leg. He sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth as she stuffs a pillow beneath it.
I follow Ilayna from the room, surprised to find Jace suddenly beside me. “Oh, you think I’m letting you out of my sight? With golden guards scouring the streets?”
“I’m going to take a bath.”
“Don’t worry, witch, I won’t peek.”
Great.
“There are towels and robes here. I’ll try and bring you all back some dinner,” Ilayna says, lingering in the threshold.
“Thank you,” I say to her.
“Thank you, Ilayna,” Jace echoes as the door closes behind us, sealing us in with an air of finality. We stand there beneath the sensual low light, the steam curling above the circular pools creating a delicate layer of haze.
Jace and I lock eyes awkwardly as he steps forward.
I hold my breath, my stomach doing little somersaults.
With excruciating care, he begins to undo my bandages, unspooling them as I study the severe lines of his face, the permanent tension between his brows, the curve of his beautiful mouth, and the thick downcast lashes that shadow those high cheekbones.
The cruel things he said before still linger in the back of my mind, but I know he didn’t mean them. And besides, it’s hard to hold any kind of grudge when all I want is to crash into him.
When my hands are bare, he glances up at me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice like gravel.
Without a word, Jace puts his muscled back to me.
Warm steam kisses my naked skin as I slip out of the borrowed clothes and into the inviting waters. I dip my head beneath the glassy surface and come up feeling renewed.
“You can turn around now.”
Slowly, Jace turns and sits down at the edge of the bath.
“What are you thinking?” he asks, drawing his knees up to his chest.
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“This feels so good I could cry.”
He lets out a chuckle, shaking his head.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking if you ever try to leave me again for the afterlife, I’ll lose my mind.”
Oh.
“I was just trying to keep you all safe.” My voice is a feeble murmur as I stare at the blue tile lining the bath. He reaches out a steady hand and tilts my chin up.
“I don’t care why you did it. Just tell me that it will never happen again.”
I nod and swallow, reaching for the bar of soap on the ledge. It slips out of my grasp, hovering in the air.
“Say it. Say it will never happen again.”
“It will never happen again.”
I watch him force a swallow and drop his eyes to the tile.
“I missed you,” he says. The candid admission leaves me stunned. “I thought you were dead.”
“Nah. Got at least eight more lives in me.”
Twin rings of golden light flicker up, full of regret and reckless hope.
A gentle breeze sweeps my hair to the side as the bar of soap drifts behind me, brushing over my shoulders in small circular motions.
Jace watches, his molten stare intense as he uses his affinity on me.
I let my eyes close, feeling those invisible hands roam over every inch of my body, massaging the tension from my shoulders, neck, and calves.
One degree of separation is all that stands between his physical hands on me. But this is toeing the line.
The soap continues to do his bidding, disappearing below the surface to clean my legs. It inches higher and higher on my thighs. I hold my breath, my body clenching in anticipation, wondering if he’ll dare to go further.
“I’ll let you do the rest.”
His raspy voice makes my eyelids flutter open. He’s holding the bar of soap out to me, his gaze ravenous, chasing my heart into a sprint.
I reach for it but he’s not done teasing me.
He grins, pulling his arm back. I lurch forward, water sluicing over the edge of the bath and soaking his pants.
For that brief moment, we share breath. Then he surrenders and I retreat back to the water with the soap.
He tracks my hand as it dips beneath the surface.
“Close your eyes,” I whisper. He does and I can hear his heart beating so loudly. Or maybe it’s my own. I don’t know.
“You can open them.”
“All clean?”
I nod as he twists to pick up a towel.
“When was the last time you had a bath?” I ask.
He laughs, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t remember.”
He looks so good in the low light with the mist swirling around him like this. So—
Nope. No. We are not going there.
He’s still engaged and that isn’t changing. I need to establish some boundaries. Being alone with him is not wise. Being alone and naked with him is even more not wise.
Not when I’m fantasizing about dragging him into this water with me and devouring him.
He leans down. “You’re thinking dirty thoughts, aren’t you?”
“What?” I laugh. “No.”
Yes.
“You’re lying, little witch.”
“How do you know that?”
“Your scent.”
“What about it?”
“It shifted. I can tell you’re…aroused.”
“Ew. Please. Even if was aroused—which I’m not—you using that word just un-aroused me.”
“Then why are you still turned on?”
I open my mouth and then close it. Oh, hell. What’s the use in lying?
“You’re not turned on right now? By this?” I gesture between us.
“We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you.” He braces his hands on the edge of the pool, a cocky smirk on his face.
“Right. Of course, we are. Jace Fallyn, Ex-Captain of the Guard, current Hand of the King and pillar of morality is above such carnal desires.”
I make a serious face, folding my arms over the ledge
“I can assure you,” he breathes, eyes tracing my bare shoulders. “I am far from above carnal desires.”
“Then I guess I just don’t do it for you.”
“You know what would do it for me? Having you alone, uninterrupted for the rest of eternity. That bar of soap included.”
I bite my lip.
“Don’t bite your lip like that. Not unless you want me to do something about it.”
“Why, what will you do?”
“You don’t want to test me. Not right now.”
“It’s my lip. I’ll bite it if I want to.” And since I can…
Suddenly his hands are in my hair, angling my head up so that our noses are pressed together and I can almost taste his lips.
“Serena,” he growls.
I draw in a breath, rising up out of the water. Tiny beads skate down my body, but his eyes don’t wander. They remain glued to mine, golden and scorching.
An inch away. Less than. An inch away from the relief of his scalding kiss.
My lips ache to close that distance.
So I do the only thing I can think of to keep from sinking them into his.
I clamp my fingers around his collar and haul him into the water beside me.
He falls in head first as I cackle. I almost forgot what it was like to laugh.
Jace breaks the surface with a loud gasp.
“You. Little. Witch,” he breathes, his hair plastered to his face. He shakes his head, trying not to smile, but I can see the corners of his mouth tugging upward.
“You needed the bath more than I did,” I say, ascending the two steps to the ledge, baring my naked back to him.
I wrap the towel around myself and glance back. It’s him who bites his lip now. Bites it until it turns white.
“Are you coming?” I ask, nodding toward the door.
He grimaces. “I think I need a second.”
I cock my head.
“To cool off.”
Shit. Why is that so hot?
“Think you can make it back to the room without running into trouble?”
“I thought you didn’t want me out of your sight.”
“That. And I just wanted an excuse to see you in the bath.”
He flashes me a boyish grin. I dip my foot into the bath and kick some water at him. One of those rare, unguarded laughs slips out of him and my chest aches.
God, I missed him.
I start toward the door, grabbing a cozy-looking robe off the rack by the wall.
“Just—give me a second.” His voice is pained as he emerges from the water, clothes clinging to every inch of his chiseled body. He flips his hair back, sending tiny droplets flying through the air, as he comes chest to chest with me. He leans down, a determined look in his eye.
I know that look.
It’s his I’m about to kiss you look.
I hold my breath, waiting, but he reaches behind me, snatching a towel and shaking the water from his hair.
Idiot.
His arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me into his side as he walks us out the door.
“You’re evil,” he murmurs, kissing the top of my head as we step into the hall.