Chapter 13 #2
I shove the key into the lock roughly and swing open the door, letting it slam behind me. I make it all but one step before I hear Bastian’s voice.
“Lock it, Liv,” he growls.
I let out an exasperated sigh before turning back to the door and flipping the lock. “Happy?” I shout back.
I can barely hear his grumbled answer through the door, but I swear it sounds like a no.
I turn back to the room and take in the space.
It’s small but in a cozy and quaint kind of way, not claustrophobic as I’d first assumed it would be.
The bed is big enough for one person, maybe two if they squeeze tight.
There’s also an overstuffed chair in the corner beside a wardrobe and an attached washroom with a bathtub that’s calling out to me like a siren song.
Before I can even take a step towards the tub, there’s a knock on the door. I spin around and open it to see a clearly angry Bastian.
“You’re only supposed to open the door for me,” he grits out.
“And here you are at my door, so isn’t that exactly what I did?” My frustration ramping up with every word.
“But you didn’t know it was me. Check first.”
I lean my hip against the doorframe and cross my arms across my chest. “Did you need something?” I ask, annoyed.
“Your clothes,” he thrusts the bundle into my arms, and I have to scramble to unfold them to grasp the pile before they tumble to the dingy floor.
Right. Those are probably important…
“Is that all?” I ask with an eyebrow raised.
“Helena is bringing our food to my room so come across the hall once you’ve bathed.” I can still see the tension rolling through him even if his words come out unemotional.
I tilt my head. “Are you trying to tell me I smell?”
His eyes flash with irritation as he takes a deep inhale, almost like he’s holding himself from biting my head off. He opens his mouth to reply but shuts it with a shake of his head before turning and slamming his bedroom door behind him.
I retreat into my room, and I’ve barely shut the door before I can hear his shout, through two sets of doors no less, to lock the damn door.
“As you wish, master,” I grumble, locking the door and heading to the tub.
I find a small bottle of bath salts perched on the lip of the tub, so I make quick work tossing them into the quickly filling hot water. I snag the bottle of soap off the sink and set it nearby so I can easily reach it from inside the tub.
Sinking into the warm water I let out a soft groan of pleasure as it wraps around my sore and aching muscles.
I sink down until the water reaches to just below my chin, submerging my full body.
Leaning my head back against the edge of the tub I let my thoughts drift as I breathe in the floral scented steam filling the room.
The longer I soak, the more my anger and frustration melt away. I don’t even know why I was acting like such a bitch. I’m never like that. And yet, there was something that triggered me and flipped some sort of switch. I think I’m still frustrated about the failure to access my magic.
It wasn’t Helena. I mean, maybe it was, but it certainly wasn’t because I was jealous. It’s rude for them to be flirting right in front of me. She doesn’t know our situation. What if he and I were together?
I definitely wasn’t jealous.
I don’t even like him.
I find him maybe, a little, somewhat attractive is all.
He’s nice to look at.
But his personality is atrocious. He’s an asshole and he knows how to get on each and every one of my nerves… except for when he’s not.
Like when he comforts me after a nightmare.
Or when he saves my life when it was definitely easier to let me die.
Or when he talks me down from the mental spiral over my magic.
“Ugh!” I groan out loud.
The more I keep trying to rationalize that he’s treated me like shit, the more I also find moments when he’s treated me with such care.
Okay, so maybe I have the teeniest, tiniest little crush on the male.
But that doesn’t mean I’m jealous of some random barkeep who he knows… very well it seems.
No, Olivia, stop. Crush or not, he’s allowed to have female friends or exes, or even a current partner.
My chest constricts at the thought of his mate out there somewhere.
Even so, I can’t let myself get torn up over him and our dynamic. He’s simply helping me get home. That is all.
But what if I want to come back? What if after the conversation with Fleur, I decide I don’t want to stick around the human realm?
What then? What happens with us then? Not that there is an us to even be thinking about.
I can’t expect him to help me like this forever.
He has his own life he needs to be living.
His own responsibilities, that my appearance in the realm has pulled him away from if the summons by his mother is anything to go off of.
My thoughts continue their never-ending cycle that I don’t even notice when the water starts to cool. It’s not until there’s a pounding knock on my door that I’m actually roused from my bath.
I let out an exasperated sigh as I climb from the tub and snatch my towel, knowing there’s only one person who would be banging on the door to the point I almost think he’ll break it down.
“Who is it?” I call, infusing my voice with a saccharine sweetness, wrapping the towel around my still dripping body.
“You know damn well who it is,” Bastian grumbles through the door.
I pad over to the door, opening it a crack so my towel-wrapped body is mostly hidden. “Yes, but I seem to remember a very grumpy male earlier who didn’t like it when I opened the door without checking.” I give him a sweet smile, that is entirely false.
His eyes narrow and nostrils flare as he takes me in. “Are you even clothed? Why are you opening the door in the nude?”
“First, I am not naked. I’m wrapped in a towel.
” I wave my hand over my body to indicate.
“Second, I figured it was a safer bet to answer the door like this than to not open at all. Knowing you, you would’ve burst the door down if I didn’t answer quick enough for you.
” I tilt my head at him in question. “Am I wrong?”
I’m almost concerned he’s going to shatter his teeth with how hard he’s clenching his jaw. “You were taking a long time. Your food is going to get cold. I wanted to see that you were fine,” he grinds out between his teeth.
“I am perfectly content,” I say as my stomach lets out a grumble at the mention of food. “Okay, I’m content with the exception of the fact that I might be a bit peckish.”
“Get dressed first,” he says before once again leaving me standing in my doorway.
I cross to where I left the stack of clothes and find that not only did he bring me a change of clothes for tomorrow, but he also brought me another shirt and pair of trousers of his that I assume is for me to sleep in.
It takes me no time to change into the borrowed clothes before snatching my room key from the side table and heading to his room for dinner. I knock softly and receive a muffled come in in response.
Swinging open the door, I find that his room is almost a mirror image of my own with the exception that it’s slightly larger, including the bed.
I suppose that’s good considering he would struggle to fit in the bed in my room.
I spy a small table in the corner that’s cluttered by two trays with cloches over whatever meal awaits beneath.
“Sit,” Bastian orders from his seat at the table.
“Will you always boss me around like this?” I ask, earning me a narrowing of his eyes. It’s only then that I process the fact that the cloches remain over both meals. “Have you been waiting on me to eat?” I ask, bewildered.
“Well, I wasn’t going to eat without you. That’s just poor manners,” he says matter-of-factly.
A wave of guilt crashes over me. I was stewing in my anger and thoughts, meanwhile he’s been over here waiting on me. “I’m sorry to have kept you from your meal. You could’ve gone ahead without me.”
“I could’ve,” he says simply. “But I wouldn’t have.”
And with that he makes a show of lifting the cloches from the trays, revealing a pair of plates overflowing with roasted root vegetables and some sort of roasted poultry all drenched in a brown gravy.
It smells absolutely heavenly. The spices tickle my nose as the steam wafts towards me.
I can detect some of the usual suspects, rosemary and oregano, but there are others that I assume must come only from Alinea.
I pierce a slice of the meat with my fork and it’s so tender that it nearly crumbles from that action alone.
The flavors explode across my tongue. There’s a slight smokiness mixed with a sweet and some sort of brightness that only comes from citrus.
“Dear gods, this is incredible,” I moan as I chew.
Bastian clears his throat as he shifts in his seat. “I’m glad you like it. Helena’s mate is one of the best cooks I know in the realm.”
I nearly choke on my next bite at the mention of Helena having a mate.
Okay so maybe I was a little jealous. And it seems those feelings were entirely unfounded.
“Mate, huh?” I take a sip of the wine that’s on my tray to take a moment to gather my thoughts.
It’s a sweet and slightly sour mix of berries that is much better than the watered-down swill they serve in the human realm.
“How long have they been together?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even and uninterested.
“Oh, centuries,” he says with a devilish smirk that tells me he knows exactly why I’ve gone down this line of questioning. “They’ve been mated since before I was even born.”
“Oh, wow. Centuries is… that’s a long time.”
“Indeed, it is.” He’s leaning back in his chair looking so smug like the cat who got the cream. “Still feeling a little jealous over there?”
I wish I could wipe that smirk right off his gods forsaken face. “I already told you, I wasn’t jealous. Why would I have any reason to be jealous?”
“I don’t know, Olivia, why would you be jealous?” he asks with a nonchalant shrug that is in no way nonchalant.
I swear this male makes me want to scream. “I detest you,” I scoff.
“Keep telling yourself whatever lies will help you sleep better at night,” he says with a wink as he pops one of the potatoes into his mouth.
“It’s not a lie,” I force out, the words tasting bitter. “Anyway, about tomorrow.”
“What about it?” he asks, the amusement fading away with the abrupt change of topic.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’ll head to the portal at first light.
It’s not far, less than an hour from here.
Once we pass through, you’ll take the lead since you know the area better than I do.
That’s it really. No real grand plan,” he shrugs as he slumps back into his chair and pushes the empty plate towards the middle of the table.
“Right, okay. Sounds easy enough.” I look down at my plate and realize it’s equally empty. Stacking it with his, I rise from the table, feeling awkward to be lingering in his room with no reason. “I should try to get some sleep then.”
“On that note,” his voice stops my escape. I turn back to find him already in the process of undressing for sleep. His shirt discarded over a nearby chair. Heat rises to my cheeks, flustering me further. “It seems you’ve been sleeping better.”
“Yeah, no nightmare last night. That’s two nights in a row now and I’m trying not to focus too hard on it in case I jinx it or something and they come back. Anyway, um, goodnight.” I say before flinging the door open and throwing myself across the hall towards my room.
“Lock your damn door!” he calls behind me and I have to bite my lip to hold back the laugh that wants to bubble out.