Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The warrior stalked ahead of me through the Wood, his strides strong and purposeful. I waited for him to berate me, yell at me, accuse me. Waited for all the things that I thought might be coming, but he remained silent.
But I knew better than to think his anger was cooling. Tension radiated along every line of Kole’s body, and even though he walked ahead of me, he kept close tabs on my location. Anytime I fell even slightly behind him, he waited until I caught up.
He hadn’t spoken with me, though. Not once. And that made his simmering anger all the more anxiety-provoking.
It was only when we emerged back into the village, and my toes were numb from the cold, and my teeth were near chattering, that he slowed enough for me to walk at his side.
Surprisingly, he didn’t seem affected by the frigid temperature, even though he still wore the same casual clothes as he had at the salopas. And even though the wind had to bite through his top, he never shivered.
The street was thankfully empty. Music from the salopas still carried on the wind, and I hoped that Nym, Jessip, and Felix were still enjoying themselves, because if they’d run into what Kole had just killed in the Wood, I knew I would never see my new Faewood friends again.
As the inn neared, Kole placed his hand on my lower back, much as he’d done at the salopas, and guided me toward the main door.
“Not a word to anyone about what you saw. Understood?”
“Okay, but Kole,” I said under my breath. “What was that?”
His jaw tightened, his usual steely mask absent. “Something we’re trying to stop. That’s all you need to know.”
So he was here for Imperial Council business that had nothing to do with the Stone.
When we reached the inn, he opened the door for me, and if I’d been in a lighter mood, I probably would have teased him about his chivalrous behavior, but as it was, I could barely breathe, let alone make a cheeky comment.
When we both crossed the threshold, Nivinity straightened, and a relieved sigh escaped her. “Prim, you’re back! Thank the stars. A dillemsill arrived while you were gone, telling me that everyone should stay indoors for the night. It was by order of the kingsfae.”
I gave her a small smile and nodded, but Kole kept his hand on my lower back and guided me right by her.
The next thing I knew, I was climbing the stairs, then Kole was marching me down the hall on the second floor. When we reached my door, he held out his hand. “Key.”
His demand snapped my head back, and my brain began firing again. Magic swirled in me, firing and igniting. “You’re quite bossy.”
“Key,” he growled, and something in his tone had me complying.
I handed it over, and he opened my door, then ushered me inside.
I expected him to either leave now that he’d safely seen me to my chambers, or explode on me, but instead, he closed the door behind him and locked it. “I need to wash myself and thoroughly clean my sword.”
Without further explanation, he strode across my room toward the bathing chambers and disappeared inside it.
The sound of running water came next, along with the scent of his magic activating—self-cleansing magic from the fragrance of it—and I realized the warrior was taking his washing quite seriously if he was using both traditional bathing and magical cleansing.
Minutes passed before he finally reappeared.
My eyes widened. Like his sword, which now gleamed and sparkled, the warrior was spotless. Blood splatter that had been on his clothes was gone, and the lingering scent of that thing had vanished too.
“You need to wash as well, just in case.” He nodded toward the bathing chambers.
I cocked my head. “But . . . it didn’t come near me. I never touched it, and none of its blood got on me.”
“You need to wash,” he repeated.
Once again, that steely tone entered his voice, and while it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to take a trip to the underworld, the rational side of me knew that he had a better understanding of that creature than I did. Maybe I did need to wash just to stay on the safe side.
I hurried past him into the bathing chambers. Inside, I did as he asked even though I was certain that none of that creature had touched me, but I still called upon my magic and doused all traces of the Wood and the day’s grime from my clothes and skin. Following that, I also used soap and water.
Once my hair shone, my skin looked as fresh as it did after a bath, and my clothes billowed in a way that only freshly laundered items could, I rejoined him in my chambers.
He was still there, his sword once again at his back, except now he was pacing the room, and the simmering fury, which had been building in him since the forest, looked about to be unleashed.
Stars Above.
His eyes blazed as he looked me over, and he circled me carefully, like a predator assessing his prey. The entire time, I stood stock still, not even daring to breathe.
“You cleaned every inch of yourself?” he finally asked after circling me twice.
“I did.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to clean you too, just to be safe.
” A burst of his cleansing magic shot out of him.
It smelled of him—of pine, cedar, and the sea.
His essence clouded around me, bathing my skin and caressing me in a way that I was certain he didn’t mean to make intimate, but Goddess, my knees began to weaken.
A sound emitted from his throat.
I glanced at him, but he wouldn’t meet my eye. Instead, his jaw locked, and he didn’t stop until his magic had fully cleansed me a second time, traveling over every dip and hollow of my clothes and skin. Exploring me inadvertently in the way that was needed to fully and completely bathe another.
The entire time I held my breath, even though this wasn’t the first time another had bathed me.
On occasion, a servant was tasked with doing a quick cleanse of their employer, but not in the way Kole had just done.
Kole’s cleanse had been intimate, and the thoroughness of it was usually only reserved for lovers.
But I knew the purpose of Kole’s double check. He wanted to ensure that thing was gone, that no trace of it remained. This was simply another one of his duties, even though my lower belly tightened in response.
Mortified, I lowered my chin.
Once done, his magic retreated, sucking back inside him so quickly that it slid over my body in a hurried brush, and that strange sound came from his throat again.
Cheeks blazing, I faced Kole and hoped he didn’t notice the effect his magic had on me, but the warrior had his eyes closed. Just as fast, a whip of magic flared around his wrist, and he jerked his chin up.
Rapid breaths lifted his chest, and his hands fisted, large rope veins standing on the backs of them.
It was the most emotion, the most reaction, the most anything I’d ever seen from him. It was as if he’d entirely forgotten I was there, as though he’d retreated so completely inward that he wasn’t aware that his every emotion had been laid bare upon his face for me to see.
My gaze dipped. Through his shirt, his hard body and chiseled chest were visible. Shoulders balled with tension held him rigid. Slabbed muscles and cut ridges were evident through his clothing, and, Goddess, everything about him made my mouth water.
My focus shifted to his waist, then lower, and my eyes widened at the very noticeable bulge in his pants.
I shakily ran a hand through my hair, loosening it from my braid. It’d been a rough night. A crazy night. It was obviously taking a toll on both of us, especially if the warrior had an erection that rivaled a temple’s stone column.
But I knew it likely didn’t mean anything. Most males would be affected physically if they tended to a female’s body as thoroughly as he’d just done to me.
When Kole finally opened his eyes, I made myself not react, but his irises glowed like sparkling gems, and heightened energy surrounded the warrior like a rising tidal wave.
Despite the warrior’s arousal and the intense urge I had to climb him like a tree, his rage was still palpable. Still there, but now it was coiling with something else, something dangerous.
He took a step closer to me, and his scent swam as thick as smoke around me.
“Now what?” I rasped. “I know that you’re angry with me for following you.”
“Aye, I am, but yelling at you will accomplish nothing.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to defy you.”
“But you did, and you could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t.”
He growled. “But you could have been. You should have stayed at the inn as I told you to.”
“I know.” I ran a hand harshly over my hair, and he followed the movement, the glow in his eyes intensifying. “What was that thing anyway?”
His nostrils flared, blazing emotions once again shattering his steely composure. “How much did you see?”
“I don’t know exactly, but enough to know that if creatures like that are what inhabit Silventine Wood, then there’s no way I’ll ever be able to retrieve the Wishing Stone if that’s where it landed.”
And that was true. I would never be able to close my eyes to sleep or let my guard down to eat. One could only go without proper rest or nourishment for so long, and if I had to spend days in Silventine Wood, then I was royally fucked.
“Silventine Wood?” His head cocked slightly.
“Isn’t that where it came from?”
“Who told you that?”
“Nivinity. She said that other Stonewild villages have spoken of strange occurrences. They said a creature from Silventine Wood has escaped that forest’s magic and is roaming the land.
That some fae have disappeared.” I waited for him to confirm that, but when he didn’t, I took a step closer to him. “Is that where it came from?”
Instead of replying, the warrior went to the door that adjoined my chambers to his. He unlocked it, then swung it open.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving the doors between our chambers open for the night, and for once, do as I tell you. Don’t close them.”