Chapter 11
“This is unbelievable,” I growled under my breath as I scrubbed furiously at a cast iron pan using coarse salt and steel wool.
The sleeves of my shirt were rolled up to my elbows, and I was wearing a colorful rag wrapped around my head to keep my hair away from the food.
“You’d think they’d at least give us a little bit of a learning curve before dumping us in here on our own. ”
“Yeah, right.” Annia snorted from behind me as she wiped down the stove. “I swear the cook practically skipped out of the doors as soon as we arrived. Guy was fucking whistling a happy tune. Even if the sergeant had told him to stay, I bet he would have hightailed it as soon as we were left alone.”
We talked quietly to make sure no one overheard us, though that was unlikely due to all the background noise.
The mess hall was nearly full to bursting, with over a hundred men sitting ass to elbow at the picnic-style tables and stuffing food into their mouths from rough-hewn wooden trenchers.
A third or so were shifters, and they mostly sat with each other.
We’d had less than two hours to take the disgusting slop the former cook was putting together and turn it into a passable meal.
I thanked Magorah that Annia knew her way around a kitchen, because my own cooking skills were rudimentary at best. We’d turned out some decent sandwiches using canned meat, fried potatoes, and green beans, and you would have thought we’d served them a gourmet meal from the way the men’s eyes lit up as they came up to the serving counter with their trenchers.
Quite a few of them had complimented us on more than our culinary skills, their eyes lingering on the swell of our breasts beneath our shirts.
It had taken me every ounce of willpower I had to smile flirtatiously at them, when what I really wanted to do was punch them in their leering faces.
But if we wanted to find out where the prisoners were hidden, we had to start making some friends, and kicking these soldiers’ asses wasn’t going to help.
“I just wish we weren’t stuck in here the entire day,” I grumbled.
“How are we supposed to talk to any of the men if they’re out there and we’re in here?
” I spared a glance toward the mess hall, which I could see clearly through the large, rectangular opening in the wall.
Fenris was sitting at one of the tables with several shifters, looking withdrawn and uncomfortable as he ate.
The other shifters were ignoring him, and he made no effort to try and insert himself into the conversation.
“Fenris certainly doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. ”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Annia moved to cleaning the steel countertop in the center of the kitchen, and I had to move my cast iron off it to get out of her way.
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, though.
We’re the only women around, and those men probably haven’t seen a pretty face in months.
I’ll bet a few of them are going to wander back here.
And besides, the guy who’s on babysitting duty can’t stop staring at my ass. ”
I flicked my gaze toward the soldier standing about twenty feet away in the mess hall next to the entrance nearest us.
He was the classic tall, dark, and handsome human, with a day’s growth of beard on his strong jaw, and his pale blue eyes seemed to follow Annia around the room.
I met his eyes, and watched with amusement as his high cheekbones colored before he jerked his gaze away, scanning the rest of the mess hall.
Right now there were three other soldiers policing the mess hall, mostly there to make sure the other soldiers played nice and didn’t end up in a food fight or something worse, but he’d been here before lunch.
I had a feeling he was stationed here at the captain’s orders to make sure we didn’t pull anything fishy.
“Well between the two of us, I’m pretty sure you’ve got the best shot at seducing info out of these guys,” I admitted as I finished wiping out the cast iron pan.
I hung it up on its hook by the stove, then grabbed a rag and started wiping down the cooking dishes that were hanging in the drying rack. “They don’t seem to like me as much.”
Annia shrugged. “If you were a human, they’d be just as into your ass as they are mine, especially since you’ve got more of it than I do.
” Annia grinned at me, and I stuck out my tongue – I was in good shape but I didn’t have Annia’s willowy figure.
“You could probably get one of those shifter boys to tell you something, though.”
“I think I’ll leave the seducing up to you.
” There was only one male I wanted to get my hands on, a mage with violet eyes and dark hair the color of glossy cherrywood.
Seduction wasn’t really my strong suit – I just didn’t have the patience for it, and besides, it was almost impossible to lie to a shifter about finding them attractive.
As the men finished eating, they brought their trenchers up one by one and thanked us for the meal.
Annia stationed herself by the counter and took her time chatting each one up, giving them smiles and winks while I busied myself washing dishes.
There wasn’t really time for her to get any info out of the men, but we both knew they’d be thinking about her, and hopefully one of them would come back.
Fenris was one of the last to come up, and as he handed Annia a trencher, I heard him whisper “Good luck,” to her under his breath.
A smile curved my lips – he knew what she was doing just as well as I did.
To me, he added, “I’ve been put on maintenance crew, so I’ll have more mobility around the camp than you.
I’ll tell you if I learn anything interesting, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. ”
“Will do,” I told him, and then he left.
Soon, the hall was empty except for Tall, Dark, and Handsome, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as he watched us work – or rather Annia. I nearly rolled my eyes – his own were glued so firmly to her ass that I doubted he’d even noticed my expression.
“Showtime,” Annia muttered as she grabbed a bucket and a rag.
Now that lunch was over, it was time for us to clean up after the men.
I took up a broom and started sweeping the kitchen, but kept one eye on Annia as she approached the table nearest to the mess hall and set her bucket of water down.
She dunked her rag into the water, then leaned across the table and wiped it down, giving the soldier a great view of her cleavage.
The guy’s throat bobbed, and as his eyes brightened with lust I was sure there were things bobbing beneath his clothing too.
Annia chose that moment to straighten up and “accidentally” knock over the bucket of water.
“Oh no!” she cried as liquid spilled all over the long-sleeved white shirt she wore.
The wet fabric stuck to her like a second skin, becoming translucent.
I had to choke back a laugh when the soldier’s eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of Annia’s nipples poking through the fabric. Men were so easy.
“A-are you alright?” the soldier asked, springing forward as his brain finally kicked into gear. “You’re not hurt or anything, are you?”
“N-no.” Annia shivered, pulling at her shirt. “I’m just cold and wet and oh, I hate this!” she wailed, actual tears gathering in her dark eyes. “I need to change my clothes now, but if I don’t get this done in time, Captain Milios said he was going to have me thrown in the dungeon!”
“There, there, now.” The soldier patted her arm, adopting the soothing and slightly patronizing tone men tended to use around hysterical women. “Captain Milios isn’t going to throw you into the dungeon just for spilling water on yourself.”
“That’s what one of the soldiers told me,” Annia sniffled. “And they’ve been here longer than I have.”
“Yeah, well some of the guys here can be asses.” The soldier shrugged off his khaki shirt and handed it to her, revealing an undershirt that clung to his muscular torso.
I’d always assumed the Resistance was just a ragtag bunch, but the men I’d seen here were all in good fighting shape and uniformed.
They weren’t perfect, but they were far more disciplined than I’d anticipated. “Here, wear this.”
“Thank you.” Annia sniffled one more time, then gave the soldier a brilliant smile that had him blushing all over again.
That blush crept all the way down his neck and disappeared beneath the neckline of his undershirt as Annia pulled off her sopping-wet top, leaving her standing there in nothing but pants and a white bra.
“So, is there really a dungeon around here?” Annia asked as she slowly slipped the soldier’s shirt on, taking her time in adjusting the fabric around her shoulders, which were far too slim for the garment. “Or was that other soldier just making things up?”
“Not a dungeon, exactly,” the soldier said, his eyes glued to the rounded flesh swelling over the cups of Annia’s bra. “But we do use the old mineshaft to hold prisoners, and you could say that’s kind of like a dungeon.”
“Oh really?” Annia’s dark eyes widened, her mouth forming a small ‘o’ of shock. “So the soldier wasn’t lying, I could be sent there?” She slipped the bottom button of the shirt through its hole as she spoke.
“I’m sure the captain wouldn’t actually send you down there,” the soldier assured her. “He wouldn’t want you there with those vile mages.”
“Mages?” Annia gasped.
The soldier stood up a little straighter, looking chagrined. “I think I’ve said too much.”
“That’s incredible!” Annia pressed a fluttering hand against her exposed bosom, and I had to admire how cleverly she directed the soldier’s attention back to her body.
“I had no idea this camp was so hardcore. I know the Resistance is fighting against the mages, but I didn’t know we’d grown so strong that we could actually capture some of them. ”
The soldier’s chest seemed to swell with pride at that. “Yeah, well, we had a pretty good plan –”
The door swung open, and Sergeant Brun stepped in. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw Annia standing there with the soldier’s shirt only halfway buttoned. “Private Gilliam, what is the meaning of this!”
“Sir!” The private snapped to attention, his cheeks coloring once more, and I nearly snickered at the abject mortification in his pretty blue eyes.
“I apologize, but the recruit here spilled water all over her shirt. I didn’t think it was appropriate for her to be in a wet t-shirt, so I offered her my shirt to wear. ”
“And you think this is appropriate instead?” Sergeant Brun asked, swinging his baleful gaze toward Annia again. She’d hastily buttoned up her shirt and stood there with her hands behind her back and her head bowed, looking sheepish.
“I’m so sorry, sergeant,” Annia said meekly. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to get Private Gilliam in trouble. He was just trying to help.”
“I’m sure he was,” Sergeant Brun said dryly. “But I can’t have Private Gilliam on duty wearing only his undershirt. Go fetch another shirt from your quarters and change, and then hurry back here and give the private his shirt back.”
“Yes sir.” Annia saluted.
“And don’t let this happen again. I don’t need you distracting my soldiers with your charms.” His eyes narrowed.
“It won’t, sir,” Annia assured him.
“Women,” Brun muttered under his breath. It sounded like a curse. “Get going.”
He stalked out of the mess hall, and Annia winked at me before following him outside. Guess we knew our next destination now – the mineshaft. But how were we supposed to get there when we had watchers following us around at all times?