Chapter 15 #2
I stripped out of the borrowed clothes and lowered myself into the bath. The water closed around me like a warm cocoon, the heat sinking into my muscles as the herbs immediately went to work on every ache and sting.
For a few seconds, I just floated there, letting the experience take me. I wanted everything quiet and for my mind to clear.
Just as my body relaxed and my mind calmed, his face popped into my mind.
Bastard! He ruined things even when he wasn’t present.
I absolutely refused for the smug, arrogant, sexy man to derail me, but my brain refused to cooperate.
It focused rebelliously on Kai and the way he’d fought that wolf with his body wrapped around mine, shielding me even as the creature tore into his shoulder.
On the raw edge in his voice when he’d called for me, especially when he’d called me that ridiculous name–Hannah of Tennessee.
And on the look in his almost all violet eyes when he’d lifted me down from the caribou, and his hands had lingered at my waist like he couldn’t quite bring himself to let go.
And the part that struck harder than any blow? It wasn’t the fear or even the confusion.
It was the way he’d shut me down and dismissed me before he left for Silver City. Like I hadn’t mattered at all. When he’d taken care of me and touched me in that cabin, he had made me feel like I’d never be alone again. So which was the truth?
I sank deeper into the tub, staring at the softly glowing ceiling while the water lapped against my chin.
“Once again, you were right, Aunt Maureen. All men are idiots,” I muttered to the ceiling.
“Fae men aren’t an exception. It’s males in every realm.
” No wonder Aunt Maureen had never gotten married or had any kind of romantic relationship that I knew about.
I was starting to think she‘d been the smartest one of us all.
The herbs worked their magic on my leg, the throbbing easing into something dull and manageable.
I lifted my thigh out of the water and studied the wound.
The edges already looked cleaner than before, and the mottled bruising was fading faster than should’ve been possible.
Whatever moonpetal and silverroot were, they knew what they were doing.
The steam had just started to thin when a soft knock sounded on the outer door. My body tensed, instinct still riding high after everything.
“Hannah?” Thea’s muffled voice came through the doors, still warm. “I’ve brought clean clothes. I’m leaving them on the bed. They have healing magic woven into them, but you should still rest. It’ll take time to recover after all you have been through.”
“Thank you.” My voice echoed against the stone, sounding steadier than I felt.
Her footsteps retreated, then paused. “Oh, and Hannah? I was right. He’s pacing. He doesn’t like the silent treatment. I have no doubt he’s regretting those last moments before he left for Silver City.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Good.”
I stayed in the bath long enough that the water began to cool despite whatever enchantment had been worked into it, and my fingers were wrinkled at the tips.
For the first time since I’d been dragged across a mountain and nearly sacrificed, everything was quiet enough that I could almost pretend none of it had happened, and I wasn’t quite ready to let that go.
When I finally got out and wrapped one of the thick towels around my body, something inside me had settled into a steady rhythm.
Almost human again… or whatever I was supposed to be now.
A faint shiver moved through me, despite the warmth lingering on my skin.
The solumbra eagle flashed into my mind, and the way it had looked at me and how everything inside me had gone still.
For that split-second, it had recognized me, and something had locked into place.
That same warmth pulsed low in my chest now.
It wasn’t the undeniable yank I experienced around Kai. It was quieter, deeper, and certain.
I wished the rest of me could feel that way. My experiences here had been more like those of a bull in a china shop, and even that was too nice a description for how I felt inside. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I’d dropped into this land, but it’d been a month, tops.
I dried off and turned over pieces of my situation that refused to line up. The Night Court wanted to sacrifice Aurora Fae. The Night General had looked at me like I was more than just a convenient victim, like he knew something I didn’t.
Two men had looked at me like that since I’d arrived, and the fear of not knowing who I actually was had unease slugging throughout me.
Nope. Not dwelling on that right now. I had to focus on facts so I didn’t wind up dead. Even this new me didn’t want to be pushing up daisies.
The Night General was the biggest puzzle so far.
My gut said he had helped me. And now the sun had a hole in it, which felt like the kind of thing that shouldn’t be happening anywhere, magical realm or not, no matter how many times people here insisted that the world ending was just another Tuesday.
The clothes Thea had left were simple but well-made: a soft blue dress with a matching sash, slippers, and a light cape that would keep the chill off without getting in the way. Practical. Easy to move in.
By the time I finished dressing, my thigh had almost completely healed, leaving behind only a faint pink mark where the wound had been. The strange warmth in my chest hadn’t faded, and the tops of my ears itched.
A knock at the door startled me.
“My lady?” an unfamiliar male voice called. “The king has ordered the interrogation to begin within the hour. He indicated you wished to be present. I’ve been sent to escort you to the lower cells, if you are prepared.”
My stomach tightened as something dark coiled beneath it.
The memory of Keldren’s sneering face, the feel of his hands grabbing me, and the way he’d looked at me like I was something to use and discard had a slimy sensation spreading throughout my body.
Any lingering softness from the bath vanished.
Kicking him in the nuts wasn’t good enough. I needed him to bleed for me.
I crossed the room and pulled the door open.
The servant standing there couldn’t have been much older than me, pale like most of the Dusk Court, with sleek silver-gray hair and a uniform with the tri-spiral emblem stitched neatly across his chest.
“I’m ready.” I lifted my chin, and my fingers curled against the fabric of my skirt.
It was strange that Kai hadn’t come himself, and for a split second, something flickered in my chest before I shoved it down. I’d told him I didn’t have time to talk, so I didn’t get to be surprised when he took me at my word.
The servant inclined his head. “This way, my lady.”
The halls were quieter than usual. The gray stone stretched long beneath the soft lilac glow of enchanted lanterns that cast everything in shades of lilac and shadow. My slippers made soft sounds against the polished floor.
My thoughts drifted again, back to the cabin, to Kai’s hands, to the way everything between us had shifted into something I still didn’t understand, but I cut them off before they could take shape. Not now. Not here. Not when I was walking toward something that required a different kind of focus.
I kept my head high as we turned toward the lower levels, the air growing cooler with each step. If Kai thought I hadn’t had time to talk earlier, that was fine.
I had time for this.
We’d just reached the top of the main staircase when a figure stepped out from one of the side corridors, nearly colliding with me.
“Hannah.”
I stumbled back, my hand flying to the wall for balance. “Olen.”
He looked terrible.
His red-brown curls were more disheveled than usual, sticking up at odd angles like he’d been dragging his hands through them over and over.
His normal warm complexion had turned ashen, with dark circles shadowing his eyes.
He braced his hand against the wall, his breath uneven, like he’d run here without stopping. “Are you all right?”
I blinked hard. “Yes, but are you…” I hesitated, studying him more closely. “Are you all right?”
He let out a short, unsteady laugh and straightened.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me that after everything you went through.
” His gaze flicked over me, lingering just long enough to check for injuries before returning to my face.
“You’re very… kind. Thank you.” The way he winced spoke louder than his words.
The servant beside me shifted, and I couldn’t tell if it was discomfort or something else entirely. The air felt strange for a second, like something unspoken had been understood by all of us.
I frowned, unsure what to do with the intensity of Olen’s reaction, but stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him in a brief hug. “Thank you for helping Kai find me. Thea told me they wouldn’t have gotten there in time if not for you.”
His shoulders tensed, and he pulled back, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t thank me. I didn’t do enough.” His jaw tightened. “Kai is the one who saved you. I’m just glad you’re all right.”
His gaze flicked toward the servant again, and his expression darkened. “I need to see to the castle stores. There’s… quite a bit to manage.”
He gave me one last lingering look, and something unreadable flickered in his eyes before he turned and walked down the corridor. His footsteps echoed against the stone, loud at first, then fading until they were swallowed by the castle.
I watched him go, unease settling low in my stomach.
Something was off.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I took a deep breath.
Maybe it was just the day, the exhaustion still clinging to me even after the bath, and everything stacking up in ways I hadn’t processed yet.
Still, the way he’d looked at me, like he was carrying something heavy and didn’t know what to do with it, stuck with me.