Chapter Fourteen
Ena
Ena followed Lara away from the communal kitchen down a new passageway until they came to a steep, dark staircase that wound deeper into the depths of the Underworld.
After about ten minutes of descending, Ena began to feel a bit dizzy and disoriented.
This was deeper than she’d ever gone before, and she realized they must be going to the lower levels.
The air began to get staler the lower they went—more dank and cave-like than above—and eventually, when the staircase bottomed out, instead of being pleasantly warm as it had been above, it was hot. Like sweat-dripping-down-your-back hot.
Ena fidgeted with the leather corset she was wearing over her shirt, pulling it away from her body to get some air on her skin as Lara led her down a passageway towards an open archway beyond which Ena could see the blue glow of a blazing darkrock fire.
The sounds of clanking metal and rushing air from the bellows echoed down the passageway, and as they walked through the doorway into the forge beyond, Ena was floored. If she thought the ingenuity of the kitchens was impressive, this was…otherworldly.
Dozens of hearths carved right into the stone walls of the cave lined the giant cavern. The glow from them lit the room so brightly, Ena had to squint her eyes.
She’d never seen this large of a forge before. Usually, in the villages along the Chasm Road, there was one blacksmith, maybe two, each with their own hearth, but this was ten times that.
Steam filled the air from where the blacksmiths rapidly cooled their metals to harden them, but unlike other forges she’d seen, there was hardly any smoke at all—she supposed that was from the darkrock, which burned cleaner than wood.
Almost every hearth was occupied by a daemon, some pounding daggers on their anvils, others shaping more delicate objects like chalices and utensils.
Most of the blacksmiths were men—large and muscular, like most daemons—but Ena was surprised to see there were female daemons here, too, looking equally strong as they moved their metal in and out of the fires.
Then her eyes landed on Ty, and her mouth went dry.
He was standing at a hearth near the back of the room, shirtless.
His muscles and tattoos, covered in a delicious sheen of sweat, were on exquisite display as he pounded the object he was working on.
They rippled and moved as he worked, his leather-gloved hands gripping tightly to the hammer and tongs he held.
Ena moved towards him like a moth drawn to a flame. She vaguely sensed that Lara was following her, and she was glad about that, but at this moment, she only had eyes for Ty.
Ty looked up as she approached. It was loud in the forge, all the overlapping sounds of metal being shaped and the air flowing through the tuyeres, so she didn’t know if he heard her or smelled her, but either way, the look on his face made her heart pound.
His green eyes, already aglow from the light of the fire next to him, lit up, and a wide smile broke across his face. “Ena,” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the noises. “Just give me one sec.”
He turned back to his work for a second, which she could now see was a large axe-head, like the one he used to carry before it was taken from him at Occidens, glowing orange with heat.
He pounded it a few more times, flattening the blade into a thinner, more flared shape, before dunking the head into a barrel of water next to him.
Removing it from the water after a few seconds, he laid the axe-head back on his anvil before putting down his tools and taking off his gloves.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, approaching her. “What are you doing here?”
“Lara offered to show me around a bit, so I’ve been getting a tour of the other levels.”
“I see,” he said, his eyes roaming from her legs to her chest to her face in assessment.
She didn’t know quite what he was assessing, or appreciating, but she was suddenly aware of the feeling of her nipples on the inside of her shirt, and Ena tried hard not to look down at his sweaty chest and think about how badly she wanted to run her fingers over his incredibly defined muscles.
Lara cleared her throat loudly, breaking the tension between them.
“It’s good to see you too,” Ty added, turning to Lara and nodding in greeting.
“Thanks, cousin,” she said, giving him a teasing smile.
“Look, I’ll be right back. I want to go talk to Ferra about some stoves for the lower-level kitchen.
” She gestured towards one of the female blacksmiths working a few stations away from Ty before giving Ena a sly smile and walking off, leaving the two of them alone.
“So, how’s your tour been?” Ty asked, taking a step closer until she could feel his body heat, even above the heat of the forge.
“Good,” she said, smiling sweetly at him. “Even better now,” she added.
Were they flirting in the middle of the forge? Yes. Could everyone around them see? Yes. Did she give a fuck? Absolutely not.
Somehow, despite sleeping next to him every night, she missed him. She wanted more of him. She wished she could follow him around all day, like a friendly cat in the shadows, just watching him move and talk and…
“Hey, Ty!” They were broken again from their reverie as one of the other blacksmiths, a large, burly male daemon with a shock of red hair, approached them. “Can you come be the striker for me?”
Ty reluctantly dragged his eyes away from Ena to look at the man. “Sure, just give me a minute here,” he said, gesturing at Ena.
The man looked down at her, realization dawning on his face as he took in her imperae collar. He nodded quickly before walking away.
“You seem busy,” Ena said once they were alone again.
“Yeah, kinda,” Ty said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry I’ve been so absent lately, it’s just…”
“You don’t have to explain,” Ena said. “You’re in high demand, I can see that,” she said.
In all honesty, she found it admirable how much he seemed to care about his duties in the Underworld, how much everyone relied on him.
He clearly was well-respected among the other daemons.
And while that meant she didn’t get to see him as much as she wanted, she understood. He was doing his best for his people.
“I’d love to come help you with your research tomorrow, if you could use a second set of eyes,” he offered. “Assuming I don’t get called away for some emergency.”
Ena smiled at that, knowing there was a very good chance he would, but appreciating that he wanted to try. “Yeah, I could definitely use help. I know we’re getting closer to the onata celebration and I have yet to find anything to appease Cole.”
“Don’t worry too much about that, okay? I can handle Cole,” Ty said reassuringly, running his hand down her arm.
“Ty!” another daemon called to them as she approached, holding out two blacksmithing tools that Ena had never seen. “Can I ask your opinion on something? I’m not sure which tool to use for this flask. It’s delicate work.”
“Sure. I’ll be there in a minute, okay?” Ty responded kindly.
The woman called her thanks before turning to walk back to her station.
“I’m starting to feel like a distraction,” Ena said, arching her brow at him.
“Oh, absolutely you are,” he said, grinning in that infectious way of his. “But the best kind of distraction.” He leaned down to whisper low in her ear. “I can tell how sweaty you’re getting under that shirt of yours. Fuck—you make me want to rip it off with my teeth.”
Ena giggled—just straight-up giggled like a little girl at that comment. Gaia, if she had any self-composure, it was dead and gone by now. She was so lost for this man.
“Mmhmm. What else about me distracts you?” she asked coyly, reaching out her hand to stroke the bulge of his bicep.
He sighed, pulling back so he was looking at her face once more. He locked eyes with her, staring into her with every ounce of his attention. “Your eyes…” he said.
“My eyes?” She wasn’t expecting that. She thought he’d wax poetic about her cleavage in this vest or something, but…her eyes?
He gripped her chin gently, as if afraid she might look away. “I could drown in them, viper. I love it when you look at me.”
Ena swallowed, and she could swear her heart skipped a beat. How could she even respond to that? She just stared at him, her mouth hanging open like a lovestruck fool, when Lara returned to their side.
Ty released her chin, and Ena cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure after the absolute putty he’d just turned her into with that comment.
“Cool with you if we head back, Ena? I’ve got to go check in on the kids.”
“Yeah, sure,” Ena said. “I should stop being such a distraction anyway.” She smiled shyly up at Ty again as he chuckled slightly.
“Anytime, viper,” he said, trailing his hand down her arm once more and squeezing her hand slightly before releasing her.
She wished fervently that she could kiss him goodbye, like she’d seen Greya and Perse do a hundred times, but she knew that while sexual exploits were expected between them as a witch-slave and her master, anything that made them appear like they were in a relationship would be a red flag, so they had to keep public displays of affection to a minimum.
Ena watched Ty walk away, off to help the redheaded man who’d come up to them a few minutes ago, before turning towards Lara and following her out of the forge.
She was silent as they walked, deep in thought, because she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was this new…feeling inside her when it came to Ty. She already knew she was his, that she’d been so hung up him for nine years that she hadn’t even tried giving herself to anyone else, but now…
She knew in her bones that there was absolutely no coming back from this feeling. This mix of admiration and respect, reliance and safety, desire and lust. All these things swirled inside her, making her feel light as air in his presence.
She didn’t dare admit it to herself. Their future was still so uncertain.
They had a million other things to focus on, and while she was immeasurably happy that they got to finally be together, she knew they couldn’t promise each other a future—not yet.
She certainly hoped that breaking the bond would change things, but they had a long way to go before then, so no.
She wouldn’t admit it to herself, not yet, but deep down, she knew exactly what the feeling growing inside her was.