happening in the room. “Some part of him was in control enough to realize that the two girls, the witch and the werewolf, weren’t strong. He wouldn’t prey on the weak. It shows some sign of the kind of man he’ll be.” A nervous smile curled her lips. “Think of it as a compliment. He sees an equal in you. He doesn’t see somebody he would be abusing, but an equal.”
“Yay, me.”
She stroked my arm. “A day or two. Some food. Let him realize he’s safe and he’ll settle. There’s a good heart in him, he just…” Es shook her head. “It was horrid, what happened. At one point, they had seven people in that hole. Seven. And he watched as one by one they were dragged away.”
“I’m going to kill them,” I said quietly.
Her hand fell away. “It’s not our way.” Her nearly colorless eyes flickered. “Anger. Rage. But…” She slanted a look at me and nodded. “It’s a cancer that does this. A cancer must be cut out or it can spread.”
Cutting it out sounded pretty damn good by me.
As she turned to the mirror, I went to follow but she looked back. “Perhaps you should go elsewhere…the library. The kitchen. Even just a soak in the tub, Kitasa. The more you’re around him, the harder it’s going to be for him to break this obsession. Let my witch heal him. We’ll feed him.”
I thought it through, then nodded. Yeah. Good idea.
I didn’t need to be around him just then anyway.
“Let Damon know.”
I wanted food.
But she’d said a soak…
The room where I’d slept here the night I’d burnt was my hand wasn’t where I was led this time.
There was a larger room.
Lovely, done in shades of red and brown and when I opened the sliding doors, I had to catch my breath. A huge tub dominated the room. A soak. Yes. I’d soak. I’d soak until I turned into a prune.
While I was running the water, there was a knock at the door.
I opened it to discover Jo. She smiled at me absently, like her mind was in another world. She pushed a tray of food into my hands and then drifted—literally—down the hall.
I eyed the cup of coffee narrowly. Coffee. Caffeine, did I really want that? Except I rarely said no to coffee. It was like saying no to chocolate or a pretty new blade. I took a sip and grimaced at the motor oil taste of it. Who in the world brewed it here?
Juggling the tray one-handed, I kicked the door closed and carried the food over to the tub. It had a wide lip and I put the tray down as I got undressed. Time for something totally slothful, I decided. I was going to eat and take a damn bath at the same time. Steam was curling up in little wisps over the tub and when I checked the water, it almost boiled me. Perfect.
Near the foot of the tub, I saw a couple of jars of bath salts. While I nibbled on a slice of cheese, I checked them. One smelled of apples. No. One was like rainwater. Not bad, but not right, either. Another was some sort of mint and that was way too strong for me. The last one was subtle, just barely scented of vanilla. Perfect. I added a little and climbed in, making sure the tray wasn’t going to fall over.
Coffee in one hand, I hissed at the heat of the water and decided that this could very well be heaven. Or about as close to it as I was going to get on this planet. And I was going to damn well enjoy it for a few minutes before I stumbled into bed. Exhaustion preyed heavily on my mind and I needed sleep in the worst way.
Sleep. So I could deal with getting Doyle back home and safe…
And then come back down here and tear this place apart until I found every last soul behind—
Sleep grabbed me.
I never remembered it.
One minute I was munching on the cheese and fruit, nibbling at a sandwich and wondering if the coffee was going to keep me awake. And then I sat the coffee down to reach for…something.
And I was just under.
Asleep in the bathtub. Yes, home accidents can even happen to the NH population.
“You look exhausted…”
At the sound of Jude’s voice, I slapped an arm over my chest and huddled in the bathwater as I searched the dim room for him.