exist. Granted, it was like having a plain potato chip with zero flavor and no seasoning—it could fill the hole, but it lacked any real satisfaction.
Still, the only hints of it I could detect came from behind me.
The guys.
So…we were alone.
Fine by me.
I descended the steps to start my hunt. Baths and clothes. Maybe just clothes, and I could get the hell out of here and make my way back to where I belonged. Then I could hunt down Dimitri and shove a cactus up his ass. I had stilettos thicker than his dick. Maybe I would start with one of them and work my way up to the cactus.
The heavy stone walls threatened to close in on me as I made my way down the steps. The lack of natural or artificial light wasn’t doing much for the mood. I half-expected to Dr. Frankenfurter to pop out and start singing in his teddy.
Lips curling at the mental image, I tried to cast Grumpilstilskin, Dick Face, or Astral-Boy in the role.
Astral-Boy for sure. He had that angelic look and the body I’d been sleeping on would definitely look fine in or out of a teddy.
I descended two full flights of stairs before I found another set of doors. These things were big enough that Maddox would be able to fit through them maybe.
Huh, maybe that was why the place was so tall and wide. They’d had a dragon hanging out, probably saved money on the repair bills. Dragon would be nice right about now, at least he was his own heat source.
The door opened into a huge hall. Three steps led down into a sunken floor area. Columns lined it, and there were even larger gated doors to my right. I’d bet all the non-existent money in my invisible clothes those went outside. Based on their height and construction, they had likely been built with Maddox in mind.
Joy.
Twisting, I glanced at the huge receiving hall. It was like something out of the Middle Ages—right down to the throne on a dais toward the end. There were a few seats around it, but the throne was definitely that. Maybe not ornate, but definitely elevated.
So which of them was the master of the keep?
My money was on Rogue. He had that arrogance to him. In fact, he kind of made Maddox look like a pussy cat.
A grumpy pussycat, sure, but still a kitty dragon.
The idea made me snicker despite the gloom of the place. The ancient whisper drifted against me like an errant breeze. Another shiver worked its way through me. Yeah, I wanted the mansion on the cliffs over the beach, not the old-world keep in the assback of nowhere.
Back up for the baths, or maybe down?
Wait. This was the receiving hall. Most of the stuff on this level would likely be for public access. I glanced back at the stairs. Those pools had heated water coming from somewhere; old world construction would use cisterns and aqueducts.
Downstairs it was.
It took me another thirty minutes of hunting, but I found it by following the smell of dampness, and it was tucked on a lower level on the far side of another huge open space. This one wasn’t as decorative, but I could almost hear the clang of steel and the rustle of leather. A training room?
That kind of made sense.
I couldn’t feel anything anymore. Once I shoved the door open, warm moist air hit me like a slap to the face, and I sighed in absolute relief.
Shoving the door closed, I leaned against it. It was hardly a workout to walk all over the place, but I was bone-deep tired. I headed over to the first pool and slid into it. The hot water stung my icy flesh, and I hissed, teeth clenching as the shivering and teeth chattering hit me all over again. I needed to wash, but I couldn’t get my fingers to cooperate.
“If you’d wanted a bath,” Fin said idly. “You should have just asked me.”
Hypothermia kept me from letting out a startled scream or jumping like one of those girls in a horror movie this place would make the great set for. However, I did spin and punch him square in the nose. The sudden motion sent pins and needles raking through my frozen limbs, but the numbness protected my hand when a couple of the bones crunched at the blow.
Fin winced and put a hand to his face, even if the blow barely rocked him. A real