Forever - Chanda Hahn Page 0,52

grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her up through the bubbles.

Mina gasped in shock as bubbles ran down her face. She sputtered and splashed in the water when she realized Teague was in the same room as her. Mina quickly checked the bubbles, glad to see the tub was still full of them. They were high enough there was no way he could see anything.

Teague stood there, furious, his shirt and pants soaking wet and covered with bubbles.

“What are you doing in here?” Mina yelled at him. “Get out!”

“Not until I’m sure you’re not drowning yourself in the bathtub!” He flicked the bubbles off of his arms and tried to roll up his wet sleeves. Water dripped from him and puddled all around him on the stone floor. A moment later, his face paled and then turned bright red. He spun his back to her.

“Of course I’m not drowning myself! I was only under for a few seconds.”

“Few seconds! A few seconds. More like a few minutes.”

“That’s impossible,” Mina answered.

“No, it’s not!” he pointed up at the Fae light that bobbed up and down. “You had been under for five minutes. “I’m not sure if a Siren can even stay under that long. The Fae light wouldn’t have alerted me if it didn’t believe you were in danger.”

It was certainly clear she’d upset him. She wanted to get out, but she couldn’t with him in the room. “Can you hand me a towel?”

Teague’s shoulders hunched as he tried to look to the side to find a towel for her, but he realized how undignified it was. In a fit of temper, he blasted through the wall and left her in her warm tub of bubbles alone.

The Fae light bobbed up and down, visibly distressed.

“You’ve been spying on me?” Mina accused it in an annoyed tone, even though she had assumed it was. The light bobbed sadly in affirmation. “Shame on you.”

The light softly dimmed.

Mina couldn’t hold a grudge against her silent light protector, so she quickly added, “It’s fine, just… is there no one else for you to go to for help but him?”

The light dimmed again, and she assumed that meant no.

“What about guards? Are there guards?”

The Fae light brightened in an affirmative.

“So can you go to them?”

The light dimmed. No.

She tried to not show her frustration as she dried off and went back into the room with the large towel around her. The Fae light danced for joy by her bed. Mina was pleased to see clothes—clean clothes. Teague hadn’t provided a red dress this time, like he had during the betrothal process, and she was thankful he remembered.

Chapter 20

Mina was getting used to long days of solitude. She didn’t know day from night anymore, because she just slept whenever she was tired, and the Fae light would dim.

So maybe she hadn’t been in the prison that long, maybe it was just days instead of weeks. She couldn’t really judge it by her meals, because when she ate Fae food it was quite filling.

She started to talk her little Fae light, since it seemed to understand her, or at least blink and flicker in response to her questions. And it seemed to anticipate her mood and needs pretty quickly.

One time she actually mumbled out loud, “I’m actually starting to miss his company.” The light began to head for the wall, and Mina stopped it. “Don’t you dare tell him. Remember he’s the one who wants to make me suffer and punish me. Don’t let my soft side fool you.”

The light bobbed and flickered up toward the ceiling. She thought it seemed awfully dim and wondered if maybe she had hurt its feelings. Look at me, worried about a magic light’s feelings! The imprisonment must be getting to her more than she thought. Teague was watching out for her. All she had to do was wait and he’d come…eventually. Hopefully before she starved to death. Still, it was hard to not get depressed and worry about how many days or nights she’d live before he’d put an end to it.

It was also hard not to worry about Charlie.

The time for eating had long passed, and the wall opened up with another tray of food. Mina ignored the tray and curled up in her bed and waited until the food disappeared. A few hours later, another tray appeared with even more appealing food. The smell of roasted chicken, spices, and fruit tempted her to move from her bed, but she didn’t