Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,32

ground for my clothes, ready to climb out. They were missing. “Where are my clothes?”

Aurelia’s brows popped up. “Oh, those? No idea.”

I scowled at her. “Cough them up, Aurelia.”

She pouted, then reached beneath her cushion and tossed them at me. I climbed out, and Chad hurried forward, handing me a towel that I wrapped quickly around myself. I turned back to Tarron, who was looking studiously away, still standing in the water.

I wouldn’t have minded if he’d stolen a peek, but frankly, it was a bit weird in this random sex temple.

As I dried off, Aurelia gestured for me to sit again. I did as she asked, and Tarron joined me once he was dressed. Domitia never once looked away from him, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable. Nothing to be embarrassed about for this guy.

His shoulder pressed warmly against mine, and the desire I’d felt in the pool returned. It was natural—I wanted Tarron, there was no denying it—but this was a weird time to be thinking about sex.

These goddesses were the worst.

I looked at the Vestals. “Did that pool make us kiss? Some kind of magic?”

Aurelia shook her head. “The pool of truth makes you do what you want to do most. To face the truth of your deepest desires.”

“That’s a multitalented pool,” I muttered darkly. But it was hard to fight what she was saying. Being with Tarron was becoming one of my deepest desires.

“Did you know that would happen?” Tarron demanded, anger slicing through his tone.

“What, you didn’t like the kiss?” Domitia’s brows rose.

“I like to choose.”

“You did choose.” Aurelia gestured to the pool. “It’s the pool of truth.” She leaned forward. “But you know, if I hadn't taken a vow to observe consent when we’d switched the nature of this temple, I might be tempted to use a bit of magic on you.”

“Well, don’t,” I snapped. “The pool was enough.”

It probably would have trapped us here if I hadn’t come to my wits.

“You know we’re telling the truth,” Tarron said. “We’re here to help your goddess. Tell us how to get to her. Quickly.”

Aurelia looked up at the ceiling. The sky appeared through several crystal-clear windows set into the roof. “Well, you won’t see her before morning. That is certain.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“The storms are coming.”

A cold shiver of dread raced over my skin.

“Fine, then.” I knew I didn’t want to mess with those, that was for sure. “When can we go?”

“You can leave soon, if you must.” Aurelia pouted.

“We must. Did you miss the bit about saving your goddess and his kingdom?” I pointed to Tarron.

“Right, right.” She nodded. “I get away from myself sometimes.” She leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “What will you do for us if we help you?”

“Shouldn’t protecting your goddess Vesta be enough?” Tarron asked.

“I’m not entirely sure she needs protecting,” Aurelia said. “She can take care of herself.”

“Anyway,” Domitia said. “We’re good at multitasking. We can get a little something for ourselves while we serve our role as Vestals.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

Both women raised their brows.

“Right, you’ve made it clear.” I searched my mind. “I know some shifters who might be keen on paying you a visit. I can mention this place to them. Give them directions.”

Both women brightened.

“Excellent,” Aurelia said. “Getting the word out is quite hard, you know.”

“We tried Instagram, but we got the wrong kind of attention, if you know what I mean,” Domitia said.

Oh, I knew too well. I could only imagine what happened when two beautiful women posted on the Internet that they were looking for some sexy-time fun.

“Yes,” Aurelia said. “Make sure they are good-looking. And kind. Smart, too.”

“Just use your best judgment.” Domitia waved her hand at Tarron. “You did quite a good job picking for yourself.”

“Fate picked for me.”

“Well done, fate.” Domitia smiled.

We needed to get off this topic. “Right. I’ll extend an invitation to the shifters on your behalf.” Did this make me a pimp? No. No money was changing hands. I was just setting up a blind date. That had a 100 percent chance of sex at the end. “Tell us how to get to the guardians.”

“There is a safe way to ride out the storm and to enter the domain of the guardians,” Aurelia said. “You must go toward the plateau, as quickly as you can. Before nightfall.”

I looked up through the windows in the ceiling. We only had about an hour, from the look of things.

“Situated in the middle of the wall of the plateau, about a