Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,68
lose myself in her until we’re both wrung out, but we have to get out of the sauna. I carefully nudge her back. “Let’s go.”
We grab robes from the locker room and head back up to my penthouse. We take our time in the shower and appreciate this moment of peace after everything that’s happened. It’s not enough to truly put my concerns out of my head, not with my ever-present worry about Sabine Valley, not when I’m all too aware of the clock ticking down on the assignation with Aurora.
I take the time to call Sara and check in, but as expected, they’ve handled the situation. The supplier magically found the missing ten percent within five minutes of Sara showing up. I don’t ask what kind of example they made. They’ve been my right hand for long enough that I trust they did what was necessary without crossing over into being too much. A delicate balance, but one at which Sara exceeds.
And there’s nothing else on my plate.
Aurora’s watching me, her expression contemplative. I raise my brows. “Yes?”
“I don’t understand you.”
“Do you need to?” I find myself holding my breath while I wait for her answer. I don’t know what the right one is; I don’t know which one I crave.
Finally, she looks away. “I’d like to.”
“Why do you sound so put out by that?”
“Because it’s irritating as hell.” She makes a face. “It was easier to hate you.”
“Hate takes as much effort as any other emotion; more than some.” It’s much preferable to apathy, honestly, but I’m not about to say as much. If Aurora no longer hates me—No, no use following that rabbit hole into a spiraling game of what-if. “If it makes you feel better, there are large swathes of you that I don’t understand, either.”
“Me?”
I give her the look that faux innocence deserves. “The bratty submissive. The fierce friend. The princess of the Underworld. You’re all that, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. You must have a life outside of Hades.”
She tucks her hair behind her ear. “Is there a question in there?”
“Surely you’re not content to be the pampered princess forever? There’s a fire in you that needs to be fed. You can only rise so far in Hades’s territory.” Hades will be ruling for some time yet, and he’s got both Megaera and Hercules beneath him. Should he decide to retire, surely those two will take over running operations. And Hercules is several years younger than Aurora. She’ll never run the Underworld, no matter how many years she works there.
Aurora finally shrugs. “I don’t really know what I want. I had this guiding light for a really long time, but now that the bargain with Hades is coming to an end, that light’s faded. I have a master’s in business administration, but I mostly got that because it seemed like the logical next step and I had money to pay for it.”
“Have you done anything beyond the Underworld and school in the last nine years?”
“Stop it.” She looks away. “You say that like it’s a bad thing, but what else could I possibly want? I’ve dated outside the Underworld, and you already know how well that’s worked out. Carver City might be run by territory leaders, but most of the people who live here are normal. I don’t fit in. I don’t want to fit in. That’s a choice I made for myself, so stop looking at me like you pity me.”
“I don’t pity you.” It’s the truth. But I can’t help feeling that Aurora could do so much more if she ever had the fire of ambition lit inside her. One only has to look at how she blossomed as Megaera’s second-in-command to see that she only needs the space and she’ll continue to expand. But she won’t thank me for saying as much. I turn away. “Come along.”
“Where are we going?”
“Tonight? Nowhere. I have plans for you.” I walk into my closet and pull on a pair of lounge pants and a fitted shirt. Then I lead the way into the spare bedroom. It smells of lemon and pine, and the mattress has been removed—Rogue was too effective in marking his territory, and it’s well beyond ruined. “You’re lucky the closet was shut or Rogue would have done a number on your shoes.”
“Your shoes.” She pauses in the doorway as I peruse the selection. “You’re the one who bought all of this.”