Page 9

“Pass the stone posts at your own peril.”

The warrior’s words barely penetrated my mind, not when my gaze fixed on the bundle at my feet.

Soap.

The vampires had dumped bundles of soap at our feet.

My eyes flickered to the beach of pale pebbles before a clear blue lake. Twenty feet from the water’s edge, wooden posts jutted from the lakebed. A runespell flickered on each one, a faded swirl of shadows. Around a dozen dotted this side of the lake, the furthest one visible beyond a rocky outcrop overtaken by spindly trees.

I swallowed. They wanted us to bathe. Together. All three hundred of us, men and women, standing and sweating in the afternoon sun.

I tried to sniff myself discreetly. We’d spent the past three days crammed in wagons, but time and stress had taken its toll. Especially those harvested from the western reaches of Mabon, who’d endured an extra week of travel to get to the east coast. The vampires still looked perfect and pristine. Their harvest, not so much.

Perhaps that was why I fell asleep in Jules’s arms, only to wake in an empty wagon. Someone had laid a deep blue cloak on the floor and wrapped another red cloak around me as a blanket. And by someone, I meant the Lords of Dusk and Dawn. The thick scent of Luc’s dark spice beneath me and Jules’s rich, smoked honey above me melded into an intoxicating combination I wanted to sink into forever.

In four days, I had somehow memorized the lords’ scents.

I’d thought that would be my most horrifying revelation of the day. Then I’d been ushered from my wagon and told I needed to strip down and bathe in a lake with three hundred other people while a bunch of vampires watched from the shore.

“You have twenty minutes.” The vampire warrior’s tone left no room for argument. Not that anyone but me could argue.

The Maboni started undressing. Some quickly, others slowly, but all with a sense of quiet resignation. They couldn’t disobey the command, but they controlled the pace of their obedience. The vampire warrior hadn’t specified, so it was up to interpretation.

“While you don’t have to obey, you also only have twenty minutes, Miss Halloran.”

I didn’t spin around. It took everything in me to stand still as I gained two shadows at my back. The lords had stayed near my wagon all day, chatting and laughing. I heard them, but the words never seemed to land, slipping away before I could grasp them. Now, their words were clear. But this was the first time they’d addressed me directly since last night. When I overstepped so many times and yet somehow kept my head.

Why stop now? “You’re just going to watch, aren’t you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with watching.”

There was something else in Jules’s tone, a joke I didn’t understand. I twisted, frowning. Jules only grinned.

“You could drown,” Luc said. “Or swim away.”

“I’d have better luck running.”

Jules snorted. “That’s saying something. If you made it to the treeline, it’d only be because we let you.” He paused, then added wistfully, “I do love a good chase.”

I stabbed my nails into my arms. The flare of pain stopped my shudder at the Lord of Dawn’s words. The idea was equal parts terrifying and thrilling. When Azaras chased Karra through his hell, I hadn’t understood how she could want to fuck the demon while utterly petrified of him.

Now I had more firsthand experience I never asked for.

Public bathing didn’t need to join the list.

“Can’t swim?” Luc asked. His tone made it clear he already knew the answer.

“No,” I grumbled.

“Let me guess,” he said. “Only your siblings received lessons.”

I twisted around and almost glared at the Lord of Dusk. But when I saw the edge of his shoulder, I flipped straight back. I needed to get out of the habit of glaring. And honestly, I deserved this one. Why had I shared something personal with vampires? Idiot. Heat flooded my face and chest.

Fuck it.

I grabbed the laces at the front of my chemise and started pulling. If I didn’t open my eyes, I didn’t have to see anyone looking at me. They already were, whispering about me even more since I was swept onto a hellsteed by monsters with the faces of godstars.

Being naked wouldn’t change that.

The final lace went slack in my hands. The neckline of my chemise gaped open. A breeze grazed my chest, tickling along the tops of my breasts—

Nope. Fuck that. I swallowed back a wave of nausea. I couldn’t do this.

“And if I don’t want to bathe?”

The lords looked at each other over my head. The thralls couldn’t disobey. I doubted any former volunteers had either. Did they even know what to do with a disobedient human?

I was sure they could figure it out, but even that wasn’t enough to get me in the lake.

Luc took a step and waved me forward. “Come with us.”

I swallowed. “Why?”

Jules dropped one arm over my shoulder. I instantly stiffened, but he ignored it. He pointed past the other Maboni to the rock outcropping. “If we go through the trees there, there’s a small inlet on the other side. No one standing here will be able to see you.”

“Oh.” What a... considerate offer. I didn’t like it one bit. “Why?”

“You should know the answer by now.”

“Because I’m your volunteer.” They still hadn’t told me what I’d volunteered for, but it was the only explanation.

“Exactly.”

“Take the offer, Miss Halloran,” Luc said, waiting for me to decide. “It can’t hurt you.”

“You’d be surprised.” This was definitely going to hurt me. Maybe not physically. Maybe not today. But soon.

The kindness of vampires was winning me over.

I even knew it was fake, but that didn’t matter. There had to be something in the food or water they gave us, some parasite that addled the brain. Either that, or I had grown far more lonely than I thought in my bookshop.

When I became nothing more than a snack, my fanciful heart would break.

Served it right.

But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t take the offer. “Very well.”

Luc led the way, heading straight toward where Jules had pointed. The Maboni in his path scrambled out of his way. An older man tripped on his half-removed trousers and landed on his face, his bare ass pale in the sun.

I glanced away. I was the only one—because I’d been the only one watching. Every other human was too focused on their own embarrassment, and the vampires didn’t give a shit about nudity.

When we reached the trees, Luc pushed into the brush. The greenery parted to reveal a narrow beach before the forest took over completely. It was a secluded inlet, exactly like the Lord of Dawn had said. I heard the other Maboni, catching glimpses of their bodies through the trees. But if I wanted to bathe—and I really wanted to bathe—this was the smallest audience I was going to get.

Jules twisted at my side, dropping his arm from my shoulder and gesturing to the beach with a flourish like a showman. “After you.”

I barely managed to nod in reply. The Lord of Dawn’s bright golden eyes twinkled mischievously. Back straight, I crossed the pebbles toward the shoreline. Pushing off my shoes, I dipped a toe into the water. It wasn’t the warmest, but I’d bathed in colder.

And yet, I remained clothed. The lords stood behind me, their attention on my back like a physical caress. I shivered.

Perhaps a small audience was actually a worse way to bathe.

Too late to change my mind.

I looked out over the water. Trees lined the far side, a patchwork of green and brown rising into the foothills of nearby mountains. At the far end, the lake curved left, disappearing beyond the treeline. If I swam out into the depths, ignoring the fact that I’d drown instantly, how far could I see over the open water? Would it be like the ocean, stretching into a seamless blue horizon?

Did it matter? I couldn’t swim, so I’d never know. And even if I could, it’d mean passing the posts.

I focused on the one marking this small section of beach. It stood in line with the others, ending with a post on the shore to my right. Each wooden post speared five or six feet out of the water, the flickering runespell the only indication of its purpose. Protect. Shield. Barrier. The border stones around Corraidin had the shielding and barrier rune, but I’d never seen the protection rune before.

“What are the posts protecting us from?” I asked. “We’re inland, so it can’t be Thaddeus you’re concerned about. Does Azaras have a habit of pulling people into his hell realm through the water?”

The lords didn’t answer for a long moment. I twisted slightly. They were communicating with a look again. They couldn’t read each other’s minds, but they certainly didn’t need words.

“Occasionally,” Luc replied, his voice unusually stoic.

“He’s a real fucker,” Jules added.

“Have you met?”

Jules glanced at Luc. “Unfortunately.”

I frowned. “I didn’t think a normal Azarasian lord would know one of the most powerful demons on the planet.”

“A normal Azarasian lord wouldn’t,” Luc said.

“And?”

“And I think you’re trying to procrastinate bathing.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I am not.”

Luc arched a dark brow, his lips curving slightly. “I didn’t know the Maboni bathed fully dressed and without water.”

“There’s lots you don’t know about us.” I crossed my arms. “For instance, we prefer to bathe without two strangers watching.”

Jules grinned, all sharp amusement. “So one is acceptable?” His voice turned low, teased. “Which one?”

I stiffened. “What? No, I didn’t say that.”

“Pity.” Jules sighed in faux disappointment. “I wanted to win.”

“Would you win?” Luc asked, calm and unruffled.

“You’re terrifying, Lucey, so of course I’d win.”

Luc’s silver eyes fixed on me, his head tilting ever so slightly. “Are you terrified of me, Miss Halloran?”

My heart nearly stopped. “I didn’t say that.” My gaze dropped to my clothes, my thumb rubbing absently against the fabric. “If you must know, you both terrify me equally.”

A moment passed in silence, only the breeze and distant voices breaking the quiet.

“Can’t have that.” Jules moved in my periphery, his arms lifting as fabric shuffled—

My head snapped up.

He was taking off his shirt.

Had taken off his shirt.

Jules dropped the leathers to the pebbled beach. The muscles in his arm flexed as he reached up to run his fingers through his tousled hair. The white-blond tips brushed against the sculpted expanse of his shoulders. He wasn’t as broad as Luc, but his body was still a masterpiece of masculine strength. My gaze drifted, unbidden, tracing the defined muscles of his smooth, pale chest. The carved ridges of his abdomen tapered into a sharp V that disappeared into the dark waistband of his pants.

Disappointment almost curled my lip. I held it back, along with my flush. I needed to look away, but my eyes wouldn’t leave his body. Why was my mouth suddenly dry? “What are you doing?”

“Taking my clothes off.”

“I can see that. Why?”

“You said you didn’t want us to watch. It’s not watching if we’re bathing, too.”

Fucking excuse me? My stomach plummeted. “You don’t need a bath. You smell fantastic.”

Jules stepped closer, slow and deliberate, the heat of him bleeding into the air between us. “Were you sniffing me, Nessa?”

My breath hitched. The lazy way he said my name coiled through me. “What? No. I didn’t say that. You were on the same hellsteed, like right behind me—”

“And you fell asleep in my lap, soft and innocent and oh so delectable.” His golden gaze gleamed with amusement. “If we’re judging who needs a bath based on how badly we want to lick each other, then I’m afraid neither of us gets to bathe.”

My lips parted, then snapped shut. “Why—you—I—Fuck.”

I spun, facing the water. Godstars, my skin was probably flushed as red as my sister’s hair—and nowhere near as flattering. I huffed out a long breath. The faster I got this over with, the faster I could put my clothes back on.

I could do this. I had to do this. I was nearly thirty years old. Eventually, someone would see me naked. Neither of the lords was my husband, but the Church’s rules no longer applied.

With unsteady fingers, I slipped off the borrowed cloak and set aside the satchel holding The Soulborne Queen . I hadn’t bothered retying the laces of my chemise, so I focused on working my way down my kirtle instead. Behind me, buckles clattered and fabric rustled. I stared so intently at the nearest post that my brain started to ache.

I would not turn.

I would not look.

Jules might not have meant for this, but I almost didn’t care that I’d be naked if they were, too.

I pulled the garment open and slipped out of it. My chemise billowed, a shapeless drape of white cloth. Once-white cloth, more like. It was now mostly dirt and sweat, but I didn’t remove it right away.

Once it was gone, my drawers would be the only layer left between their eyes and me. Almost every inch of my soft curves, the faint silver lines on my breasts and hips, the dimples in my thighs...

They’d see everything .

I loosened the chemise’s collar and let the dress slide down my body. I untied the strings of my drawers just as quickly. If I thought too hard, I would panic. I just needed to do it.

But I couldn’t contain everything. Emotion flared hot and sharp in my chest as the triangle of dark curls between my legs met the daylight. I stomped it down. It surged again at the sight of faint red spots on my drawers. My bleedings had never been regular, so I hadn’t packed spare cloth. Stress always left me cramping and spotting, even if the pain was dulled now. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Of course, there was blood.

I exhaled slowly. It was natural. All of this—me—was natural.

Too natural.

I knew how the lords would see me. I knew my flaws. I had lived with them since the day my stepmother moved in and looked down her dainty nose at me. Since the day Aislin was born a little bundle of perfection.

But my time was up.

Two bodies moved behind me, their heat like a breeze against my skin. I didn’t need to turn to sense the predators at my back.

If I didn’t get in the lake, I had a feeling I’d be thrown in.

I still couldn’t see them. Not entirely. But they were there, two shapes in my periphery. I stared straight ahead as if turning my gaze might kill me. Maybe it would. The rippling muscles of Jules’s chest had nearly made my heart explode. How was I supposed to handle the sight of two naked vampires?

My gaze drifted to my right, along the sharp planes of Luc’s bare shoulders—

I grabbed my soap and marched straight into the lake.

Then scrambled back out. “Fuck, that’s cold.”

“And here I was, hot,” Jules murmured, voice thick with delight... and something darker, something that curled low in my stomach.

“How could you possibly—?” I turned. I don’t know why I turned. It was the natural thing to do when speaking to someone, right?

Right.

It was a terrible idea if that someone and his devastatingly handsome soulbound weren’t wearing anything.