Page 5 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)

Chapter five

Astraea

My dress and cloak cling to me uncomfortably as I stand facing the empty room.

I pull in a long breath and let it out with a heavy sigh, and as I peel off the cloak, I shiver.

The drop in temperature as the night settles over the desert and the rain has worked a chill into my bones.

Hanging my cloak on the hook behind the door, I head to the basin that is set up in the corner of the room.

I ease out of the heavy, waterlogged material and my undergarments and wrap myself in the threadbare towel provided by the inn.

Great, I get to sleep naked tonight.

I lay my clothes over the back of the chaise, thankful that the tavern at least keeps fires going in their rooms in preparation for guests.

Hopefully, my clothes are dry by morning.

The lumpy bed slumps when I sink into it, and my brows pinch when I pull the scratchy linens up to my chin and begin thinking— what do I do now?

I lay there numbly, watching the water as it drips and sizzles from my dress. Each drop hits the dark, warm stone below it, hissing out a puff of steam.

My mind whirls with everything that has happened since supper yesterday, but I try to focus on anything other than the worry that is threatening to consume me.

The rain, despite causing everything to halt, is a welcome reprieve.

The sound is so different from when it rains in the castle.

The light patter on stone I’m used to is replaced by repeated heavy tinkling on the clay roof, like a rhythmic song that is almost soothing.

Almost.

The sound of rain, even accompanied by the crackling wood of the fire, is not enough to drown out the raucous laughter that is coming from the tavern below me.

I’m so wound up that every time I close my eyes, my mind snags on the sound of a chair scraping across the wood floor, the shattering of a dish, women and men making cries of pleasure or pain.

Every noise is more distracting than the next.

With a huff, I throw the pillow over my head and squeeze my eyes shut.

I don’t know how long I lay there thinking over what’s next in my journey, but it’s long enough that my breathing finally begins to slow.

This monsoon won’t last forever. The words are chanted in my head as I try to force myself into sleep.

Every time I think I might be drifting off, something makes me jump.

My heart racing like I’m coming out of a nightmare’s clutches.

I am no stranger to nightmares. I’ve lived in one my entire life. A castle full of reminders, and the weight of multiple lives lost because of me. With the skeletons in my closet, my mind refuses to let me seek peace with sleep.

I guess in a way, I traded one nightmare for another. Right now, I’m trapped between the secret horror that was my life as Princess Astraea, Eathian’s key to the Crown, and the unknown—which is as exhilarating as it is terrifying.

Pulling in a long breath, I lay there with my hearing muffled by the slim pillow over my head.

A click sounds next as a door is unlocked, likely to the door beside mine.

I throw the pillow out at my side with a groan and slam my fists to my sides.

My eyes, trained on the ceiling, widen as the room becomes brightened by the flicker of a flame from the hallway.

My head snaps in the direction of the door as a shadowed silhouette of a man steps into the sliver of light before he shuts it and disappears into the darkness.

My voice is trapped in my throat as my mind tries to play catch-up to what is happening. The old floorboards creak as the sound of leather and metal clang and drop to the floor with a loud thud, followed by a man's voice as he stumbles and curses, catching himself on the bedside table.

I’m tucked in tight on the far side of the bed, pressed in against the wall and shrouded in blankets and the darkness of the room.

As he steps into the glow of the moon from the window, half-dressed and heavy-lidded, still my voice remains imprisoned with fear.

The mattress sinks in tandem with my heart as his heavy body sits on the edge.

My breathing stops altogether when he lies back on the pillow I just discarded.

His arms come up under the back of his head as he settles in.

His pale hair is like a halo of silver crowning above sharp dark brows and a jawline cut from Tsalalerian steel.

He still doesn’t know I’m right behind him as his eyes close.

Despite the terror, I’m frozen merely inches from his half-naked body, my own body only covered with the blankets that are now stifling.

My hand presses across my lips to hold in a whimper of fear.

I’m at an impasse. I could stay here and risk him rolling onto me in his sleep and if not that, I would inevitably be discovered in the morning…

Or I could press my diminishing luck and try to sneak around him and flee.

My heart rate is matching the thundering gallop of the king’s horses’ hooves as I sit there trying to do everything I can to steady my breathing while I wait.

The smell of liquor wafting from him is heavy, so if I have any luck at all, he is drunk enough that he will pass out hard and not notice me slipping away.

Just as I’m about to shuffle down the wall towards the end of the bed, he moves.

One hand comes down, laying across his chiseled chest, and I swallow, watching the slow descent as it travels down the hard planes of his stomach.

Slowing further at the deep V below his navel, he tucks his fingers into the low, very low , band of his trousers.

My dry mouth suddenly becomes flooded with moisture, and I grind my teeth together to try to reel in my sanity .

“Please, stop ogling, or my gentlemanly control will snap.” His words cause my heart to seize, my mouth falling open in shock.

Then my brain catches up with the fact that he’s known I was in the bed all along, and I launch from the shadows and rush to the door.

The chair that was pushed into the desk topples and falls as I scramble blindly to get there as fast as I possibly can, causing a loud crash in my wake.

I trip on his discarded clothing, and I hear him curse as he comes after me.

I pull open the door, and his hand comes crashing down on the wood above my head, slamming it shut. Leaving me to turn around to face him, naked and trembling, covering myself with a blanket that I am now barely holding onto.

“Princess, if you are worried about what I will do to you in here… I suggest you not walk out of here wearing…” His eyes trail down my body.

“That,” he continues, as his other hand comes up and pinches my chin between his finger and thumb.

He turns my head to the side, and I can’t help the small cry that comes from my parted lips.

“Please, I’m just waiting out the storm.

Just let me go, and I’ll ask for another room.

” I whisper the words with building trepidation.

His low chuckle vibrates through my bones as he steps in closer and angles my head so I am looking him in the eyes.

The gleaming blue in the nearly extinguished firelight appears ghastly white, so much so that I think for a second that they flash with the stark absence of color.

All other words that were building in my mind go blank, and I hold my breath as he lowers his face to hover just inches above mine .

“Don’t even think about it.” He whispers.

“I’ll scream.” I rush the words out, but my threat only pulls a malicious grin to his remarkable features, making him that much more dangerous to look at.

My eyes shift to see around him, looking for anything I can use for a weapon, but I fail.

Regardless of if I were to find anything, it wouldn’t matter.

Beyond wishing for the best possible blow, I have no idea how to defend myself.

I would be as likely to hurt myself as I would be to hurt him.

“You have the look of someone who is smarter than that,” he says, lowering his lips to my ear.

“What do you think will happen if you scream in here? Who do you think will come to your aid?” He stands fully, causing my eyes to trail up to meet his, and I swallow back any protest I had building on my tongue. He’s right.

“Good girl,” he growls as he takes a step away.

The small amount of distance he’s put between us gives me a tiny amount more air to breathe but also makes me tremble more, as I am more clearly on display for him.

The door opens behind me, bumping my heels and causing a yelp of surprise to come from me unabated, and I quickly cover my mouth with my hand as I dip under his arm and press my back into the adjoining wall.

“Can I help you?” The man in the room asks whoever stands in the hall with a broad smile.

I have seconds to decide. I could cry for help…

scream to gain attention, but what if he is right?

I know nothing of being outside the castle walls.

Nothing from my own experience anyway. Only stories that I’ve overheard from the gossiping guardsmen or the help who are allowed to roam further ou t of the royal boundaries.

I could very well be even worse off if I call attention to myself.

At least in here, there is only one man.

“It sounded like there was trouble…” A man from the other side of the door rumbles angrily.

The cocky stranger I share a room with opens the door wider, but the light from the hall doesn’t quite reach where I stand pressed against the wall.

Surely a deliberate move, since he sweeps his arm out wide toward the seemingly otherwise empty room.

“Well as you can see…” His eyes meet mine in the shadows. “No trouble here.”

“The barkeep says there hasn’t been a rain like this in months. Said it will likely last a few days. Meet me downstairs for breakfast.” The man in the hall says. My jailer gives a coy smile before he starts to shut the door, and a set of fingers wraps around the wood, stopping it before it shuts.

“Stay out of trouble, Mav. You know why we’re here.” The other man growls. Mav…pats the man’s hand with three taps, narrowing his blue eyes on the faceless stranger before smiling devilishly once again.

“I’ll be right here… sleeping like royalty.

” He winks, snapping the door shut without another word.

I take a step forward, but he shakes his head.

Bringing his finger up, he taps his ear while pointing at the door.

His eyes are now narrowed and aimed at me, the smile he once had vanished, and again my heart rate spikes, and I listen to the other man’s footsteps fade in the distance.

“You want to tell me why you were laying in my bed naked and waiting? Or should we just get started?” He smirks. His tongue jutting from his mouth to roll over his full bottom lip. My answering PAH! Makes the smirk fall, and he cracks his neck. “Why are you here then, if it’s not to get fucked?”

“Why am I here? What about you? Clearly, this has been a mistake. The barmaid—” as I start, I remember what she had said when bringing me to my room. I was too distracted at the time to question it. “No rooms are being unshared.”

“Well, roomie, looks like we are stuck together. Do you like the inside or outside?” I don’t register his question at first as I stare at him blankly.

“What are you asking?”

“What side of the bed do you want, princess?” He laughs and my eyes clear of the haze they were trapped in.

“I am not sleeping with you.” I bark out with a laugh of my own.

“Well, suit yourself.” He says with a shrug before he strides to the fire, stoking the flames and adding wood to the blaze.

The room flares brighter, giving me a clearer view of his heavily tattooed torso and back as he swaggers around the small space like he owns the place.

My back presses into the wall as I lean on it for support.

My panic over everything is catching up to me, and as my adrenaline wanes, so does my energy. I can hardly stand up on my own.

Once satisfied with the fire and how his things are placed around the room, he lies down on the bed in the same position as before.

It’s evident that he thinks I am of no concern to him as he closes his eyes, and he falls asleep quickly with my eyes fixed on him and his weapons laying out in plain sight.