Page 146 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-Two

Riva

O ur mishmash of rice, lentils, and the few spices we scrounged up isn’t fit for a five-star restaurant, but after twenty-four hours of crackers, hard cheese, and bruised fruit, I have to hold myself back from licking the plate when I’m done.

We’ve hunkered down in the vast kitchen, one of the cleanest rooms in the abandoned hotel.

The terrace on the other side of the hall looks like it served as the main dining area, but it’s been consumed by jungle: tree branches jutting through the broken railings and vines strangling the chair-and-table sets.

The daylight has almost completely faded. As I glance around at my fellow shadowbloods, I catch a couple yawning.

I raise my voice to carry to the entire group. “We should get some rest while it’s dark. It wouldn’t be safe to turn on any lights at night anyway. And as soon as the sun comes up, we’ll want to get moving again.”

Mumbles of agreement reach me. Dominic stands up with the more confident air that’s starting to come naturally to him.

“There are lots of bedrooms farther down the halls,” he says to the group. “Pick one that’s reasonably neat, and stay at least in pairs so you have someone to turn to if there’s a problem. I think we should avoid the second floor since the roof obviously isn’t in great repair.”

“And give yourselves a good wash if you want,” I add. “Running the water shouldn’t give us away, and we don’t know when we’ll have another chance.”

After another day of trekking, the dirt and dried sweat on my own skin itches at me.

A few of the younger kids drift out of the room, Ajax and Devon hand in hand. Celine gets to her feet with a swish of her ponytail and manages a smile that only looks a little tired.

“You Firsts should get a break. You’ve been running yourselves ragged looking after the rest of us—you organized the whole plan to get us out. We can take the first watch.”

She motions to herself, Booker, and Nadia—the oldest of the kids who escaped with us. Nadia nods without hesitation, but my stomach dips uneasily.

“I think at least one of us—” I start.

Griffin interrupts so smoothly it barely feels rude, looking up from where he’s stroking Lua’s fur. “I can watch over the younger shadowbloods for the first shift. I don’t think I’m ready to sleep yet anyway.”

I hesitate again, appreciating the offer but not sure it’s quite what I needed. If Griffin has actually been lying about his intentions, this would be a perfect opportunity to work against us.

My instincts tell me he’s been honest. But what if they’re wrong?

I thought we could trust Rollick to keep the other kids safe, and look how that turned out.

Andreas steps close to me and lowers his head by my ear. “I’ve had Ajax monitoring Griffin’s thoughts as well as he can. He told me he’s only picked up things that confirm his story. Ideas about how to help, worries about how his past actions might have hurt us.”

I exhale slowly, releasing a little of the tension that’s gripped me since we first got the opportunity to flee the island. I don’t think Griffin is skilled enough to conceal every suspicious thought, if he’d even realize that Ajax would be searching his mind.

I can believe that my instincts were right this time with that outside confirmation.

“Okay.” I offer Griffin a slightly guilty smile because of my initial uncertainty and aim a brighter one at Celine. "Thank you. A couple of us will take over in a few hours. You should spread out so you can keep an eye out all around the hotel.”

Booker gives me a playful salute. “We’re on it, Captain. Don’t worry—we’ve been training our whole lives for this.”

The wryness of his tone makes Andreas’s lips twitch. “Hopefully we’ll find something better to do with our lives once we’re out of the jungle.”

Celine cocks her head, her tone still light. “Are you thinking we’ll go to the monsters to see if they’ll help us like you did before?”

I hesitate, my regrets about my past decisions still stark in my mind. “I—I don’t know yet. We can’t turn to anyone without being really careful about it.”

She nods and casts her gaze away. I hope my uncertainty won’t add to whatever worries she must already be grappling with.

Most of the kids have already shuffled out of the kitchen. The five of us Firsts meander down the hall after them.

I’m not totally sure what we’re searching for. We pass the first several rooms that’ve already been claimed by the younger shadowbloods and then start peeking through doorways at random.

I skip past a bedroom with a large water stain in the ceiling and another where some jungle creature appears to have crashed through the window and made a nest out of the bed. Then Zian lets out an awed sound from farther down the hall.

The rest of us hustle over to join him.

He’s stepped inside a massive suite that must have been reserved for honeymooners and high-profile guests. In the dim moonlight that seeps past the vast windows, the four-poster bed in the center of the far wall is bigger than any I’ve ever seen, the duvet barely wrinkled.

One window is cracked, a vine winding its way partway to the floor, but only a thin smattering of dirt and dust has coated the floor. The mirror mounted on the ornate vanity still gleams.

But Zian’s attention has been captured by the tub.

A huge jacuzzi bathtub stands across from the bed, half embedded in the wooden floor. Its white walls are dappled with dirt, but Zee gazes at it like it’s the most glorious thing he’s ever seen.

I can’t stop a fond grin from crossing my lips. He’s always been drawn to the water on the rare chances we had to appreciate it.

The image of him floating in the jungle pond near the island facility drifts up from my memory. He looked so peaceful, so content, just for those few minutes.

I walk over and prod the controls on the side of the tub. “I bet we could rinse it out and then fill it up. You can have first dibs, Zee.”

At a twist of a knob, water gushes from several of the jets. It carries the dirt in swirls down the drain. With a few swipes of my hand over the smooth surface, I bring back a faint gleam of white.

When I look up, Zian is watching me, not the water. Watching me with an expression that brings back other memories from that night by the pond.

Desire glimmers in his eyes, and uncertainty twists his mouth. The signs of his inner turmoil bring a lump to my throat.

“We’ll give you your privacy, of course,” I say, and lean down to push in the stopper so the tub will fill. “There are lots of other rooms where we?—”

Jacob clears his throat, stopping me in mid-sentence. “I have a better idea.”

We all glance over at him, and he gives the rest of us an unusually soft smile. “The tub’s big enough for us all to share, don’t you think? What have we got to hide at this point?”

He holds my gaze for a moment with a warily hopeful air and then shifts his attention to Zian with a flicker of concern. Jake must know as well as I do that Zee has the most reason to balk at the idea.

Zian shifts his weight, peering at the water and then the group of us. His eyes linger on me, the mix of longing and uneasiness only starker now.

I pause. “We wouldn’t have to get totally undressed. I’ll stay at the opposite end of the tub.”

Andreas taps his knuckles against Zee’s arm. “We’ll all be in there, just hanging out. No pressure, no expectations.”

Zian wavers for a few seconds longer and then squares his shoulders. “Yeah. Why shouldn’t we?”

A gentle smile curves Dominic’s lips too. “Why don’t you get in first so you can enjoy a good float before the rest of us join in? We should scrounge up some towels anyway.”

We leave Zian by the jacuzzi to prowl through the rest of the room. Dominic checks the actual bathroom and emerges with a stack of fluffy beige towels that he shakes a little dust off of.

Andreas and I give the bed the same treatment, stripping off the duvet and fluffing it out. The sheets underneath look almost pristine.

I’m tempted to sprawl on them right now, except I’d get them all dirty.

Jacob returns from his own search through the bathroom with a crow of victory. “Biodegradable bath oils. Now we’re living in real luxury.”

He carries the glossy green bottles over to the tub, where Zian has stripped down to his boxers and gotten in. His brawny body just barely fits without bumping against the sides, drifting on the rising water.

It’s nearly reached the overflow drain now. Zee reaches to tweak one of the controls, and a hint of steam puffs into the air from the jets.

He dunks his head to slick his short hair back and grins at Jake, looking much more relaxed now that he’s actually in the water. “Well, pour that stuff in then. We should have the full experience.”

As Jacob drizzles the oil in the tub, a thin froth of bubbles forms on the surface of the water. Andreas shucks off his facility-issue tee and athletic pants and slides into the jacuzzi kitty-corner from Zian.

I guess we’re all getting in now. All four of these guys have seen me at least partly undressed, and the room is dark enough that I’ll be mostly cloaked in shadows anyway, but all at once my skin tightens with self-consciousness.

They don’t pressure me either, though. Dominic tugs off his shirt with a little extra effort to work around his tentacles, not even glancing my way. Jake sheds his pants like it’s no big deal at all.

With the attention off me, I relax enough to peel off my own tee and pants, leaving my necklace on like usual. The air is so warm that I’m not at all chilled even in my sports bra and panties.

They’re like a bikini. Like I’m just going for a dip in a pool.

No big deal at all.

As I promised Zian, I slip into the water at the far end from where he’s settled. We form a ring around the edges of the tub, my calf brushing Andreas’s next to me, one of Dominic’s tentacles coiling around my elbow beneath the bubbles.