Page 18 of Tempting the Fae Lord (The Gatekeeper’s Weakness)

Chapter Seventeen

Gale

Days and nights of hiding pass with no sign of Sonja.

I’m dirty, bored, and restless. After longing my entire life to cross through the blasted gate, all I want at the moment is to go home. Eulie and the others must be worried sick. I hate to think of them scared on my behalf.

It’s early evening. Ezra and I sit in the village pub at a corner table closest to the hearth. A group of rowdy men toast over their beers and swap stories. Their raucous laughter and jovial teasing lend a cheerful mood to the place, even as I sulk in the corner.

The barmaid brings the honeyed ale and dinner I ordered.

“Anything for you?” She asks Ezra, to which he politely declines. “Flag me down if you change your mind, handsome.” She winks and leaves.

Though he seems unaffected by her flirting, I fight the urge to scowl. I must lose because Ezra looks right at me and huffs a low laugh.

“Don’t worry. She’s not my type.”

I’m embarrassed he noticed, but if it keeps him smiling at me like that, I’ll gladly suffer the embarrassment. His smile is a balm, a brief respite to the serious mood he’s been in for an age. Nice to see he can still do it.

He shifts his gaze, so I tuck into my plate of roast bird and potatoes while he stares at the dancing flames.

The food is decent. Not as delicious as Eulayla makes, but simple and pleasantly spiced. I ordered enough to bring a meal to Petru from my leftovers. He hasn’t asked to join us, which is good because I doubt Ezra would let him.

It’s odd to dine across from a man who doesn’t eat. Well, he doesn’t eat human food. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him feed since before I crossed through the gate.

“Are you hungry too?” I ask between bites.

“Not as such. I’ll take care of it when the need arises.”

“How?”

He lifts a brow. “The usual way. You’ve eavesdropped enough to know.”

My cheeks warm.

He nods toward the pack of tipsy men. “Plenty of sturdy candidates about should I require a meal.”

I don’t relish the thought of him drinking some random man’s blood. I’d like to say it’s because I’m concerned for the stranger’s well-being, and that’s part of it, but the lion’s share of the reason is simple.

Jealously.

I want him to rely on me the way I’ve always relied on him. The way I rely on him now.

“Stay put.” He rises gracefully. His cool hand rests briefly on my shoulder. “I’m going to procure a room.”

A room. That implies a real bed, maybe a window or two, and best of all, a bath. I eat faster knowing such luxury awaits.

By the time he returns, key in hand, I’m finishing my share and packing Petru’s half up in a food cloth.

The mage is doing better now that he’s eating regularly, but he’s afraid to come aboveground. He worries Sonja will go after his family the second she learns he’s not dead.

So he hides. Poor fellow. At least Ezra has warmed up to him a bit. Doesn’t watch him as if the mage is about to raise an army of dead roaches against us anymore.

Progress is progress.

Our room is up a carpeted set of stairs with an intricately carved railing on the open side. Much fancier than the dank underground hole we’ve been cooped up in. I trail my hand along the smooth, curved wood as we ascend.

Ezra unlocks the farthest door down a short hall and ushers me inside with a soft touch to my lower back. “They’re sending water up for a bath. You go first while I take the food to Petru.”

The urge to grab his wrist and ask him to stay ignites with a charged shiver up my spine. We could bathe together. What would it be like to wash his hair? Perhaps to steal a damp kiss or, even better, be given one?

But he’s out the door before I have the courage to act on the fantasy. As if I would. I’ve had enough embarrassment for one night, thank you.

The room is small but well furnished. Two wooden chairs on either side of a round table. A chest of drawers with burning candles on top. A narrow bed next to a wide window.

I wander over and peek through the curtains, glimpsing the main street below. This village looks and feels much like the closest one to the fortress. So far, the human world is not so different. Just more candles and fewer faerie lights.

I sigh and shuffle out of my clothes down to my underthings. A set of young workers brings hot water to add to the cold already in the wooden tub.

“Will that be all for ye, sir?” asks the taller of the two boys.

“Yes, thank you.”

They nod and close the door on their way out.

Left alone, I wipe off the worst of the dirt and grime from my skin, then sink into the warm water.

Ah, sweet bliss. I close my eyes, tip my head back against the rim, and bask. One by one, my muscles release their tension.

I duck beneath the surface and listen to the pleasant glug glug glug of the bubbles as I empty my lungs. Wash my face, wash my hair, wash my everything. If only I had a set of clean clothes here, but no matter. I rinse out my underthings to let them dry overnight, and that will do well enough.

At some point, Ezra returns. He chuckles when he finds me still soaking in the tub. As I step out and wrap a cloth around my hips, he turns his back.

“You turn,” I say when I’m decent, then offer him the same courtesy as he undresses, even though I’d rather watch. I’d rather ogle.

When it’s clear he’s in the tub, I turn and let my gaze wander over his naked shoulders. How I’d love to run my pruny fingers over each tempting curve.

“Pertu all right?” I ask.

Ezra shrugs. “As good as he ever is, I suppose.”

I feel bad leaving him all alone down there, but the dank air and tight walls make me feel trapped. I’m glad to be out, even if only for a night.

Water sloshes softly as Ezra washes. A delicate drip slides off a wet elbow. The tub creaks as he dunks his head.

I let my thoughts swirl as I pretend not to watch him quite as closely as I’m watching him.

What would my job be if I were left to provide for myself on this side of the gate? Would I work in an inn like the two boys who ported the bath water? Would I cook food or pour ale at a pub?

Oh—Or would I be a blacksmith like my father?

I can’t imagine my life without Eulie and Chester. Without Jack, Marissa, and Amaris.

Without Ezra.

But if I’d grown up here or farther south as it were, it would be my real family I couldn’t imagine living without. My mother and father. Maybe siblings. Aunties, uncles, grandparents.

Who knows what I’ve lost?

No wonder Petru worries for his family. We may have saved him from a terrible master, but at what cost? Would Sonja really go after his people for failing to serve her?

Somehow, I doubt it.

Not that she has me fooled into thinking she’s a good person. Not after how she used poor Petru. But her obsession is with the gate and its master.

She wants the same thing I want. To find her family. To get a glimpse of what her life would have been without Ezra’s interference. If I were her, I’d—

Smoldering ashes.

What if she’s already crossed? What if my half-baked method worked a second time, and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of her because she’s not here?

What if she’s already wreaking havoc on the fae side?

But if she crossed, the first place she’d come to is our fortress! Our family! They’d take her in without a second thought. We’re always so excited to receive travelers. They’d welcome her with open arms.

Panic tugs knots in my stomach. All the tension the water released in my muscles snaps back in the span of a fluttered heartbeat.

I have to tell Ezra, but he’s not going to like my theory.

I take a deep breath. “Sir?”