Page 59 of Thicker than Water

Surely Lavinia and the other Hecate witches would agree.

And I’ll keep an eye on her. I can hold my own if I need to.

Really, it would be stupid not to take this opportunity.

Plus, she’sgroveling!

I can’tbelieveshe’s acting this way. Is it real? Is it an act?

I want to believe that she’s truly sorry, although I know I can’t trust her. But my sappy side gives in. My father always told me that I should listen to that side more than the other.

“All right,” I whisper back. “I forgive you. But you have to make it up to me!”

“Well…do you like hot tubs?”

There are perks to sleeping with your boss. One of them is getting out of your shift early.

And when your boss owns a fancy chain of hotels, another perk is apparentlyveryfancy hot tubs!

“Oh my Goddess,” I gasp. “I thought you meant like…anormalhot tub!”

She furrows her perfect eyebrows. “What’s a normal hot tub?”

I shake my head in disbelief. “Notthis.”

Celine has taken me to a private cabana on the roof of the hotel. Lounge chairs stretch out in neat rows, under the lush foliage of dozens of potted ferns. The hot tub is impossible to miss. It’s built right into the stone, and it’smassive. You could do laps in it. Yet the curated grasses and soft, underwater lights give it an intimate, sensual ambiance.

The city provides most of the light. To the north, the bright lights of the city glitter, more numerous than the stars in the sky. To the south, the lake shines like glass, reflecting the city back onto itself.

I guess that’s why they call it Silverlake City.

Celine pulls off her blazer, and then her tank top and shoes. I’m close behind, kicking off my sneakers eagerly.

If thisis what espionage is like, I could really get used to it.

She’s in the water first, submerging herself quickly. She takes her hair down, so it shines, sleek around her shoulders.

It’s early September, so the air is still quite warm. But we’re so high up that the breeze feels wonderful on my erect nipples and exposed body.

I dip my foot in the water first. It’s properly hot, and my muscles immediately relax. I put another foot in, then start to walk down the hot tub’s marble stairs.

It’s exquisite. I didn’t realize how much tension I was holding in.

She turns around, her body glistening with water.

“You’re perfect,” she purrs, admiring me boldly with her gaze.

Two hundred years, but I feel like a stupid, babbling teenager at her words.

“So are you.”

She reaches out for me, wrapping her hands around my waist. Her cold skin contrasts strangely with the heat of the water, but something about her grounds me. She moves like a creature of the night, seamlessly cutting through the water like it’s nothing.

Her strong arms hold me close. Her embrace is more tender than before, more careful. She’s holding me like I’m precious, like she’s terrified to lose me.

Or perhaps I’m just imagining that. There must have been hundreds before me - thousands, probably.

Although we’re both centuries old, I’ve amassed comparatively fewer lovers. The lifestyle of a good witch is very different than that of a vampire mafia queen.