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Emilie blinked once. Then twice.
“What is it?”
“It’s some sort of sleeping solution.” She looked to the harpy for confirmation and she nodded once. “It’s supposed to calm your mind, ease your muscles and warm your body.”
“Well, that’s not very vital is it,” I murmured.
Emilie smacked my arm with the back of her hand and gave me a reprimanding look.
I responded with a look of my own, raising my brows as if to say, tell me I’m wrong. A mere warming concoction didn’t seem like a good enough reason to interrupt Emilie and me. And even though I was certain Emilie appreciated the book, reading theory was less effective than physical practice.
Emilie studied the harpy again. “Thank you. We appreciate this. Don’t we Ladon?”
She turned to me, and I caved under her demanding glare. I cleared my throat. “Um, yes. Thank you for this.”
The harpy turned and started for the door.
“Wait,” I shouted. The harpy froze, startled by the loud noise. She barely peeked over her shoulder. “Do you know where we might find another entrance to the tunnels?”
She turned around fully and tilted her head to one side, as if in question.
“The tunnels. You showed us the doorway in the library. It’s unlikely we’ll be back there anytime soon. There must be more of them. Do you know where we could find one?”
The harpy’s eyes looked tearful. Large orbs, black as night and glistening like glass. She shook her head, and I sighed. Beside me, Emilie did her best not to let her disappointment show, lest we hurt the harpy’s feelings.
“It’s okay,” she reassured her. “We’ll figure something out.”
After the harpy left, a thick silence hung in the air between us. The heat of the moment was long gone and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Couldn’t stop looking at Emilie.
Her head snapped up as she felt my gaze and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Was it regret? Embarrassment? Bashfulness? Whatever it was, it was clear that we would not be picking up where we left off.
She raised one bottle in her hand. “I think I’ll take this and head to bed.”
“I still wish she would’ve brought something more useful,” I said. Something worth the interruption.
“Don’t be ungrateful, Ladon. It doesn’t look good on you.”
Then she handed me my dosage, and I drank it in two gulps. At least we’d both have a restful night, void of nightmares and an aching cold.
Emilie and I were eating dinner one evening when Luther and Tristan came to retrieve us. I despised the evenings we were both called to entertain. I had my own coping mechanisms, but the thought of Emilie being paraded around for men and women alike to touch—it made me see red.
I was the only one who could touch her.
We were led down familiar paths to the large bathing chamber. They didn’t even bother taking us in circles or trying to confuse us with complicated twists and turns. At this point, I’d already mentally mapped out many of the halls inside the mountain.
I snarled at the guard closest to me, who couldn’t take his eyes off Emilie as she undressed and made her way into the basin full of steaming water. She crossed her arms over her chest and long brown curls fell over her shoulders.
I entered the water after her and she had the decency to look away, though I didn’t care if she saw me. This was the first time we’d been expected to bathe together. The bath was large—it could’ve held twenty people—but it still felt intimate.
Emilie washed her hair, and I scrubbed my skin. A handmaiden was brought in who gave us each a concoction to lather on our bodies. She didn’t bother to respond when I asked what it was.
It didn’t take long to find out. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Emilie rubbed it over her skin like she’d done this before. So I followed suit.
I scowled as the hairs on my arms, legs and groin began to dissolve and muttered under my breath, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
By the time I was finished, the only hair left was on my head. Even the stubble on my jaw had disappeared. I was disgusted.
I supposed it hadn’t occurred to me how Emilie always seemed to have smooth legs. And the times I’d seen her naked…she’d been kept neatly trimmed.
