He felt Luna’s gaze on him again, studying him covertly with an intensity he didn’t much care for. She always seemed to have a knack for peeling back layers of his soul, but he would prefer that she not peel too much, too far. There were only dark discoveries to be made and . . . well, he couldn’t bear to imagine what she would think of him if ever she got that deep.
Nigel stretched his neck, tipping his head first to one side then the other. “Unfortunately,” he said in a slightly louder voice, “it was a bit of a wasted effort on my father’s part as neither Fabian nor I swim.”
“What?” Luna turned her head to look at him fully. Her mouth dropped open. “You’re telling me you had this whole fantastical waterpark playground right out your back door, and you never learned to swim?”
Nigel pulled a face.
“Whyever not?”
He kicked his feet, creating a tiny maelstrom. “I . . . I have this thing. With not being able to see the bottom.” He grimaced. “There’s something so unsettling about that. About the idea of floating emptily over gods-know what.”
Her mouth opened, closed. Her brows lowered, and she tipped her head to one side. “You’re a Dark Sorcerer,” she said after a moment.
He glanced at her and away again swiftly.
“You delve into Enigmas Beyond the Veil the way the rest of us shop at Huck ‘n Clover’s of a Tuesday morning.”
He shrugged.
“Andthatdoesn’t scare you?” she pressed.
“I feel more in control in that situation.” He waved a hand vaguely. “The sigils and all.”
“But a little murky water, and you’re just over it.”
“We all have our hangups, Miss Talbot.” Nigel sighed and leaned his weight back onto his palms. “Perhaps I simply didn’twantto learn.”
“Hmmm.” She didn’t sound convinced. Dropping back into silence, she kicked her feet, studied the waterfalls, and chewed the inside of her cheek, all unaware of Nigel’s gaze as he watched her from under lowered eyelids.
Suddenly, she sat up a little straighter, her jaw set. “It’sveryhot,” she declared.
It was. The heat seemed to be seeping out from the upper regions, eating into the water-freshened atmosphere.
“But the water’s plenty cool,” Luna continued.
“Yes,” Nigel acknowledged. A little smile plucked at the corner of his mouth. “It’s nice.”
She turned and looked at him between dark strands of limp hair, her eyes very bright. “I fancy a swim.”
His heart took a swan-dive straight to his gut. “What?”
Luna nodded. “It’s a shame your father should have gone through so much trouble, and no one’s ever appreciated it! I fancy a swim.” She scrambled up, spattering water droplets on his trousers as she stood. “It’s blistering hot, after all, and there’s no one around to be bothered.”
“I’maround!” Nigel pointed out.
“Yes, well, but you’re not bothered, are you?”
He was bothered. He was very much bothered. He was so bothered, in fact, his lungs seemed to have entirely run out of air.
And when Luna began unfastening the buttons of her blouse, he was suddenly ten timesmorebothered than he’d ever been in his life.
“You . . . you’re not going to . . .take your clothes off, are you?”
“I can’t very well swim in a skirt and blouse, can I?” She looked sharply down at him. “Don’t worry, Mr. Grimm. I’ve got a slip on underneath, and it’s as good as a bathing costume. Better even. More covering.” Then she twirled a finger. “Give a girl a little privacy, won’t you?”
He closed his jaw with an audibleclunk,spun in place, and stared so hard at the water lilies in the lower pool, they grew quite discomfited and began to hide under their pads. His senses were all on high alert—he couldheareach button slipping through each button hole, couldfeelthe clasp of her skirt giving way. The gentle collapse of each article of clothing to the ground was like a seismic shift, and his knuckles whitened as he sought for some sort of grip on reality.
“How deep is this particular pool, do you think?” Luna asked, standing somewhere behind him.
