Page 36 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

As if I needed another reminder that I’m not home. In Sombra, shadow magic would’ve already cleaned it away. Even though I don’t have two forms, I’m made up of enough of them to freshen up without taking a bath.

Here, it clings. I’m sure I stink from all of the walking, and there’s a slight tear in my skirts from where I snagged it on a branch. I’d give anything to be indoors—except sacrifice Rafe. That means, until I find him, I’m stuck following a fae bandit, and that means I have to make other sacrifices.

But bathing? That’s not one of them.

“I need to wash,” I say finally.

Thane glances at me. “There’s no bathhouse nearby.”

After sleeping outside last night and watching him kill a goldcap and a troll, I wasn’t expecting anything like that. Luckily, when it comes to bathing outside, that’s something I’m used to. “I don’t need a bathhouse.”

That gets a smile out of him. “I know a place.”

The Noctavara lake reveals itself without warning, a silvered bowl cradled by dark trees that lean inward as if to guard it. Moonlight—or sunlight, I’m not sure in the Shadowed Woods—spills across the water in a slow, steady sheen, turning the surface into glass. It’s still without a single ripple to mar it.

More than that, it feels old, and that’s saying something coming from a Sombra demon.

I slow without meaning to, my boots sinking slightly into the damp earth at the shore. The air is cool here, beaded with moisture, carrying the faint mineral scent of stone and water. My shadows loosen around my ankles, drifting lazily as if even they are relieved to have found a place to rest.

Binx hops down from my shoulder, padding to the edge to peer at his reflection, white eyes glowing faintly in the dark.

“I need to get clean,” I say, more to the lake than to Thane. Between the road dust, the blood, and the lingering grit of travel, my skin feels too tight, too dirty.

Thane hums softly somewhere behind me, the sound thoughtful. “You couldn’t find a better spot in the woods than here.”

I glance back at him. While I approached the lake with Binx, he hung at the entrance to the clearing.

“I’m going to make sure it’s clear,” he says, answering my wordless question. “Go on, Alana. I’ll be right back.”

I don’t know if I should be offended or grateful that Thane found an excuse to allow me to strip out of my boots and my dress without an audience. As my mate, he should want to see me naked; as a male, he should take the excuse if I was willing to let him. Was I? I… don’t know.

Still, he’s giving me some privacy, and desperate as I am to scrub up, I take it. I shuck off my dress, folding it neatly and leaving it near Binx. The ungez immediately adopts a guarding position, plopping his furry butt on top of my bodice. I kick my boots next to him, careful not to disturb Binx, then wade into the lake.

Compared to the lava pools, the lake is filled with ice. I don’t mind it. I’ve been feeling a little flushed since I watched Thane’s skill with his sword up close and personal, and if I use the excuse of the fae bandit’s blood splashes across my face to dunk under the surface, that’s okay. Hey. I really did need to get clean.

So consumed with using my claws to get rid of the blood spray, I don’t realize that Thane’s returned until Binx yowls, catching my attention.

I glance up to see that Thane’s already unfastening his sword belt, his movements easy, practiced, like a male who has bathed in strange places more times than he can count. He’s still dressed, but as our eyes meet, I know instantly that he plans on taking advantage of our trip to the lake to wash up himself.

I’m treading the water, letting it come up to my breasts. All Thane can see is my damp hair, my horns, and a slightly stunned expression as I watch him with my lips parted.

My mate is getting undressed.

My mate is getting naked.

My mate⁠—

I dunk a little lower, hoping the cool water will do something—anything—to cool me off.

The first time I saw a male naked, it was Rafe. Of course it was. We were still spawn, barely a handful of years old, and I was amazed by what he had hanging between his legs. I squealed, asked if all males had handles, and grabbed it before he could get out of my reach.

Rafe cried and ran to Kennedy to snitch on me. When she finally understood what had her son so upset, she snickered and went right to my house to share the story with Mom. Needless to say, I didn’t get in trouble trouble, though Mom did remind me that good halflings kept their claws to themselves.

Much later, when I realized that I’d basically tried to yank poor Rafe’s cock off before I knew better, I was so humiliated. Rafe, being Rafe, just looked at me hopefully and asked if I wanted to try again.

Males.

Now, I know there are plenty in Nuit who suspect that, one day, Rafe and I will open our eyes and realize that we were meant for each other. Look past our friendship and decide to deepen it into something more. Mom would be thrilled; so would Kennedy. But that never was going to happen even before Rafe fell head over horn for Katrin, or I met Thane and realized that I was meant for him.