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Those men were easy to spot.
Their eyes raked over the women who tended to them with carnal lust. Some dismissed the girls that didn’t pique their interests, quickly moving on to ones who did, as if they were selecting a piece of fruit to gnaw on.
Surrounding the pool, giant stone columns were carved with nude, curvaceous females, their arms stretched towards the ceiling. It was not lost on me, the symbolic nature of the statues. Even though they were naked and meant to add to the erotic nature of the bathhouse, these carvings were holding the roof up, effectively keeping it all from crashing down. Just as women so often did when it came to their own homes, their own families.
Pillars of strength.
Pillars of divine femininity.
I felt a sense of warmth towards the architects and wondered if their message of female strength was intentional or not. I leaned towards the former.
Harper studied the statues. I could tell the message had reached her too, judging by the look written on her face. Her brown eyes glanced my way. “Ready?”
“Not really,” I replied honestly as we headed into battle.
“If I have to scrub a moly, hairy back ever again . . .” I shivered, resisting the urge to upchuck my supper. This place made every inch of my skin feel like it had been doused in ants—red ones, the kind that bite.
“At least you didn’t get called into a private bath,” Harper huffed, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder.
“Did you use Ezra’s tonic?” I asked as we walked down the long, never-ending corridor, the candlelight glinting off the marbled walls. I wrapped my arms around myself, relieved to have my coat back on, to be covered again.
“Yup, and it worked like a goddess-blessed charm. He’s probably still sawing timber in there. Hopefully he doesn’t drown.” She gave a half shrug, suggesting she couldn’t care less if he did as she shoved the heavy door open and stepped out into the stark moonlight. How she managed to retrace our path and lead us to the back door, I’d never know. Then again, directions weren’t my forte.
Ryker leaned against a knotty pine tree, his arms crossed over his torso. A tattoo peeked out from beneath his rolled sleeve, his bicep bulging. “How did it go?”
“It didn’t. The king’s advisor wasn’t there,” Harper exclaimed, her hip cocked.
“I guess we just keep trying then,” Ryker offered, his tone optimistic.
Harper shot up a brow, “We?”
“Where’s Von?” I interjected before they started their sixteenth fight of the day.
Ryker thumbed over his broad shoulder.
I looked down the back alley. Beneath the whispering, pale moonlight, two figures stood, their bodies close enough to share breath. There was no mistaking that one was Von, and the other silhouette belonged to a tall, slender woman.
Something deeply planted within me began to surface—it was an ugly feeling.
They were talking—or rather, she was talking. He was, surprisingly, listening.
I didn’t dare take a step towards them, but I leaned forward, trying to decipher what she was saying. But the mere inches I’d gained were of little help. They were too far away.
Suddenly, her voice grew louder. I had never heard anger ring out with such clarity before. “Liar!” she screamed. The word echoed into the night. The wind which had been dormant before began to pick up.
Von said nothing.
She raised her hand with incredible speed, but before she could strike, his hand shot out, cuffing her wrist, rendering it immovable. When she tugged, he let her go. He watched—we all watched—as she turned and disappeared between two overgrown bushes, their branches nearly barren.
If I had not heard the door slam shut, I would have thought her disappearing act some sort of magic trick.
I mentally retraced the bathhouse, noting that the hidden door she went through was part of it. My mind whirled, questions abound. Who was she? And why did she go into the bathhouse?
We gave him a moment before the three of us walked towards him, his silence washing over us all in undiluted, powerful waves.
“What did you say to that poor woman?” I remarked. Half of my comment was meant to get a rise out of him—the other half was due to my own selfish reasons.
He ignored me. It irritated me worse.
