Stoke - 11. Bath

Things were…tense and strange. Loren and Rah remained separate from the group, walking a fair distance behind us. They were talking and I was curious about what. Amaris walked next to me. Talon and Eon were far in the front. Talon was laughing at whatever my brother said. I smiled and then let it drop as I got lost in my head again. That seemed to be happening pretty frequently. Like yesterday, there was a creeping sense that I was missing something. Something important. I tried to shake it off. Worrying about it would do me no good. I didn’t know what it was for gods’ sake. I hadn’t known I’d let out a heavy sigh until I felt fingers link with mine.

“I’m sorry for shoving you after the fight. I’m not sure what came over me.” Amaris said, sounding down. Oh no, I’m sure she was trying to come up with a reason for my silence. She’d defaulted to blaming herself and this was the only thing the poor girl could think of.

“It’s fine. You’ve been meaner to me before.” I tried to play it off with a laugh, but failed miserably. I was too wrapped up in my head. Amaris raised an eyebrow. I watched her physically shift approaches.

“Oh good. Now I can talk about what I want to! Can we talk about Loren and Talon’s little exchange?” I blinked and rubbed a hand down my face as I groaned. I had no idea where she was going to go with this, but knowing Amaris, it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to delve.

“Really Ris?” She rolled her eyes at me and tried to explain to me why it had been attractive. In her defense, she tried very hard to skirt around outright mentioning that she still found Talon appealing. I didn’t get it. The men both had dominant personalities. I shook my head. That sounded like a giant nightmare if it were even possible. Which it wasn’t. Talon didn’t trust Loren. He’d had a knife to his throat today for goddess’ sake? How would that translate to something like what Amaris’ was hinting at? My best friend was a foolish sex-starved woman. It made sense that she’d brought it up now. She wanted to fuel her own mental fantasies. I suppose it was only fair. The girl had been alone for a while and she was surrounded by people who weren’t.

I shook my head again and her words slowly started failing to land. The world around me shifted. Dark crept over the outer edges of my vision. It spread across the world in front of me. My friends were swallowed up in the dark and I lifted my fingers as fear set in. Fantastic. I was hallucinating. I kept walking. I was waiting for whatever nightmare surrounded me to make itself known. I heard noises. Possibly voices, but I wasn’t positive. So, the Soul Eater then. That would make sense. I kept walking, remaining calm for once. I took deep breaths and reminded myself that whether hallucination or Soul Eater, it couldn’t hurt me. It wasn’t real. The Soul Eater had slammed Talon around and he’d woken up fine.

Child.

“Finally, took you long enough. What do you want?” I answered.

I have a proposition for you child.

“You don’t make deals with humans.” I flicked my wrist, my light spreading around me. I saw a cloak of shadow dart by and shoved down the fear bubbling inside. I was okay. I could do this.

I would make one with you, light wielder. We have a bond. Your power is my kin’s.

“Yeah, you mentioned that right around when you screeched at Talon for stealing from you.”

Talon. Poor, wretched, ruined little thing. Has he led a hard life? Surely, he’s suffered or he never would have had the chance to sneak in and steal from me. How far has his corruption spread, little one? Has he hurt you yet?

I stopped and laughter floated around me. Talon had awoken late for his family. At five. After he’d escaped to Dimian. Had his suffering already started then? Is that what this thing was saying? That Talon having his power was directly connected to how many awful things he’d been through?

Do I have your attention now? Do you want to know how to save your doomed love?

I had a theory. If I could use my power here the way it could, then why couldn’t I torment it the way it did to me? I let the light bloom around me and heard hisses, and cries as a shape scrambled away from my power, “Talk.”

No, no. Nothing is free small one. You must give to get.

“What does an all powerful creature that’s lived a millennia want from a 21-year-old Magik amateur?” I rolled my eyes, resuming my aimless walking.

Amateur. You believe yourself to be weak? No matter…The man who freed me. He has tied me to him, put a strangle hold on my true power. I wish to be free. Boundless.

“Not weak. Inexperienced. So murder. You want me to kill someone to get this information you claim to have. You want me to set you free. How do I know you’re not lying?” I caught the cloak sweeping past again and threw a curved wall out, grinning when the shadow hit it and pounded its fists against the surface. “It’s rude to not look someone in the eyes when you speak to them.”

I have nothing to prove! I owe you nothing! You will do this for me or I will watch and savor your Talon’s soul being ripped apart!

“We talked about this last time.” My Magik wall extended, curling around and behind the Soul Eater. It tried to get ahead of it and get away, but I slammed its only exit closed. Once I was sure I had it, I reduced the space’s size. I shrunk it down so the Soul Eater was squeezed in a much too small area.

Release me human! Release me right now! RELEASE ME!

I was still working rapidly to bury my fear, but it became easier when anger flared, “You will not threaten him if you expect me to hear you out. In fact, you will not threaten him at all. Do you understand?” I shrunk the box again and it’s screams and shouts echoed around me. There were hisses and cries of outrage. It was hunched over in the box I’d made of my power, carefully holding itself away from the walls.

I will offer a sample piece of information. As an offering of peace. You are aware that he tampered with his Magik. There are different severities. A scale if you will. Your white-haired friend is one of the worst victims of the dark forces. Let us say he is on the irreversible end of our scale. Your Talon is balanced precariously on a very unpleasant edge, about to tip into the ruined boy’s category. The corruption can easily be made worse, but fighting it back is much harder. Getting rid of it completely is nearly impossible.

“How do we fight it?” I was breathing hard now, shaken. The black began to fade and the Soul Eater blinked out of existence. I growled and found myself back on the road. I was still walking next to Amaris and she was babbling non-stop. At least I hadn’t alerted anyone to what had been happening. I heard steps approaching and looked up. Talon looked upset and the others had stopped.

“It came back to you.” Talon stated, voice tight.

“Yes, it tried to make a deal.” Wren’s head snapped in my direction and I met his eyes, “The Soul Eater can visit me when it wants, I guess.”

“What did it want?” Talon asked, brow furrowed. I didn’t answer right away. I let myself look at him for the first time in a while. His hood was down. The long, dark hair on the top of his head still curled slightly from his sweat. It was messy, covering the tops of his ears and he’d clearly combed it away from his face with his fingers more than once. His eyes were steely grey-for once no black-and were filled with concern and love as he looked down at me. I tilted my head and took in the high cheekbones, the strong jawline, his perfect mouth.

He could be taken from me. Whatever he’d done to supplement his power. Whatever he’d done to himself could take him from me. He had created this obstacle for us before we’d ever met. I was irrationally angry. I knew he hadn’t meant for it to happen. He was young and stupid. He didn’t completely understand the consequences his actions would bring about. I took in a breath that rattled around in my chest. The Soul Eater kept implying that Talon was inching closer to some kind of tipping point. Once he got there, the monster thought that this “corruption” would do something horrible to Talon’s soul.

“Kalian.” He stepped forward, hands tipping my head back gently, “You’re freaking me out. What did it want from you?” Talon’s soul being ripped apart, unfortunately, did not fit into my plans. Whatever this was, we’d have to address. Like every other problem.

“S-sorry, I was lost in thought.” I smiled up at him and patted his hand, ducking under his arms and walking around our stunned friends. For once, Talon didn’t push. I’m not sure why this time he chose to drop it, to let me walk off and act like I wasn’t acting strange.

We resumed the last leg of our trip. The others gave me a wide berth. It took me a while to notice it. When I did, it didn’t bother me. I wanted to be left alone. I had things to think about. There were always things to think about. My mind was currently spinning around what the Soul Eater had said. Was it something that we may be able to find a solution to with the dead languages? I chewed my lower lip and mumbled softly to myself, biting down when my brain got off on a tangent.

Talon had used Parler Noir to add to his Magik. The “how” wasn’t something that had been explained to me and I’m sure that was on purpose. He, Wren, and Phelti were all Lost Ones. Wren wasn’t one by choice, was Phelti? No, that didn’t matter. Phelti wasn’t relevant. The Lost Ones weren’t related. I bit my lip again, there was pain but it helped me focus again. If we could find a spell book, specifically a Parler Noir one, perhaps we could reverse or at least slow the spread of this corruption? Yes, a spell book. In the country that most heavily persecuted Magik users. We’d have to leave Dleth. To gather that information, the information we’d need to save Talon, we’d have to cross another border. Or perhaps the same one, I suppose.

“Kalian?” I turned, widening my eyes before blinking. Tyren walked next to me, an uneasy smile on his face.

“Yes, teacher?” I smiled, but then tasted something sharp and metallic in my mouth. I’d bitten through enough skin that my lip was bleeding. I didn’t think Tyren saw, but I sucked the lip into my mouth as his eyes scanned my face.

“Kalian you’ve been very quiet since your…vision I suppose would be the word. Are you alright? We’re almost to the safehouse. Over the next hill, Wren says.” Vision was a much better word than hallucination. I liked that. It made me feel less crazy. Tyren’s smile was calmer now and I returned it. I was a little excited. Talon had promised me a tub and they’d have to drag me away if someone else expected to use it first.

“I was lost in thought. I’m trying to think of a way to deal with what the Lost Ones did to their Magik. Do you know of any teacher?” Tyren looked thoughtful as we walked. He tapped his chin and ran through the extensive library that was his mind.

“There were a few studies a while ago. Unfortunately, not much interest was given to finding a cure for those deemed ‘undesirable’. Hard to conduct research and do work when you’re underfunded and have no resources. I should know. The school never helped my students with anything.” Tyren laughed softly to himself.

“What do you mean?” I frowned and Tyren smiled as he hooked his arm through mine.

“I was allowed to be a teacher, but I was a former slave turned student. I was only given a chance because of my gift. They never expected me to do anything with my life or to influence the lives of others. Our building didn’t even exist. I taught wherever I was able to find room. My students and I built that building and as the years passed, new students made improvements and added to previous work. The king wished for me to take on ‘lost causes’ but didn’t actually want them to succeed.”

He laughed bitterly “Then, when we were successful, he wanted and took all the credit. Suddenly, we had all the funding we could ever want available to us.”

“That’s horrible Tyren.” I watched my feet as we tromped through the snow, beginning to have second thoughts. Was saving this king, this awful man, really the best choice?

“Hanja had to pick up my pieces almost every night at the beginning. I didn’t want to go on. I was so proud to make something of myself in the country that stole me. Only to be told I still wasn’t fit to teach in it. Or if I was, I wasn’t fit to teach the ‘promising’ students. Joke’s on them. The promising students are normally the most boring ones. Except for you of course.” Tyren smiled brightly at me and squeezed my arm looped through his.

“Yes, of all the words I would use to describe Sunshine, boring isn’t my first choice.” Came a voice from our left. Talon walked around on my side, Wren on the other. It was Talon who’d spoken and he smiled softly down at me.

“We’re here.” Wren pointed as we made it to the top of a hill. This house was about twice the size of the cottage. It wasn’t on the level of the manors we’d stayed in while we’d been in Syrin, but I felt a little rush of excitement slide through me. It was two stories and had two large sections on either side and one in the middle connecting them. The whole building was done in blacks and greys. Talon should be happy. The main sections of the house had tall pointed, sloped roofs and huge colorful stained-glass windows that looked to be at least two stories high. A door sat on the ground floor in the middle section. I stared. This seemed far more ostentatious than the cottage. It was a safehouse. Wasn’t it supposed to be on the covert side of things?

Talon passed me, leaning down as he did so, “It used to be a church. It’s supposed to be haunted or cursed or something. I don’t remember what rumor the Verseckt spread to keep the people away, but it worked.”

Tyren and Wren were making their way down the hill with Talon, but I turned to look around at the view. I wasn’t very high up, but I could see more than I had for days. It was very grey. Was the whole country this way? How did people live here? To not have any sun or real light? Sure it was winter, but this was extreme. I turned in a slow circle, stopping when I saw the outline of buildings to the west.

“I believe, that is where you told us we were going originally.” A voice said, breath tickling against my ear. I jumped away, scowling at Loren.

“I wasn’t about to give everything away to a stranger.” I snapped with perhaps more venom than was really needed. I was a little shaken that he’d gotten so close without me even noticing. A quick look around confirmed that I was alone with him and Rah. She stood at the base of the hill, hands folded in front of her. Her head was tilted in our direction.

“Will you give it away now Kalian?” His fingers curled the ends of my hair around his fingers.

I jerked away, smacking his hand, “Talon doesn’t make idle threats. If you’re fond of your…” I coughed and glanced down.

He pouted and took a step back, “Now, now relax. I mean no harm.” He held his hands up and smiled, “Calm down little phoenix. Everyone knows what happened to the lion when he tried to snatch at your wings. Talon will grow to like me. Rah did. She learned that us tigers and panthers have to stick together. We’re both misunderstood.” I turned and Rah was there. Her fingers reached for my face for a moment before she let them fall to her side. Loren guided her down the hill and I stared after them.

“What did any of that mean?” I whispered softly to myself. I hurried after them, but by the time I burst through the front door they were gone. Rushing down a snow covered hill in water logged boots after you’ve walked for days and fought is not the best plan. My feet ached and I’d definitely twisted my ankle at least once in my pursuit of our weird guests. Talon was sitting at the base of a black staircase, leaning his upper body back against the stairs. It looked like everyone had the same idea about their boots and eight pairs littered the floor in front of me. He was down to his tunic and the strip of his chest that I could see was a gift. I could barely hear the others, and none of them were in what I guessed was the foyer? There was nothing in this room except for the front door, the stairs, and some very dead plants.

“What took you so long?” Talon tilted his head to the side and watched me take off my coat.

“I twisted my ankle.” I said as I conveniently left out three fourths of what had happened. I threw my coat on a nearby rack that was already struggling under the weight of the others. I lifted it in his direction as if he’d never seen an ankle.

“I-just-what-I left you alone for like five minutes? Everyone else made it down the hill without any problems? How? How did you do that?” Talon stared at me, incredulous, eyes wide.

“I don’t know.” I pouted and braced myself on the wall, holding my leg out to him. He rolled his eyes and stood. I most definitely did not notice how his muscles flexed and bunched. I did not miss the thick winter coat. My eyes did not pay any extra attention to the strip of skin that was exposed when his shirt rode up on his abs as he pushed hair out of his face. He eased the boot off my foot after kneeling and then glared when I switched feet, batting my eyelashes sweetly.

“Brat.” He took that one off as well and threw it behind him. His eyebrow rose and he crossed his arms as he looked down at me, “Now what princess?”

“That is prince to you peasant boy,” I poked his chest hard, “and I would like to take a bath. You should too. You stink.”

“Peasant boy. Oh yeah? Thanks. You know, not like I single-handedly took out half an army. No big deal.” I giggled softly at the thoroughly unimpressed look on Talon’s face. I slid my hands up his chest and hopped. In hindsight, I was very lucky he had excellent reflexes. He barely caught under my knees, scowling down at me as I laughed. He readjusted the awkward position, sliding me up, and his large hands down until he was gripping my thighs and lifting.

“One of these times when you do that, I’m going to act like I didn’t notice. Watch you wreck your ass on the ground.” He carried me up the stairs, voice rough even as he kissed my neck gently.

“Is that really what you want to watch me wreck my ass on, Talon?” His eyebrows shot up, trying their best to reach his hairline and he smirked at me.

“You’ve got a filthy fucking mouth.” His smirk got dirtier and he hiked me up a little more as we made our way down a sparsely decorated hallway. I couldn’t see much traveling backwards. Not that I cared much at the moment. His tunic was rolled up, leaving his forearms bare and I sucked on my lower lip as I watched them as he carried me.

“Oh yes, I’m the one with the bad mouth.” He nipped my neck and I squeaked, squirming away in his arms.

“Door.” I looked up at him confused. He looked behind me and down and I frowned for a second and then caught on. I reached awkwardly behind me. My hand scrambled around on the wood panel behind me and my tongue pressed to my upper lip as I searched. My knuckle smacked a sharp ridge and I winced. At last, I wrapped my fingers around a mock crystal doorknob. I twisted it, which was an even more awkward action, and the door opened a crack. Talon nudged it open with his foot and walked us in, kicking it closed with his heel.

“Alright, little princess. You can walk around in a small space or hop if necessary. I’m not carrying you anymore.” I was placed on a wicker chair. The bathroom was simple. A black marble sink and counter sat on a black stand with neatly folded white towels. A black claw foot tub sat at the end of the room and I nearly groaned with relief. I felt disgusting. I made a mental note to avoid the ornate gold trimmed mirror above the sink. I’m sure I looked disgusting too. My eyes demanded my brain’s attention as Talon stripped his tunic over his head. His muscled torso was covered in smears of dirt and blood. There were little trails of sweat that’d run through the other mess and down into the ridges between his abs and I wanted to lick them up even though I knew that was more than disgusting. Revolting really. Who would do that? Gods. He had no reason to look like that.

“What? Did you hit your head too?” He poked my forehead and smirked.

“Do you have to be so gorgeous? It’s not fair for the rest of us.” I whined as he pulled my shirt over my head.

“Says you. The most beautiful human to walk the earth.” Talon scoffed. He left me to finish undressing and crossed the room to start the water. I blushed all the way down to my toes. Watching his back as he leaned over, muscles shifting as he tested the water and plugged the drain. I was a lost cause. I had thought this would get better with time. I thought I wouldn’t be forever hopelessly enamored with the god of a man standing across this strange bathroom from me.

“You got it? Does it hurt that bad?” He frowned, kneeling in front of me, hand resting on my knee. I hadn’t even noticed him move across the room. Had I been zoning out? My ankle did hurt. I lifted it and frowned when I noticed that it was red and swollen now. Talon followed my eyes and cursed softly. He helped me the rest of the way. We shifted around. There was hopping involved, dragging, Talon swore a few times, but finally I was naked and sitting in the bath. The heat helped my little injury right away and I sighed at the relief.

“Talon?” I was sitting between his legs, my back against his chest.

“Hm?” His fingers rubbed my shoulders gently, a woodsy citrus scented soap sinking into my skin as the grime was purged from it. I made a face. I was never having sex again unless I was positive we were both clean. The days since the safehouse were too many.

“Why don’t you like Loren and Rah?” His fingers dug gently into the side of my neck before working down my shoulders, kneading. I let out a soft groan as he worked out the tension.

“It’s not that I don’t like them. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.” He shook his hands around in the water and I heard glass clinking, “Close your eyes.”

I did as told and tilted my head back a touch. His fingers scrunched the length of my hair and then worked up, massaging my scalp. I let out a pleased sigh as his fingers rubbed tiny circles over my scalp, ending at the nape of my neck, “Water.”

I made sure my mouth and eyes were closed and felt water pour gently over my head. Talon repeated the action until the soap was washed out, “There. All clean.”

I turned and faced him and we switched roles. He pointed out which was which and I grabbed a soft blue pouch that I had to squeeze. It deposited an amber colored gel into my hand that turned into suds when I rubbed it over Talon’s chest and shoulders. There was far more ground to cover for me and we were mostly quiet. Talon’s fingers rubbed my hip gently and every so often we’d share soft kisses.

“Why don’t you trust them?” The woodsy citrus smell filled my nose and I inhaled deep. It smelled nice and I washed a hand off as I reached for a green glass bottle.

“Two random people on the road traveling alone. Dleth is not a safe country. You don’t just up and decide to take a Sunday stroll, especially not as a Magik user. Then they attack us and walk up like they didn’t send out a huge beacon to everyone in the area? Also, who attacks and then waltzes up and introduces themselves? Like, ‘Hey! I’m Talon. You like head trauma?’ Baby, why do you think we were attacked by whoever the fucks in red were?”

I almost dropped the bottle and winced as it clanged loudly against the side of the tub, “You think they found us because of Rah’s attack?”

“I think Rah attacked us so that they could find us.” Talon met my eyes and I pulled his head forward so I wouldn’t have to meet his gaze. As I worked my fingers through his dark hair, my teeth ripped apart my lower lip.

“B-but Rah didn’t want to come with us, remember? She argued with you. You and Loren were at each other’s throats, literally!” I poured water over Talon’s head and winced when he sputtered. He’d done a far gentler job of this than I had.

He sat up, rubbing soap and water from his eyes, “True, but it’s easy to play a part. Did she really fight it that hard Kal? Love, you’re too trusting sometimes.”

I frowned, playing with the bubbles. He tilted my chin up gently, “It’s…It’s not bad to be trusting. Listen, I have no proof. I’d rather err on the side of caution is all. I’m paranoid like that.”

“Uh, also, I should probably tell you. Since we’re being better about being honest. Loren said something weird to me. That’s what took me so long earlier. I fell behind and I was alone with him. Well with them. I mean, I did hurt my ankle. This was before that. The ankle I mean.”

The soft look in Talon’s eyes went out like a light. Anger flared up and he bit down on his top lip before letting it drag from his mouth. He took a deep breath, clamping down on what I knew was an impressive temper, “What.”

How that anger managed to force a question into a statement I would never know. How that managed to turn me on? I didn’t have an explanation for that either. I kneeled between his legs instead of hooking mine over his and took a breath, “Nothing bad happened. Well, he came onto me like he always does, but it was fine. I handled it. Then he said a weird thing about a phoenix and lion, maybe a dragon…I think there was a bunny in there? I don’t remember to be honest.”

He pressed the heel of his hand against his eye as he closed them both, taking another deep breath, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I have no idea. Go ask Loren! Also don’t fucking swear at me Talon.” I snapped. His eyes snapped open, and he held his hand out gesturing to me, “It’s different when I do it. I did it to make a point. You swore to be mean.”

“I swore because regular words didn’t have enough impact to clearly communicate my disbelief at how ridiculous the sentences you just strung together were.” He rubbed his cheek, and I sharpened the razor I found on a nearby shelf, “Oh fuck no. You are not doing that when we’re arguing!”

“Then stop arguing Mr. Verloren and swearing.” I pointed the razor at him and earned the tiniest satisfaction from the nervous bob of his Adam’s apple. I sighed softly, “I don’t want to fight with you. We were relaxing. We don’t get to do that much.”

I held the razor out of the way and pressed my lips gently to his, letting my eyes slip closed. He cupped my cheek gently and his tongue nudged gently against the seam of my lips. I held the side of the tub as our tongues slid together. His hand found my hip, a thumb rubbing gently against the bone. I wasn’t sure when or how that had become the go to touch for us but it was soothing and it was my favorite. When we came up for air, I rested my forehead against his. I rubbed our noses together in a way I knew he hated. He scrunched his nose and licked my cheek in the way he knew I hated. I giggled softly and ran my fingers through his wet hair, using the water to slick it back as my cheek pressed to his. The hand with the razor hung over the side of the tub as he held me to him. His hands rubbed up and down my back. He let both of them rest gently on my backside as we lay there. I closed my eyes and let myself commit every detail of the moment to memory.

We, truthfully, hadn’t had many like this. A few when we’d been in Syrin. A handful at the manor in the Humiad forest. I could probably count them on one hand, maybe two. Was that normal for a couple? I didn’t know. We got time alone of course. The cottage had separate bedrooms. The only problem was the walls were paper thin and it had felt like we were all in the same room. This felt different. It wasn’t simply rushed sex because we were high on emotions or post battle. It was sweet and tender. Intimate. I couldn’t hear any of the others. In the last safehouse, at any given point in time, I would have been able to tell you exactly where the others were. Never mind the traveling in the shelters. There was zero privacy there unless you wanted to go off into the trees and fuck against one. No thanks. Bark doesn’t agree with my delicate skin.

Talon’s fingers moved under my chin and he guided my lips back to his, kissing me slowly and thoroughly. I let out a soft moan and I felt him smile against my lips. He licked his, and mine inadvertently, then leaned back. His eyes scanned over my face, fingers still holding my chin. He let me go and sighed, “The water’s getting cold Kal. Here. I’ll get us towels.”

I pouted from the tub as he pulled the plug and climbed out. It was a nice view, but I wasn’t ready for this tiny personal paradise to be over. He helped me out and set me on the sink. He stepped into the light and I was reunited with the straight razor I’d returned to the shelf. I carefully shaved down the sides and back of Talon’s head so it was short again. Doing this dry wasn’t ideal but I sucked on my lip and tucked my knees under me as I started on the slight stubble he’d accumulated. He did a much better job keeping up with that. I put the blade aside and ran my fingers over the short, slightly scratchy sides of his head and tangled my fingers in the longer part on top. He held my waist and I let my arms drape over his shoulders, leaning down to kiss him again.

I’m not sure how long we were in that bathroom. It felt like years. Perfect, wonderful, violence free years. When we left, Talon carried me the same way and we explored the hallway we’d come down. He had remembered where the bathroom was, but not the actual rooms. We opened the first door we came to that had an ornate mockingbird depicted in its center. Talon opened the door easily, earning a sharp look from me, and turned so I could see. A library. Outfitted with a huge mahogany desk, floor to ceiling bookshelves, and uncomfortable looking olive couches. Talon shifted us around and we continued. A room full of boxes. There was a final room at the end of the hall. This door had a giant rose in the middle of the door and Talon opened it to reveal a bedroom. The bed had dark colors. Deep purples, burgundies, and black. Talon laid me down and my hands flew to my towel as it threatened to slip from my waist. His eyes drifted slowly down and then back up, his tongue flicking against a sharp canine.

“I’m going to go get our bags. I think there may be some clothes in here but I wouldn’t hold my breath.” He said and I sat up as he left the room.

I sat up and stood, holding my towel as I explored the room. There was a small built in bookcase and I ran my finger over the spines. Most were boring books on wildlife and nature. There was an oddly fancy book about being a good housewife. I giggled softly to myself at that one. I let my finger slide up as I worked up the shelves. These ones got older and more obscure. Magik related, a Symbols of the World book, and even a book on alchemy. I couldn’t reach the higher shelves but I could tell I wouldn’t be able to read them. Even from here I could tell they were in languages I’d never seen.

“Find anything good?” Talon dropped the bags on the floor and turned away to close the door. He had at some point pulled on a long sleeved tunic and pants and I pouted softly at the bookshelf. Surely, it would commiserate with me over his new lack of nudity.

“There’s a book on alchemy.” He crossed the room and I stepped closer as he reached up to grab it. It was thin and he held it out so I could look too. We flipped through the pages and he explained the simplest things he could.

He flipped the book closed and tapped it against the side of my head, “Tyren wants to go over your maps and whatever else you managed to pilfer.”

“That makes it sound like I’m a thief.” I frowned, pulling a tunic that wasn’t mine from a bag that didn’t belong to me over my head.

“What’s wrong with that? You stole information we need. That’s a good thing.” He sat on the edge of the bed as he watched me get dressed, looking pointedly at my bags, “You know, we bought you clothing.”

“Being a thief is not a good thing Talon. Stealing is not a good thing.” I knew my mistake as soon as the words left my mouth, but it was too late.

Talon’s eyebrows rose, “Oh, I’m sorry, stealing is what now? A bad thing?” Grey eyes flashed down to the black garment that hung off my torso, “So darling, if stealing is a bad thing, a wrong thing then…”

“Oh fuck off. Don’t you have somewhere else you can be?” I pushed him away from me when he gripped my sides, smirk now full blown as I tried not to laugh. I ripped open the bedroom door and dashed out, him right on my heels.

“I’m trying to make sure I understand you! I need to know the difference between right and wrong since you’ve laid it out in such black and white terms. My whole life is grey Kalian! Grey! Wait no come back!”

Having someone chase you can be exhilarating. Having someone chase you through a house you’ve never been in can be a little nerve wrecking. Having your 6’5, ex-assassin, partner chase you through a dark, repurposed, church safehouse is terrifying.