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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BRYN

Iwas back at the castle, in the room that had become mine for the time being, doing sit-ups and planks just to pass the time. Secretly waiting for Leo to come and find me.

After our trip had been horrifically cut short, Leo had left me here so he could return Simon’s body back home, where Simon’s parents could lay him to rest.

I’d offered to go with him, but he’d insisted I stay put, and told me he’d be back soon.

He’d been icing me out since the last night of our trip when he’d rested on his furs near me, pretending to be asleep. But I knew he’d been awake for most of the night, his breathing never settling into a rhythm. The fire he’d made with flint and steel illuminating his body, rigid with anticipation.

Had it been worry over another attack that had kept him awake?

Or had he felt as I had . . . haunted by the demanding need to crawl to him?

Did he want like I did?

I craved to watch him make another fire. To see the veins of his arms work with each stroke of steel hitting flint.

My thoughts had become possessed by him. And I wanted more.

I needed a bath.

I needed to erase the scent of him from where he’d held me before the Rogues had attacked.

I needed to clear my mind.

To make things easier for me, Leo had cloaked the entire wing of the castle my room resided in before he’d left, so I could move unrestricted to and from the bathing chamber to relieve myself and bathe.

It was a kind gesture, but I would’ve preferred having him here to escort me in person.

I tsked myself.

Clear. Mind.

The damp, warm air of the bathing chamber met me as I stepped inside the room. The scent of lilac strong, but not overwhelming. The floral scent reminding me of the wildflowers in Gray, and a forgotten memory I couldn’t recall.

I set down my fresh pile of clothes, none belonging to Leo, and shimmied out of my used ones, finally setting Leo’s shirt off to the side.

Sinking neck-deep into one of the pools of water, I let out a groan, the hot water instantly soothing my sore muscles from riding Holly for so long. Thankfully, I was the only person in the room to hear my groan of pleasure.

If the residents of the castle found it unusual they were prohibited from accessing a wing of their mighty home, I didn’t know. Perhaps Leo had simply cloaked the thought from entering their minds.

I skimmed my hands across the water’s surface and relaxed my jaw, focusing on unclenching my teeth and the mission of clearing my mind, but Hunter quickly popped into it, with hope and despair that he was or wasn’t okay. I could guarantee he wasn’t in a room as magnificent as this relaxing. He was probably tense as hell, and worried about me, and suffering because of it.

We’d made a promise to each other after our parents died that we’d never let anything happen to the other. And now here we were, both thinking there was a chance the other was dead, the unknown nauseating.

I worked the water through my hair, and allowed my thoughts to travel to the king instead; another person in my life that was swathed with unknown.

Leo should’ve returned to the castle by now. But he hadn’t visited me yet.

Had something gone wrong?

I cringed.

Since when did I act like this when it came to a man? Sitting here, waiting, like a dog.

I closed my eyes, scrubbing at my skin in frustration, the water never losing its heat.