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He groaned. “Why don’t you fae have cars?”
“Because we despise modern technology and prefer to stay fit?”
He threw a salad crouton at her.
Chapter 16
The sunset’s bold colors licked over the sky like fire, crowned by the velvet indigo of the impending night. Isa drank in the beauty of it, ever amazed by the splendor of the spectacle. No matter how old she got, she would never tire of gazing at a sunset, her favorite part of the day.
“Are we going to spend the night in another cave?”
Basil’s question pulled her out of her trance. She cleared her throat. “Actually, we can sleep in a real bed tonight.”
“Oh? Is there a village ahead?”
“Not quite. I’ve…taken the liberty of redirecting our course by about one hour so we can make a stop overnight.”
“Where?”
“My house.”
He blinked, obviously stunned. “You…you’re taking me to your home?”
Why did she suddenly feel awkward? Her face heated. “I figured it would be nice to sleep there for a change, seeing as it’s kind of on our way to Ranagor. You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.” His smile was blinding. “I’d love to see how you live.”
And now her skin prickled, her heart thumped erratically, and her stomach had decided to try a somersault. Great. Why had she thought it was a good idea to bring him here?
Ten minutes later she led him toward the towering rock formation that housed her humble abode. Part of a sprawling landscape of forest-covered ridges, her own cliff featured natural caves which she’d expanded on and customized into her home. A stone staircase led up to an ornately carved wooden door, framed by floral patterns chiseled into the rock.
“Nice,” Basil said from behind her as she unlocked the door. “Did you engrave these yourself?”
She threw a glance at him, at his hand stroking the decorations in the stone. “Yes.”
He followed her into her house, studying the arched ceilings, the open doorways leading from one room into the other, the roughly-hewn, curved walls, the shelves worked into the rock, the strategically placed mirrors that reflected the light streaming in from the various skylights.
“Wow.” Basil turned, craned his head, strolled through the rooms. “Don’t tell me you did all this?”
“Well,” she said, activating the crystals set in the walls to illuminate the house at night, “I do have a talent for working with stone, remember?”
“This is fan-fucking-tastic.” Basil’s voice came from her bathroom, muffled by the splash of water.
She peeked inside.
He gestured at the waterfall shower, his face alight. “Is this thing always running?”
“Yes. I rerouted part of the natural hot spring inside the rock formation and let it flow through here. The water’s always warm enough for a shower.”
“You have your own personal waterfall.” He turned to her, all feigned offense. “I am so incredibly jealous.”
She didn’t quite manage to bite back her grin, instead walked out of the room before she did something fatal like kissing him silly. “I have a spare bedroom for you. Come.”
He followed her, then paused and blinked at the nook she showed him. “That’s…a room? Where’s the door?”
“Uh, none of the rooms have doors. It makes for better air flow through the house.” She shrugged. “Plus, I live alone.”
He gave her a side-eye. “You don’t often have guests, do you?”
