Chapter 18

Raven

“It smells awful in here.” I tugged against Neil’s grip on my hand, digging my heels into the dirt. My nose wrinkled at the scent of something I couldn’t quite place—whatever it was, it smelled like death. And rotten eggs.

“Stop struggling,” Neil growled, clearly annoyed with me. “It’s just a little further.”

I shook my head and pulled harder. He’d been leading me around like this for a while now, blindfolded, and wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me. All I knew was that we had trudged through some part of the forest, then into what sounded like a cave, and now it smelled like…

“It smells like rotting corpses!” I whined. I twisted my wrist and finally broke free from his grip as memories of that enormous, horrible sword coming down on that guy’s neck filled my mind. “Wherever you’re taking me, I’m not—”

“Calm down.” Neil caught me easily before I could lift the blindfold from my eyes, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you?” I whimpered, struggling uselessly against his grip.

Neil sighed. “Have you forgotten that we made a pact?”

I went quiet at that. I’d only been here in Lycan territory for a week, and so much had happened that it felt like ages. I’d almost forgotten about the blood pact, about the ancient magic that kept Neil from harming me.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what he had planned. And why he had come into my room in the middle of the night with someone else’s blood—blood that he still hadn’t washed off—smeared across his chest.

Finally, after carrying me through whatever cave we were in for a while longer, Neil set me down. The scent of decay and rotting eggs was even more potent now, stinging my nostrils and making my eyes water even beneath the blindfold.

But it wasn’t decay that I was smelling, I realized, as Neil tore off my blindfold and revealed where we were.

“A hot spring,” Neil said, gesturing to the steaming pools of greenish water spread out in front of us. “You said you wanted a hot bath. Here it is.”

My eyes widened as I took in the sight. The cave would have been pitch black, had it not been for the torches casting flickering light across the limestone walls and the softly glowing lichen and fungus clinging to the rocks.

“What is that smell?” I asked, my nose still twitching.

“Sulfur. It’s quite good for you. You will get used to the smell.”

I couldn’t argue with that; I had never tried a sulfur bath myself, but I’d heard that the stuff—despite stinking like three-month-old hard boiled eggs—was amazing for the skin, the muscles, even the hair.

But it was one of those things that civilized people back in Werewolf territory avoided like the plague, because it did reek.

“Oh,” I said, turning slowly as I took in the scene. “It’s… beautiful. I didn’t know this was nearby.”

Neil didn’t respond to that. He just grunted, shucked off his pants and the belt holding his knives, revealing muscular, tanned legs. I blushed and glanced away, even though he was still wearing underwear.

“Well?” he asked, placing his hands on his hips and facing me fully. “Are you getting in or not?”

I swallowed, my throat bobbing with the motion, and turned away. I peeled off my dress, revealing my black panties and the strapless bandeau I’d fashioned out of a scarf I’d found, since bras were apparently unheard of around here.

When I turned back around, Neil was still staring at me. I felt my cheeks flush as his eyes flicked up and down my semi-bare body, but neither of us spoke.

“Jump in,” was all Neil said after a moment.

I turned, looking down at the nearby pool. The water looked inviting, and the idea of finally soaking my tired body in something warm that didn’t require lugging around buckets of water was appealing.

But I’d never been in a hot spring before. “I don’t know what’s beneath the surface,” I said, hating how small my voice sounded.

Neil snorted. “Rocks. Maybe some algae. What, do you think that fish can survive in that heat?” He took a step closer to me. “Sharks?”

I shuddered at the thought and wrapped my arms around myself. “Don’t put that image in my mind.” The very fact that I’d somehow wound up not eaten by sharks after the helicopter crash was a mystery to me, and one that I was grateful for, even though I was in enemy territory.

The pilot, though…

“Maybe there are alligators, too,” Neil continued, taking another step closer. There was a tiny smirk tugging at his lips, and the torches made him look even more impish. “Or perhaps piranhas.”

“Stop—”

“Hm. Or maybe there are sirens beneath the water who will drag you under and feast on your flesh. Perhaps that would solve my problem with you. I won’t be the one hurting you, right?”

As Neil stepped nearer to me, his smirk growing, I’d had enough. “Stop it!” I whined, shoving him back.

Neil, not expecting my retaliation, stumbled backwards. He teetered on the edge of the nearest pool, arms windmilling, and began to fall back.

But not before he grabbed my wrist with one hand and pulled me in along with him.

We tumbled into the water with a loud splash, the acrid taste of sulfur shooting up my nose and cloying at the back of my throat. I surfaced, splashing wildly in search of a rock to cling to.

Neil just laughed at me from across the pool as I shoved my hair out of my eyes like a wet dog.

“You asshole,” I groaned, sending an arc of greenish water his way.

“Careful,” he said, moving toward me, “you might awaken the Kraken.”

I shrieked and kicked at him as his hand wrapped around my thigh under the water. Neil laughed, but didn’t release his grip on me, so I bared my teeth and placed both hands on his head and shoved him down under the water.

“There, jerk!” I shouted as I held him under. “Let’s see how the Kraken likes the taste of you!”

Neil thrashed for a moment, then went still. Only then did I let go.

He didn’t come back up.

My eyes widened as I saw his form slowly float to the surface, face-down. “N-Neil?” I croaked out, nudging him with my hand. He just floated a little further away from me. Limp.

“Neil!” I swam forward, grabbing him and twisting him in the water so he was facing up. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly parted. My heart began to pound as I realized what I’d just done. “Dammit, Neil,” I cried out as I pushed the raven hair out of his eyes, “we were just playing! You weren’t supposed to—”

“Bah!” Neil’s eyes shot open just as I was about to give him mouth-to-mouth, his thick hands grabbing my shoulders wildly. I shrieked and shoved back against him, stunned into violence once more. “Jackass!”

Neil laughed.

Really laughed.

He threw his head back, his laughter echoing off the walls of the cave, white teeth gleaming in the torchlight. He looked… handsome. Careless. Free.

And as the ridiculousness of the situation hit me, I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“You didn’t tell me you were a prankster,” I said, moving against the wall of the pool and leaning up against a large rock. The rock was warm beneath my skin, instantly soothing my tired back muscles.

Neil shook his head and dragged his hair across one shoulder. The movement caused the muscles in his arm to bunch up, the contours even more prominent with the shadows cast by the torches.

It hit me, then, just how close we were. How his hands had been around my thigh beneath the water just a moment ago, and even now, he was close enough that I could feel his movements under the surface.

I gulped and sank a little lower in the water, hoping to hide the blush in my cheeks.

“Well,” he said, moving over to the edge and hauling himself out in one fluid motion, “I will leave you to bathe here in peace.”

My stomach flipped, not only as I watched the water drip down his tanned skin, but as I thought of being in this cave all alone.

“You’re… leaving?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “You want to bathe, don’t you? Without your underwear, I assume.”

I flushed a little more, but managed, “I don’t want to be completely alone in here, you know.”

“I won’t go far.” He gestured over to the other four pools of varying sizes.

I nodded, a bit relieved. “Okay. Just… don’t peek at me while I’m bathing, okay?”

I thought he might laugh again, in that carefree way he had before. But he simply shook his head and stood, bare feet smacking against the stone floor as he strode over to the furthest pool.

“You have nothing to worry about,” he said, his voice taking on that usual deep, serious timbre. “I have no interest in you whatsoever.”