Page 196 of Barbi and the Villain

He hikes a shoulder up.

“I do not know how much time we will have to spend here, so we might as well make the place comfortable.”

I go over to his side and kiss his cheek.

“Show me our room, then,” I murmur.

He inclines his head.

We leave the dogs behind and close the door so they don’t venture out. Going up the stairs, we reach the last level—the one where the walls are entirely made of windows.

The redness of the lake is emphasized by the dim light of the moon shining from up above. There is a beauty to this scenery that takes my breath away, regardless of how dangerous and morbid it is.

“Wow,” I whisper. “This view is everything,” I say as I go directly to the windows. I trace my fingers over the glass. I barely dare to glance down, though. The fall is steep. One wrong step, and the red abyss will swallow you.

I back away, my smile trembling.

“Barbs,” Nyk calls out.

I swivel.

A king-sized bed is in the middle of the room. The mattress, sheets, and pillows are all fresh and new. The smell of clean cotton fills my nostrils and I sigh in satisfaction.

There are a few other items around—a wardrobe, a small table and two chairs. But I barely glance at them as I hurl myself on the bed.

The soft mattress gives way under the weight of my body, bouncing with me.

I release a loud giggle.

“This feels so good, Nyk! Thank you!”

He doesn’t join me. He’s staring at me from the end of the bed with an odd expression on his face. It’s a split second later that he remembers to smile.

“I have filled the wardrobe with clothes too.”

Before he can finish his words, I jump up and hurry to the wardrobe.

“They are not fancy since you will use them to train.”

“Oh,” I murmur when I note the nondescript linen dresses he’d gotten for me. But hey, at least they’re pink—sort of. It’s a darker shade than I would have chosen for myself, but I appreciate his effort. After all, color is influenced by light, and Tartareia lacks that.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

He nods.

“There is also a bathroom in the back. It is not very spacious, but it should suffice.”

The bathroom has a standing shower, a toilet, and a sink.

“What type of water is this?” I ask as I tentatively reach inside the shower to turn on the water. Surprisingly, though, it’s not red. It’s a greenish color. I hold my hand under the stream for a few moments, satisfied when it doesn’t stain my skin.

“It comes from the mainland. The lighthouse was used by soldiers a long time ago. It was a surveillance point for those who decided to go into the lake to increase their spiritual energy.”

“Why did they abandon it? If the lake is such a precious resource, why not continue using it?”

A barely detectable twitch appears above his upper lip.

“Because most people who went inside the lake never came out,” he replies in a deadpan voice.

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