Page 95 of Shade of Ruin

“A long bath sounds wonderful,” I say to no one and roll out of bed. Without a second thought, I pull my undertunic over my head and walk, completely naked, into the bathing room adjoining Cole’s chambers. Unlike the first bathing room I’dused, this one has massive stained glass windows that let in plenty of light.

Steam rises from the water, filling the massive bath that’s nearly large enough to swim in. Somehow, the Keep of Flames can constantly warm all the baths in the entire building. They never cool off, and as I step into the water, I feel the stress and worry drain away, just like they did the first time I stepped into one.

Unlike those previous times, my mind is focused. Not on my future or my fears. No, today, I woke up thinking about Cole, and that hasn’t really changed. When I close my eyes, I see him like I saw him that day by the river.

Except that in my mind he’s next to me in the bath. His hand would move over my stomach, those rough fingertips hard against my skin. I imagine his scent, that wonderfully spiced amber, filling the bath, rising thick above the bergamot and citrus oils that perfume the waters. His hand would trail down my stomach to my thigh, and he’d grip it tight. That beautiful body of his would glide in front of me, and he’d slowly spread me.

My fingers slide between my legs, and the drumming inside me feels so strong that I’m almost worried about my shadows. But my hands are under the water, and those shadows disappear almost instantly.

I lean my head back and try to relax, my imagination running wild with what I imagine Cole doing to me.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Maeve Arden,” a familiar voice says from behind me.

Chapter 40

The magic that we sing to the steel is failing. A hundred Nightforged steel blades have broken this year.

None broke a hundred years ago.

Our magic is fading, and if nothing is done, our House will fall. Without our Steel, we are nothing.

~King Gethin, personal journals

I whirl around tosee the Shade standing only a foot away, staring down at my naked body. This is not the first time he’s seen me in a bath. Definitely not the first time he’s seen my most intimate parts. I still cover up. It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I saw him last.

Immediately, I question whether I should be worried about him calling in a debt. Why else would he be here?

“Shade,” I say slowly, my arms tight against my breasts. “What do you want?”

Shadows run along the floor from his cloak to my arms, covering every part of me above the water in the inky blackness, a sensation I’ve become extremely familiar with. They solidify and move, lifting me out of the water and carrying me to the cold and slick marble floor of Cole’s bathing room.

As soon as my feet are touching the ground, the shadows release me. I stand before the Shade completely naked, and I stare at him. His eyes may be covered by the shadows under his hood, but I know that I’m staring at him, eye-to-eye.

“What do you want, Shade?” I ask, my voice going low, almost dangerous. If it comes to a battle of shadows, I think we both know that I’d win. But the debts on my wrist mean he doesn’t have to fight. He just has to call in a debt.

“You’ve become comfortable, and that’s led you to making mistakes. If you had continuedthinkingas you were, there is a good chance that your scent would be unmistakably House of Shadows, and far stronger than necessary to alert any servants walking the halls outside these chambers.”

I blink. “So you’ve pulled me out of the bath to tell me that? Are you trying to call in a debt to see me without my clothes on, Shade? Because if another male were to do this, I would kill them.”

My stare’s grown razor sharp. The reality of it all has become crystal clear. I couldn’t do anything against the Shade’s magic before, but now we both know that his shadows mean nothing to me.

“Fine. I’ll leave you, Maeve. I’ll let you go without training you in shadow walking. I’m sure you’ll never need that. As to why I interrupted your bath, yes, I think you needed something to snap you out of your daydreams. Or I guess you could have had a House of Flames guard do that.”

He turns away from me, and I see the shadows pooling at his feet.

“Wait,” I say. “I want to learn to shadow walk.”

The Shade turns to me, and I can feel the fury rippling off him. “Then stop trying to act like I’ve ever taken advantage of you. I have done everything for you. I’ve been there when no one else was. I’ve manipulated your body to teach you, and yes, that meant doing things that proper ladies from Blackgrove would have been disgusted by, but you’re not a proper lady from Blackgrove, are you? You’re the Princess of Shadows, and the Princess of Shadows does not wear clothes.”

He raises his hand, and a tidal wave of shadows flow toward me. I brace myself, expecting them to knock me down. To hurt me. Instead, they climb my body, pressing against every bit of me, and then they stop moving. Not becoming solid. No…

I look down and see a black dress made entirely of shadows. It’s no different from any other dress except that it’s darker than dark. Darker than I would even believe that Cole’s dressmakers could do with magic thread.

It’s almost like the shadows draw the light in and make it go away.

I look from the dress to the Shade with eyes wide open. “This is what the Princess of Shadows would wear, Maeve. Hard enough to protect against teeth and claws. Light enough that you don’t even know you’re wearing it. And capable of revulsion at any time.”

And beautiful beyond anything that could ever be spun with thread.

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