Page 89 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
The hell I will.
“Oh, no, no. I’d feel a right lout leaving such a pampered priss to navigate this treacherous footpath on her own, what with your brittle ankles and weak fettle. I’d surely never hear the end of it if something infelicitous befell you.”
I writhed anew. “Let me go or something infelicitous will befallyou!”
A tic crawled through his shoulders. “Funny you should say so. These past days have me wondering who Gentian cursed—you or me.”
I screeched, feral as a stray cat.
Moments later, Pete finally stopped, and I held my breath for whatever came next, picturing heinous things.
Thank the Goddess I held my breath.
Pete dropped me headfirst into a pool of crisp, opaque water. Chills zinged through my bones, radiated through my lungs. I sputtered to the surface, anchoring myself in a sandbar. I glared through my dripping bangs to find Pete standing on the beach of a lake, euphoric as a clown.
“You son of abitch.” I struck the water rippling against my breasts.
Vendettas danced in his eyes. Their color, damn near black over the past days, had lightened back to warm molasses. Was I imagining it or was his eye color as changeable as mine?
“Come now,” Pete chided, leaning against the trunk of an enormous elm like he’d nothing else to do with his day. Sionna sniffed along the shoreline, completely unconcerned for me. “You’ve already used that one. Where’s the ingenuity, Shorty?”
I gritted my teeth on another screech atthatnickname. Admitting it bothered me would only ensure it stuck.
“Why the insults at any rate?” A smirk twitched on and off his lips, his face ill-suited to innocence. “I thought you’d be pleased. Here, you’ve been wailing for a bath for more days than I can count, and now I’ve found you one. How about some appreciation?”
I trudged through the fathomless lake back to shore, water tumbling off me. “I’m sorry, do you usually bathe with your clothes on?” I wrung out my sopping hair. “Or—do you bathe at all?”
Pete examined the dirt caked beneath his blunt, uneven nails. “Once in a blue moon.”
I rolled my eyes, the scent of his sweat lingering in my nose. “What color’s the moon tonight?”
He chuckled. “Bathing’s a pointless venture with so many miles still ahead of us. You’ll be filthy again come sunsdown. If you had any sense, you’d wait until the end of our journey.”
“Then I guess I don’t have any sense.” I was already unlacing my vest.
“I assumed not.” He tossed me my book bag, which I hadn’t realized he’d brought. “I also assume that holds all your necessary sundries.”
Kneeling in the sand, I unzipped and dug through sweaters and socks for my assortment of scentless Dove products. The sight lifted my heart, if only a little.
“Get to it.” Pete pushed off the tree. “We don’t have all day.” I watched him turn and head back the way we’d come.
I froze. He was leaving me alone! But for how long?What should I do?
I felt my skirt pocket—both stones were still there. I could use this alone time to hone my blade—the sensible choice. Of course, if Pete were only leaving me for moments, wouldn’t my time be better spent washing? Progress on my knife would be insignificant. And I really did want a good bath.
Fuck it.Hygiene won out. I gathered my toiletries, then stripped off my clothes and laid them out on various sunny rocks. Maybe they’d dry before I reclothed.
Crunch!
I looked over my shoulder to find Pete lounging between two fallen trees, not three yards from me, chomping away at one of the yellow apple-like fruits I’d foraged the day before.
He waved his snack at me. “Carry on!”
Now in only my sweat-stained tee-shirt bra and hipster panties, I snatched up my waterlogged dress to shield myself. A breeze tried whipping it from my hands.
“Shouldn’t you be tending to Bob?” I snapped, wanting to throat chop him.
“Bob’s an enchanted beast. He tends to himself.” He took another honking bite.
