Chapter 7 - Hollyn

I pushed to my feet. "The bathroom's where?" I asked the grumpy guy who was glaring at me. The man seriously needed to air out his aura. It was all kinds of stuffed up and clogged.

His eyes bugged out even as he glared at me. I wasn't sure that exact expression had been physically possible, but he managed it. If I'd had a gold star, I would have given it to him.

I stood right in front of him. Thane and Toven behind me. The other two brothers were nice. This guy though...he was like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs that he'd already set on fire for even looking at his tail.

One of the guys behind me laid their hands on my shoulders. That wave of magic rushed through me at Thane's touch. Apparently the magic knew who it was. The whispering in my ear was kinda weird, but I could handle it.

"Right this way. You can shower in my section." The pressure of his hands changed, nudging me in the right direction.

Grumpy Guy's eyes darted over my shoulder before I turned fully. They were sharing looks. Probably about me.

Right now, the way I was stinking up the place, I didn't really care as long as they kept their wieners to themselves. I didn't have enough magic to electrocute anyone else. At least not for a while.

The thought of water dancing and flowing over my skin made me giddy. In the Oaks, everyone had to go down to the waterfall to get clean. The water was ice cold and some asshole was always waiting. Watching. I'd only gone when I couldn't stand my own stench.

Much like now. I held my breath. How the guy next to me wasn't on the floor panting for clean oxygen, I didn't know. Maybe he was one of those long-lost gods Lucinda kept praying to? He had the body already.

Thane chuckled beside me. "Thanks. I think. I'm not sure who Lucinda is, but, to the best of my knowledge, she hasn't been praying to me. And since I'm not a god, she very well could have been, and I just didn't hear her. And do you know why I can hear your thoughts and those of my brothers? It's like you were talking out loud, it was so clear."

I shook my head. "I don't know." I narrowed my eyes as I looked up at him. His black eyes held a ring of fire closest to the pupil. "For all I know, you could still be a god. I bet gods can hear mortals' thoughts. Until I see some definitive proof, I'm going to go with maybe."

He laughed again. "Whatever works for you, Stretch." He pushed a door open on the far side of the huge room that was surrounded by windows. It had couches and sofas and other kinds of chairs I've never seen before.

The Oaks really only had wooden furniture. Some industrious ladies filled pillowcases with leaves and grass when their asses hurt too much. But that was about it. Nothing like the colors and fabrics of their home. Rich blues that reminded me of the sky right after a storm. Greens the verdant color of evergreen trees. Creams like the distant mountain tops. They had glass and metal pieces just lying about. Although the last, given my allergy, wasn't one I was going to investigate too closely.

Through a heavy door, I saw his bedroom. It was bigger than the community hall of the Oaks. And it was just for one man. I stared at the luxury, my mouth probably hanging open. I licked my lower lip. Yup, hanging open. I snapped it closed with a soft click.

His bed probably needed a ladder, it was so high. Or maybe just a good running jump to clear the height. I looked down at his legs, back at the bed. Shrugged. Probably so.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but I can't seem to help myself. What are you thinking about now?"

I told him.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Mostly, I just tip into it at the end of the day. I don't usually have enough energy after work to do much more than that."

"What kind of work do you do?"

"I'm in charge of our family business."

I nodded as if I understood what that meant. "Wow. That must be..." Crap. Was that kind of thing fun? Boring? "Exciting?"

Another chuckle. "I don't know that I'd call it exciting, but it keeps me busy."

"What kind of business?" We were walking through a room that had nothing but clothes in it. My body felt itchy at the idea of having to wear clothes every. Single. Day.

"A little of this. A little of that." He steered me into a room that was done in dark, sleek wood and glinting white stone.

I sighed as my spirit lifted. Everything was natural wood or stone. Not a single speck of - "You have metal things coming from the wall." I jerked back into his body. I could almost feel the black tendrils that would break out on my skin. My breathing shortened, panted through my chest. "I-I-I've got to go." I made a break for the door.

Or tried to.

His hands clamped down on my shoulders. "Shh. It's okay. They're just faucets. They bring the water to you."

I shook my head. He didn't understand, and I didn't want to be put into the position to tell him what it could do to me. My heart started to trip in my chest. My skin misted with sweat.

"Calm down, Hollyn. It's just bronze. It isn't even magnetic. It just brings the water from the ground to the top floor of the building. It can't hurt you." He pushed my stiff body forward, inch by inch, until we were at the counter.

Above the counter and the faucets of death was a silvered picture. I sucked in a breath as Thane appeared in the picture. The person in front of him must be me.

I leaned forward, uncaring of his grunt. I'd only ever seen my reflection in the water of the fall. And the surface of water was never still. Nor ever so clear as this.

"You act like you've never seen your own face," he said behind me.

I shook my head as I studied myself.

His dark eyes widened over my shoulder. "Where have you been living that you've never seen your own reflection in a mirror?"

My lip curled up in a snarl. "Doesn't matter. I'm never going back there." I braced my body for any move he might make.

He shook his head. "I'm not going to make you, Hollyn. I promise." He laid his hand over his heart.

I relaxed and went back to staring at myself. The crusty blood that decorated my chin drew my attention from the wide, slightly purple eyes and dark purple hair. I rubbed at it. Watched it flake off my skin and down to the pristine white stone counter. The veins running through the stone soothed some ragged edge of my soul.

Thane reached around from behind me and pulled the length of dark metal of the faucet towards us. I flinched as I waited for the poison of the metal to leach into my skin. Suck the life from my very body.

Nothing happened but the gushing spray of crystal-clear water. I dipped my hands into the flow. Tears gathered in my eyes. "It's warm." I looked up into his face in the mirror.

He smiled, but the edges were tipped down at the corners. "Yeah, Stretch, it's warm. It can get so hot it can hurt you, so make sure you're careful, huh?"

I smiled. "I know what boiling water does. We did have to eat out in the forest."

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Right. Of course you did. Well, here's the shower." His hands back on my shoulders, he spun us around until we stood next to a section of the room that was walled off with glass.

The material wasn't my favorite, and I've never seen any this perfect, but I made sure not to touch it either. Well, at least not where he could see me do it. Not the first time anyway. If something happened to me, I didn't want an audience.

He walked beyond the wall of glass and turned another metal lever. He almost made a full circle with it before he came back just a little bit. "There. You use this to make it hotter or colder. Just grab her and turn left or right."

I nodded, but knew I wasn't going to touch anything in there except the water. Speaking of which. "Where is it?"

He pointed to the middle knob. "Turn this. It will come from up there." He pointed at the metal square in the middle of the small room.

My heart sank. I crossed my arms. Jerked when I felt the wetness on my fingers. I looked down at them. Inspected them carefully. Not a single thread of black surged under my skin. Not even around my nail beds. Which is where the poison usually showed up first.

I shot him a big smile. "Can you turn it on for me?" I could dance in the water if it was the same as what came from the faucet. That hadn't hurt me. It stood to reason that the metal square in the ceiling wouldn't hurt me with its water either.

He gave me an odd look but nodded. He turned the middle knob and a torrent of sparkling rain fell from the stone heaven.

A moan burbled from my throat. I was so freaking excited. A warm shower. "Do you have soap?"

He was standing in the path of the water, his dark hair drenched as rivulets ran over his chiseled body. His black running shorts molded to his legs and groin.

I know I wasn't supposed to ogle, but, stars, did he have a nice form. I swallowed and looked back up into his face.

His smirk told me he'd noticed my lingering gazes. Crap. I gave him a smile and bumped my shoulder into the air. "Sorry. I've never seen a man like you." A thought hit me. "Other than your replicas."

He burst into laughter. "Triplets, Stretch. Brothers. Not replicas. We're each our own person." He waved me into the stone room. "Well, come on in here and tell me if the temperature is good enough for you. I'll get you some soap from the guest room. I'm not sure you'll want to smell like me when you're done."

I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. "You have different kinds of soap?"

He narrowed his eyes, his head tipped to the side. "I really wish you were joking, but I can tell that you're not. Yeah, Stretch, we've got different kinds of soap."

"You smell good. Can I use yours?" I was plucking at the braided vine I'd used to hold up Zee's pants. "Also, do you have a stone? I can't get this undone." I shook my head. "You know what? Never mind." I ripped the shorts down my legs and sighed as the blessed air ran over my body fully.

Thane made a choking sound in his throat.

I looked up to see if he was drowning. I hadn't thought it possible, but I didn't want him to die because I was ungracious. He was staring at my body like he'd never seen a woman. He was studying me so closely, I could have sworn I felt the heat of his touch over my skin as it danced from toes to hip to breast and back and forth all over again.

I cleared my throat. "Are you done yet?" I asked softly. I mean, I'd done the same thing to him, so I couldn't really fault him. But it was making me a little uncomfortable to stand there naked while he still wore his shoes and shorts.

He twitched as if I'd used my paltry amount of power on him. "Sorry. Sorry." He scrubbed a hand over his face. When he looked at me again, he kept his gaze locked to mine. "Can I ask a personal question?"

I nodded. I couldn't think what he'd need to ask, but I was more than excited to see if it was where my mind had gone.

"Why don't you have any body hair?"

I spluttered out a huge laugh. That hadn't been on my radar at all.

His cheeks flushed red. "Sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked." He waved the question away as he stepped to the glass wall.

I grabbed his arm. The swirl of magic when we touched wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier. I let him go before my brain went too woozy though. "From all accounts, my mother didn't have body hair either. The best guesses are either a spell or genetics. It's a tossup." I shrugged.

"A spell?" His brow furrowed. "You asked about the grove when you knocked me down into the sidewalk. Did they do magic there?"

I rolled my lips in. Shrugged again. "I'm going to shower." I stepped around him. The feel of the water against my skin had me groaning in delight. "Oh, my stars. This is wonderful. Stupendous. Glorious." I closed my eyes as I tipped my head back, the hot water cascading down my face and body.

I scraped my hair off my face and down my back. It was a lot longer now. Longer even than before I cut it. I tipped my head back, I could feel the ends of it brushing the top of my buttcheeks.

"The-" Thane cleared his throat. "The soap's in the bottle right in front of you. Dark green."

I smiled at him, not opening my eyes. "Thank you, Thane. Blessings on you." I heard the door shut. I sank into the feeling of water against my body for a long time.