Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

Roxy

The softer, sweeter, more… human side of Nathaniel was back as he set up a bath full of foam, placing towels, a washcloth, and a coffee at the side for me.

I waited for the door to close then stripped and climbed into the tub.

There was maybe just a moment or two of comfort and ease from the pain from my bruises. Before my mind started to drift back to the other hotel room.

Where I'd been curled up and terrified, muttering my wards, with occasional breaks to cry out for Nathaniel's help, not sure if there was any hope of him showing up before the vampires decided the pain would be worth grabbing me and doing… whatever they planned to me.

Then, like some dark, avenging angel, the door burst open, the wood cracking. That sound mingled with a deep, menacing growl, and the crashing of glass from somewhere else in the suite.

I watched as the three younger vampires attacked the much older Nathaniel.

And he… struggled.

I honestly didn't know enough about vampires to know how things worked when it came to odds in a fight. But it felt like Nathaniel should have been able to handle the three much younger, slower, and weaker vampires.

My survival instinct had me crawling toward the window, sending a warning to Nathaniel to get cover, then pulling the curtains open before the other three even had a chance to guess what I was up to.

It was horrific, but fast, the way they caught flame, then burst into ash.

Then the curtain was closed, and Nathaniel's arms were around me.

As he cradled me to his chest with a delicacy someone like him shouldn't have been capable of, I had the strangest thought.

That there was nowhere else in the world I would rather be.

That was insane, of course. Because I always wanted my couch or bed, blankets, pillows, and snacks.

Still, though, the feeling lingered.

Then intensified as I lay in the tub, the water both comforting and enticing as it slid over my skin the way I suddenly wished Nathaniel's fingers would.

It was harmless, I told myself, letting my eyes drift closed, sinking into the fantasy, letting it take root and spread.

It wasn't long before the need was an ache in my core that refused to be ignored.

So what if I let my hand drift down, to tease, to ease the ache?

I thought nothing of it as the pleasure spread, expanded, overtook me completely.

But as I came back down from the climax, I remembered something that had the lingering fogginess of an orgasm pulling back instantly.

This was not a normal man in the other room; It was a vampire.

A vampire who had bat-like hearing.

There was no way he hadn't heard what just happened in here.

And realized exactly what I might have been thinking about during.

Who I might have been thinking about during.

Great.

That was just great.

I had to live in the tub now.

I wondered if delivery guys would come right into the bathroom to bring food.

If not, I guess I could just starve to death. That would definitely be preferable to the humiliation I would feel by facing Nathaniel again.

The water cooled, and I drained and refilled it as I tried to rationalize things.

I mean, this guy had been alive-ish for three centuries. Surely, he was wholly over the puritanical ideas of his initial time period.

Besides, he admitted he was a frequent client of sex workers.

Since his re-life, he probably had bedded hundreds or thousands of women. Engaged in many sessions of self-satisfaction.

Knowing that, though, I still emptied and refilled the tub another time and let it cool before finally climbing out and drying off.

I moved in front of the mirror, checking the darkening bruises from the other vampires, having a hard time reconciling the difference between the natures of them compared to Nathaniel.

You couldn't find more opposite creatures. In fact, the only time Nathaniel had shown that vicious, monstrous side of him had been when he'd been defending me from them.

Sure, I guess you could make an argument for me being valuable to him thanks to our arrangement.

But, still, there were other witches. I was replaceable.

Maybe he was just… I don't know… softened from living longer.

There was a light knock at the door, making me jolt.

"The sun is down," Nathaniel called from the other side of the door.

Alone, I climbed back into my clothes, then tied my hair up.

"I had pizza delivered," he called when I said nothing and, despite being fully dressed, didn't move out of the safety of the bathroom.

My stomach let out a grumble, and I realized he already knew my biggest weakness.

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the knob and pulled the door open.

"I would prefer if you ate in the car, though," he said as I moved out into the room, trying not to look like I was avoiding looking at him by focusing my gaze on parts of his face. His cheek. His nose. His chin. Anywhere but his eyes.

"That's fine," I agreed, moving back toward the beds to gather my things, only to remember that I didn't have my bag or phone with me.

Nathaniel had already packed up my old clothes and the snacks. The bag hung from one arm as the other held a small pizza box.

"I wish you would have gotten some rest," he said as we walked toward the elevator.

"I slept on the plane," I reminded him. "And in the car," I added.

He nodded at that.

"I don't know when you will be able to sleep again is all," he said as we rode down to the lobby.

"How long could it possibly take to navigate the labyrinth?" I asked, having this growing sense of dread that I was going to quickly regret those words.

Not that it mattered anyway.

Things were already in motion.

Within a few moments, we were in the back of a town car that was heading to the address Nathaniel had provided as I flipped open the pizza box to find three separate slices of pizza.

Cheese.

Pepperoni.

And baked ziti.

I'm not proud of how erotic the moan that escaped me sounded.

I could feel Nathaniel's gaze on the side of my face then too. And I hoped that the heat I felt moving up my neck and cheeks didn't manifest as a blush as I wondered if he was comparing my pizza moans to the ones I'd made in the tub.

"How far is the labyrinth from here?" I asked once I'd finished gorging myself on the pizza. His words from earlier came back to me. About not knowing when I would be able to sleep again. I imagined that also meant he didn't know when I could eat again.

"Forty minutes," he said as we drove deeper and deeper into the woods, the trees growing tall enough to make claustrophobia start to spread through my system.

"There's no one out here," I remarked as we drove deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

"I believe that is the point," he said.

I guess that made sense. If you built some super magical maze in the middle of a city, no matter how hard you tried to hide it, someone was bound to happen upon it eventually.

Anxiety was the rush in my veins, the pounding of my pulse in my throat, chest, and wrists.

Beside me, Nathaniel appeared deceptively calm. There was tension in his hand as it gripped the door handle, though, betraying the emotions he was clearly trying to hide.

Somehow, that made me feel a little better, though.

"Sir?" the driver called as, I assumed, the GPS told him we'd arrived.

"Yes, thank you," Nathaniel said, not waiting for the driver to open his door this time.

He rushed out and moved around the car, opening my door for me.

Some part of me wanted to slam the door and tell the driver to haul it back to the nearest town.

But it was too late for that.

I was bound to this vampire now.

Through our arrangement, sure, but also something more. Something I couldn't really name yet.

"Ready?" Nathaniel asked as I set my hand in his and let him help me out.

No.

Not the littlest bit.

"Sure," I agreed as he slammed the door.

Then Nathaniel tapped the roof twice, and we both turned to watch the car turn and drive away, two cherry taillights fading off into the distance until there was nothing but the darkness, the chirp of the crickets, and the occasional hoot of a nearby owl.

"I don't see a labyrinth," I said.

Granted, I didn't see much of anything. Whatever light the moon may have provided disappeared under the thick canopy of trees as we stood off the side of the dirt road.

"You will feel it," he told me.

"Wait," I said, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. "Do you know where it is?" I asked.

"This is the location," he hedged.

"But you don't know . You've never been here before."

"No," he admitted. "That is part of the magic. I can't find it."

"But I can."

"Correct."

"I think you're putting a little too much faith to rest in me."

Not only did I not see anything, I didn't hear, smell, or feel anything either.

"I don't," he said, waving a hand out toward the woods.

"We're just supposed to… walk?" I asked, lip curling.

"The faster you walk, the faster this will be over, and you can go back to your life. Two million dollars richer."

That was a valid argument.

But my under-used leg muscles started to burn pretty quickly as we did a big loop around the woods.

To no avail.

"Nathaniel, I think maybe you are working on some faulty… wait," I said, stiffening.

"Do you feel something?" he asked, tone taking on an excited edge.

"No," I admitted, taking another few steps forward.

But I did hear something.

The same soft, angelic-sounding song that I'd heard in the gardens at the cathedral.

"You don't hear that?" I asked as it grew louder and louder as if drawing me nearer.

"No," he admitted, intense gaze on me as I listened and adjusted our path slightly. "What does it sound like?"

"Singing. Like the prettiest song you've ever heard, but it never stops," I admitted as it got louder. I assumed that meant we were getting closer.

And then, suddenly, it was like walking into a brick wall, knocking me back into Nathaniel, whose hands were quick to grab my hips to steady me.

"You found it," he said, the relief plain in his voice.

"I wouldn't get too excited," I said. "Now is the hard part."

Finding the hole for the key, though, was relatively easy. But Nathaniel needed to hand it to me to push into place.

Then, just like magic—since that's exactly what this was—the veil that had been hiding the labyrinth fell away.

Leaving… a hedge.

"You said it wasn't a hedge!" I said, turning back to Nathaniel, eyes wide.

"I… didn't think it would be," he admitted, looking as unsure as I was feeling.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, if you didn't know this was an actual hedge, maybe you are wrong about me being able to do this."

To that, his gaze was far away for a moment.

Then, "I'm sure."

His hand went to my lower back.

And as he started to push me into the labyrinth, as odd as it sounds, he didn't seem quite as strong as he had just moments before.