Page 40 of The Heir the Fae Forgot
“The Dark Lord,” Finch corrected me, nodding his head, the solemn look on his face only making me giggle, again.
“Well,The Dark Lordis surprisingly calm when you’re alone with him,” I said, thinking back to the handful of times I’d found myself in that position. “He’s patient and careful. He doesn’t do things by accident. There’s always a purpose to what he does and what he says, even when you think there isn’t.”
“So, he’s manipulative,” Zev said, and though his words were true, they were alltootrue.
I flinched, slightly, despite myself, and had to close my eyes for a second while I forced my thoughts back to the light.
“Yes,” I admitted, anyway. “He is. He’s a lord, after all. He knows how to get what he wants.”
“And how, pray tell, does a lord do that?”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Shiel’s voicemade all three of us leap to our feet, his unexpected silhouette filling the doorway.
I opened my mouth, but before my cheeks could redden with the embarrassment I felt rushing over me, Shiel stepped out of the shadow and held out his hands in a gesture of goodwill.
“I mean that in the best way, I promise,” he said. “I simply…I’m interested. Really.”
I didn’t notice the basket he held in his hands until he went to gently set it down on the ground beside the door. No sooner had he straightened up, then a sweet, floral scent began to fill the room. The basket was brimming with fresh picked flowers.
I’d never seen Shiel blush before, but Isworea hint of red colored his cheeks when I looked back up at him.
“I stole them from the florists whenever they weren’t looking. Figured they wouldn’t miss one here or there. Didn’t want to drown you in the stench of three males.”
“One of which hasn’t bathed since the first day he got here,” Finch added, his side eye darting over to Zev in a far less-than-subtle way.
“What?” Zev snapped, suddenly defensive. He glanced between all three of us, his body frozen where he stood. “Are you telling me you’ve all be wasting your time taking baths every day?”
Finch just scrunched up his face until Zev repeated, even more incredulously, “Everyday?”
It was his turn to color a little as he glanced sheepishly down at his feet, his arms suddenly clamping self-consciously down to his sides. “It’s not like we’ve been hiking through the forest. Who needs a bath when they’ve been sitting around eating bon-bons all day.”
“You do,” Finch said, without hesitation, his eyes still fixed on Zev.
It was Zev’s turn to throw up his arms, but he immediately turned and marched across the room, where a metal tub sat beneath a spicket. He turned on the spicket, and without a moment’s hesitation, began stripping off his clothes.
It was my turn to freeze in place.
“For goodness’ sake, Zev,” Shiel muttered, striding across the room to pull a privacy screen between us just before his trousers were the next garment to pool around his ankles.
From the high-pitched sounds Zev made as he stepped into the tub, without the demons to magically heat it, it was going to be a very miserable bath, indeed. Shiel grabbed a bar of soap and tossed it over the screen, and then followed that with a wide-toothed comb and one of Finch’s beloved face creams.
Zev made a snorting sound of disapproval, but from the quiet scrubbing, sloshing, and brushing sounds that ensued, he reluctantly used those, too.
I, meanwhile, finally settled down on the end of Shiel’s bed and put my back to the tub, providing a little more privacy since the screen was more decorative than actually functional.
Shiel, apparently satisfied with Zev’s effort, came to sit beside me—not so close as to actually touch me, and for once, I almost resented him for it.
“So, about this lord,” he said, tilting his head down as he nudged the conversation back to where he’d interrupted us.
I was grateful for the protection Shiel had offered me, but I was not such a fool that I’d immediately put all my trust in him, now. But I had to trust him a little. He’d earned that much, at least.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I considered what to say. “Icarus is…delusional…” I said, finally.
Finch raised his eyebrows. “I’ll say.”
Shiel shot him a look that was clearly meant to shut him up before leaning in towards me slightly, his elbows resting on his knees. He said nothing, but the invitation was obvious.
