Before I could answer that, a head popped up from the water that made us all scream in terror.
“Cooweee! Only me,” Washer said as he stood fully out of the water to reveal his waxed chest as his cyan Siren scales shifted from his skin and vanished. “I’ve been taking a dip down in the depths of the pool in my Siren form. Nothing to get your panties in a twist about.”
“Have you been down there this whole time?” Tory gasped as I kicked away from him, his leg brushing mine and making my insides writhe.
“Yes, it goes much, much deeper than you’d think down there. I lay right on the bottom and did my hip thrusts,” he chuckled, looking between us and I dropped lower under the water as his gaze dripped over me.
“Get out of here,” I snarled.
“Yes, you crusty old crabbit, this is the royal quarters!” Geraldine snapped. “How did you even get into the true queens’ bathhouse?”
“I have my ways,” Washer purred, climbing up out of the pool and starting to do some lunges in the tiny speedos he was wearing. “I just gave the wards a little thrust and a hip drive and they came loose for me. It’s much wetter in here. And I like it wet.”
“Get. Out,” Tory growled, pointing at the door.
“Fine, fine,” he sighed, lunging his way out the door as his speedos slid up his asscrack and I shuddered.
“I shall reinforce the wards, my ladies. Forgive me,” Geraldine said, her head falling forward. “I have failed you.”
“It’s not your fault he’s a total creep,” I said and Geraldine nodded sadly.
“Alas, creeps will be creeps. But I shall reinforce it all the same, never fear.” She leapt from the water, hurrying to the door and starting to cast the wards that only allowed certain people through them. “Be gone foul blaggard! And keep your crack of dawn for a faraway sunrise!”
T he stardust spat us out on Moon Street before one of the most desirable properties in the city, just a stone’s throw away from the grounds which surrounded The Palace of Souls.
It had once been owned by a lot of the most politically influential families in the kingdom, but not anymore. Lionel had taken possession of this run of houses, alongside several others in the city, and had gifted them to the Nymphs to use in the name of this so-called peace he’d brokered with them.
The house was starkly white with imposing walls that cast dark shadows across the road, fronted with a porch held up by impressive pillars that were shaped like the Orders. From Minotaurs to fierce looking Medusas and Harpies, the masonry was so skilled and beautiful, the pillars almost looked alive.
Spring birds twittered in the nearby trees and I relished the warmer feeling of the air with the shift in seasons fully upon us.
My skin prickled as I looked down the street, the illusion spells we’d worked together to cast shimmering against my skin as they bounced the morning light off of us and directed all attention away from our position.
Darius took the lead as he jogged up the steps of the grand town house and the three of us stayed close to him as he headed up to the door, pressing his hand to the wood to check for magical locks.
Seth’s shoulder knocked against mine and I glanced at him, the illusion allowing us to see one another even though no one else would be able to, so I could drink in the excited look in his earthy eyes.
“Ready?” I teased and he grinned wider, magic crackling at his fingertips as he practically buzzed with energy.
“I’m just so ready to start fighting back properly,” he replied with a Wolf’s snarl on his lips. “And this feels like the beginning of it, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I agreed.
“We should do something wild to celebrate if this goes well,” he said. “Like throw a party or go base jumping, or cage fighting, or karaoke or something. What would you do if you could do anything at all to celebrate?” he asked, knocking his arm against me again and making my muscles tighten at the contact in the most exhilarating way.
“I need to hunt,” I said instantly, my gaze moving to his neck as I lost myself in the fantasy of my mouth against his skin and the hot rush of his blood between my lips as I pinned his body beneath mine. “And I need to get laid,” I added without thinking.
Seth’s brows shot up and he blinked at me a couple of times as I realised what I’d just said and I laughed it off, shaking my head to clear it of the desire I was feeling for his blood just as Darius declared there were no magical locks or wards on the place. That wasn’t surprising really. Even Lionel wasn’t dumb enough to start teaching the Nymphs how to harness their magic and cast spells like that which could so easily be used against our kind.