Collide and Seek: Act 4-5 (Bitter Ashes Book 2) (7 page)

“I wouldn't let Diana hear you calling her that,” James chided.

Sophie reached us, then breezed on by without a word, like a tall, dark, angry cloud.

Alaric watched his sister's back as he whispered. “You
must
tell me what you did to make her so angry.”

I shook my head as I wrapped my arms tightly around myself. “You wouldn't be able to pull it off. Now can we please go inside before I freeze to death?”

Before I could protest, Alaric scooped me up into his arms and started carrying me toward the hotel like a bride on her wedding day. With my height, no one had ever really carried me that way, now it was beginning to become a theme, first with James in the woods, and now with Alaric.

The building rose up in front of us as we neared, seeming to be around ten stories high, done in a crisp white that matched the surrounding patches of snow on the ground.

James shook his head and walked ahead of us after Sophie.

Alaric smiled down at me. “We have our own room,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued walking, carrying me effortlessly in his arms. “Why?” I asked suspiciously.

He shrugged, then hoisted me up to get a better grip under my arms. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say Diana is trying to play matchmaker, but I think she has much more nefarious plans in mind.”

“Well then shouldn't we be doing our best to not go along with them?” I argued as we neared the hotel lobby.

“Why would I argue with plans that benefit me?” he said happily as the automatic glass doors slid open in front of us.

Some of the tension seeped out of my body once the doors slid shut behind us. The bellhop waiting inside gave us a strange look, probably partially due to Alaric carrying me, and partially to us having no luggage. The young man shrugged his narrow shoulders and sighed, then led us to a row of elevators. James and Sophie had already gone up, leaving us to ride up with the bellhop alone.

“Put me down,” I whispered, feeling uncomfortable in the confines of the elevator.

Alaric pouted. “But I don't want to.”

I glared at him until he sighed and let me to my feet. I distanced myself, thinking that it was a really bad idea for us to share a room. Not only was Diana up to something, but I didn't fully trust myself. It had been impulsive to fall into bed with Alaric the first time, and I didn't want to be that stupid again. Yet, there was the nagging thought at the back of my mind of our lives being at risk. Normally it was wise to err on the side of caution, but was it really wise to make good life-choices when my life might not last much longer? Shouldn't I just enjoy being alive while I could?

Alaric could act like we weren't in danger all he liked, but I knew better. If Sophie was scared, it meant we were up a very smelly creek with no paddles, and plenty of holes in our boat. I'd seen first hand how Estus dealt with those who opposed him. If he found us and sent more of the Vaettir to capture us, we would all suffer very ugly ends.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Without a glance in our direction, the silent bellhop led us down an extravagantly decorated hall to our room. He used a key card on the door, then handed it to Alaric as we entered. The room was bigger than my old house, with a full sitting area, king-sized bed, and a kitchenette partially obscured from view by bar-style seating, all done in delicate gold and pale blues.

My eyes scanned the room, then came back to rest on the bed. They lingered there, then went back to the couch. It looked comfortable enough.

Alaric tipped the bellhop, then urged him out of the room. Once we were alone, Alaric walked past me to flop down on the bed. He laid on his back with his arms behind his head, watching me as I took a closer look around the room.

“So what do you want to
do
?” he asked eventually, putting emphasis on the word
do
, to make it seem dirty.

I walked past one of the cushy chairs on either side of the couch to peek in the bathroom. “I
think
we're here to find the charm, so that's what I want to do.”

“Diana claims the location is very near, but she doesn't know exactly how near” he explained, “she needs time to pinpoint it, which means we have some time to
kill
.”

I glared at him. “Stop emphasizing random words to make them seem sexy.”

He grinned. “Is it working? Are my words . . .
sexy
?”

I shook my head and turned away from him.

In an instant he was up off the bed and at my side, moving a lock of my dark brown hair behind my shoulder to bare the side of my neck, grazing his fingers across my skin as he went.

“I take it your attitude means I'll be sleeping on the floor again,” he said softly.

I glanced at him, but didn't pull away. I had to audibly gulp before I could answer, “I'll take the couch this time. It's only fair since I had the bed at Diana's.”

He let my hair fall from his grasp, then took my hand into his grip instead. He kissed my knuckles one by one, then answered, “As you wish.”

I slowly pulled my hand away and looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you being so agreeable?”

He glanced into the large bathroom that boasted a full-size jacuzzi tub as well as a glass-walled shower. “I think I'll take a bath.”

I crossed my arms. “You didn't answer me.”

“I don't suppose you'd like to join me?” he asked, still not answering me.

“We don't have any clean clothes,” I commented. If he wasn't going to answer me, I wasn't going to answer him either.

Alaric shrugged and walked into the bathroom. “It's late. We'll buy you a whole new wardrobe in the morning.”

I stayed where I was standing and glared at his back. “Some jeans and a sweater would suffice.”

He began to unbutton his shirt with his back still to me. As the fabric fell to the floor, I blushed and turned away, marching dutifully over to the couch to turn on the TV. The screen came to life. The commercial that came on was in Norwegian, obviously, but it didn't matter because I was so distracted by the sound of Alaric filling up the bathtub that I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on it regardless.

“Maddy?” Alaric called out.

“Yes?” I asked hesitantly.

“Come keep me company.”

My mouth suddenly went dry. I cleared my throat. “I don't think so.”

“Do you really find it entertaining to watch a show in a language you don't speak?” he pressed.

I glanced at the TV screen again, then back to the open bathroom door.

“I'll be a perfect gentleman,” he added. “Scout's honor.”

Silently cursing myself, I stood and made my way to the bathroom. Keeping my eyes dutifully averted from the bathtub, I entered the steamy room and took a seat on the closed lid of the toilet.

I could feel Alaric's eyes on me, but refused to look. “There are plenty of bubbles,” he assured. “You won't see a thing.”

With another sigh, I rolled my eyes as I turned my head to look at him. There were indeed plenty of bubbles, but I could still see the top of his chest, slick with water. He'd wet his dark hair, pushing it away from his face to make him look even more ethereal than usual.

I did my best to maintain eye-contact as Alaric slipped a little further down into the bubbles. “You know, it seems like a waste of water to fill this gigantic bathtub just for one person,” he commented.

I smirked. “Well you're the one that did it, that's on your conscience.” Desperately wanting to change the subject, I added, “I thought Diana said she knew of the place the hearts showed me. Why does she need time to find it now?”

“Norway has changed a great deal since she was last here,” he explained, “and this is not a place that you can see, it's a place you have to
feel
. She's using her connections to at least get an idea of the general area so we can go there and search.”

“So what do we do until then?” I questioned.

A small smile curved across Alaric's lips. “You could get in the bath with me.”

I stared at him for several heartbeats, then sighed, “Fine.”

His eyes widened. “Fine? I was expecting a lot of things, but
fine
wasn't one of them.”

I shrugged and tried to act like my heart wasn't racing. “We're stuck in a hotel in a foreign country,” I explained, “waiting for a very scary old woman to lead us to a place that you can only
feel
and not
see
. Meanwhile, we have an angry, sociopathic Doyen thirsty for our blood. Normally, I would be appalled by your offer, and I would snub you to the fullest extent, but I'm scared, and I'm cold, and I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, so I say
fine
.”

Alaric raised both of his eyebrows in surprise. “You are a very strange woman, Madeline.”

I smirked as I stood and began undressing. “Says the guy with cat fangs.”

He grinned to show his dainty, pointed canines, then watched my every move as I took off the holey dress, bra, and panties. I quickly slipped into the tub on the side opposite as him, inhaling sharply at the heat of the water. I let out my breath slowly as my skin adjusted to the temperature change, then settled down until the bubbles nearly reached my chin.

Alaric's smile turned mischievous, and I eyed him warily. Before I could react, he reached through the water and grabbed my arm, then spun me around in one fast movement so that my back was pressed against his. A little wave of water splashed out of the tub a moment later to soak his towel where he had set it on the tiled floor.

“I said I'd take a bath,” I replied coolly, “I didn't say I was going to snuggle with you.”

“Shh,” he breathed as he lowered his lips to the side of my neck.

He laid gentle kisses all the way up to the base of my ear, making my chest and upper arms erupt in goosebumps, despite the warmth of the water.

“I-” I began, but he cut me off by turning my face to the side with one damp hand so he could kiss me.

My thoughts were a jumble of emotions, ranging from nervous excitement to guilt. The guilt was all for me, like I was letting myself down somehow, but it was drowned out by the feel of Alaric's free hand making its way down my ribcage.

I pulled away from the kiss and looked up into Alaric's eyes, which looked even darker surrounded by his wet hair. “Desperate times call for desperate measures?” I questioned weakly, looking for an excuse for my actions.

He chuckled. “Something like that.”

He pulled my face back up for another kiss and I gave in. I would probably regret everything tomorrow, but that was tomorrow. This was tonight, and Alaric's soapy body felt far too good against mine to just go to bed.

S
ome time later we ended up on the king-sized bed with the covers pulled partially up. Alaric was lying on my lower body with his head cradled on my stomach while I stroked his drying hair. My original plan of sleeping on the couch seemed pretty silly right about then, and seemed even sillier as Alaric's hand slowly slid up from my hip to the side of my waist.

His fingers found the little scars from when James stabbed me, and I felt his entire body tense. When I didn't react, he relaxed, and began running his fingers back and forth across the scars.

I could sense that he wanted to say something, but was probably afraid of opening up a can of worms since the scars were kind of his fault.

“What is it?” I prompted.

“How did you know I wanted to say something?” he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“I'm an empath, remember?” I reminded him, though really I was just going off intuition.

He chuckled softly and ran his fingers over the scars again. “How did you heal them so quickly?”

It was a good question. In theory I knew how I'd done it, but I wasn't sure if I could replicate it, or even explain it. “I used the energy from the hearts, just like I did when I healed Sophie after the battle.”

He moved his arms underneath my lower back and squeezed me tightly. “You know executioners aren't supposed to be able to heal, right?”

I smirked, but he couldn't see it. “Actually, I don't know much about executioners at all.”

He lifted his head to meet my gaze. “And you know nothing of your parents?”

“N-no,” I stammered, taken aback by the question. “Do you?”

He smiled sympathetically. “No. There's a chance I may have met them at some point, but I don't know who they are. Estus probably knows.”

I shifted to put another pillow behind me so I could see him better. “Would they be executioners too?” 

I'd gone so long without thinking about who my parents might be, that I hadn't considered the fact that they might be still be among the Vaettir. The thought was both intriguing and terrifying.

Alaric shook his head. “It's not a hereditary trait. Remember when I explained to you that Sophie and I are descended from the goddess Bastet?”

I nodded my head for him to go on.

“Since we are descended from a . . .
being
, our traits are hereditary. You are more of an embodiment of death, not descended directly from a patron deity. Your gifts do not come from your parents, nor would you pass them on to offspring.”

“So what about my empathy?” I questioned.

He laid his head back down on my stomach, rubbing his hair across my skin to cause a delightful shiver. “I do not know,” he answered finally. “It should not be, just as your ability to heal should not be.”

“What would other executioners do with the leftover energy of releasing someone's life force?”

Alaric shrugged. “They would keep it, or use it as a weapon.”

I sighed, then decided to ask a question I'd been wanting to ask ever since I found out what I was. “Do you think I'm evil?”

Alaric lifted his head and looked up at me again, surprised. “How long have you been holding onto
that
one?”

I stared back at him. “Just answer it, please.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “You're not evil, Maddy.” I felt a moment of relief, but it was short lived as he added, “but you're not entirely good either.”