Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant #1)(58)

How the hell did he get here? He looked over his shoulder. Another chamber, shrouded in gloom. The last thing he remembered was going upstairs to his room. He’d showered, had a steak sent up from the kitchen, ate it all, washed it down with some beer, and passed out on his bed.

A quiet feminine laughter floated to him. He turned back. Three girls soaked in the pool. One sat on his right, kicking her feet gently in the water, her long blond hair spilling over soft glowing skin. A brunette waited straight ahead, her plump breasts lifted slightly by the water. On the left a redhead sat, half-submerged on the steps, her long hair swirling in the water.

A dream. And a nice one. A welcome change from the usual shit he dreamt about. Whatever they brewed in that beer, he would need more of it.

The brunette raised her hands and stood up, her arms opened wide, exposing her breasts with pretty pink nipples. “Hugh!”

“Join us,” the blond giggled.

His clothes were missing. He was already hard. Hugh walked into pool. The water was hot. The aroma of lavender grew stronger. The redhead wound herself around him, the blue eyes on her freckled face laughing at him. The blond jumped into the water and surfaced next to him. The brunette kneaded his shoulders. He pulled the blond closer, her skin slick against his own, her body pliant under his fingers. Oh yes. Yes, that would do.

“Enjoying yourself?” Elara said.

She stood at the steps. Her hair was down, a soft silky cascade. She wore a simple white dress. It left her shoulders bare. A slit climbed its way up the skirt, revealing a leg with a slender ankle and rounded thigh.

Even better. “Come into the pool,” Hugh said.

She shook her head. “Greedy, greedy, greedy.”

He had to get her into the water. “Come here, Elara.”

She ignored him. Vapor rose from the water. There was something witchy about her, arcane and female. He would peel that dress from her.

“Tell me about the boy?”

“What boy?”

“The shapeshifter boy you tortured.” Elara walked along the pool to the left.

“Come closer and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me and I’ll think about it.”

Hugh rose and began striding through the water to her. The three women hung onto him and he dragged them forward.

Elara leaned forward, her hazel eyes bright. “Are you going to chase me?”

“Do you want me to?”

She dipped her foot into the water. “You used the kids as bait today.”

“They weren’t in danger.”

“Tell me about Ascanio.”

Hugh was walking through the water but not making any progress. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Did you really torture a child?”

“Yes. He was sixteen at the time. I was chasing Kate through the city and she didn’t want to be caught.”

He drew closer. As long as he kept talking, the distance between them shrank.

“I used a wendigo to herd her, because I knew she was smart enough to stay out of its way. The kid was with her and he tried to fight it. It tore him up.”

If he could grab her ankle, he would yank her into the pool.

“What happened next?”

“Kate ran for the Order of Merciful Aid, and then knights stuck her into a loup cage. I killed them all.”

“You killed off the knights of the Order of Merciful Aid?”

“Yes.” Elara was almost within reach. “Kate was angry. The last one was her friend. She watched me kill him.”

“Why would you do that in front of her?”

“He didn’t give me a choice. It was a hard kill. Roland wanted his daughter. Nothing mattered except getting her to him. Nothing else existed.”

Hugh struggled to explain the relentless pressure and the finality in Roland’s eyes when he had given the order. He’d gone into it with a kind of grim determination that now seemed desperate. He couldn’t find the words.

“I had to get her out of the cage, she was pissed, and they left Ascanio on the table. His stomach was in ribbons. The wendigo crushed his ribs and bones stuck out through the skin. The shapeshifter virus kept him alive up to that point, but he was dying. The knights didn’t treat him, because he was a bouda.”

Her ankle was within his reach. Two more steps and he was there. There were things he needed to do to her.

“So what did you do?”

“I healed him.”

“What else?”

“The virus had fused some of the broken bones. I had to rebreak him to fix his chest. I made her think I was alternating between killing and healing. She promised to come out of the cage if I healed him, but someone interfered.”

“Would you have killed the boy to get her?”

“Yes.”

“But he was a child.”

“Nothing mattered except getting Kate to Sharrum.”

“What does that word mean, Sharrum?”

“King. God. Everything. Everything that I am is shaped by Sharrum. He is wisdom and purpose. He is life.”

“Not everything.”

Hugh lunged forward but her foot slipped out of his reach. She vanished. Hugh spun around and saw her on the stairs.

“No more talking,” he told her. “Come here, Elara.”

She laughed softly.