What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(81)

He walked through an open archway, stepping into what I knew had to be the bathing room. Steam billowed off the underground spring, filling the air with humidity and warmth. But that wasn’t the most shocking part of the bathing room.

Men and women bathed in the water together. Some of them minded their own business and kept to themselves. Others coupled off. A few were joined in groups of three or more.

“Gods,” I mumbled, cursing myself when both Caelum and Jensen turned to look at my flushed face. It was worse than the statues carved into the stone at the place Caelum had taken me to.

These people were real. They moved and writhed together.

“You’ll get used to it,” Jensen said with a laugh. “I’m sure it’s quite the shock compared to what you’re used to.”

“This is going to be a problem for us. I don’t relish the thought of other men looking at her. Is there nowhere we can bathe in privacy?” Caelum asked.

“The springs are limited in number. You’ll just have to try to time it so that they’re less crowded, if that’s your preference. While I’m sure many people wish we had springs where we could afford privacy to everyone, it just isn’t feasible with this many people using one bath.”

“Of course not,” I said, tearing my eyes from the scene in front of me. I didn’t want people to see me naked, but I wouldn’t be that spoiled and entitled brat who protested their way of life and acted as if I was above it. If this was to be my home, I’d need to assimilate to it sooner than later.

“Estrella, you don’t have to do something you aren’t comfortable with,” Caelum said.

“We’ll come when it’s more likely to be empty until I get used to it. I’m more concerned about your snake drawing too much attention,” I said, brushing off my nerves in favor of pretending I was unaffected.

Caelum would fixate if he knew how much my insecurities threatened to surface.

The naked women in the bath and at the edge of the spring were beautiful, with healthy and striking bodies. Not scarred and too thin to be appealing.

“Thank you for showing us the way,” I said, turning my attention to Jensen quickly.

“Melian has asked that Caelum report to the commons at first light for training exercises. You’ll need to consider what skill set you might have that could be useful here,” he said, turning his attention back to the baths, as if he wanted to convey something meaningful.

“I was a harvester,” I said, knowing that my skills with plants could come in handy.

“That will be very useful—when the warmer months come. As of now there is nothing left to harvest and the ground is too frozen to plant. You’ll need to find something you can contribute until then.” He glanced over his shoulder again. “Melian wouldn’t like me mentioning this so soon, but some ladies find the pleasures of the flesh to be a very worthwhile way to make themselves useful. With numbers uneven and more men being here than women, we have to consider things most groups of people don’t. Having a bunch of men locked up without something to fuck doesn’t benefit anyone. You’d be treated well.”

“I think it best that you shut your mouth before I break your jaw,” Caelum snapped, and for once I couldn’t force myself to protest the threat of violence. I had nothing against women using their bodies in such a way if it was what they truly wanted. I didn’t even begrudge the Resistance for needing such a service in the first place.

But that didn’t mean that I had to become a Lady of the Night myself.

“I can fight,” I said, interjecting myself into the conversation that centered around me. “I’d be much more useful at that than…. I wouldn’t even know how to begin with being a Lady of the Night.”

“I think you would find that our men are very capable of guiding you through exactly what they expect of you. You’re beautiful. It would be a shame to waste that face on fighting, where it’s likely to take a beating. Just think about it. If my choice was a life of pain and war or a life of pleasure and fucking, I know which one I would choose.”

“Stop,” I demanded, my face twisting into a glare. While I appreciated Caelum standing aside during the exchange of words, having now made my desires known, I did not appreciate the attempt to bully me into something I wasn’t comfortable with. With the way Jensen looked at me, I had no doubt he intended to be my first customer. “Caelum and I are monogamous. I’ll not be entertaining any other men.”

“Perhaps when he’s done with you then,” the rebel said, huffing a laugh as he turned on his heel and strode off, leaving me with a very pissed off companion at my side.

“One of these days, I will enjoy watching him bleed to death.”





26





We hadn’t lingered near the baths, instead choosing to wander through the tunnels and explore what we could for the rest of the day. We found an armory that made Caelum’s eyes gleam with satisfaction at the room stuffed with all manner of weaponry. The training rooms where he would need to report the next day weren’t far, just a few steps away down the labyrinth of tunnels they’d carved over time.

We’d grabbed food from the kitchen again, sitting at Skye’s table in relative privacy and avoiding the public area where the others dined together. Given my rather jarring introduction to the people of the Resistance, I wasn’t entirely certain that I felt up to dealing with more new faces in one day.