Chapter 13
Tamsin sank down into the steaming, glowing pool with a sigh. The heat of the water unknotted her muscles, but couldn’t touch her tangled thoughts.
“I want to trust Cuan,” she said to no one in particular. “I do trust him. I’m just not sure whether I can trust myself.”
Angus cocked an ear at her voice. He scrabbled up onto the rim of the hot spring pool, sniffed at the water, and sneezed.
“You’re not impressed with fairyland, are you, baby?” Tamsin reached over to scratch him in the good spot, under the chin. “And you really don’t like Cuan, for some reason.”
That fact, even more than Betty’s warning, gave her pause. Angus had always had uncannily good judgement about people. She hadn’t seen him take such an instant dislike to someone since her friend Jack’s asshole ex.
“At least you haven’t peed in Cuan’s shoes,” Tamsin said to Angus. “But I wish I knew why you’re so suspicious of him. It can’t just be because he isn’t human. You don’t have any problem with Motley, and I think you were just overexcited by Aodhan. So why is Cuan different? Is it just jealousy? Or something more?”
Angus shook himself. Apparently feeling that he’d received enough adulation for the moment, he trotted off. He nosed at an outcropping of shimmering amethyst crystals, then settled down for a good chew.
Tamsin sighed again. She leaned her head back, gazing up at the darkening sky. Stars gleamed through the swirling veil of steam, bright and alien. The foreign constellations only made her feel further from home.
“I just want to go home,” she whispered.
She had to hold on to that simple fact. No matter how beautiful the fae realm could be, she didn’t belong here. No matter how her lips still tingled with the heat of Cuan’s kiss…
Just the memory made heat pool in her belly, in a way that had nothing to do with the warmth of the hot springs. She brushed her fingertips over her mouth, still feeling the press of his.
He’d kissed her as though she was the air he needed to breathe. He’d made her feel so alive, so cherished and desired…
She groaned, ducking completely under the water. It had been the most intense experience of her life…and she didn’t know if it had even been real. Cuan was high sidhe, after all. He could have been using glamour to literally make her feel those things.
Betty’s right. I can’t trust my own senses. I have be on my guard.
Through the murmur of the water, a muffled noise reached her ears, jolting her out of her inner turmoil. She broke through the surface again, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
“Angus?” she called.
Her dog barked again, sharp and alarmed. He stood stiff-legged, facing one of the other pools, fur bristling all down his spine.
Tamsin sat up further, very aware that she was naked and armed only with a Pomeranian. She crossed an arm over her chest, hiding her breasts as she tried to peer through the swirling fog.
“Cuan?” she said uncertainly. “Is that you?”
Bubbles broke the surface of the other pool. Water fountained up, as though someone had turned on a pump. Tamsin pressed further back against the crystal wall, heart hammering—and then stared, her breath catching in wonder.
The bubbling water mounded, taking the shape of a long, equine muzzle. A horse’s head emerged from the water—but it was water. From the deep, intelligent eyes to its pricked ears, every part of it was transparent as the finest crystal.
Deep down, some part of Tamsin hollered that she should be afraid…but she wasn’t. Even though Angus was now barking his head off, she didn’t feel the slightest bit alarmed herself. Nothing so beautiful, so ethereal and perfect, could possibly be dangerous.
The horse pulled itself up, standing poised on the rippling surface of the water. Its tail and mane streamed like rain, in constant motion. Its eyes were as deep and mysterious as the ocean.
The creature lifted one long, elegant leg. Little droplets broke free from its hoof, plinking back into the pool from which it had emerged.
Angus yelped, scrabbling away from the creature as it stepped out of the water. Tamsin waded forward, drawn by the horse’s beauty. Leaning on the edge of her pool, she reached out a wet, dripping hand.
“Hello,” she whispered.
The horse dipped its head, watery mane tumbling like sea-foam over its gleaming crystalline body. Its breath whispered against her outstretched palm; ice-cold, but somehow enticing, like a cool pool on a hot day.
She was distantly aware that Angus had stopped barking, but that didn’t seem important right now. Not with those deep, deep eyes gazing at her, seeming to see straight into her soul. The pool was only came up to her waist, and yet she felt as though she was floating, floating away…
The horse lowered itself further, onto one knee. Still holding her gaze, it turned its head, shaking back its mane. This close, she could see now that there was a gossamer-fine silver chain looped around its head like a halter. Reins swung loose around its neck, within easy reach.
Its back shivered, rippling, mounding up. The water solidified into the shape of a small, glassy saddle.
The horse blew out its breath again; gently, invitingly.
And Tamsin reached for the reins.