“Not on fire. That’s the thing. I’m definitely the opposite of on fire. Unless you mean I’m sexy, because I am very much that. Oh, hey, Ella, how’s your dad?”
Of course Sasha knew her. Sasha knew everyone.
Ella blushed and fiddled with the neck of her gown. “Fine. Thanks.”
“Is there a reason you have to specify that you aren’t on fire?” Viv asked. She held Sunshine out to the girl. “Go on. Take her. She’ll sleep for the rest of the day, but she’ll be fine.”
“Thank you, madam witch,” Ella said, grabbing Sunshine with both hands. Sunshine was already asleep, paws limp, and Ella bobbed a curtsy before scrambling up the steps.
Viv waited for her to close the door after her before she gave in to the tremor in her legs. She gripped the side of the bathtub, unsure whether she had the strength to get out again but unwilling to ask for help.
Not that she needed to. Sasha was already there, lifting her out of the water. He kissed her, and Viv ran her nails along the back of his neck, just enough to make him shiver and smile.
“Love you,” he said, but there was concern in his gaze, enough that Viv had to look away.
She knew Sasha had noticed how tired she’d been of late. How she had to lean on the wall to steady herself when she walked the low-roofed tunnels of the Compound. She knew he remembered her siblings’ deaths, how everyone assumed she would die every time her own sickness sent her into a relapse. Viv was the only one of her mother’s children to reach adulthood, and no one expected her to last much longer. No one but Sasha, who married her anyway, whocourtedher, bartering for new dresses and kissing her fingertips like he had all the time in the world to love her.
“You have charcoal on your face,” he said, sitting her down on the edge of their enormous bed so he could help her out of her wet gown.
“And you have soot on yours, but you aren’t a witch, so you have no excuse.”
“Nope. Just lucky.” Sasha went to his knees and unlaced the front of her gown. Viv longed to grab his broad shoulders, then flog them until he wept, pleased and lost in that quiet place he went to when she was just cruel enough to fulfill his desires. “Ran into that friend of Zev’s. The one who makes toys, right? His house was on fire.”
“What?” Vivian lurched out of a daydream of putting Sasha in clamps. “Was he hurt? Where is he?”
“Just shocked, I think. He’s fine. Gods, look at your sexy legs. Can I touch you, babe?”
“Down, boy.” Viv pushed the rest of her gown off and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around herself. She was always so cold, lately. Another sign of an oncoming relapse. “What do you mean, he’s fine? Did Zev come and get him?”
Zev had spoken to her of Micah. She’d met the man once, when he was injured trying to rescue Zev, but things had moved too quickly afterward for them to get better acquainted. Zev insisted on visiting in the spring and summer, though, making the long journey down to check on her and give her honey and other treats from the wolf-people, who kept bees. He knew Viv had a sweet tooth, and it was nice to see him now, tall and proud, his voice sure.
He’d said that Micah was reclusive. Not fond of too many people—Viv could relate to that; she was notoriously prickly, herself—and clever, even if he didn’t have a wealth of common sense where his own safety was concerned.
“I’m trying to fix his house for him,” Zev had said the last time he visited, maple candies spread out on the table between them. “But I don’t know if he’ll make it through the next winter, Viv. That place… it isn’t safe. But he’d rather eat knives than come back to the valleys.”
Now, Viv ran her fingers through Sasha’s hair, scratching at his scalp, and pulled just enough to make his eyes flutter closed and his lips curve in a lazy smile. “Did you leave him with Zev?”
“Mm. No. He took off. Viv, if you keep doing that, I’m gonna…”
“You’re not going to do anything without my permission,” Viv said, a sharp spike of dominance in her voice, and yanked hard. Sasha moaned, always a slut for pain, and put his hands on the edge of the bed, on either side of her. “You can hold me.”
“Oh, Viv, I’ll hold you however you want me to.” Sasha climbed over her, hauling her up the bed. She hadn’t thought herself a cuddler before meeting Sasha, but he was so good at it that she couldn’t help but melt into his heat, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Viv. Viv, beautiful woman, can’t wait for you to fuck me up. Can I get my collar, Viv, please?”
“Go on.” Viv smiled as Sasha reached for the collar at the end of the bed, the one she liked best. It had an O ring at the front and was etched with markings that would, if she had the power for it, send a sharp current of magic through whatever was tied to it. She liked to link the clamps to it and watch Sasha beg for the pain while he drove into her, his hands tight on the headboard.
But not tonight. Tonight he just looked lovely in it, his smile going wide when Viv played with the ring and caressed the leather.
There was still soot on his jaw, a dark smudge like a handprint dragged over his cheek.
“You’re sure he went to Zev?” she asked.
“What?” Sasha blinked. “Oh. Micah. Yeah, he had to. Where else would he go?” He watched her for a moment, braced comfortably over her. “Viv? Babe?”
“I don’t know if he would,” she said. “Zev talked about him before. I think we might… want to go see Zev. Tell him.”
“Yeah. Maybe. Micah did seem a bit, uh. He was gonna go back in that shack, actually. While it was on fire. All for some book, believe it or not.”
Viv, wholovedbooks, very much could believe it. “A shame it burned.”
