Entangled

Chapter 15

Liatta skimmed her toes on the water's surface. And then snatched it back with a hiss.

The best part about having a good water heater is that your water heats up quickly. The worst part about having a good water heater was that your water heats up too quickly.

Compared to the one in her home, the mansion's was clearly several tiers above in performance, but the sting of her toes had Liatta feeling nostalgic for her bath at home.

She really should have seen the burn coming. She had tested the water's temperature twice in the last ten minutes and it wasn't suddenly going to cool down after sitting for a couple more.

Liatta sighed. She had wanted to have a hot bath to soothe the bruises on her back but since, sadly, she wasn't built to swim in lava, she would have to wait.

In the heat of the moment, Liatta hadn't realized how badly she had bruised her back when she fell talking to Grimm. But when she woke up the next day, the damage was obvious.

Her entire lower back was a mottled purple, several shades darker than the surrounding skin. Her spine was stiff from the swelling.

It had been a while since Liatta had been badly bruised. She had forgotten the details of how she used to do to treat them.

But she vaguely remembered baths helping with the swelling, which led her here. It would be nice if the bath helped but if not, she could deal with it. She did enjoy baths.

As she sat, Liatta's thoughts drifted, despite her best efforts, to the elephant in the room, the events of last night.

Mr. Arach's strange behavior. Grimm's threats. Liatta couldn't help but think that something would change soon. And not for the better.

The look on Mr. Arach's face that night- Liatta shivered.

She wouldn't be surprised if she was a night away from being killed and thrown away like a malfunctioning toy.

She didn't want to admit it but in a way Grimm was right. Hiding in this room wasn't a safe choice. She didn't have a safe choice.

Liatta sighed.

There was no safe choice...So, all paths equal, she might as well take Char out on a walk.

Having come to a semblance of a decision Liatta turned back to the water. After all that thinking it had to have cooled down by now, right?

She brushed her toes against the surface only to have to snatch it back again.

Nope still hot.

~℘~

Char danced excitedly in her hair urging her to hurry up. The spider had taken to sitting on top of her head and so Liatta let it stay there, most of the time.

The closet was nearly the size of her room at home and filled with enough clothes to open a boutique, it was hard to make a choice.

Liatta drew her fingers over a flowy lilac dress, wondering why so many clothes had been prepared for her. After all, it seemed like a lot of trouble to go through. Maybe Mr. Arach already had them? That answer would raise more questions than it would resolve.

She shook herself out of her reverie and chose an outfit at random.

The result of her selection was actually rather nice. She wore a silky robin's egg blue button-down blouse with white denim shorts and simple black flats.

She had Char move to her shoulder while she tied her hair up into a simple ponytail with a ribbon she found near the shirt.

Char started moving again impatiently. Now that Liatta had promised to go, it wanted to rush just in case she changed her mind.