She had a feeling she looked like something a cat might have dragged down an alley before abandoning it, deeming it too pathetic for its attention.

There was an unfortunate metaphor in that.

As she sat on the bed to pull on her Doc Martens, she saw a bottle of nail polish sitting on the bedside table. Nikolas had returned what was left to her. Picking the bottle up, she shook it. As she had feared, very little remained in the bottle.

She still had the spells she had painted on her arms from yesterday afternoon, minus the one confusion spell she had used on the Hound, but those would peel off and degrade. After that, she might be able to cast one more spell, maybe two, and then her little made-up arsenal would be depleted.

Sighing, she tucked the bottle into the bedside table’s shallow drawer, lifted the privacy curtain, and stepped out into the communal area. Several of the men sat at the table, drinking tea and talking. The smell of bacon hung in the air.

As she appeared, they turned to look at her. There was a moment of silence.

Then Rowan said, “I mean this in an entirely platonic way, but that crazy hair of yours has got to be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Do you have a death wish, mate?” Cael said to him.

Rowan lifted his hands. “I said I meant it platonically!”

Warmth washed over her cheeks. Nikolas stood with Braden and Ashe, over by the windows between the Mini and the Harley, looking out. He didn’t turn at the exchange.

She said telepathically to Gawain, I’m about to start tap dancing here. I know you’ve promised that either you or Nikolas would stay with me at all times, but you’re all here in the great hall. I think I’m perfectly safe to go to the bathroom by myself.

He frowned. That will probably do for now.

She told the group, “Privacy alert. I’m going to take a few necessary moments in the courtyard, so I’d appreciate it if everybody stayed here until I got back.”

There. Now that she drew attention to it, everybody would be obligated to stay in the great hall.

Gawain told her, “There’s soap and a bucket of water on the bench. It’ll be cold, but you can have a bit of a wash too, if you like. We have a couple of solar showers—black bags with sprinkler nozzles that heat up in the sunlight—so later in the afternoon there’ll be warmer water for showers.”

“That sounds amazing,” she said with such heartfelt fervency, a couple of the men grinned.

She slipped into the courtyard to take care of business and wash up, and she took a few minutes to wrestle her hair into a long, thick braid that fell down her back. When she returned, Cael slipped a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, along with a cup of black coffee. He said, “The eggs will be good for a few days, so we should enjoy them while we can.”

“Thank you so much.” She glanced again at Nikolas and the other two men by the window, then turned her attention to the hot meal.

As she ate, Cael slipped a couple of pieces of toast on her plate. At first there was a lull in the conversation, but then, as the men grew used to her presence, the talk resumed.

They had a lot to say to one another after such a long, enforced solitude. From what she could glean, as she listened, they had only gathered at the solstices to raise the energies to contact home. Despite the danger of their situation and her own pessimistic outlook, they were relishing the chance to relax together, which made her smile.

As she finished the last of her breakfast, Nikolas stalked over. He was dressed in black again—she didn’t think he wore any other color—and while she couldn’t see his sword harness through the cloaking spell, she would bet good money he was wearing it. He looked leaner, darker, and harder than ever, and his dark eyes glittered with an expression she didn’t want to try to interpret.

He said, “Ready to get to work?”

Her jaw tightened. “Good morning to you,” she said. “How are you today, Sophie? I’m fine, thank you very much. I got a good night’s sleep. How are you, Nik? Oh, I’m suffering from a severe case of rudeness this morning, but other than that, I’m okay.”

Someone across the table made a strangled noise. She thought it might have been Gareth. Other than that, dead silence washed over the group. Nobody looked at Nikolas or at her although Rowan suddenly looked several shades redder than usual.

Nikolas gave her a dangerous smile. “Glad we have the pleasantries out of the way,” he said in a silken voice. “Are you ready to get to work? I packed supplies for us.”

Reaching close to the floor at one end of the table, he picked up two backpacks.

Oh God. She was going to have to spend the entire day with Mr. Sunshine. She glanced at Gawain for help, but he wasn’t looking at her either. With obvious reluctance, she said, “I guess so.”

“We’ve got a lot to do. Let’s go.”

She would not scowl. She would not give him the satisfaction of letting him know he got to her. Pushing back from the table, she said to Cael, “Thank you for breakfast.”

“You’re welcome,” he told her.

Nikolas said to the group, “We don’t know what’s going to happen when we encounter shifts. We’ll try to keep you posted, but don’t get too alarmed if we don’t show up in sync with the day as you know it. And set up a schedule of round-the-clock watches, two men for each shift.”

She joined him. “Watches?”

He told her grimly, “Morgan’s here.”