It’s also a sign of good faith to let your soulmate know they’re making an ass out of themselves.

“And also,” I say before Des has a chance to address that thought of mine, “unrelated but equally important, why the fuck is it so miserably hot here?” I gather up my hair and use it to fan the back of my neck. “Next body of water I see, I’m hopping in. Dead serious.”

Des points at a nearby archway. “That way leads to one of the royal bathhouses.”

“Oh my God, take me there.”

One perk of being inebriated—walking is no longer so hellacious. I mean, that might be because halfway to the pool Des gets tired of me tripping over my own feet and decides to carry me, but what are details?

I lean back in Des’s arms and stare up at him.

“Hi.”

He glances down at me, his white hair framing his face. “Hi, cherub.”

“You’re kinda cute,” I say.

He raises an eyebrow.

I reach up and trace his lips. “I wouldn’t mind having little mini Des’s running around. Someday, that is. Not today, but you know, in-the-future—hey, if I’m cherub, what would you call our kids? Is there a name for baby-baby angels?”

“Hmm,” he says, assessing me with his bedroom eyes, “I’m sure I’d call them something different, love. Now, eager as I am to have this conversation, I’m not going to make any plans with you until I know you’ll be able to remember them.”

My head lolls a little. “You want to have baaaabies with me,” I sing. “Lots and lots and lots of … baaaabies with me.” I kick my legs a little as I say the words, my skin brightening and dimming.

This alcohol is really laying into me now that I’m free of that boring meeting.

I flash the Bargainer a cheesy smile, reaching up to play with his hair.

He gives the ceiling of the bathhouse a long-suffering look. You’d almost think time had rewound eight years ago, back when I was striking deals …

I sit up a little straighter in his arms. “Hey!” I hiccup. “Let’s make a d—”

“No.”

“But—”

He quiets me with a kiss. A long, drawn out kiss that causes my toes to curl and my skin to flare to life. My siren surges through me, and suddenly the kiss has 110 percent of my focus. I wrap a hand around the back of Des’s neck and fall into the taste of him.

So damn hot. Him, this room, the kiss, this kingdom in general. All of it.

Before I have a chance to turn the kiss into something deeper, it ends.

I stare up at him. “I still have to pee really, really badly.”

He huffs out a laugh. “Callie, the Killer of Moments.”

“Hey! You’re the Moment Killer.”

“Am I now?” he says.

He sounds amused.

“That’s because I am amused,” he replies.

“Ugh, when will this alcohol wear off?”

“Probably not for a while—you drank a lot of it.”

Awesome.

Des walks us to a door, pushing it open with his body, and then he muscles us into a fancy little bathroom.

The Bargainer sets me down. “I’ll be right outside.”

“Wait.” I catch his arm. “Will you stay in here with me?”

Des tilts his head. “There’s no distance with you, is there?” he says. His eyes are totally laughing at me.

“That’s a yes, isn’t it?”

He sighs. “Can’t deny you anything.”

Yay!

“Okay, face the door,” I say, while I move to the toilet. “I don’t want you to see anything.”

“Heaven forbid I catch sight of my mate’s pussy—”

“Des!”

He lifts his hands. “I’m facing the door. Want me to plug my ears too?”

Yes? No? Maybe? “Plug one of them.”

Now I definitely hear him laugh.

Once I’m sure he’s not looking and only half listening, I lift my filmy skirt and begin to sit—

I let out a very unladylike screech as my ass misses the toilet and I sprawl out on the floor next to it. My skirts are around my head, my unmentionables exposed.

Des turns around. I’ll give him this—he doesn’t laugh, though I’m sure it’s taking everything in him not to.

“Cherub.” He comes over and helps me up, then properly sets me on the toilet. He brushes my hair back. “What happened?”

Alcohol happened. That’s what.

I cover my face. “I’m so embarrassed.”

The Bargainer removes my hands, kissing my knuckles. “At least you didn’t start peeing.”

I might’ve.

“Oh. Comment redacted then.”

I fucking hate aelerium liquor.

By the time The Bathroom Incident that We’ll Never Talk about Again is behind us, the liquor has worn off somewhat.

Des makes a disbelieving noise at the back of his throat.

Alright, it’s worn off just a little.

“So little that science doesn’t yet have the tools to quantify such a miniscule measurement,” Des says.

“Pssh. Why do you have to be so witty all the time?”

He begins to answer when I cover his mouth with my hands.

His eyes are still laughing at me. When I’m sure he’s not going to say anything else, I remove them.

We round a corner, and the bathhouse pool comes into view. I squeal at the sight of it and skip-run over, tripping only a couple times along the way.

I jump into the pool, sighing when the cool water slides against my skin. I was half worried that the water would be oppressively hot, but it carries the perfect chill.

I linger underwater, my siren perfectly content to stay down here forever. It might not be the ocean, but it’s water, and that’s good enough.

When I surface, Des sits along the edge of the pool, a knee hiked up. “I’m only letting you swim while inebriated because you’re a siren, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure you're incapable of drowning. Please don’t prove me wrong.”

“Pfft.” I swim over to him. “You should come in. The water’s nice. I’m even nicer.” I say, grabbing his hand and tugging.

“You know, you’re unbearably adorable, cherub.”

Awwww.

He smiles at me.

I think he can still hear my thoughts.

“I can.”

When the Bargainer doesn’t slide into the water, I release his hand and sink back beneath the pool’s surface. If he’s content to just watch me swim, then that works too.

Oh, and neat trick—if I’m underwater, I can’t blabber every single thought that crosses my mind. In fact, I’m pretty content to just lie here, at the very bottom of the pool, until the end of time. It’s a better alternative than the scorching midday heat that I can’t otherwise seem to escape.

After a minute or so, I rise to the surface once more.

“How long are we supposed to be here?” I ask.

It’s already evening, but just as night never lifts from Des’s kingdom, the sun never sets in the Day Kingdom.

“Ready to leave so soon?”

Does he sound pleased about that?

I nod.

“We’ll leave tomorrow morning, right after I meet with Janus.”

So, essentially, we’ll leave three days from now, once the meeting ends.

He leans in closer. “Have I mentioned that I like your sassy mouth?”