Chapter 18

Gina found the showers after only a couple of minutes of looking. They were exactly where Anna told her they would be. But she'd spent a few minutes peering into the various rooms on the way to see if there was anything worth noting.

Aside from a closet with a remarkable amount of Sherpa blankets, that she may or may not have borrowed a few from, there wasn't much of note. It was all basic storage and a few rooms that were clearly used as workshops or studies of some sort. The furniture in most of the rooms was strewn about, as if whomever was last using it hadn't bothered straightening up.

It bothered her, until she remembered that it was pointless to be annoyed by it. If people were comfortable enough to not clean up after themselves, well, that typically meant they were either slobs, or at home wherever they were. And given that all of the storage rooms were spotless she figured that the more likely scenario was merely that they hadn't bothered to clean up before dinner. It all felt more 'lived in' than 'messy.'

It took her a few moments to convince herself that she didn't need to think about it, or comment on it, and certainly not before she'd learned the lay of the land, as it were.

She gave the studies one last look before continuing down the hall and finding the showers.

They were set back into an enchanted alcove. A waterfall set the mood, water cascading down the back wall and into a chasm below. She walked over and peered down to what appeared to be a large communal pool about fifty feet below. A slight steam rose from the water and she had to admit that it looked rather appealing.

Part of her wondered exactly how to get down there, and how they'd dug out such a cistern inside a mountain cave complex because that certainly didn't seem naturally occurring. Of course, with magic and enough people putting in the effort it wouldn't have been that difficult.

She hadn't seen any stairs or anything else leading down that way, but she wasn't close to exploring the entirety of the complex. Then again, she also knew that there was one very simple way to get from the showers down into the pool below. And given that Newton's laws weren't quite hard and fast rules when she and others like her were around, she figured there were plenty of easy ways up or down.

Admiring the baths didn't hold her attention for that long. Nor did thinking about the possible ways to hollow out the caves. It was an interesting challenge. But the solution was obvious. The simplest way was the best way. It would merely take time and effort. Coming to that realization made the entire hideout seem less fantastical than she would have hoped. That was often the case, she thought. Part of her couldn't help but wonder if she would be better served with letting her imagination win rather than looking for the actual solution.

She turned her attention to the showers proper, noting that there did not seem to be much in the room outside of some standard showerheads on the wall. That didn't bother her too much to start. Communal bathrooms weren't new. She'd grown up with them at Hogwarts. But there were ways around that without it being visually apparent. And she could sense magic in the room.

Of course, she could sense magic in the entire cave system. She hadn't focused on it enough to follow the strands and see exactly what each stray spell or charm was doing. Some of it was obvious, she could sense the temperature regulating charms readily enough. But determining just what all of the spells did was a task for the evening when everyone was asleep and she had nothing better to do. For now, her main task was getting clean and starting to feel like a member of the human race rather than some sort of sand-based goblin.

She marched to the far end of the room, near the waterfall and the drop down to the cistern and examined the showerhead pressed up against the wall. She peered back toward the entrance, noting that there was no door on the room, and then back up at the showerhead. While she wasn't particularly uncomfortable with nudity she had the distinct feeling that she was missing something.

Her first thought was to explore the magic. She focused on the wall before her, looking for traces of whatever magic imbued the communal shower. The amount of charms that popped to the forefront of her mind was rather dizzying. For a moment it felt as if the room was spinning but she knew it was only the new information filtering into her mind.

It irritated her, if she was honest. While there was a surprising amount of magic in the walls around her, enough that she thought it had to have been multiple people over multiple days putting it all together. Some of the charms seemed to have been done on a whim. Which at least left her with the impression that these people were open enough with each other to not see editing or changing work done by someone else as an insult.

Well, that or they all had drastically different showering habits and it wasn't worth the effort to worry about it. Either was a passable theory. Although neither of said theories were doing anything toward getting her cleaner.

The first spells that popped into her mind were the standard ones she'd expect in a communal area. There were various heating and temperature charms all throughout the wall, leading her to think that each showerhead corresponded to a differing temperature. Which seemed to be a strange and very inefficient way to organize it. Either way, if she was following the magic correctly, she had set up her position at the hottest location. Which bode well for her plan of burning off all of her skin.

But she still didn't quite like the thought of someone walking down the hallway and getting a show. It reminded her far too much of a john who'd insisted on watching her bathe every night. She let her focus shift away from the heating charms to see whatever else was there.

It was an impressive array, really, ranging from scents, softness levels, styles for the head and various other jets. After a few minutes she was more annoyed with the entire thing than actually gaining any valuable information.

She scoffed in frustration and took a step closer to the showerhead, hoping to inspect it more closely. As soon as she stepped under it the entire room shifted around her.

The walls seemed to engulf her. It was surprising enough that she drew her wand in an instant, feeling only moderately foolish when she realized what had happened. She turned around to survey the room as a whole and noticed that a sort of smaller alcove formed around her and the ground shifted around her feet.

The shower cubby, as she named it in her head, was large enough to fit four or five people, if need be. She looked down and noticed the new marble floor, raising her brows at the addition.

She stepped further into the cubby as she continued to explore the charms on the area and instantly realized how big of a mistake that was. She'd almost managed to get the water repelling charm active before she was drenched from all sides by cascading water as nozzles appeared in the entire cubby.

She stood in the flow for a moment, feeling like an absolute moron as the charm prevented more of it from hitting her body, even if the damage was already done.

It was obvious, in hindsight, as it was nothing more than one proximity charm leading to another. The conclusion was more than logical. If getting close to a certain point created the private cubby, then getting even closer could obviously start the water. She should have thought about that without having to explore the magic. If she were setting up something similar that's exactly how she would have done it.

But instead her not thinking, like an idiot, got her drenched. She signed in annoyance although she wasn't quite sure why she was so upset with herself about it. And it wasn't like someone was watching so no one would make fun of her for it.

At least she assumed no one was watching. She stepped out of the cubby, barely noticing as it shimmered away behind her and peered around the room. No one else had come to clean themselves in the moments she'd been gone. Another quick scan of her surroundings, aided with by magical assistance, determined that there didn't seem to be anything recording the room by either magical or Muggle means.

She realized she was being even more paranoid than usual and decided it was time to put on, or rather, take off, her big girl panties and take a damn shower. She charmed her clothing dry and stripped out of it before scampering back into the cubby as it transformed around her.

She couldn't help but giggle as she realized she never canceled the water repelling charm. It only took her a moment to rectify that as water assaulted her from all sides. It was searing hot and quite pleasant. She shifted around in the water to get the most comfortable. Some of the jets hit some rather interesting places.

It was warm, and rather nice, and she had nothing better to do, really, so she stood there and enjoyed it. There seemed to be little reason not to. It wasn't like she had anything better to do? Like what else was she going to accomplish that night? Eat? Sleep?

After a while she conjured some soap and shampoo and cleaned herself. She moved slower than normal, feeling just a bit lethargic as she finished up. Once she'd gone through the routine she continued to stand in the water, letting her body relax.

Eventually, though, her brain won out and she stepped out of the intoxicating sanctuary of the water. The cubby and any remnants of water vanished the instant she did. She conjured new clothing, deciding on a pair of simple canvas pants and a light blouse before taking a moment to make her hair look presentable and stepping into her boots.

After that it was time to be sociable and take the first steps toward figuring out where she was and what was going on. Neither idea seemed appealing in her head. She still felt rather flushed and warm from the shower and wanted to curl up in a bed, cuddled with a blanket or something else, and enjoy the warmth of it all as she finally let her body relax.

It wasn't until she was nearly to the cafeteria that she realized how odd that thought struck her. She hadn't really wanted anything like that in a very long time. It was far out of the realm of her usual fantasies. That alone may have warranted further investigation until a voice called her alias.

"Gina!" Anna said as she stepped into the large room.

"Hello," she responded, her voice sounding small to her own ears. She peered around the communal dining hall, trying to take note of everything without looking like she was sizing up the joint.

The room has about twenty small circular tables littered about but the ten or so other humans in it had opted to put four of them in a circle in the middle. Most of the others littered around the center table, a few large plates of food in front of them.

One man and one woman conversed in a small kitchen nook in the corner. They were smiling as they spoke and the woman thrust her hip into his, attempting to knock him off balance, as she spun around. She was carrying a plate of assorted meats and cheeses which she put down onto the table.

"Thank you Astrid. Hungry?" Anna asked, she shifted her chair away from the table and summoned one of the free ones from a table in the corner over and gestured for Gina to sit. She paused but figured the cordial thing to do was to sit.

"Famished," she admitted. It wasn't quite the truth. She'd gone far longer without food before and she found she could get by on very little. But they'd have known she'd spent the last few days hiking and most of the day doing magic. If she was normal, she would be exhausted and starving. She knew she had to play up to that.

She sat in the chair, intentionally letting her body slouch against the wood as she appraised the surroundings. Astrid sat in the lap of one of the men at the table, shifting against him rather deliberately. Gina did her best not to look, none of her other companions seemed bothered.

She turned her attention to the table and saw they all had serving plates and silverware. She looked around, figuring it had to have been in the kitchen but before she could even make a comment, Anna summoned some to her.

"Help yourself," she said. Gina nodded and served herself from the charcuterie platter. She spoke before eating, as much as the peppered salami did make her salivate.

"Thank you," she said, looking between Anna and Astrid.

"It's no problem," Astrid said.

"Let me introduce you around," Anna said. She gestured to the others in the room before she continued speaking. "This is George, Natalie, Bruno, Karl, and of course you know Jochen."

"We've met," Gina quipped, unable to resist. It earned her a smile from most of the people in the room, Anna included. The other woman merely continued with the introductions. There were far too many names and faces for her to remember all of them. But she knew that wasn't abnormal. All she'd have to do to fit in was be polite and not be too embarrassed to ask a name if she forgot one. She made a mental note to offer to clean up after their meal as others started to pilfer from the charcuterie board.

"And that's everyone," Anna smiled.

"Except me," the man who had been in the kitchen said as he wandered over toward the table and put another platter down on it.

"Except for Jakob," Anna agreed. She plucked some cheese off of the plate and ate it in one bite.

"It's a pleasure," Gina said, trying to limit herself to dainty bites. The pepper was making her thirsty. Jakob seemed to anticipate this as he walked back over toward the kitchen nook and returned with a pitcher of water. There were some joking comments from his companions as they all started to summon various drinks to them. It wasn't hard to tell this was a sort of nightly ritual.

"What's your poison, Gina?" one of the men, Karl, she thought, asked her as he leaned in to serve himself some food.

"Water is fine for me," she said quietly.

"What kind of a lame answer is that?" Astrid teased. Gina stiffened at her words, even if she could tell that the other woman was joking she didn't think being teased was the greatest way to open the conversation.

"I've been hiking for a few days, I'm not sure I should step right into alcohol," Gina said. Again, her words felt quieter than she would have expected, even if she was trying to play meek.

"Which, as a doctor, is a completely fair assessment," George said as Astrid wiggled in his lap to glare at him. He rolled his eyes at her. "Let her hydrate how she wants! But that doesn't mean you get to leave the question unanswered."

"What?" Gina asked, his point not quite clicking in her head.

"What's your poison?" George smiled. "Assuming you aren't dehydrated tomorrow evening and feel comfortable to let a liquid dull your inhibitions."

"Oh, uhm, well, I like wine," Gina surprised herself by having to think about it. The first answer that came into her head, the 'whisky older than you, plebeian,' didn't seem to be appropriate for the situation. And it was clearly Emily's favorite drink, not Gina's. Wine seemed innocuous enough.

"Oh come on! That's a lazy answer," Bruno said.

"What's wrong with wine?" Gina clapped back.

"I love a good IPA, but you could chase me around the cave complex with a stout," Jochen said. Gina frowned to herself, seeing his point rather clearly. She thought about her answer for a few moments. Her gut told her to go with dry Italian whites. But again, that was a default for someone who wasn't supposed to be in that cave.

"I've always liked a good Bordeaux," Gina admitted, hoping that she wouldn't need to get any more specific than that.

"How are we stocked on those?" Astrid asked.

"Poorly. Another thing for the boss's shopping list," Jochen said. "But we do have a Barolo or two left. And I think a Grenache."

"Those work too. I'm not picky." Gina shrugged her shoulders, figuring it was best to not sound like a snobby connoisseur. Of course, she wasn't a connoisseur. Snob, maybe, but she certainly had no real idea what she was talking about when it came to wine.

From there the conversation quickly devolved into talks of alcohol and drunken escapades. Gina had very little to add to these conversations. When pressed, she figured she should just admit she led a fairly boring life rather than make up some story about some general shenanigans she participated in. Lies were harder to keep up than the truth, at any rate.

Which made her question the fact that her entire existence at the moment was a lie. But that was a philosophical dilemma for another time.

She let them talk around her. They didn't make her feel nearly as much like an outsider as they could have. They asked for her stories, her opinions, her comments, or really, anything to get her to talk for a few minutes here or there.

And she'd provide them when pressed. But they all knew she was the newest member of the clique and that they were testing her every bit as much as she was testing them. And they were smart enough to know that a little bit of hospitality could do wonders for winning someone over to your cause.

After about an hour of chatting Astrid moved off of the lap she was using for a chair and walked into the kitchen. Some magic flared around her and Gina recognized some cooking assist charms quickly enough. The alluring scent of baking filled the room and minutes later she returned with a large wildberry torte. A mixing bowl floated behind her, whisking cream into a topping as she set the dessert down on the table.

The senseless chatter of how she shouldn't have made dessert, that they could eat another bite even if dinner hadn't been much more than snacks, and how amazing it smelled bubbled from the lips of nearly everyone at the table. Astrid waved the responses away and insisted she liked baking and had done most of the work earlier in the day.

It was a rather impressive pie. Jakob helped distribute it while Astrid dolled out the freshly whipped cream. Gina observed the ritual of it all, accepting her piece with a smile and a brief thanks. It was remarkably good. Far better than anything she could have baked. Which wasn't overly surprising as she'd never been much of a baker past the most generic of sweets and biscuits.

But what annoyed her was that the other woman had clearly used magic. It took quite a bit of skill to mix magic and baking. Far more than it did for regular cooking. Why? Well, Gina didn't know. She'd once heard a witch quip that science and magic didn't mix, and that extended to baking. But she assumed that was a joke and hadn't ever bothered to explore further. All she knew for sure was that her own attempts at mixing baking and magic often ended with either distilled carbon or some type of explosion. Sometimes both.

If she was being honest, usually both.

It irritated her. Martin had never commented on her general inability to bake. Nor had he seemed to care when she'd buy cakes for birthdays rather than attempt them on her own. He'd always said he loved her cookies or whatever she made. In fact, she couldn't think of a single time when he'd said anything negative about her cooking. She supposed he could have been fibbing, but he did eat it all.

It made her wonder if she should have done it more. Would he have liked it had she been more adventurous? Would he have been amused to come home to a house filled with half-destroyed macarons and her coated in flour and looking exasperated?

Well, probably, he was weird. He thought she was cute when she was failing and frustrated. His opinion couldn't be trusted.

She giggled to herself as she took a bite of the pie. It drew a couple of looks but nothing she couldn't wave away with a comment about how a stray thought amused her for a moment. Her new companions didn't press her for more information, deciding that their pie was more interesting than her. They weren't wrong.

The rest of the evening continued in the same way. After a few hours some of the people started to filter out. They all left in pairs but not in the groupings she'd expected while sitting at the table. Soon it was only her and Jochen left at the table.

He started to clean up, clearing their table and plates with magic before levitating and stacking them in the kitchen area. She'd meant to do that. But there was little point in her helping if there wasn't an audience so she let him do all of the work. She had little interest in ingratiating herself to him.

When he finished he turned his attention to her. She didn't say anything and he didn't seem interested in breaking the silence. She distracted herself by looking around the room, searching for signs of charms in the area. She was interested in seeing what they thought was necessary for a dining hall. All that she could find remnants of, however, was standard cooking and cleaning magic. Unlike the showers she did not think there was any persistent magic in the area.

She came to that conclusion right about the same time that Jochen decided to let her win.

"Are you ready for bed?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" she asked, raising her brows. Jochen only smiled at her. A certain annoying confidence spread across his face.

"You woke up in a sleeping bag, spent most of the morning fighting magic and attempting to be helpful before hiking through the mountains. There's no shame in being tired," Jochen said.

"I'm aware of all of that. You seemed to imply something other than sleeping," Gina responded with as much venom in her voice as she could muster, hoping to do everything in her power to make him realize just how little she was interested in him.

"Did I?" he asked, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy, feigning innocence.

"You did," she confirmed, crossing her arms over her chest and adopting as bitchy of an expression as she could muster.

"I apologize if that is the case," he said. He was good, she thought, deflecting immediately and making her question her own opinion. "I blame your language."

"I'm sure you do," she countered, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"Speak anything other than English?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"None of your business," she shot back as she stood from the table.

"Personable," he countered.

"Japanese," she sighed. That was easy enough to admit to. Not only was it true, but given Gina's employer and choice of residence for most of her adult life, it was the most logical choice.

"Interesting," he said. She shrugged her shoulders to indicate she did not think it was interesting.

"I am going to go to bed," she said.

"Alright," he responded. She stood and made for the door, finding herself rather upset when he followed her.

"I can find my own way," she insisted. Jochen only smiled, adding a nod a moment later.

"I know. We are going in the same direction, though," he said. She walked in front of him. To his credit, rather than stare at her ass, he fell into step alongside her. Which was all it took for something to click.

"You don't want to leave me alone," she said. He picked up on the plural you and merely smiled at her.

"We don't know who you are Gina. Even our hospitality has limits," Jochen said.

"You let me wander around before my shower," she countered.

"We knew where you were," Jochen answered. "The halls are charmed."

"Then why not let me wander back to my own bedroom alone?"

"I'm a bit more of a stickler for our rules than Astrid," Jochen answered.

"Or there's something I'm more likely to stumble upon in the living quarters," Gina answered.

"If that's what you'd like to think. We are not nearly that secretive," Jochen said.

"Yet I still have no idea who you are."

"We told you who we are."

"Or what you're doing here."

"Some things are best kept until morning."

"I've found waiting is very rarely the right decision."

"So you're the impatient type."

"Practical type. You're the ones being exceptionally weird."

"I think we've been very hospitable to a random stranger who showed up with no warning," Jochen said.

"Only after I dealt with your little rapist problem. I hate to think of what fate you'd have left me to had I not been strong enough to deal with that issue for you," Gina countered.

"Oh come now, I'm not that evil," Jochen said. "I just needed the distraction and you worked perfectly for it."

"All while pretending you had no idea what was going on, keeping me intentionally in the dark, and providing no assistance at all," Gina said.

"Well, I wasn't sure you could be trusted," Jochen shrugged.

"And it takes trust to warn a woman away from a serial rapist?" Gina countered. They'd stopped outside of the room she'd been led to earlier. Jochen looked rather stunned by the allegation. She wasn't sure what to make of it. He actually looked rattled.

"I guess I didn't think about it," he said.

"Of course you didn't," she scoffed.

"Would it help if I apologized?" he asked.

"I doubt it," she said. She decided she'd had enough of this conversation so she walked into her room. It was obnoxious that there wasn't a door she could slam in his face, because that would have amused her. She could have made one, but that seemed petty for now. As is she thought she should figure out why these people all seemed so open before she closed herself off.

"I take it you don't want me to join you?" he asked, leaning against her door. His words startled her. She spun around, debating between a hex or a more verbal cursing variety. His confident smirk only served to push her toward the first option.

She knew she couldn't do it though. It would draw far too much attention to her and effectively close her investigation before it could begin. And, perhaps most annoyingly, his offer didn't sound that unappealing. Which struck her as odd, she'd stopped caring about men years ago. The empty aching sensation rushing through her as he smirked at her wasn't so much unfamiliar as it was forgotten.

The best way to deal with this, she thought, was to let some of her old personality filter into her. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him with as much skepticism as she could muster. She remained silent for a moment, as if sizing him up. She gave a small shake of her head, as if disappointed with what she was seeing before she spoke.

"Does that actually work?" she asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

"More often than not," he shrugged but couldn't meet her gaze. "I am quite handsome you know."

"I've seen better," she countered.

"Ouch," he said.

"It's the truth," she shrugged. "Hell, the Iranian mountain guide was better."

"No chance. The beard was awful."

"It needed work. But the base material was far better," she said. She turned away from him, figuring that was enough of a put down for now. She focused and took a deep breath as she loaded the last shell into the cannon, as it were.

"I'll leave you then," he said. She could hear him shift off of the door. He paused for a moment as if waiting for a response. When one wasn't forthcoming he turned to leave.

"Jochen?" she asked, looking over her shoulder as she did her best impression of a coquette.

"Yes?" he asked, spinning around with a comical alacrity.

"Can I give you some unsolicited advice?"

"Uh, I guess?" he answered, taking a step closer to her. She let her expression darken and her eyes narrow before she continued.

"If I were you, I would think long and hard about what you failed to do in that village. And then I would compare it to what I did," she started. She turned and walked toward him, his eyes curious.

"It was impressive," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper. It was clear he thought she was fishing for some sort of compliment. Which proved to her about all she needed to know about his general intelligence.

"I would focus on how much effort it took me. And how much I had left over to try to help. And I would compare that to yourself," she said.

"You are a strong witch," he agreed. She nodded. She already knew that. Hell, anyone with eyes knew that. She held up her hand, palm toward him, and reached to his chest as if to caress him. Before she made contact she let magic flow through her.

Without so much as a word she focused a shockwave on him. She watched as ripped through his body, pushing his chest back as his legs and head seemed to shoot forward. He flew into the wall with a loud crack. When he brought his head up he looked dazed as his eyes tried to focus on her.

"The Americans would call this strike two," she said, remembering a game Martin had insisted on witnessing on their trip to Chicago. "If you ever solicit sex from me again, I will kill you."

"I was just," he started, but his mouth snapped shut as she raised her hand. He probably thought she'd used magic. But all it had taken to silence him was letting him experience a modicum of her power and the fear that entailed.

"Being friendly? Joking? Just fooling around? I'm sure you were," Gina said. "I've heard it all before."

"I really," he started.

"Don't care," she finished his sentence for him. He stared at her, at least having the sense to not rise from the floor.

"How did you do that?" he asked. He bit his bottom lip like an aroused school girl. It wasn't a good look for him.

"I've dealt with advances like that my entire life. I've learned to defend myself. I would hope you are intelligent enough to have learned something from this," she said, intentionally sounding as condescending as possible as she peered down at him.

"Of course," Jochen said. "And I want to learn more."

"Maybe after I learn what's going on here," she snorted at his absurdity. Deep down, she knew she'd just always been right for not liking Germans. Jochen was doing nothing to help his countrymen with her opinion.

Astrid and Anna both seemed fine. Although she was basing their nationality on nothing other than their accent. For all she knew they were Austrian. Or Polish. She wasn't good with accents.

"In the morning then," he said, a smile curving onto his face. It annoyed her. He was supposed to be cowering and terrified, not attracted to her. She wondered if she was losing her touch. It was nothing the Cruciatus curse couldn't fix.

Even for her that was rather excessive. Instead she slipped her wand from her pocket and turned her attention to the doorway.

"What do you people have against doors?" she asked.

"We're very open here," he said.

"I gathered that. Privacy still has a place in life."

"There's charms for that," he said, gesturing down the hallway toward the next room. There was a surprising amount of distance between the rooms for how small they were. Granted the space issues could also be solved with some simple spells. The next doorway she saw was shrouded in a black mist. It was an easy and effective barrier spell. Especially when one didn't need to cover a large space.

"Fair enough," she said. She stepped back into the room, sparing one last look at Jochen before casually waving her wand toward the door. The walls of the room slid, forming into an elaborate door that affixed itself to the doorway. She locked it with a flick of her wrist before adding a series of intruder charms. Ones that were strong enough to let her know if someone as much as thought about approaching the door. One final charm made it so she could still see the hallway on the other side.

She tossed her wand onto the small desk in the corner. She looked around the room, scanning for any signs of magic, for any sign that she might be watched, for any sign that felt even the slightest bit unusual.

There was nothing.

Well, there was a chance that she'd missed something. So she double checked. Again finding nothing. Paranoia told her to check a third time. But her eyes were growing droopy and it was strangely warm in the bedroom.

Well, it was strangely warm everywhere in the complex. She could feel the sheen of sweat making her clothing stick to her. She frowned at herself in the mirror as she peeled off of her clothing, finding the sudden chill on her bare skin to be quite nice. She thought about conjuring a gown or a robe or anything else to keep herself decent.

Instead she was distracted by the bed. It was small, but she fixed that with a wave of her hand, settling on a queen. The alluring Sherpa blankets from before littered it and suddenly her mind was filled with nothing but the thought of how they would feel on her skin. She conjured a towel and dabbed away the sweat that built up since her shower. She knew she'd grow used to but for now she wanted to feel dry, even if her body was being uncooperative.

She walked over toward the bed and spread out the blankets. She lay on the wool of one while pulling another over her skin. She adjusted the pillow before darkening the magical lighting in the room with another wave of her hand.

She cocooned herself in the blankets, relishing in the feeling of being embraced even if it was entirely fake. She let her eyes close and let her attention drift. She intended to use magic to explore the cave that evening.

As such, she only allowed herself a few minutes of rest in the warm embrace of the blankets before she refocused. She let her mind drift, looking for signs of magic worth exploring.

She shifted in the blankets, sighing as they caressed her. She pressed her legs together and distracted herself by trying to find the source of some of the more powerful spells on the area. She focused on the warmth of the room and the caves as a whole. That seemed unusual enough that it felt like the place to start. She thought she found something. And when she focused more she found traces of other spells converging on one spot. She opened her eyes in the dark room and thought about her next action. She decided on a technique she hadn't used in decades.

It wasn't too dissimilar from the wraith from she'd used to fly. In fact, she'd come up with this particular magic while experimenting with that form.

If done right, she could put herself into a magical wraith construct and explore while leaving her body behind. It was exhausting, but served many uses. The most prominent of which was near invisibility. She felt her mind slip from her body and she floated out of the room.

She moved down the hallway, the lights were no longer on. Jochen, she figured, must have dimed the magical lights before he'd gone to his own room. It made it more difficult for her to navigate but it was manageable.

She followed the hallways, floating slowly to make sure she missed nothing in the dark corridors. She struggled to keep her focus on the wraith as well as follow the residual magic.

It didn't help that with each twist or each turn or every twitch of her head the soft blankets sent a wonderful jolt through her body. Her mind screamed at her to stop the magic, that it could wait, that she was exhausted and that there were so much more restful and pleasurable things she could be doing.

Which was stupid, another part of her mind argued. For one, she'd already done that and it hadn't really helped, and for two she was accustomed to little sleep and lots of work and this was nothing new.

It took her a few minutes to realize she was shifting around more than she needed to as a wraith. And that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, given that she did the same loop in the cavern twice.

It wasn't worth it. She blinked her way back into her body and stared upwards at the darkness above her.

Something wasn't sitting well with her. Something she was missing. But she'd been working hard over the last few days. Putting forth far more effort than this new body was accustomed to, perhaps she was just exhausted. She closed her eyes and tried to let her mind rest.

But even that didn't sit well with her. It didn't feel like exhaustion from labor. Her muscles didn't hurt. In fact, she'd been surprised by how quickly she seemed to recover and how much better she felt for the exercise.

If she was honest, she had more energy than she could remember. Even now her mind quickly shot to a possible outlet of that energy. Which was concerning. It got there far too quickly. A voice in the back of her head told her it was wrong. But everything else was a confused mess.

She rolled herself over, curling the blankets closer to her and slamming her eyes shut. It had to be exhaustion. What else could it possibly be? She would rest up and come at it with a clear head. There was no reason to think her investigation couldn't wait until the morning.

Author's Note: As always thanks for reading and reviewing. I do appreciate all of the support that I receive. If you wish to support me further I am available on PAT RE ON at TE7Writes. There are currently two additional chapters of CTS live over there as well as the first three chapters of my next Harry/Daphne fic.