Cursed by Malignant Magic (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

L egacy seemed willing to risk her life to get a bath, and at the moment, I couldn't say I blamed her. I might consider it as well.

We had been arguing back and forth for long enough that I was sure the water was freezing cold. Too bad for her. I didn't regret messing with her. It was only fair.

"Enough!" Legacy barked.

I cocked my eyebrows as she dropped to her knees, digging in the bag against the far wall, too far away for me to do anything with. Probably why she had put it so far away. She wasn't a fool. Unfortunately.

For a moment, I wondered if she was going to stab me since the dagger she'd held to my throat had come out of that bag. Instead, she pulled out the shirt she'd been wearing before, the bottom shredded for the bandage wrapped tightly around my leg.

Holding one end in her mouth, she grasped the shirt in her teeth and ripped a long strip from it. Standing, she stalked toward me.

My eyebrows rose even higher. "If you think you're going to gag me with that, I suggest you think otherwise. I promise you will get hurt if you try."

My magic still slumbered beneath my skin and seemed reluctant to rise to my call, no doubt from the pain and weakness my injury had caused. She had also taken the bracelet I'd stolen from her, so it was even less likely that I could control the magic.

Better to bite if she tried anything. I wasn't above it.

Legacy rolled her eyes but didn't stop moving toward me. "I hadn't considered gagging you, although now I wish I had. But I know it wouldn't last long."

"And this will?"

She nodded, stopping in front of the bed. "Yes, because if you don't try anything and leave it on while I undress and get in the bath, then you can bathe too."

I hesitated for a moment, debating. But it was an easy enough request, and it wasn't like I wanted to see her naked.

Besides, she wouldn't hurt me while I was blindfolded, and I was covered in blood and mud. A bath would be a minor miracle at this point.

When I didn't disagree, Legacy stepped forward to tie the cloth around my eyes. I blinked a few times to adjust to the feel of my long lashes brushing the fabric then opted to close them instead.

"I don't think we know each other quite well enough for this yet," I mused, trying to hide the strain in my voice.

Legacy snorted and moved away, then a rustle of clothing sounded. That must’ve been her getting undressed, and my cheeks flushed as my mind wandered. Not a safe path of thought.

I let my head fall back against the headboard, trying not to think about anything in particular.

“You know, I had never considered whether or not I enjoy being tied up,” I blurted.

Water sloshed, but it took a moment for Legacy to answer. “And now?”

“I do not,” I said primly, folding my hands as well as I could with my wrists tied.

I couldn’t see more than a vague outline through the blindfold, and the longer I waited, the more rapidly I lost patience. How long was she going to take? Finally, I grew tired of waiting for her to get out of the water. I sighed peevishly before I reached up to pull the blindfold off.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, that was at almost exactly the same moment she decided to step out of the water. My eyes widened as I took in her lean frame. I only looked for a moment before I jerked my gaze away, but the outline of her body had imprinted on the backs of my eyes.

We were the same gender, so it wasn't as if she had anything that I had never seen before, but that didn't change the spark of heat in my lower belly, nor the fact that my throat felt too warm and full. She had curves where a hard life with little food had stripped me of any I might have had, my own frame more lanky than lean. Her long hair, dripping wet from the water, nearly covered her full breasts, and she'd already been wrapping a towel around herself, so I hadn't seen much more.

Still, I was suddenly very glad I had taken the blindfold off when I had, even if I shoved that thought away.

Legacy sighed, and I flicked my gaze back to her, almost disappointed that she had wrapped the towel fully around herself. Other than her long legs and her wet hair, she’d covered everything important before wringing out her hair over the tub.

"I should have known that I couldn't trust you," she said.

I shrugged. "You only said that I had to leave it on while you were getting undressed and in the tub. Not when you got out."

That had not at all been my train of thought, but there was no way I would admit anything else to her. Flirting was one thing because both of us knew that it would never go anywhere until we could trust one another. I couldn't let her see how much she affected me.

She rolled her eyes again, but the corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile, although it disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. The towel rode up on her thighs as she crouched next to the bag again and drew the dagger from before.

I should have been afraid, but I wasn't. If she had been planning to hurt me, she would have done it already.

As predicted, Legacy didn't hurt me. She didn't cut through the ropes either, which would have been the smart thing to do, at least in my opinion. Instead, she held the dagger loosely in one hand as she untied my wrists, leaving the other end of the rope tied around the bed.

I rubbed the tender spots on my wrists carefully, resisting the urge to shove her away as I crawled off the bed. At this point, all I wanted was a bath, and I didn't even care that we were sharing the same water, nor if it was cold. I just wanted to get some of this blood and dirt off me.

"I don't care if you watch," I tossed over my shoulder, trying to take back even the slightest bit of control.

I pulled my clothes off in quick yanks, my finger catching on the hole in my pants where my injury was. The bandage underneath came off next, and I tossed it on the pile of clothes on the floor.

"You owe me new pants," I grumbled as I crawled into the bath.

As expected, it was lukewarm at best, but it was still better than I'd had in a long time. I sank beneath the water and scrubbed at my skin with a clean cloth from the edge of the tub.

"I thought you might prefer me cutting your pants to me taking them off, but it wasn't as if I could ask you, considering you were unconscious," Legacy snarked behind me.

More rustling sounded, so presumably she was getting dressed, and she couldn't see the face I made.

"If you had listened to me the first time I told you I was injured, we might not have had that problem," I shot back.

I got nothing in return but a grunt, not that I cared. I had made my point, and I was more than happy to focus on cleaning myself. My leg ached, and sharp stabs of pain jolted through me as I carefully cleaned the last remnants of the blood away. An infection was the last thing I needed right now, especially considering how little Legacy had cared about my injury until it had been a problem for her .

Once I finished bathing, I stepped out and dried off as best as I could. Legacy lay sprawled out on the bed, watching me as I dried off. I wrapped the bandage around my leg once more then reached down to grab my clothes. They were dirty, but they were all I had.

Instead, though, I found a fresh shirt and pants that must have been Legacy's. She didn't meet my eyes when I looked at her.

"We're about the same size, so at least they shouldn't fall right off you,” she said. “We'll draw less attention if you aren't completely covered in blood and filth."

Another almost kindness, something that I couldn't understand from her. Still, I muttered a “thanks,” pulled the clothes on, and crawled into the bed next to her.

There was only one bed, so it wasn't as if I had another option. I was the one injured, and I wasn't sleeping on the floor. Still, I gritted my teeth when she wrapped the rope around my wrists once more, not as tightly as before, but still enough that I couldn't escape without some serious work.

"How am I meant to sleep like this?" I asked.

Legacy shrugged. "You'll figure it out."

I muttered under my breath, my small burst of goodwill gone, as she shifted her arm under the pillow and turned away from me. A flash of silver caught my attention, my gaze snagging on the dagger from before, tucked beneath her pillow where she could easily reach it.

A plan had already started forming in my mind, so I only had to wait. I closed my eyes and did my best to pretend to sleep, content to take my time.

Impatience had gotten me into trouble before.

This time, I would wait.

Hours passed before I was finally convinced that Legacy was fully asleep, at least enough for me to risk reaching for the dagger. Her breathing didn't change, and I moved as slowly as I could manage, the blade cool in my grip as I touched it with my fingers and pulled it toward me.

Part of me was tempted to escape right now, but there was no way that would end well. I didn't know where we were, let alone how to get out of this building, or how many people were here. For all I knew, there was someone outside the door waiting for me to try just that.

Instead, I carefully sawed through the thick ropes around my wrists, leaving just enough fibers that they looked complete, but not so much that I wouldn't be able to snap the ropes entirely if the situation called for it. Until I had a better plan, I was safer here, but that didn't mean I was a fool.

With a smirk, I slid the dagger back under Legacy's pillow and turned to face away from her so that she didn't see my expression if she happened to open her eyes.

I was biding my time, but now, at least, I had a chance of escape.