Free Hold Their Peace (Vampire Assassin League) by Jackie Ivie

look. Eyes half closed. Lips pursed. It didn’t do much. Every hair on her was still alert with goose bumps.
    “You know what, Thanos? I’m thinking we need a little breather here.”
    “Breather?”
    “Yeah. Timeout. You know...like a lapse in our proximity. I could use it finding a bathroom. I might use the facilities. I mean, just because time stopped when I arrived here, doesn’t mean physiology did, too. I could go for a shower, too. You might not need one, being undead and all, but I sure do. I’ve been working out for hours while wearing a ton of iron...and prior to that, I was doing some pretty heavy bedroom exercise.”
    He didn’t change expression, although his eyes didn’t look remotely brown anymore. They were obsidian black. Reflective. Looking into them caused tremors along her legs that culminated in shaky knees. But because he’d made her wear mid-calf length, short-sleeve, linen dresses for their swordplay, that part of her reaction was completely hidden.
    “And after that, I’ll search you out in the man-cave room of yours.”
    “Man-cave?”
    “Where you had all the catalogs and magazines. The place where we first...uh. You know. Tore our clothes off.”
    He nodded. She blazed on.
    “So. Hey. It’s a plan, then? I’ll go and find a shower, and you’ll – I don’t know – hang out in a coffin or something. Or maybe you could go add a little weight to the end of my sword with your big hammer?”
    “You need to take it with you. Get used to how it feels.”
    “And I sure will, just as soon as you add a little weight to the end so it doesn’t feel like I’m swinging a light stick. Okay?”
    Darcy held it out to him by the blade. He finally reached for it, rippling all kinds of muscle. She almost sighed. Dang! He was one fine male! And she had to get her mouth in gear, or they’d probably be doing their other time management item: making love. And that was a really pleasant thought. She cleared her throat.
    “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find a shower, and...you know. Freshen up. You do have a shower around here, yes?”
    Nothing moved for the longest time, and then he nodded. Once. In slow motion. The look he was giving her slapped her heart into an almost-painful thud. That was odd. She hadn’t even noticed a heart rate during their training session. With her expenditure of energy her pulse should have been hammering more than once. That was more weirdness.
    “...and you have hot water?”
    “I run a generator. I have all the amenities.”
    “All right then. How about some directions through your labyrinth? And we’ll meet up in about an hour. Fair?”
    For a bit there, she didn’t know if he’d answer her. He wasn’t giving her any sign, one way or the other. And then he finally told her, in a combination of turns she should have paid closer attention to.

CHAPTER NINE
    Oh shit. And damn. And rat-bastard. And a few other choice words. She was frickin’ lost. Again . She hated this maze of hallways! They all looked alike. She hated the mass of corridors, even if they were nicely lit. She was growing to detest rock. It was so...dull. Black. Gray. Sometimes speckled with lighter gray. Ugh. Good thing she wasn’t claustrophobic because everywhere she looked she got a view of rock and more rock. Walls. Ceilings. Floors.
    And then there was the smell. She’d gone down corridors that smelled dank, hallways that reeked of wet earth. Both probably meant she was near a water source, but she’d been unable to find it. It hadn’t been a bathroom with a shower. That span of rock hadn’t led anywhere except to a corridor she’d already been in. And then, near the generator area, there had been the most unpleasant burnt odor. Damn everything! She was rapidly growing to hate this entire place. The continual humming of his generator, as well as the heat that came from the span of hallways she just entered. And look . There was the smoky haze she had to see through