Remi opened her eyes, surprised to find that she'd been asleep for quite some time. The lake water had become considerably darker through the large glass window, which told her that it was late into the night. She must have fallen asleep in her thoughts while her cousins were talking away.

Remi sat up slowly, water falling from her shoulders and splashing back into the hot springs, water rippling around her.

Upon finding her cousins asleep across from her, their heads laid back against the red stone floor, a grin broke out across Remi's face. Their faces were peaceful, and their eyes were closed.

Killure's deep, silky smooth voice startled her, echoing off the condensation-covered stone walls. "You're awake."

She jumped at the sound of his voice, before chiding herself for being so jumpy.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then turned to him. He was watching her through half-lidded eyes, amusement tilting up of corners of his lips.

"I thought you were asleep," she muttered.

A slow, tantalizing smile spread across his lips as he sat up and leaned in towards her, royal blue eyes peering at her intensely.

His dark curls had straightened out slightly from becoming wet, and droplets of water trailed down his strong neck, dripping below the neckline of his shirt. A light fog shrouded the air around them, but his eyes were as clear and startling as ever.

Remi found herself struggling to hold his gaze, and in a moment of defeat, her eyes fell to where the water droplets had gone. The V-neck of his shirt showed off his strong collarbone, and even through the water Remi could vaguely make out the hard ridges of his chest showing through his tight shirt. She wondered what he would look like without that damned shirt on, and her fingers itched to rip it off. Remi's mouth began to water.

"If I fell asleep, how could I protect you?" He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his royal blue orbs as she snapped her eyes back up to his face. She could smell his enchanting masculine scent of pine and wood, and the mint on his breath.

Remi hid the way her heart missed a beat at his words by laughing and shrugging her shoulders.

She quickly ducked her head beneath the surface, completely submerging herself in the scorching depths of the water. She loved the feel of it against her skin, the way it burned, although she knew that her legs and arms would probably be as red as tomatoes when she finally got out and dried off.

She hovered beneath for a few more seconds, wondering what it was like for the mermaids and sirens, being able to breathe beneath the water and explore the lake's depths to their hearts content. And, for those living in the magic of the ocean, it must be astounding to be able to go wherever you wanted, at almost whatever depth you wanted, exploring things based on your whims and desires. It sounded so freeing.

When she finally ran out of breath, Remi sat back up and breathed in the misty air deeply. It moistened her throat, refreshing her body.

Her bun was sagging and her hair was completely soaked now and dripped water down her back, but she no longer cared. It was worth it, and she could always bathe again later and wash it.

Remi turned to find Killure staring at her, his eyes dark and stormy. "What?" she asked curiously.

He stared for a moment longer before closing his eyes and angling his body away from her. "Nothing, doll."

With his back now to her, Remi noticed high ridges coming a couple inches out of the centre of his upper back, right where his wings normally emerged from, in abnormal, inconsistent arcs. It was as if a bag of bones had been stuffed beneath his skin and sewn back up.

She marvelled at the way he could simply retract such gigantic wings into his body. It was astounding. She wondered if there would be heavy scarring from all the times his skin has been ripped open to spread his wings. But, of course, she couldn't tell through his shirt.

Almost entranced, Remi reached out a hand and touched the ridges through his shirt, brushing her thumb back and forth along one of them in curiosity.

Killure groaned and leaned into her touch, which surprised her. She immediately pulled back, looking at him in worry. "Did I hurt you?"

He angled his back away from her, and she didn't know if it was a trick of the light or if she was seeing correctly, but Killure's cheeks almost seemed slightly flushed. "Quite the opposite, doll," he said lowly, his voice quiet and strained.

Before Remi could say any more, the door to the room creaked open and the handsome male servants from before walked in, their expressions pleasant.

"We came to bring you towels and take you to your rooms for the evening, but companions seem to have fallen asleep," he said with a wide smile.

Remi snickered in reply. "They do that all the time."

Pursing her lips, she slowly stood up and waded across the springs to where her cousins were sleeping, swaying her hips a little for extra effect. She could feel Killure's eyes and the eyes of the male servants on her, and smirked.

Her cousin's heads were leaned so far back that Remi wouldn't doubt if their necks were sore when they woke up. She held back a chuckle. It would serve them right for falling asleep everywhere, all the time, and leaving it up to her to wake them up.

Remi placed a hand on her cousins' shoulders and violently shook them awake.

Her eye twitched in annoyance at having to do this, yet again. She was always, always waking them up. Many times a day, in many different places. Remi concluded that if it wasn't for her, her cousins would sleep away their entire lives.

Slowly, the twins came to. They opened their groggy eyes at the same time, peering up at her like perfect dolls through their identical emerald-green eyes. "Did we fall asleep again?" Blue asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"You always do," Remi muttered, helping them both up and over to the stairs. Tiredly, they climbed up and allowed the servants to dry them off.

One seemed to be getting quite friendly with Bliss, happily drying off her breasts while she was still trying to wake up.

"Give me that," Remi muttered, snatching the towel away from him and drying her cousin herself. The poor girl was far too vulnerable at times.

"Would you like some help as well?" one of the servants crowed to Remi, holding up a dry towel in his hands with a sly grin.

She pursed her lips, taking the towel from his arms. "No."

She took Bliss by the arm and led her to the women's' change room to get them both away from prying hands and eyes.

Bliss was slowly starting to wake up fully, the groggy haze in her eyes clearing up. Then she pouted, mouthing the words, 'You should have let him dry me off.'

Remi rolled her eyes as she took off her bikini top and laid it on the wooden counter beside her. "I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Bliss, already out of her swimsuit, pulled a white pajama shirt over her head and winked as if to say 'good.'

Remi fished out a clean, silk robe from the small leather bag she'd brought and slipped it on. As she tied the soft, white sash around her waist, a thought occurred to her. "I was wondering about something."

Bliss raised both her eyebrows, urging Remi to ask away.

Remi parted her mouth, and then closed it. How should she phrase this without sounding odd?

Finally, at the impatient tapping of her cousin's foot, she decided to just spit it out. Say it how it was.

"Before you woke up, I touched Killure's back."

'Your Icix?' she mouthed, unsure if that's who they were talking about. Of course she wouldn't know his name, Remi chided herself.

"Yeah. He had a few ridges that were popping out of his back from where his wings normally come out of. I could see them through his shirt."

Bliss tipped her lips up into a sly grin, mouthing, 'You touched him there? Did he purr?'

Remi gave her a funny look and laughed. "Purr? Whatever do you mean?"

Her cousin slipped on a pair of matching white shorts and tied the string in a pretty bow. She then mouthed something, but it was too long and Remi lost what her cousin was trying to say. After a few more failed tries, Bliss finally just walked over and took hold of Remi's arm, and began to write words on it.

The skin covering the ridges of an Icix's back is very sensitive, she wrote, a funny smile still on her face. Touching, or massaging it, basically elicits the same feeling a dog gets when you rub its belly, or a person gets when someone is gently playing with their hair, but much better.

Remi looked up to her cousin in surprise, before glancing back down at her arm when she felt her cousin begin writing again.

Touch your Icix there, or on the base of his wings, and he'll practically melt into a puddle in your hands. Handlers of the past sometimes did this to coax their Icix to take out his wings. Or to lure them into a vulnerable position in order to stab them in the back.

Remi only really paid attention to the first part of what she'd said, blushing and pulling her arm away. She swung her bag up over her shoulder. "Seriously? Earlier, I thought I'd hurt him."

Bliss laughed before taking Remi's hand and leading her out of the change room.

A terrible plan began to form in Remi's mind.