A huge gust of wind caught Mouse in the back. He almost fell off the bench and had to catch himself on the floor, hair whipping around his shoulders.

Felix slid backward, startled. The blindfold slipped down his face.

Mouse lunged and pushed the blindfold back up. “Don’t look!”

“I wasn’t, I wasn’t!” Felix fumbled with the ties.

Craning over his shoulder, Mouse peered in the direction the wind blew from. An errant wind? Not some kind of spell?

Nothing. No sign of magic or errant behavior. Mouse frowned, still peering over his shoulder. It wasn’t windy earlier. Is a storm coming?

Another blast of wind. Mouse barely caught himself against the wall before he slammed into Felix. “Uh—sorry.” There’s got to be something going on. This isn’t natural.

“N…no, that’s… alright…” Felix turned away, leaning back against the wall. Mouse’s hair dangled on his face and chest, Mouse’s arms propped on either side of him, their legs colliding. A fierce blush crawled over Felix’s face and chest. He laid completely still, almost afraid to breathe.

Still peering over his shoulder, Mouse narrowed his eyes. A flicker of motion passed on the far side of the spring’s walls. “Did you see that?”

“No!” Felix protested.

Mouse glanced back. Oh right, the blindfold. A second later, he blushed as well, pushing away from Felix. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

Wait, why am I blushing? We’re both men. Ugh, his embarrassment is wearing off on me.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

More motion. Wind began to swirl, rushing around them. The water twisted on the surface, spinning along with the wind. Mouse stood, water waist-deep on him. He turned and reached for his sword, only for his hand to brush against towel and bare thigh. Dammit, right. Did I even bring it to the springs? Fuck.

“Mouse? Is something going on?” Felix asked. He reached for the blindfold.

“Keep that on!” Mouse snapped, knotting the towel at his chest. He closed his eyes and reached for his magic again, calling it up. C’mon. This time, please…

The blight fought back, a dull ache in his veins. He pushed past it, shoving the pain to the background to keep his focus. His hair whipped around him, caught by the wind, towel fluttering. Magic swirled to his call, spinning into a silvery mesh. He released it all at once, and it blasted into the area, blanketing just over the floor.

“The detection spell? Mouse, what’s happening?” Felix demanded.

A map appeared in his head. Black dots grouped on the far side of the spring’s walls, one so dark it almost blotted out all the rest, a bleeding ink-stain that soaked blight into the environment around it.

“Shit. Felix, get out.”

Something slammed into the wall. Cracks spread across the wood, and splinters flew.

“Get out? Why? What’s that sound?” Felix reached out blindly and grabbed Mouse’s towel. He pulled off the blindfold with the other hand. “Mouse, don’t leave me in the dark.”

The knot slipped. Mouse’s towel fell. He grabbed at it and missed, whirled, and found Felix staring. Felix opened his mouth.

Before he could say anything, Mouse closed the distance and punched him in the temple. Felix’s eyes rolled back, and he went limp. Mouse caught him before he sunk into the water.

“Sorry about that, Your Majesty,” he murmured. He lifted Felix out of the water and readjusted his towel, then climbed out himself. Did he see? With all the steam… no, he saw. Ah, fuck. Maybe I can convince him it was a hallucination or something?

Argh! Problems for later. He jumped out of the hot spring and grabbed up Felix.

Seconds later, the wall crashed in. A spider as tall as the hot springs’ building stepped through, a slash of white at their forehead. At the sight of Mouse, it threw back its head and screamed, “Mortals, die!”

A dozen of the winged demons in black flanked it to either side. They rushed into the hot springs. “Grab the princesses!”

Wait, those wings… I’ve seen them before. Mouse paused, brows furrowed.

The winged demons paused as well. “There’s only one princess?”

Mouse grinned. “Haha.”

“Wait, but that—that’s the Mage-Emperor! Get him!”