My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 423

Sera

"I'm coming in."

I pushed the door open, already talking mid-sentence: "Mina, I swear you wouldn't believe what just happened..."

The living space was empty...

But I heard splashing water from the bath area. I looked towards it. Still holding Amara, we walked towards it.

"Hey Mina, I—"

"Ah, what the fuck!" Mina yelped, startled; something she had tucked near her ear fell into the churning water. She froze, eyes wide with panic, staring at me like she'd just seen a ghost.

The words died in my throat as I caught sight of Mina in the stone bath tub.

I stood there, staring, trying to reconcile what I was seeing. Mina looked away, her hands plunging into the tub's depths, fingers splayed open. She searched frantically, still cursing under her breath, at me, at herself.

Her eyes went wide. She'd found it. She pulled out a small black object, dripping wet. Her expression was filled with worry as she held it gingerly in front of her face. "No no no... please no..."

Still begging, she stood and stepped out of the tub in one fluid motion. Water splashed off her naked body as she walked straight past me and Amara, who had followed on two feet and stood in the main room. Mina didn't even seem to register either of us as she stalked by, the black object clutched in her hands.

I stared back at the empty tub for a second, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Then I realised how precious that small object must be to her, to walk right out of the bath without even noticing Amara. What she was holding mattered more to her than her own nakedness.

I turned back to Mina. She was still cursing under her breath, pacing the main room now, staring down at the black thing in her hands.

Then the realization hit me like a blow to the chest. That was a phone, and Mina was just on a call with someone. Inside Ironmaw. I don't have a phone; I never asked for one and always knew it was impossible. Yet Mina has one. That didn't make any sense.

At first, I didn't say anything. I just stood there and watched Mina come completely undone over this. She was naked on her bed, using a piece of clothing to dry off the device. Every so often she blew air into it, shaking it around like that would somehow fix whatever was wrong.

Her face was scrunched up, red and puffy like she was going to crying. I had never seen Mina like this before. I had seen her angry, frustrated, and all kinds of things. But not this. It was almost... pitiful.

"Mina!" I called her name. No response.

Mina's bare feet scraped against the stone floor as she paced in a tight, uneven circle. Hands clenched into fists at her sides, she swung her arms with each turn.

"Damn it," she hissed under her breath. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." The words tumbled from her lips in a low growl.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify