#roman baths

Caldarium

Chapter 7: Let Come What Comes

Derek paused on the threshold, unfamiliar and tentative in the heavy air. He had fought in swamps and snowfields, bled in streams, and bathed in rivers where the current could take a man’s life. This place of marble and music, where men lounged half-naked while servants poured oils from glass vessels, was an entirely new battleground. Stiles, already shrugging out of his cloak, grinned at him over his shoulder. “Do not glare so, wolf. It’s not a den of enemies. It’s a temple to comfort, Rome’s truest religion.”