She drank in the taste of the air, its heat, and it almost brought color back to her cheeks; almost, her body arched and head tilted to lap the cold of the air left above these wreathes of mist. She paused at the water's edge, perfect toes curled over spotless brick and dripping already with the barest embrace of the condensation that formed on her skin. They all spilled as obvious trails and beads of water, every imperfection highlighted by the presence she seemed to cast and immediately disavowed by the same. She was a force more than this water. She was denser than its heat. She was brighter than its fire. She stood out, and then she slipped inside, and she disappeared in its folds as a specter.
Coventina Carmen found herself the shark in the water of the hot springs, murmuring blissfully and moving immediately within its pool to splay out her long black tresses and tend them through the wet. They spread like inky tentacles on its surface, a witch of the depths, and the leisure she took in the descent of her body beneath its mirror only further cemented her domain.
"Mmm ..."