Yet he considered her ghosting him into the earth horrifying? “That arrow doesn’t hurt you or your allies?”
“I make us immune. I’ll add runes to spare you as well.”
“So that’s what Nïx was talking about.” When she’d been breaking my limbs. “Have you ever shot one of those?”
“Today I used it against troops of ice demons before I went to Dalli’s. She’s my friend I told you about.” He returned the arrow.
“Dalli’s a friend with benefits?” No denial. He’d gotten with that female less than a day ago. Jo’s claws sharpened. It seemed like weeks had passed. “So you had time to get busy with a nymph and go into battle?”
He shrugged, his demeanor all no big deal, then moved to the black arrow. “We call this”—he tapped the feathered end—“one-and-done. When I shoot a target in the neck, the arrow severs his head cleanly, which makes things tidier when I need proof of a kill.” His fingers skimmed a gray arrow. “This one is the eraser. It will explode an immortal’s body into small chunks.”
That’d probably be a trip to see. “And the red arrows?”
“I’ve dipped the arrowheads in my poison. Most Loreans won’t survive even that dose.”
“Who was the last person you assassinated?”
“A descendant of that queen. Before I killed Magh, I swore I’d stamp out her entire line.” Just talking about that female made his eyes glint with hatred. “Each Møriør wants something in the Gaia realms. I work toward retribution.”
“Do the others have vendettas?”
“Some, but there’s more.” He seemed to be deciding how much to tell her.
“Like what? Do you plot worlds domination?” she asked, trying to lighten his mood once more.
Deadly serious, he said, “Yes.”
Whoa. “Are you going to set up some kind of dictatorship?”
“How would that be different from what you do in your neighborhood? You police it and protect your people from threats. Imagine if your actions alone kept your entire neighborhood—no, your nation—from absolute destruction.” He shot his glass, then picked up hers. “I want you to meet Orion. He’d best explain it to you.”
Rune wanted to introduce her to his people? “You’d arrange a meeting?”
“In time. As I’ve said, you need allies. You could have none finer.”
“Do any of the other ones have a mate?”
He coughed on his drink. “Why would you ask that?” He cleared his throat, emptied the jug, then signaled for another.
“Because I’m totally yours.”
He looked rattled. “I’m not even a demon. I’m a dark fey—and they don’t get mates.”
“Says who?”
“I’ve never met a dark fey who had one.”
Funny how he didn’t say Jo could never be a possibility. “But you don’t know a lot of them, right?”
“I thought we agreed you had a crush.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Nope. Wouldn’t have agreed with that.”
“Then explain how you can be so sure.”
“The first time blood touched my tongue, I knew I was a blood-drinker forever. I didn’t need to date Blood for a few months and then move in with Blood and meet Blood’s family to be sure.”
“Yes, but that’s instinct.”
“Exactly. Don’t you trust yours?”
Instead of answering her, he asked, “Do you think the reverse is true? That I’m yours?”
“I thought they went together.”
“Often, but not always.” He leaned in closer, peering into her eyes. “Am—I—yours?”
She leaned in as well. “I’d—lay—odds.”
He drank again. “When a Lorean male finds his mate from a different species, the female is usually resistant. I’ve seen more than one acquaintance go to hellish lengths to secure a future with a mate who is other. I’d expect you to fight every step of the way. Not ask for a commitment on day four!”
“What a breath of fresh air I am. Look, I know what I want, and I’ve been waiting for this. So just spitball with me. What would happen if I was your mate and we had sex?”
“My body would recognize yours. I’d begin to produce seed for you,” he said, his voice getting huskier.
“You like imagining that?”
His eyes darkened even more. “The idea of filling you with my cum? Fuck yes, it’s erotic as hell.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “Yet the reality would prove to be anything but—if this were even possible. Everything in me is poisonous. Why should I expect my semen to be different?”