Her leverage disappearing? She ground her teeth. “Maybe you’re right about the harpies.” Erebus, warring with the sisterhood again... Yeah, maybe they were better off sleeping. “But you’re wrong about me. I promise you, I’ll find a way to win. I’m already ahead. Your tally is one. Mine is currently five.”
Leery, he asked, “Five what?”
“Boner pops.”
* * *
The things this woman said! The things she did. Roc had no idea how to proceed with her. Laugh? Curse? Simply enjoy the ride?
He couldn’t erase the feel of her from his mind, either. And the taste of her...
Sweeter than honey.
He bore an attraction to her, and she knew it. She’d decided to simulate a seduction, using his own body against him. Just to force him to surrender to her will.
Never again.
Ian, the traitor, failed to contain his laughter. The others sneaked glances at the harpy as if she were some kind of strange creature who’d emerged from a far-off galaxy. Even the cynical Silver.
Needing a distraction, Roc heaped different kinds of food onto Taliyah’s plate. “Eat, never mention boner pops again, and I’ll answer your questions. I’m sure you have many more.” Maybe, if he kept her eating and relaxed, she would cease smoldering, daring him to grab her again.
She examined the selection of food and grimaced, but dutifully forked a bite of rice. Which she pretended to eat while dumping the contents in a waiting napkin. Did she think he dosed her food with a sedative, to make her more pliable?
Roc rolled his eyes, reached out and stabbed something from her plate to prove she could eat without worry. “I will never poison you.”
“Yes,” she responded, her tone dry, “you prefer to tear your victims to pieces, don’t you?”
“When necessary.” Where had she stood during this morning’s battle? He’d looked for her.
“Ugh. Lame response.” She shook her free hand up and down, making a crude motion with her fist before pretending to take another bite of food. “How are you planning to spend the next thirty days while I’m busy killing you? Help me understand what’s on tap.”
The ability to predict her reactions and responses exceeded his skill set. “I’ll kill phantoms and build an altar.”
Roc’s chest clenched, and he rubbed the alevala-free spot above his heart. Almost alevala-free. More of the image now stained his skin. Not that Taliyah could see it beneath his shirt. A garment an Astra wore only in the presence of nonthreats. The warlords wanted their enemies to witness what they’d done. To know the being they fought.
“I’ve heard of phantoms, like I said, but I’ve never combat any,” she admitted with an odd inflection. “You mentioned the leader of them. Rumors claim Erebus Phantom is dead.”
Did she fear the only living son of Chaos? Roc...didn’t like that. His own bride shouldn’t fear Erebus and eschew Roc himself.
This was what he got—what he deserved—for refusing to make Taliyah come in front of everyone. Follow-through mattered.
“Erebus is their leader, yes. We did kill him, but he revived.” Next time, Roc intended to stone and ash him for good. The only way to truly end a god with his abilities and powers.
“You guys killed him?” She couldn’t hide a thrum of... What was that? “How?”
“Tell you so that you may use the information against me? No.”
She smiled so sweetly, a fox in the guise of a lamb. “So the information can be used against you. Good to know.”
He pfted a breath.
“Did you know Erebus terrorized Harpina before I was born?” she asked, shuffling her food around her plate. “His brother Asclepius helped doctor the survivors.”
“I doubt Asclepius helped your kind. In his quest to create new armies and ascend, he and Erebus worked together to terrorize many femalecentric species.” The brothers liked to dress those females in widow’s weeds to remind the Astra of the bride ceremony. Even after Asclepius’s death, Erebus continued the tradition.
Taliyah’s gaze flipped up, meeting his. “Did you ever slaughter an army of phantom-harpies?”
He didn’t hesitate to offer the truth. “My guess is yes, most likely, but I honestly don’t know. I fight, and I kill. With phantoms, you don’t consider any other origin, their old life dead and gone.”
She thought for a moment. “What do you mean by ascend? You can go higher?”
“Always. Among the gods, there are myriad ranks and levels of power. To reach a new height, we must toil and fight until it occurs.”
“Ah. Like the fight for harpy General. As we do all that toiling and fighting, our power grows. We prepare for leadership.”
“Exactly.”
She returned her attention to her food, mixing, mixing. Why didn’t she eat? “Will Erebus come to Harpina? Will Chaos?”
“Chaos will attend the final ceremony.” He made no effort to hide his affection for the male. “Erebus and his phantoms, too.” Or his hatred. “But you have nothing to fear from either. I will protect you.”