“This is the last one.”
“Fine, fine.”
“The female’s biology shuts us down, I guess you could say, yes. A female has to be ready, and her body knows what pairing would result in a blessing—a child. I don’t know how, exactly, but I think there are a few factors, like her age, the guy’s age, plus whatever vibes she gets from the male… We’ll try and try until we find the right pairing, and then that’s it.”
“If you mate in the water, does that carry over onto the shore?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t always last, because life, but you’ll return as a couple and try to work it out. Some people end up with complete strangers. Some people find a mate in the water and have to break off their…situation with whoever they were seeing on land. That’s a tough one. We don’t often get involved long term with someone from a different species because it can’t last. Even if we try to deny the urge to find a mate, we are called to the water. We can’t help doing the dance. It’s primal.”
“Huh. That has made for some sticky situations in the community, I’ll bet.”
“Very. Your turn.” He waved a group of questionable-looking guys on the younger side through. “Did you really get tortured by the elves?”
Memories crowded my mind. The sound of breaking bone, followed by screams. My screams, that seemed to go on and on in the darkness.
“Yeah,” I said, turning and glancing at the dying sun. “Those bastards are pieces of shit.” Rage filled my gut as I gave him a brief description of what I could remember of their dungeons. Of the pain that had threatened to strip me of consciousness. Of the hard stone floor where they’d left me after each session, two and three sessions in the day and night.
“And Lucifer pulled you out?” he asked, pulling me out of the darkness. Sometimes I got trapped in it, in the memories of the pain that part of me hadn’t thought I’d ever escape.
I blinked a couple times before I gathered myself enough to answer. “Yes.”
“You were really trapped down in the Underworld?”
“Yeah but…it was a good kind of trapped. I didn’t feel like I was a hostage. I mean…I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to leave, but given what I was doing and how long I was there, it didn’t short-circuit me.”
After I explained a little more—he had told me his secrets, after all, and fair was fair—he issued a long, low whistle and rocked back on his heels.
“That’s some shit,” he finally said.
“Yeah.”
“And now you and the vamp are joining with Roger and them fae to go to war?”
“Yes,” I said, and then unclenched my fist, thinking about standing in front of the elves and daring them to come at me again and see how it worked out a second time.
But then, I was supposed to be a peacekeeper, wasn’t I? I was supposed to stop the Underworld and the Realm from destroying each other.
What a shitty job for a person who’d suffered at the hands of those horrible fuckers.
Then again, my father would’ve killed Darius, Penny, and Emery, not to mention Ja’s posse of elder vampires, had I not interfered. My father had allowed another of his kids to torture my druid pal, Cahal, once upon a time. Was he any worthier of being saved than the elves? Could I make that distinction when push came to shove?
Because the thing was, I liked my dad, but I did not like those elves. Not one bit.
Basically, I was not the person who should be at the crux of this thing. I needed to go back to my job as a bounty hunter and let the big dogs handle everything.
If only.
“I still need to connect with the fae,” I said. “We’re supposed to be doing that in the next few days. Time to get ready. Playtime is over. Or so they tell me.”
He stepped in front of me, his face deadly serious. “We’ve known each other a long time, Reagan Somerset. Years. I’ve dealt with your shit more times than I can count. You always start trouble in this bar. Always. You owe me.” He paused dramatically. “Can I take a ride on your dragon?”
I released a breath, and let it flow into laughter. “If Roger lets you visit the super-secret lair where they’re staying, or if we win this war and they’re allowed into the Realm, or if I ever patch stuff up with my old man and we can go freely into the Underworld, then yes, you can ride Archion. He would tolerate you for a time, especially if I tell him about all the mermaid stuff.”
Jimmy stared at me for another beat, nodded, and stepped back. “That would be fucking amazing.”
I laughed again and continued into the bar, finding Penny on a barstool with a shot of whiskey, straight, sitting in front of her. Her shoulders were slumped, and a grumpy expression had taken up residence on her mug.