He frowned, but he didn’t comment.
Forget assuaging the aches. His attitude was inoculation enough. Smoldering? What smoldering? She’d already moved on. Now she needed to figure out why she’d vomited the berserker’s soul.
The problem wasn’t the man’s origins. Once, she’d gone on a berserker bender.
Mmm. She remembered it well. Their power had been intoxicating. The sweetest wine.
Inner shake. She’d never sickened with a berserker. So what happened today?
“I want to believe you,” Roc said, and he kind of sounded...defeated. “That’s the crux of the problem.”
“Dude. Are you seriously feeling sorry for yourself?” Taliyah gifted him with a rude hand gesture. “You know what? Screw you.”
He stared at her as if she were some great mystery. News flash. She was pretty much an open doomsday book. Harm her people, and she ensured you paid. The end.
His eyes glazed as another message came in. Whatever was said, his aggression deflated. “The horde has been dealt with.”
“Proof I didn’t send this ambush. No one died.” Um, maybe don’t antagonize the guy with the wing-pinner? Strength had never been so important, and they both knew it.
He thrust his hand through his wet hair. “I can’t trust you.”
“Like that’s a shocker.” She sighed, choosing to release the worst of her irritation. “Look. What’s happened can’t be undone. We called a truce yesterday. Let’s call another one today. Twenty-four hours. That’ll give us time to ask each other questions. Tit for tat.”
His remaining aggression slowly dissolved. “I don’t know how this is possible. How you are a phantom, yet also...you.”
She considered telling him about her connection to Chaos, then caught the gleam of the posts around the shower stall and clamped her lips shut. Roc didn’t trust her, and she didn’t trust him. For very good reasons! For one to survive, the other had to die. Maybe. Probably. What if there was another way?
Stupid thought? Impossible? Whatever. She’d ponder it later. Today, she’d get to know her enemy...who looked adorably, frustratingly lost all of a sudden.
What are you doing? Stop. Adorably lost? An enemy in any form was still just an enemy.
“Whatever happened to your Hall of Secrets idea?” she asked.
He scoured a hand over his face. “I’ve yet to receive a report from Roux.”
Her nose scrunched up. “What kind of information do you think you’re going to get?”
“Something!” He slammed his fist into his palm. “That’s all I need.”
How easily and quickly he swayed from one extreme emotion to the other. But was it good or bad for her?
Taliyah exhaled as her thoughts whirled. Things had changed between them, so she must change, too. From now on, she and Roc were going to be constant companions. Antagonizing him, as she’d done before, wasn’t the wisest course.
Want better results? Pick better battles. “Let me reiterate that I am a phantom, but I’m not controlled by Erebus. If you’ll give me a chance, I think I can prove it.”
He opened and closed his mouth before waving her on. “I’m listening.”
“Can we agree that there’s something Erebus will never, under any circumstances, order a phantom to do?” Actually, she thought her father might rage. “He doesn’t want anyone to make you happy, even for a moment.”
Clipped nod. “We can agree.”
“Well, think back. I’m sure you’ll remember a specific moment in our history when roses were in bloom and you came like a geyser all over my belly.”
Again, he opened and closed his mouth. “This is different. You are different. He knows what you mean to me.”
She went still. “What do I mean to you?” No. Unnecessary question. Moving on. “Why do you think he told you I’m a phantom?”
Broody silence heralded minutes of reflection for them both.
Impatient, she led him into the realization she sought, a teacher with her student. “He did it so that you’d...what? Stop messing around with me.”
Another bout of silence passed before he nodded. “That’s true.”
Success loomed! “I mean, really.” She simpered at him, just to drive the point home. “What kind of warlord follows his enemy’s plan for his life?”
Maybe she’d driven a wee bit quickly. He narrowed his gaze on her. “I know you’re manipulating me.”
“So? Truth is truth.”
He narrowed his eyes further... Holding her gaze captive, he reached for the waist of his leathers. After working the pants from his legs, freeing that impressive erection, he eased onto the shower bench, getting comfortable, Roc-style. In other words, he sat as rigid as stone and glared.
Her wings buzzed, the rest of her fluttering. Well, not all of her. Hunger pangs twisted her stomach.
“If you think I’m ever kissing you again,” she said, turning toward the water, pretending to luxuriate in the stream, “you’re dumber than a box of Rocs. I’m here for conversation.”
He started making those huffing noises again. Didn’t like being denied? Too bad. She’d learned her lesson when it came to the Commander.
“How old were you when Erebus turned you into a phantom?” he asked.
Cautious, she replied, “I was very young when I realized I was a phantom.” To him, very young might mean two or three centuries, minimum.
“What do you mean, you realized? You didn’t know the moment he’d turned you?”
She understood his astonishment. Though she’d never witnessed a turning firsthand, she’d read varying accounts from those who had. Erebus ingested some or half or most of the other person’s soul, then used his fangs to inject a special death toxin into their vein; what remained of their soul supposedly rotted out of their body, leaving a husk capable of mighty feats, controlled by he who carried what remained of the soul.
Rather than supply an answer to Roc, Taliyah asked another question. “What makes you hate Erebus so much? What has he done to you guys?”
“Many things,” he said, sounding distracted.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, intending to chide him. When she caught him rubbing the bare spot over his heart, she stayed quiet. She’d clocked this action before. A tell of some kind. One linked to a specific memory, judging by the tightening of his features.
“Such as?” she finally prompted, reaching for the soap dispenser. Yes, she’d already soaped up. As long as she washed, she had an excuse to prolong the conversation and learn more about her ruthless companion before he changed his mind. “Pro tip and subtle hint—girls like examples.”