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He finished off his whiskey. “Any that doesn’t involve other Primals. They are forbidden to attack another Primal.”
“Did…did Nektas know what I did before, in the mortal realm, when you walked up on me without a
“You mean, when you stabbed me in the chest?” He gri
“I don’t know why you’re smiling.”
His eyes had changed. They weren’t doing that swirling thing again, but they’d lightened to a shade of pewter. “Your unwillingness to say what you did gives me a little hope that I won’t have to fear another attack.”
“I wouldn’t get too comfortable with that belief,” I muttered. All at once, I wished I actually thought before I spoke—for many reasons.
He laughed, though, and his response equally amused me. I also felt something a lot like shame. “To answer your question, yes. Nektas knew something had happened,” he told me, and my heart skipped against my ribs. “He sensed that I wasn’t seriously injured, though.”
“I stabbed you—” Jadis nudged my hand because it had stopped moving. I returned to rubbing her.
“It was barely a flesh wound.”
“Barely a flesh wound?” I sputtered, offended.
“If you had managed to seriously injure me, Nektas would’ve come for me.”
“Even into the mortal realm?”
“Even there.”
Thank the gods I hadn’t seriously injured the Primal. If so, I’d be nothing but a pile of ashes. “How would he have felt it?”
“He’s bonded to me.” Ash paused. “All who reside here are bonded to me. Just as the draken in the other Courts are bonded to those Primals.”
I swallowed thickly at the further confirmation that I would not survive this. “I really need to get a better grip on my anger.”
Ash laughed. “I don’t know about that. Your anger is…”
“If you say amusing, I’m already going to fail at getting a handle on my anger.”
His answering smile evoked a whole other emotion, one I really hoped he couldn’t sense at the moment. “I was going to say interesting.”
“I’m not sure that’s any better.” I continued scratching Jadis under the jaw, pushing the bubbling unease aside. “I didn’t know about the bonding part.”
“Of course, not. Mortals have no need of that knowledge.” A couple of moments passed. “Not as scary as her father, is she?”
“No.” She was still happily vibrating. “She’s adorable.”
“I’ll remember you said that when she’s Nektas’s size.”
His teasing words sent my heart racing. She was several years away from Nektas’s size. And if I succeeded in my plans, neither of us would be here to see that.
“I assume you’re done with your breakfast?” Ash spoke, drawing me from my thoughts. I nodded. “Good. You and I need to talk, and I prefer to do that away from any potentially breakable items you may or may not want to throw.”