eyes back to him. He looks me up and down as if he can see through the wings tucked around me, and it sucks out some of the silliness and replaces it with heat and intrigue.
“I’m a demon,” he adds. “And so are you.” His voice is like velvet that slithers over my skin, that one statement sounding sensual somehow.
“I know that,” I say, my voice matching his.
Toreon leans forward, bracing his elbows on his bent knees. “Do you? Do you really have any idea what being a demon means yet, Sable? Because you just learned about what you are. About all of this.”
“Half demon,” I correct, “...and I’m quick on the uptake. Thanks to my unique upbringing, I’ve learned how to adapt.”
A flash of sadness crosses his eyes, like just the thought of how I grew up pains him. “You shouldn’t have had to live like that,” he states, his golden eyes filled with that same intensity I saw earlier.
“Yeah, well, what can any of us do about it now?” I say, because I’m not going to waste any more time going over it. My past took enough from me. I won’t let it take my future too. “So...you said something about the kind of demon you are…” I fish.
He just stares blankly back at me. Ooookay, I guess he’s not going to make this easy on me.
“Is it like that for a lot of demons? The blood of your mate making you stronger thing?”
“No.”
Great, we’re down to one-word answers. “Alright...so I can make you stronger. My blood, I mean.”
He nods.
“And you’re not an Annulus?” I ask, already knowing but figuring asking again just to be sure doesn’t hurt anything.
“No.”
Geez, he sure is dodgy when it comes to what kind of demon he is and the implications of it.
My eyes shift curiously over to Vudu, who I notice is still looking at me like he’s fascinated. And...is that a little bit of desire I see in his intent red eyes? No. No way. I look like something a feral cat dragged into its cardboard box.
“Do you have a mate?” I question, since we’re already on the topic.
His eyes widen, and he makes a strange choking noise, his eyes darting through the bars to look at Toreon. I crinkle my brows in confusion when Toreon curses under his breath. “What?” I ask.
Vudu shifts where he’s sitting, and I swear, the hulking demon blushes. Twin spots of charcoal darken over his gray cheeks as he looks at me uneasily.
“What?” I repeat.
When Toreon does nothing to explain, Vudu clears his throat. “Well...I am bound to Toreon.”
I wait for him to go on, and when he doesn’t, I still feel at a loss, like they threw me a rope but didn’t hold onto the other end. “Okay…is that like you hinting that you’re his mate or something?”
Toreon narrows his eyes on me. “Why do you keep assuming that Vudu and I are fucking?”
I throw up my hands, unintentionally tossing my wings away from me and revealing my uncovered body. “I don’t know!” I whisper-yell. “I’m just trying to get answers, and you guys are being cagey about the whole thing. We’re all adults trapped in a dungeon. Well, two of us are, anyway,” I correct, pointing to me and Toreon. “Just tell me what the heck is going on.”
Vudu sighs and runs a hand over his short black hair. “I’m not fucking Toreon. I’m his sworn protector. I’m eternally bound to him through oaths that go back spans of lifetimes through our bloodlines. Which means that I’m tied to him in order to watch out for him. If he dies, I die. If I die, he dies. We’re bound forever…which means that if he ever takes a mate and forms that bond, it will also form with me.”
My mouth forms an O as I blink at him. “So you’re saying…”
“That if you become Toreon’s mate, you’ll become mine as well.”
Well, okay then. That certainly ups the ante.
A jumble of emotions rush up to rattle around inside me like someone shaking a jar full of pennies. The sound of a gasp behind me makes all of us jerk, and I turn around to see Medley sitting up, grinning from ear to ear. “Well, doesn’t this just dill your pickle?” she says with a giggle as her sparkling eyes land on me. “Looks like you just got yourself a two-for-one deal, sister.”
I roll my eyes and then throw a plate at her when she starts