"Here, look." Lucian picked up the die and deftly tossed it from hand to hand. "See? Nothing bad happens when you touch it."
"Agreed, nothing bad happens when you touch it," I muttered, my unease growing as I watched the toss of the stone. "But this thing is supposed to tune itself to me, and I'm not exactly believing everything will be fine and dandy when it does."
"Oh, for the love of . . . Nothing is going happen." Exasperation rode Lauren's voice. "Lucian would not allow it, even if I had wished you harm."
I glanced at her sharply. "Since when does a dark sorceress take orders from someone she barely knows?"
Lauren's smile was thin and unamused. "Come now, Risa. You saw us arguing and you are no fool. Please do not take me for one."
"So you are lovers?" My gaze went to Lucian. "Why didn't you say that up front?"
"Because it wasn't pertinent."
I snorted softly. How could the fact that he was fucking a dark sorceress not be pertinent information? "And just how did you come to that conclusion?"
"Who I spend my time with is nobody's business but my own." The comment was decidedly barbed, and I couldn't help glancing at Lauren. If his words annoyed her, she wasn't showing it. This time. "The only reason Lauren is here now is because she is powerful."
"Maybe, but it does make me wonder what else you're not telling me, Lucian."
"It's no secret that my life revolves around the need for revenge—"
"Yeah," I interrupted, "and it's what you'll do to get it that has me worried."
"You have nothing to fear—"
"Meaning you're not behind the compulsion spell that's been placed on me?"
My voice was matter-of-fact, and his sudden grin was warm and unrepentant. "I feared my Aedh charms might not have been enough to hold you, so I stacked the odds in my favor. But the spell is harmless, Risa."