the perfect blend I need for a life partner. You’re not easy, no, but I like that, too. You challenge me and check me when I’m wrong. You hide your hopes and dreams behind a scowl and a dagger, keeping so much of yourself a mystery. And mysteries are things I just happen to love uncovering, so every time I learn something new, it’s not just a delightful surprise, but a fucking triumph. And you care when I’m sad. Like now.” Blue eyes filling with emotion, he nodded to me, murmuring, “Thank you for that. It means more than you know.”
I swallowed, definitely not sure how to answer now.
His mouth tipped up on one corner and amusement flickered through his gaze. “Want to know something else?” he asked. “I’m not even sorry you’re a Graykey.”
I snorted.
But he insisted, “I’m not. I’ve spent too many years hating and fearing the name. I only saw the horror your house was capable of and the destruction it wrought. Yet after getting to know you…” He shook his head and faced forward. “You’re not evil. You’re just human. As fallible and emotional yet still capable of kindness as the rest of us.”
“Emotional?” I gurgled in indignation.
He gave me a full grin this time. “Yeah. You’re full of the same emotions I have. You don’t like to admit you have them, but I feel them. I’m feeling them right now.” Gaze bursting with a soft affection, he murmured, “And you don’t have to worry about me, alright? I’m fine.”
“If you were fine,” I charged, “you wouldn’t be riding up here, brooding.”
“Brooding?” he said in surprise.
“Yes, brooding. You’d be back there with us, annoying everyone with all your questions about Earth or cracking those pitifully awful jokes.”
He sniffed indignantly. “My jokes aren’t pitiful. Stupid, yes. Corny, definitely. But I think they’re rich with deep, thought-provoking, and pun-filled entertainment.”
“The man was delighted after a burglar stole all his lamps,” I repeated one of the jokes he’d told us last night. “Really?” He thought that was thought-provoking?
“What?” he said, blinking cluelessly. “That’s hilarious.”
“No,” I said dryly. “No, it’s not.”
He sighed. “If you don’t like my jokes, then why are you so upset if I don’t feel like cracking any, then?”
“Because the world needs your aggravatingly awful sense of humor!” I exploded. “Otherwise, it’d just be full of people like me. It’d be a dark, oppressive, hopeless void. And no one wants that. Especially me.”
I growled in absolute annoyance and rode on ahead of him, because this entire conversation was pissing me off. How dare he get me to admit so many of my feelings for him?
He caught up with me a moment later.
“Hey, Quilla,” he whispered, reaching out and taking my hand.
“What?” I whispered back, without pulling away. For once, I craved the contact, and I didn’t care if he knew.
His gaze softened as he slowly lifted my fingers to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. Then he closed his eyes and drew in a long breath, taking me in. When he exhaled, his lashes fluttered open and he smiled softly.
“A man tried to sell me a coffin once,” he said. “But I said that was the last thing I needed.”
I blinked at him with no idea what the hell that meant. But then this mischievous sparkle entered his eyes, and I realized he’d just told another one of his horrible wordplay jokes.
“Jesus,” I shrieked, slapping him on the arm as if outraged. “That has to be the worst one yet.”
He laughed. “Worst one, my ass. All my jokes are completely awesome in their own right.”
Shaking my head, I sighed as if disgusted, while inside I sighed in great relief.
Indigo touched my arm briefly, falling serious again. “I’ll be fine,” he swore to me. “After I get over my funk, I promise you, I’ll return to my same insanely charming and irresistibly magnetic self. So stop worrying. Okay?”
I arched an eyebrow in censure. “I’m not worried,” I argued. “And I don’t recall saying anything about you being charming or magnetic.”
“Oh, you implied it,” he swore. “Heavily. I could tell.”
When I snorted, he chuckled. “How about this? If you promise to ground me to reality every once in a while, I’ll promise to teach you how to dream.”
The allure of such a deal tempted me. I suddenly remembered everything I ever wanted when I was little, and how Melaina would slap each wishful idea right out of my head because it was either unfeasible or unsafe. Over the years,