Caillen, who obviously had as much self-preservation as Darice, looked over to Fain. “So here’s my question. Can an Andarion go stralen with his hand?”

Fain slapped him with a sofa cushion so hard it sounded like he broke a bone. “No. Asshole. Gah! Humans! You disgust me!”

“Ow!” Caillen held his arm against his body. “Damn, Fain. What’s in that cushion? A rock?”

“Wah, wah.”

While they argued, Sumi fell silent as she considered what they’d just told her. “So Dancer isn’t dangerous to me, right?”

Nero tsked at her. “Let that fear go, Sumi. Hauk isn’t Avin or Darnell. As Fain said, so long as you don’t cheat – which I know you won’t – you’ll have a long, happy marriage with him. It really is that simple. Andarions treasure their females in a way few races do. Their males are frighteningly loyal and giving.”

She frowned at his use of her ex-boyfriends’ names when she hadn’t breathed a word of them. There was only one way Nero could know that. “You’re Trisani?” They were an almost extinct race that was renowned for its extreme psychic abilities. Because of that, most of them had been enslaved or murdered by those who were afraid of them or who craved their powers.

He nodded.

“Then do you know about Keris’s chip?”

“Sorry. My powers don’t work that way. There are too many variables. But if we can tie that chip to Dariana, it will be a death sentence for her. Not just by Andarion law, but there’s not a member of The Sentella who wouldn’t hunt down and tear apart anyone who had a hand in implanting that on Hauk.”

Fain, Caillen, and Darling lifted their drinks in salute to his words.

“Speak it, drey,” Darling said. “The only challenge will be getting to decide which of us has first dibs on the death blow.”

As Sumi started back to Dancer’s bedroom, Fain followed her to the living room and pulled her to a stop. She arched a curious brow at him. “Is something wrong?”

Her gaze dropped to his pinkie, where he kept Omira’s ring. “I didn’t want to ask around the others and wasn’t sure when I’d have you alone again, but…”

“You want to know about Omira?”

He nodded. Then he spoke in a hurry. “I’m not trying to stalk her, or check up on her. I told her I wouldn’t do that to her and I won’t. It’s just… having you here. I just wanted to know if she’s finally happy. If she ever found someone she could love.”