“Pretty,” he said, then scowled and released her with a huff. “You have work to do.”

Oookay. Losing an appendage made him cranky. Noted. And dang it, had anyone told her she’d one day calmly and casually regard an immortal warrior’s foot amputation, she would have laughed in their face.

To keep him distracted from the coming pain, she said, “How did I cause you to lose a foot?” As she spoke, she looped the belt and slid the leather to the middle of his calf, then cinched it as tight as possible.

He bellowed a curse with such fury, she ducked, expecting a punch.

The action only made him angrier. But he gentled his tone, saying, “I won’t hurt you, Nola.”

Deep breath in, out. “Good to know.” If he’d told the truth.

A look of homicidal murder crossed over his face and he bellowed, “Has someone hurt you in the past?”

Great! He sounded rage-y again. “Let’s, uh, focus on you and the foot. Okay?”

Between panting breaths, he told her, “I fought to protect you and got pinned for my efforts. To escape the collapsing cavern, I had to remove the foot. So I could track you. Only, Zion is very good at hiding. I quickly lost your trail.”

“The foot,” he’d said, not “my foot.” The distinction mattered, and roused her sympathies. She knew he felt removed from his body, a phenomenon she’d often battled, as well. “Do you know where Knox is? He absconded with my sister.”

“Sister?” His brow furrowed. “I didn’t sense Adwaewethian blood in the other girl.”

“But you sensed Adwaewethian blood in me?” Oh, crap. Was she an alien? An other-worldly lineage might explain some of her stranger idiosyncrasies.

A muscle jumped underneath his eye. “Yes, I did. And no, I don’t know where Knox is. None of us do.”

Double crap! She rocked back on her haunches, saying, “I’ve lived on Earth—Terra—my entire life. How can I be from your world?” They’d circle back to his inability to search for Knox and Vale after she’d warmed him up a bit—conversationally speaking.

“How else? There’s an Adwaewethian breeder in your family tree.”

How blithely he made an announcement that had the power to change the entire course of her life. If true, of course. “Is that why you spoke inside my head and demanded I find you?”

Snubbing the question, he reached out and cupped the back of her nape, his grip bruising. Shock and fury darkened his expression. “You’re real. You’re real, and you’re here. You’re here with me.”

Things started softening inside her. “Yes, I’m real. And just so you know, if you break me, you buy me.”

With a single yank, he forced her face closer to his, their mouths only a whisper apart. She gasped. He stared, hard, his gaze searching hers.