Though a shadow passed over her features, she smiled with cold calculation. “One day,” she said, sweetly batting her lashes at him, “I’ll make you eat those words. Until then, I see we’ve got ourselves into a troll-under-the-bridge situation here. Meaning, yes, you are the troll, and I want nothing to do with you. Now be a lamb and explain the kiss-sick thing. You were going to tell me earlier, but you got distracted by your insatiable desire for me, the wrong type.”

Her easy dismissal irritated him. Before, she’d referred to herself as an emotional and mental juggernaut. Now, Bane had to agree. She’d wanted him, but he’d turned her down, so she’d moved on, as simple as that.

Struggling to maintain his composure, he tightened and released his fists. “Once, there was a queen. Queen Jayne the Incandescent, more violent and savage than Aveline. Upon her death, she was stricken from our history books.” He’d been a boy at the time, and she hadn’t reigned long, but he’d never forgotten her charisma and confidence. She’d awed him.

“Though she hadn’t yet met her mate, she’d sensed him, causing a bond to form. One that prevented her from being with anyone else. Him, too. They found each other, and their union became the strongest of any other queen and warrior.”

The fact that Nola hadn’t sickened with him...

Had she bonded to him?

She sputtered for a moment. “Are you saying some part of me wants you, and only you, and no one else will do? Like, ever?”

“Yes, but we both know I’m not your mate. There must be another explanation.” Although... “You sensed me as soon as you reached adulthood.”

“How do you know?”

“How else? I sensed you, as well.”

“Oh.” She looked away, assuring him he’d gotten this right. He—

A strange noise captured his attention. What was that? When Nola opened her mouth to say more, he held up an index finger, requesting silence. Astonishingly enough, she acquiesced.

His ears twitched. That noise...

Tick, tick, tick. A clock? No. Tick, tick, tick. A timer—on a bomb.

Horror slapped him, the sound suddenly all he could hear. TICK, TICK, TICK. While he would survive an explosion as long as he kept his heart and head, Nola would not.

Too weak, too fragile. No wonder he’d always hated those qualities. But he hated them more than ever. Might lose Nola when I’ve only just found her.

Reflexes on point, he opened a portal to an island he’d found on month three of the war, when tailing Zion.

The scent of coconut and salt wafted into the cave, exotic to someone like Bane. The sound of lapping waves, chirping birds and buzzing insects rang out. A quick scan. Glaring sunlight, crystal water, glistening sands. Behind the beach, an overgrown jungle. No one lurked nearby—that he would see.