“Oh?”

“Apparently, my da—Zadok—used his magic to try drawing out the poison. When that didn’t work, he attempted some ancient spell that was supposed to transfer a fraction of Cair’s life force to me, but it sent me into a fit instead. Then, to top it all off, I was electrocuted.” I huffed lightly. “I might not have felt it at the time, but when I woke up, it was as if I’d been hit by a bus.”

His head tilted. “Bus?”

“Oh, like a horse, but bigger, and made of metal.”

He blew out a long breath. “Well, shit.”

I nodded. “I think my magic manifesting was probably the sole reason I didn’t plead for death again. It seemed to work like a really strong painkiller.”

“That, and seeing your mate again.” He wiggled his not-really-eyebrows. They were more like ridges. “He’s so gone on you, you know. I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought we’d have to storm the capital, right there and then.”

My smile wavered.

Gary meant well, but I still felt a stab of pain in my heart at each reminder of what Cair had gone through—even if having someone willing to burn the world for me was incredibly comforting. And hot.

I cleared my throat and set down my spoon. “Do you have a mate?”

“Nah, I’m mated to my work,” he said, unbothered by the question. “Though I do have plenty of bodies to keep me warm at night, if you catch my drift.” He winked, but then he thought about it. “Not in a serial killer way. I only meant… Well, I guess, I do have lots of bodies in that sense too, but⁠—”

“I get it,” I laughed. How this guy became a top assassin-slash-spy-slash-scout on Cair’s payroll, I’d never know—unless he decided to word vomit his backstory too—but oddly enough, I already trusted him with my life. My second life? He’d proven himself a reliable ally, and he was fun. That was enough for me. “I kinda thought you and Cee had an enemies-to-lovers thing going on.”

My adoration of fictional romances had probably influenced my perception on that one. Those stories where the grumpy love interest saw the other as the bane of their entire existence, while the sunshine character did their best to be as irritating as humanly possible? Yeah, those were top-tier literature.

Or maybe I’d just spent too much time around Teighan and Alex.

“Me and the battle-ax?” he said incredulously. “Noooo.” The mere suggestion must have activated his stress-eating response, because he snatched the bread off my plate, taking a messy bite. I wasn’t going to attempt it anyway. “I mean, there was one drunken night four years ago. Hate sex is banging, by the way…” He trailed off, pausing mid-chew. “What the fuck is in this, sawdust?” He set it back down with a repulsed look. “Anyway, we both agreed it was a mistake. She prefers ’em a little prettier than me, and while I love getting pegged as much as the next guy, we’re not compatible in other ways. We just work better together. She might glare at me every second, but she secretly loves me.”