“Of course.”

“Good. Because he’ll be down here in a few minutes,” he said, and I laughed again. I saw it—the churning of vivid, golden sparks in his eyes. His lips parted until the tips of his fangs appeared. “I love that sound. I love how much more you laugh now.”

“I do, too,” I admitted quietly. “And it’s because of you.”

His eyes closed briefly as he dipped his forehead to mine, and a long moment passed with us just standing there. “Before Kieran gets here, I wanted to ask you something.”

“That sounds serious.”

“It kind of is.” He lifted his head. “Have you felt any hunger?”

“For food?” I drew out the question.

His lips twitched. “Not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“Oh.” My eyes widened. “For blood?”

He grinned then. “You don’t have to whisper it.”

“I didn’t.”

“You totally did.”

“Whatever.” I bit down on my lip. “I don’t think so? I mean, I haven’t felt that gnawing ache again. I think I would know if I had.”

“It’s not always like that, my Queen.”

My Queen. I liked that. Almost as much as I liked it when he called me Princess. Not that I’d admit that to him. “How does it feel?”

“You’ll feel inexplicably tired, even after sleeping. You’ll eat, but you’ll still feel hunger. Food will eventually lose its appeal,” he told me. “You’ll be easier to irritate, which wouldn’t be new for you.”

“Hey!” I smacked his arm.

“Perhaps you do need to feed now,” he teased, eyes glittering. “Once you get to the point where food no longer eases your hunger, you’ll need to feed.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“You probably wouldn’t need to feed by now, anyway. If we’re basing it on when Atlantians need to feed,” he said. “But you may be different. You may not even need to, but I wanted to check in.”

I searched to find even a flicker of unease at the possibility of feeding and found none, when a knock sounded.

Casteel let Kieran in. The wolven appeared to have managed a shower and a change of clothing. A fresh white shirt and black breeches had replaced what he’d worn earlier. I was jealous.

“We won’t keep you long,” Casteel said, coming to join me. “But there is something important we wanted to ask you.”

Kieran raised a brow as he glanced between us. “Is it about the Joining?”

For the second time in twenty-four hours, I choked on my breath. “What?”

“Am I wrong?” Kieran crossed his arms.

“Yeah.” I nodded while Casteel appeared to do his best not to burst into laughter. “That so wasn’t where we were going with that, and by the way, the Joining isn’t necessary, right? I’m a deity. I have an incomprehensible lifespan now.”

“Well,” Casteel drew out the word.

I looked over at him, and then it struck me—what I’d worried about when I first learned that I could be immortal or the closest thing to it. “I’ll outlive you, won’t I?”