“Titus?” Torion asked.
Peri's eyes snapped back to him. “How do you know Titus?”
“The angel took me to see him,” he answered as if the practice of the Great Luna whisking supernatural children around the world for playdates was a common occurrence. Then again, it did seem that the goddess held a special place in her heart for children.
“Of course she did,” Peri muttered. She narrowed her eyes on Torion. “When did this happen?”
“While I was asleep. Before I woke up and saw you in the cave.”
“Did the angel say anything to you?” she asked.
Torion nodded.
“You’re not going to tell me what it was?”
He shook his head.
Peri sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why?”
“I think it was just for me and Titus to know.” He looked proud of himself for keeping the secret.
“Why do you think that?” Peri was getting tired of playing twenty questions, although it was a welcome change for her to be the one doing the interrogating.
Torion rolled his eyes at her. “Because if she wanted you to know, she would have brought you with us.”
It annoyed her when children made sense.
“Does it have anything to do with that necklace around your neck?” Peri asked, motioning to the pendent.
He shrugged. “Are we going to talk to him?” Torion pointed at Lucian.
“No,” Peri said quickly.
“You look at him the way my mom looked at Skender.” Torion's voice was soft as if the words were painful for him to admit.
“And how is that?” she asked, her eyes still on her mate.
“Like you love him.”
Peri snorted, the sound full of derision. “What do you know about love, kid?”
“Not a lot. But I know that it seems like grown-ups have a very hard time talking about it. And then when that person they love is gone, they regret they didn’t tell them. My mom told me all the time that she loved me.”
“She never told Skender?”
“I’m not sure. I never heard it.”
Peri wasn’t about to tell the kid that the reason his mom probably hadn’t told Skender was because she might have found out about his checkered past. Not that she was judging. Okay, shewastotally judging. Apparently, it made her feel a teeny bit better about her own shit choices.
“But I think if they’d known what was going to happen to them, they would have said it a lot more,” Torion continued. “Now, all he can do is tell her and hope she hears him.” His voice softened as his shoulders fell forward. “All I can do is hope that she hears me, too.”
Peri closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about the last words she’d said to her mate. She didn’t want to remember the cruelty in them. Unable to look at Lucian any longer, she took Torion’s hand and flashed them back to the cliffside cave where they’d taken refuge in the draheim realm.
Torion immediately hurried over to his mother’s side. Skender sat on the other side of Tenia, ever her sentinel, only leaving her if he had to. He reached across and placed a hand on Torion’s head. “Where did you go?”
“To stare at a man Peri loves,” Torion said. “But she won’t tell him. She’s afraid.”
Skender glanced at Peri and a world of understanding filled his eyes. “Love is a scary thing, Torion.”
