“Ew.” Rain made a face.
“My feelings precisely.” I mirrored his expression. “I told Bishop that the supe was probably an Evolved, but I'm thinking he was Transformed.”
“Unnatural,” Rain murmured. “But why would that make a difference?”
“My magic is pure nature—all the elements combined.”
“You really are a fucking fairy?”
I snorted a laugh. “You thought I was lying to you? I told you everything, Rain, and it was all true.”
“Thanks for the trust, beautiful,” he drawled.
“Stop flirting with me,” I chided, but I smiled to soften it.
“Make me.” He grinned back. Then he sobered. “So, you think your nature magic reacted poorly to the unnatural magic?”
“That's my theory, but I'm not a scientist—that was my father.”
“How did you learn my language?” The Fury called to me in Furinian.
I looked over to see him leaning against the bars between our cells. “I read a book.”
The Fury snorted. “That would explain your poor inflection.”
“Mywhat?” I asked in indignation, turning away from Rain entirely.
The Fury laughed. “You need to hear Furinian spoken to speak it properly.” Then he repeated what I'd said, “I read a book. My what?” The words were all slightly different from the way I'd pronounced them.
“Huh.” I made an annoyed face. Then I tried again, “What's your name?”
“What's your name?” he repeated properly.
I said it once more, as he had, and he grinned.
“I am Talonius Diocinne.” The Fury bowed.
“What's he saying?” Rain asked in Dralmarin. “Don't get too close to him, Amara.”
“He's introducing himself. And he helped you defend me, Rain. I don't think he's going to hurt me now.” I ventured closer to the Fury.
“Furies are tricky. Just because he doesn't like women being raped, it doesn't make him a great guy. It just makes him normal.”
“I'll be careful,” I promised Rain. In Furinian, I said, “I'm Amaranthine Alexander.”
“That doesn't sound Triari.”
“Because that's my married name. My Triari family name is Elyonne.”
“Elyonne?” Talonius asked with narrowed eyes. “I don't think so, you naughty girl.”
“Excuse me?” I was aghast again.
“Elyonne is a noble line and there is no way that the Triari would allow a noblewoman to get taken by humans.”
I suddenly realized that I was oversharing with a man who had onyx cunning in his aura. Rain was right, just because he'd helped us, it didn't make him a saint. Talonius could very easily trade the information I gave him to Bishop. Pride had gotten the better of me, brought on by his patronizing tone, and I'd been showing off. But it was better to be thought a liar than to let Bishop know that he was holding the second heir to the Triari throne.
Talonius watched me shrewdly as I came to my conclusion.
