Tohr cocked a brow. "You really want me to answer that. "
"Not funny. And I'm serious. "
"No, you're lying - "
"You ever wonder how I found you in those woods? Why I've stuck around? Have you asked yourself for a moment why I'm wasting time on you? Your shellan and your son are trapped and I was sent here to get them free. "
"Son?" Tohr breathed.
"Yeah, she was carrying a little boy. "
Tohr's legs went out from underneath him at that point - fortunately, the angel jumped forward and caught him before he broke something.
"Come here. " Lassiter maneuvered him over toward the bench. "Park it and put your head between your knees - your color's gone to hell. "
For once, Tohr didn't put up a fight; he let his ass go down and allowed himself to get pretzeled by the angel. As he opened his mouth and tried to breathe, he noticed for no good reason that the tiles on the floor weren't a solid aqua blue, but had multicolored specks in them of white and gray and navy.
As a big hand started making circles on his back, he was strangely comforted.
"A son. . . " Tohr lifted his head a little and swept his palm down his face. "I wanted a son. "
"So did she. "
He looked over sharply. "She never told me that. "
"She kept quiet because she didn't want you to get all fat-chested about having two males in the house. "
Tohr laughed. Or maybe it was a sob. "She would so do that. "
"Yeah. "
"So you've seen her. "
"Yeah. She's not doing well, Tohr. "
Abruptly, he felt like. . . "I'm going to be sick. " Which was better than crying. "Purgatory?"
"The In Between. And there's a reason that no one knows about it. If you get out, you're in the Fade - or Dhund, and your experience of where you were is forgotten, a bad memory that fades. And if your window closes, you're stuck there forever, so it's not like you're filing any reports on the landscape. "
"I don't understand - she lived a good life. She was a female of worth who was taken early. Why wouldn't she go into the Fade?"
"Did you hear what I said? Because of you. "
"Me?" He threw his hands up. "What the fuck did I do wrong? I'm living and breathing - I didn't off myself and I'm not going to - "
"You haven't let her go. Don't deny it. Come on, look what you just did to No'One. You walked in on her naked, through no fault of her own, and you tore her head off because you thought she was hitting you with a case of the hot-and-bothereds. "
"And it's somehow wrong that I don't want to be ogled?" Tohr frowned. "Besides, how the hell do you know what just happened. "
"You don't honestly think you're ever alone anymore, do you? And the problem isn't No'One. It's you - you don't want to be attracted to her. "
"I wasn't attracted to her. I'm not. "
"But it's okay if you are. That's the point - "
Tohr reached over, grabbed the front of the angel's shirt, and yanked their heads together. "I got two things to say to you. I don't believe a thing you're telling me, and if you know what's good for you, you'll shut the fuck up about my mate. "
As Tohr shoved free and got to his feet, Lassiter cursed. "You don't have forever with this, buddy. "