“Aren’t they supposed to bow or something?” she asked. “I’m their queen.”
The corners of his mouth quirked before he had the presence of mind to blank his expression. “Explain what you learned in the Hall of Secrets,” he ordered Roux.
“Time-out.” Taliyah created a T with her hands. “What’s the Hall of Secrets? You never explained.”
He nuzzled his cheek against hers. “Our home realm, Nova, draws and collects whispers from other worlds. They are stored in a hallway of our palace. We have only to sift through them.” He nodded to Roux. “Go on.”
The male had recovered significantly from his trials. Though red-rimmed irises and strain added lines to his face, he had a steady gaze. “I heard whispers from a woman. She never mentioned her name, but she has a higher voice than your bride. Animated, even. As far from monotone as possible. She told someone she’s more than a harpy-snake, and she cannot accept him as consort until he knows the truth about her origins, that she’s also a phantom.”
“So there’s a second harpy-snake and phantom able to communicate with intelligence.” Did she operate independent of Erebus, as well?
Tension stole through Taliyah. Did she suspect the identity of the other female? Did they share a connection? They must.
“And?” he prompted Roux, impatient for more information. “Did the woman say anything else?”
“Nothing that mattered.” Roux’s gaze dipped to Taliyah. “The woman who vanished during our invasion is this second phantom, I’m certain of it. I believe she possessed me, though I’m unsure how. I don’t even know how she exited without my knowledge. But she must have. Her emotions no longer muddle my own.”
No movement from Taliyah during his speech. No emotion, either. Oh, yes. She knew the identity of the second phantom.
“Did she feed on you?” he asked.
Roux shook his head. “She did not.”
His snarpy had once mentioned the atrocities committed against her people, courtesy of Erebus and his brother. Roc had thought nothing of it because the twins had slaughtered countless species. What if they’d somehow altered the DNA of some of the survivors? But...
Taliyah hadn’t been part of the original slaughter. She’d claimed to read about the event in history books. Had the altered DNA caused phantom...births? Was such a thing even possible?
There was so much he didn’t know.
Had the other woman exited Roux and spoken with Taliyah at any point? “Be on the lookout for the second phantom. She might return.” When Taliyah braced, he added, “Don’t kill her. Contain her for questioning.” When her posture softened, he put his lips above her ear. “Is there something you’d like to say to me, snarpy?”
“Plenty,” she snipped, as if he hadn’t granted her a great boon, providing safety to a phantom. “I don’t think you’ll like any of my chosen words.”
“You know about this second phantom.”
“Yep.” She didn’t endeavor to deny it.
“And you’ll tell me nothing?”
“Bingo.”
Halo blinked at him, as if he’d never heard Roc make a request rather than a demand for information from a person of lesser rank. He’d definitely never heard Roc accept a denial.
What would it take to win Taliyah’s loyalty? To induce her to offer it, of her own free will?
Not planning her murder, for starters.
He worked his jaw. “I’ll learn all your secrets, one way or another.”
“I could make her talk without killing her,” Roux stated. He peered at the snarpy, as if he was already imagining her guts spread out on his table of torture. “She has answers about the other one, and I want to know what they are.”
Protective instincts pitched and swelled. He barely wielded the wherewithal to remain silent. Torture Taliyah, dimming the light in her eyes and the fight in her heart for good? Never.
Never? “I will handle my wife,” he intoned, making it clear the subject wasn’t to be broached again.
Both males jerked, as if they’d been gut-punched.
“Wife?” Halo spread his arms. “You mean the bride. Or the phantom.”
Wife. A term he’d never allowed himself to use with the others. He’d preferred the term bride because his marriages never developed past the wedding.
“Look,” she said, “let me save you all some trouble. You can remove every limb and organ and I won’t talk. Kudos to anyone who can make me cheer their efforts, though.”
How proud she was. A perfect queen, unwilling to be cowed by anyone. “No one will be removing your limbs or organs.”
“Too bad. I was really looking forward to making fun of your torture.” She used air quotes, then extracted herself from Roc’s embrace to skip to a window, where she leaned out to examine the realm beyond. “I’ve never seen Harpina from this angle or filled with this many males. Not outside of Harpy Gras.”
The sight of her bent over the ledge, wearing only those tiny scraps of pink... He scrubbed a hand down his face. Not strong enough to resist.