“It was no matter.”
“It means a lot to me, though.” Especially given the new, um…developments in our sleeping arrangements. Ever since Apex and I had started sharing a bed in both the literal and metaphorical senses a few nights ago, the place had felt a lot less lonely for me. Hopefully, it felt less lonely for him too. I certainly didn’t want our nighttime liaisons to stop. “I am grateful for you here, you know. Your company. Your protection. Even if I don’t show it all the time.”
“You can thank me for it with a dance, if you like.” Apex turned to me and offered me his hand. There was a small grin on his lips—though, to be fair, his grins were always small. No matter how hard I made him laugh, I’d never seen him give a full smile. “It would be a shame not to put all of those moves you have been showing me to use.”
I smiled back at him. Now that Razael and Votan were out of the way, our training—in dance and combat—had been going better than ever. I still couldn’t move as fast as Apex, but I’d almost disarmed him that morning when he wasn’t paying attention. And every time we shifted into my area of expertise, we’d been able to practice more and more complex routines.
After dancing for so long with only Savannah as a partner, I had to admit that getting to work on my waltzes and tangos with someone strong enough to lift me was pretty nice. I’d even taught him a little of the jitterbug yesterday. Apex had dismissed the whole thing as ridiculous, of course, but he’d humored me anyway.
“A dance would be nice,” I said—but before I could take his hand, Gallix swept between us and snatched me off onto the dance floor with his hand around my waist.
“You have spent enough time with the specter, I think,” Gallix said with a wink. “You should let a real male take you for a spin for a change.”
I laughed as I saw Apex’s face sour, but he didn’t move to stop Gallix as I was hauled away into the center of the room.
Ya snooze, ya lose, Apex. Maybe next time.
“You don’t think Apex is a real man?” I giggled as Gallix spun me around clumsily. “He’s going to make you regret that.”
“Then I eagerly await retribution. You, pretty thing, are very much worth it.”
Gallix wasn’t as graceful of a dancer as Apex, but what he lacked in coordination, he made up for in enthusiasm. I had to stand on his toes to keep him from stepping on mine. Holding me tightly, he swung us around the dance floor in broad, almost drunken steps that sent the other dancers scurrying away from us wherever we went.
“You’re making us lots of enemies tonight, Gallix,” I pointed out as he bumped into the tentacled alien I’d spotted earlier, who gave us a glare before slumping away.
“No fewer than we already had. Where specters go, enemies always follow. Even Apex’s fancy benefactor has been furious with him in the not-so-recent past.”
“Idria?” I raised my eyebrows, surprised. “From the way he talks, I thought he’d always been the picture of obedience when it comes to her.”
“Hardly.” Gallix chuckled. “For as long as we’ve been rescuing abducted humans, he has double-crossed her at every turn. Always plays it off like he was actually working things in her favor, course. But whatever Apex says about her, he works for himself. You and me and Ronan are just lucky that the things we want have ended up aligning with the things Apex wants to do.”
“And what do you think he wants to do?”
“Free you, of course. And take Idria down, too.”
“How are you so sure that’s what he wants, though?” I wanted to trust Apex, and Gallix knew him better than I did. A few nights taking Apex between my thighs had only reassured me of his sexual prowess, not his trustworthiness. But I wanted to. And if Gallix already did…he must have known something I didn’t. “What if he’s just been double-crossing us this whole time?”
“Well, he tracked you down here, for one. Up until we got here, as far as I know, Idria was trying to keep your location firmly under wraps. Not that Apex cared.” Gallix smiled down at me kindly. “And you are not the first human female he has helped rescue, mind. Your sister, for one. Others, too. All against Idria’s will. No matter what a baz-terd he seems like, he always finds a way of proving himself in the end.”
“So you trust him?”
“With my life,” Gallix professed. “And with yours, too.”
“May I cut in?” Ronan’s cool, serene voice called out from behind me.
“Aw, but we were just gettin’ started!” Gallix complained.
Nonetheless, he let go of my waist and passed my hand off to Ronan. They both made a grand show of bowing to each other—Ronan, elegant and stiff, Gallix doing such a ridiculous amount of hand-waving that it made several of the nearby courtiers curl their lips.
“You were speaking of our specter friend,” Ronan guessed as we settled into a much slower, more reserved waltz. “Did Gallix’s assessment appease your curiosity?”
“He tried, anyway. What do you think of him?”
“As an ally? He is the best we could hope for. As a mate, though…” Ronan laughed. “You are likely a better judge of that than I am.”
“I didn’t mean—yes, as an ally, of course.” My face burned. I felt a little called out. Ronan was obviously a lot more observant than I’d given him credit for.
“The two of you seem to enjoy each other’s company. Am I wrong to say you have feelings for him?”
“Well…no, if you must know.” Crap. I was getting pinker by the second. This wasn’t at all the conversation I was trying to have. “He’s good to me. Most of the time, anyway. And…well, he’s handsome, obviously. But
