Page 69 of Shardless

“Someday is not today,” she mumbled in reply.

“Okay, okay,” Skye conceded with a sigh, taking the bottle from her. She had gotten way ahead of him, and he wasn’t drunk enough to hear the answer to what he planned to ask next. Holding the bottle up to his lips, he said, “New question. Since I’ve actually bought youseveraldrinks now, I want to hear about these conquests of yours. What’s little Taly Caro’s number?”

“That’s it. Give me the bottle. I give up.” Taly reached across him, but he held her back.

“C’mon, Caro. This is going to be no fun if you get drunk and pass out.”

Taly sat back down looking slightly deflated. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she hid her face. “Shards, I knew this was going to come back to bite me.”

“Oh, this sounds fun.” Skye took another swig. “Tell me your secrets, Tink. Tell meallof your secrets.”

Her cheeks were red when she peeked over at him. “So… I may have slightly exaggerated the breadth of my…experiencewith the opposite sex.”

“Wait? What?” Skye was sitting up now.

Taly whined, hiding her head again. “Please don’t make me do this.”

“C’mon, Tink. Rules are rules.”

“Fine. It’s… it’s zero,” she said dejectedly, her voice muffled.

Skye choked, the air leaving his lungs in a rush. His mouth gaped; his lips twitched; he said the first words that came to mind. “What the actual fuck? You littleliar!”

“No.” Taly’s head popped up. “If you recall thespecifics of that conversation, I did not lie. I simply did not correct you when you made certain assumptions.”

Skye could feel the laughter bubbling up. He shouldn’t push her any further. He knew that. She was blushing furiously now. Even her chest was red. But he just couldn’t resist. She had gotten him all worked up over nothing—needled and poked at him all afternoon. “So, how far have you actually gotten with a man?”

“It’s not your turn.”

Channeling a little more aether, he tossed another coin without looking. His smile widened when he heard the clink of glass. “I’ll let you go twice after this.”

“Leave me alone, Em.”

“Tell me,” Skye demanded, his grin undermining his stern tone. “Those are the rules of the game.”

With a growl, Taly grabbed one of the pillows and started pummeling him. “I’ve gotten nowhere,” she cried between strikes. “Never even kissed a guy. Men find me absolutely repulsive. Happy now?” She grabbed the bottle out of his hands, retreating to the end of the bed and leaning against the wall.

Despite himself, Skye was still laughing as he followed her, ignoring her half-hearted struggles as he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re not repulsive,” he said when his laughter finally started dying down. “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard, Tink. You’re the exact opposite of repulsive. You’re beautiful, and smart, and funny—”

“And human.”

Skye flicked her nose. “And nothing short ofwonderful. Any man that can’t see that doesn’t deserve you.”

Taly stared at the bottle in her hands. “You’re just being nice.”

“I’m not,” he insisted. “You just haven’t met anyone that’s good enough for you yet.”

“Believe me, I’ve met plenty of people,” she said. “Do you have any idea what it’s like trying to date on this island as a human? Much less as a human with a magical education and a mainland accent? One word out of my mouth and the other shardless are calling me a toft, but then the lowborn don’t want anything to do with me either. And the highborn—all they see when they look at me is a potential broodmare.”

“Taly,” Skye tried.

But she was already shaking her head. “Don’t try to make me feel better. I’ve already accepted the inevitability of spinsterhood. I’m thinking about getting a cat. I hear that’s what lonely human women are supposed to do.”

Skye pulled her closer, resting his cheek against the top of her head. He’d never thought about what it must be like for her. How isolated she must feel from other members of her own species. Even if she crossed through the Aion Gate and into the world of mortals, she still wouldn’t have a place in that magicless realm that was so different from the one she’d been born into.

“I probably don’t tell you this enough,” he said after a moment, “but you’re my favorite person. I don’t care what shape your ears are.”

Taly snorted, even as she leaned into him. “That would mean more if you hadn’t proven yourself to be such a terrible judge of character.”

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