Paen sounded downright grumpy. He looked even grumpier, having insisted on driving to my office since I refused to take him out to meet Owen without making sure it wasn't going to cause problems. Now we were smack-dab in the afternoon commute traffic, stuck in an impossibly slow line of cars that inched its way past a three-car accident that managed to block traffic in both directions.
"Look, it's going to take at least half an hour to get to the office—we can sit here in silence, fuming about the traffic, or we can chat. I vote chat."
Paen looked like he wanted to argue, but evidently he realized the truth of what I said, because he relaxed his death grip on the steering wheel and said, "I don't mind talking, but there are many other subjects of conversation other than Beloveds."
"Yeah, but none that you try to avoid so hard."
He shot me a look. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Nope." I smiled. "I'm known for my persistence. It's why Jake thought I'd be a good private investigator. So you might as well give in to the inevitable and tell me what I want to know."
"You're the most stubborn woman of my acquaintance."
"I know. It's one of my charms. About the Beloved?"
He sighed and gave in. "A Beloved is more than just a soul-saver. She becomes a Dark One's life, the sole focus of his attention." He gave a little disgusted snort. "In other words, he becomes a shallow parody of what he used to be."
"I don't think that's very fair of you to say. I personally think it's really romantic that a man would love a woman so much that he'd devote his life to her."
"That's because you're a woman," Paen said, scowling in the side mirror at a bike messenger who smacked the side of the car as he passed. "The relationship between Dark One and Beloved is totally one-sided; she redeems his soul, binding it to her for eternity. There's no reciprocal binding, just him bound to her. If she dies, he fades away to nothing, but a Beloved can live on forever without her Dark One."
"I find it hard to believe that anyone who goes to the trouble of fetching a soul for someone else wouldn't feel some sort of affection for that person. So I'm sure it's not quite as one-sided as you make out."
"You don't know anything about it," he said with a touch of churlishness that I found oddly endearing. I was beginning to suspect that Paen was arguing to convince himself rather than me.
"No, I don't. Why don't you tell me more about it?"
He shot me a wary look. "Why do you want to know about Beloveds?"
"Oh, I don't know. Partly curiosity. Partly because I like you and I'm interested in your history, and what makes you tick."
His eyes lost their guarded appearance.
"That, and I think there's probably a good chance I'm your Beloved, so I'd like to know what the job entails."
"I knew it! I knew Finn would fill your head with all sorts of idiotic ideas! You are not my Beloved!"
I laughed at the outraged expression on his handsome face. "Prove it."
"What?" We moved forward a few feet. Ahead of us, at the next intersection, a bevy of police cars and aid units were clustered, sorting out the victims and damaged vehicles, hauling away both to their respective destinations. One policeman was directing traffic around a tow truck, up onto the sidewalk, and down onto the street a few feet past.
"Prove to me that I'm not your Beloved."
"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" he asked, giving me another annoyed look.
I leaned to the side and kissed him. His eyes flashed quicksilver at the touch. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist. You're very kissable, you know. It makes my stomach do all sorts of things whenever I give in to temptation."
His gorgeous eyes narrowed at me. "You're trying to use your female wiles on me to make me tell you what you want to know, aren't you?"
"Are you kidding? You knew the same wouldn't work on me—there's no way I believe I could sway you with sex."
"That's good, because I couldn't be swayed," he said, looking forward as someone four cars ahead was waved through the intersection. "That doesn't mean you can't kiss me, though."
I smiled and sat back, startling him into giving me a look from the corner of his eye. "As for how you can prove to us both that I'm not your Beloved… is there a test or something? Or is a woman, pow, just born your Beloved?"
"There are steps that must be gone through to culminate in a Joining," Paen answered grudgingly after a few moments of pregnant silence.
"Finn said something about that. This Joining thing is what gets you back your soul?"
He nodded.
"Gotcha. What are the steps?"
We moved forward another car length. Outside the car, the hum of idling traffic made a dull background to the excited chatter of bystanders watching from behind the yellow accident tape. "The first step is the marking."
"Right. Finn said that could be a psychic thing?"
"The second step," Paen said, ignoring my comment, "is protection from afar."
"Hmm." I tapped my chin. "That sounds very chivalrous. Kind of like you were watching out for someone when she needed you?"
"Possibly," he allowed.
"So I'm two for two, then."
He turned to give me a look that by rights should have sent me screaming. I just wanted to kiss him again, instead. "How do you reckon that?"
"You pulled me back when Pilar was threatening me while I was astralling the first time. That's protection from afar."
"Of a sort, and it was purely unintentional."
I laughed. "Don't sound so grumpy about it. You did pull me out of a bad situation, and I'm grateful for it. What's the third step?"
"The first exchange. And before you ask, that means an exchange of body fluids."
"Ew," I said, wrinkling my nose. "Oh, wait. Does French kissing qualify as an exchange?"
"Yes," he said, his jaw tight.
"Three down, how many left?"
"There are seven steps altogether, and those first three are just coincidences, no more."
"Fourth?" I asked, watching as an aid car pulled out with its sirens and lights screaming a warning.
"Fourth is the Dark One giving the Beloved the means to destroy him."
"Hmm," I said, tapping my chin again as I eyed him. "Like giving her a stake or something?"
He didn't answer, just tightened his jaw even more.
"Or could it be something as simple as telling her enough information about him that she could use it to bring about his destruction if she so desired?"
"You can't destroy me," he said, not answering the question.
"Wanna bet? I'm willing to wager that if I don't find that statue and your mom loses her soul, you'd be pretty destroyed."
He didn't say anything to that, either.
"Paen—" I leaned over until he made eye contact. "I will find it, don't worry. I'm not going to let your mom lose her soul."
He nodded abruptly.
"This is like pulling teeth, so we might as well get the worst over with. What are the fifth and sixth steps?" I asked as I resumed my seat.
"A second exchange, and help in overcoming his darker self."
"Hmm. Second body fluid exchange, check. But overcoming your darker self… hmmm."
"As you now see, you have accomplished some of the steps, but not all of them," he said, moving forward another car space.
I don't know about that—I'm thinking that overcoming your darker self can mean a lot of things.
Such as?
Well, admitting someone into a previously-held-private area of your life.
I could feel him frown as he thought about that. In what way do you think I've allowed you further than any other woman I've had sex with?