“Not even that I keep wearing your shirts?”

“No.”

“Not even that I have a raven inside me who keeps tormenting you?”

“No.”

“Not even that I borrow—”

“Steal.”

“—your stuff?”

“No.” She’d given his onyx ring back eventually. Besides . . . “What’s mine is yours.”

She melted into him, happy, mellow. But she had to ask, “Are you sure there are no bats in here? I really think I heard something.” An ominous squeaky sound.

He sighed. “Woman, there are no bats.”

“Woman?”

“Are you not a woman?”

“Are you not smart enough to sense the tone? And it was a valid question. It’s a cave. Bats inhabit caves. Do you want rabies?”

Honestly, Tao felt like banging his head on the wall. “Not all bats carry rabies.”

“Ninety-eight percent of rabies cases are caused by bats.”

“They are not.”

“They could be.”

He growled. “You’re a pain in my ass, Porter.”

“If you ever again want to be a pain in mine, you’ll get me out of this damn cave before the bats wake up.”

“Insane. Fucking insane.”