Shail turned his head away at her words. If he could, he'd walk away and ignore the conversation, but that wasn't much of an option right now. In truth, he didn't think he'd ever run out into the desert like that again, but Gemini didn't call him out on the lie. With his faltering speech, he almost expected her to. But then, since when had he been honest with her? How would she know the difference.

As Gemini continued, he found his breath stilling. Rather than take the cup, he just looked at the djinn woman like some kind of deer. "Horse?" he asked with hesitation, the one word almost inaudible. It couldn't be. Even if logic said so. Just for a little while, he wanted his perfect little mirage to exist as a mirage, untouched, and unconnected by the real world. These sorts of emotional words that Gemini spoke confused him far too much. His head swam just from all the implications.