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was going to kiss him. Her face came closer, and her hair tickled his nose. But no, she leaned past him and picked up the heretofore unnoticed book on his desk. He could see it was one of the primers that godlings used to develop their powers.
    Though he knew he should let her go, her nearness screwed with his brain cells because he found himself initiating conversation. “I see you’ve found something to read in my library.”
    Her cheeks flushed a becoming shade of pink. “I know it’s a book for children, but I’m usually working too much when I’m home to have time to read. We don’t have a big library anyway.” Her tone was defensive.
    “I’m not making fun of you.” He made a note to obtain some more primers and place them in the library in an easy-to-see place. He didn’t want to embarrass her by handing them to her. “Have you learned anything?”
    “Yes. Look.” She caught her tongue between her teeth and took on a look of intense concentration. The door to the study slowly swung shut. She let out a little whoop. “Did you see that? I could never do telekinesis at all before.”
    Such a simple thing, yet she looked as proud as if she’d walked on water. He’d forgotten what it felt like to have pride in accomplishing something so minor. Her excitement was contagious, and he found himself smiling. “Well done.”
    Her grin was rueful. “You probably think I’m silly.”
    “Not at all. Everyone has to start somewhere.”
    “I have a long way to go.”
    The self-deprecation in her voice bothered him on some basic level he didn’t care to analyze. “You’ll get there.”
    “I wish I could speed it up. I’d do anything to feel not so weak anymore.”
    Walk away. Her vulnerability had him rooted to the spot, though. “You aren’t weak,” he blurted out. Not your business.
    “What?”
    “You aren’t weak.”
    “You don’t know that.”
    He shifted his weight. “I told you, I can see what’s inside. Granted, it works differently with other deities than it does with mortals—I can’t see your whole past—but I can see that you’re filled with power. And when you have power, when you can harness and use that power, you’re always strong, no matter what the power is over.”
    Her little button nose crinkled. “I guess that’s my problem. No idea how to really do anything. Maybe my trip here had a greater purpose—time to study.”
    Trip? She made it sound like the Underworld was a fancy spa. “Studying will only give you a theoretical understanding. You need to be properly trained.” Go away now. But she was talking to him! And looking at him without fear! “I could help you.” Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
    “You could…what?”
    Oh, what the fuck. “You just need a little training, bit. I could, maybe, you know. Help. If you want.” Shut. Up. Because training meant that he’d be with her. Close to her. He wouldn’t be able to skulk about, hiding from her, and he wouldn’t be able to refuse to converse with her. Not when he was training her. He’d be confronted with her enticing curves at every opportunity.
    “Surely you have a kingdom to run.”
    “Yes. Souls to torture, flesh to flay. But I delegate really well.”
    She gave no outward reaction to his flip words. “And what would you get out of this?”
    Smart girl. No god ever did anything for free. It was hard-wired into them. By all rights, he should have been writhing in agony over this one-sided transaction.
    Technically, though, he supposed training her did give a nice little eff you to all those spoiled pansies at Olympus. If he did his job properly, and if she was an apt pupil, she would be able to really ruin the plans of any gods who tried to put their hands on her. Wasn’t screwing with Olympians payment enough? “The satisfaction of a good deed?”
    Her snort made him smile. “I swear, I demand nothing from you.”
    “Not even sex?”
    The words fell between them like shards of ice. “I do not bargain