He raised his hand to my temple, hovering mere inches away.
He wanted to touch me, his skin to mine.
Goosebumps popped up all over my body, my skin suddenly unbearably sensitive. I still hated him, still feared him, and yet . . .
Last night was impossible to forget.
I gritted my teeth and nodded.
He pressed his fingertips to my temple, and a shiver raced through me. Magic sparked from him, the scent of firelight growing. The taste of dark chocolate exploded on my tongue, his power seeping inside of me.
“Close your eyes,” he murmured.
I did as he said, his own impossibly dark blue eyes the last thing I saw before everything went black.
And then light. An image appeared in my head—his room, from Hades’ point of view. It was dark. Night time. And somehow, I knew it was immediately after he’d hauled me back from the library.
Anger surged through him, toxic and black. Worry, too, so strong that it made his lungs feel tight.
He walked up to the cage, fists clenched so hard they hurt.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve helped her,” he said, the anger strong in him.
Kill her.
I could feel the darkness inside him, surging to the surface. Commanding him.
And yet something else fought back. Something deep within Hades that could roughly be described as goodness. As light.
The battle inside him was so fierce that it turned my stomach.
Was this what it felt like to be him?
It was terrible.
I watched as he released Beatrix and banished her from the realm. I could feel the truth of it. This wasn’t some magical vision—it had happened.
She was gone.
Safe, thank fates, but gone.
Unbelievable relief surged through me, making me sag against him. I took one brief moment to recover, and he let me, holding me upright.
Then I pulled back, panting hard. I opened my eyes and met his gaze. Slowly, he lowered his hand and stepped back.
We no longer touched, but I could still feel him.
Somehow, I felt all of him.
“You really are torn, aren’t you?”
His jaw tightened, and it was answer enough.
“Yet you choose darkness every time.”
“Not when I’m touching you.” The words sounded forced from him. “When I'm touching you, it’s the light that calls me.”
I drew a shaky, unsteady breath. I’d been right.
But could I afford empathy, with so much at stake? When he had so much power over my life and that of my friend? It was up to me to get out of here with the cure for Mac.
I shook my head, turning away. I needed space to breathe and get my bearings.
I walked to the wall, my gaze traveling over the books, taking in the similarity in their theming. “Spells?”
“Yes. Were you hoping for something different?”
I recalled the library dedicated to erotic texts and shot him a look. His face was expressionless, unreadable. “It’s impressive, having so many libraries dedicated to different topics.”
“This is one of the best.” He turned in a circle, taking in the books. “Thousands of spells collected in this one room, many of them as old as I am.”
So much power here. It made fear shiver over my spine.
How was I supposed to fight someone who had so much at his command? “Let’s practice.”
“Let’s.”
I walked toward him stopped a few feet away, looking at him once more. Somehow, despite his size and warrior’s armor and the hardness of his fallen-angel face, he fit in amongst the books. He should have looked out of place, but he didn’t.
“How do you suggest I start?” I’d never practiced my power before, and I was clueless. Everything I’d ever done had been driven by emotion and necessity.
He gestured to the potted plant I’d used to strangle him. “Start by trying to control this. Move the vines.” His eyebrows rose. “Not to my neck.”
I nodded, stepping toward it.
“You’ve used your magic before, yet not practiced it?” he asked.
“I told you, I couldn’t. My grandmother warned me it would bring you to my door.”
“And it did. But how did you use it?”
To save my friend. Instinct had helped me heal her with a collection of ferns. Why was it always ferns? “You didn’t win that information from me.”
He nodded, brow creased.
At least he respected that we were adversaries.
I drew in a steadying breath and raised my hands, focusing on the plant in front of me. It was a type of succulent—the thick vines and little leaves were something I’d never seen on Earth—and I could feel the life inside it. The power.