reached for it with my own magic, and the plant felt like an extension of myself. Like an extra limb.
Power sparked down my arms, and the tattoo of vines that had been hidden on my arm appeared, glowing brilliantly.
Shit.
Eve’s potion couldn’t stand up to the full force of my magic.
I looked at Hades and found his gaze on my arm. He said nothing, and I pulled the cloak over the tattoo and returned to my task. Magic flowed through my hands, tiny golden lights that floated toward the plant. I frowned. I’d need to find a way to get rid of those lights. They were a dead giveaway, announcing to anyone around that I was using my talent.
The golden lights reached the plant and flowed inside it, making it glow a faint golden green. The vines curled into the air.
“Collect a book with them,” Hades said.
I focused on the bookshelf behind the plant, stretching the vines toward it. They were too short.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
“Make it grow.”
I drew a steadying breath and pictured the plant growing, imagining some of my life force entering the plant, helping it get bigger.
Nothing happened.
“I don’t know how.”
“You aren’t accessing all of your magic,” he said.
“How the hell do I do that?”
“It’s not something I can explain. It’s something you must feel.”
“Well, if I don’t know what to feel for, how the hell am I supposed to do that?”
He walked toward me, silent grace. I felt him move more than saw him. He stopped a couple of feet behind me, and the back of my neck prickled with awareness.
“May I touch you?” he asked.
Touch me.
His words from last night filled my mind, and I drew in a faint breath, trying to keep my heartbeat under control.
Of course it didn’t work.
“Must you?” I asked.
“You didn’t mind last night.”
No, I really hadn’t. And I wanted to call him a bastard for bringing it up. But what did I expect?
He was Hades. He was terrible. Yet last night, he’d been far from terrible. And I had no idea how to reconcile the two versions of him—terrifying god of the underworld, and the man who’d made me see stars last night.
“Fine.” I nodded, the movement jerky.
The soft weight of his hand landed on my shoulder, and heat shot through me, warm and fierce, followed by the most intense shiver of awareness. It was like I could feel every inch of him against my back, even though he only touched me with his hand.
His gloveless hand.
I still wore my cloak, but I swore I could feel him all the better. And it was intoxicating.
What was becoming of me?
Hades
She shivered when I touched her, and it took everything I had not to shiver as well. Her skin was hot beneath my hand. Burning.
Memories of last night filled my mind, memories of touching her everywhere.
It hadn’t been enough
I wanted more. More of it. More of her.
I shook my head, driving away the thought. It’d been too dangerous. The things I’d felt with her . . .
Not just the bone-crushing pleasure, but the conflict. The weight in my soul had been lightened, the darkness brightened.
And I’d liked it.
That was the most horrifying part. Normally, it was bone-crushing misery I felt whenever the light dared encroach. But this had been different.
I drew in a steady breath, letting her life force flow into me, forcing away conflicting thoughts.
I could feel her, the same way I could feel my own limbs.
Her magic called out to mine, almost like it wanted to join with it.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Can you feel my magic?” I envisioned it flowing into her, helping her find her own power deep in her soul.
“I do.” She tensed beneath my hand. “It’s . . . unlocking something.”
I considered trying to feed the darkness into her, to start the process of turning her to my side, but it would be pointless. She wasn’t one to be so easily swayed. She would feel it and pull way.
I didn’t want to lose her touch.
More importantly, she needed to practice. She would find the darkness within her soon enough, and it would drive her, not my power.
“I’ll try again.” She didn’t shrug off my hand. Instead, I felt her magic pulling on mine, something inside her soul tugging at mine.
Awareness flooded my body, and I let out a silent, ragged breath. Everything tightened, and my mind turned toward her. Toward touching her.
The plant in front of her grew, the vines reaching toward the bookshelf. I focused on them,