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He fought to clear his throat, then reached for her, for her fingers, in spite of himself. He clasped them nervously, still watching her face. She didn’t move away from him though, and he felt her fingers squeeze his back as she took another step closer to his bed.

“Sorry?” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “What for?”

He didn’t know how to answer that.

When her cheeks turned pinkish, his tongue thickened in his mouth. He slid his fingers deeper into hers, reaching his hand out farther, not letting himself think about whether that was a good idea, or what might happen next. She moved closer a second time when he did it, clasping his hand with both of hers.

Once she had, she seemed at a loss, as if unsure what to do.

Is he doing this to me?he felt her wonder.

“No,” he told her, unthinking. “No, cousin. I would not do that.”

She started, blinking in surprise.

She didn’t tear her eyes off his. She never once stopped staring at him. He watched her eyes widen as she thought over the ramifications of what he’d just said.

He just read my mind. He just read my fucking mind! He must have. What the hell am I doing? He’s obviously one of them. Isn’t this what they do? Bewitch people?

He felt her struggle to make her thoughts harder, more cynical. His pain worsened when she didn’t quite succeed. She didn’t want to believe she couldn’t trust him. She didn’t want to believe he would harm her. More than anything, she didn’t want to believe that how she felt was just some form of seer manipulation. He felt her try to force herself to believe it. She told herself this was an illusion, that it was fake, that she was being stupid.

She couldn’t quite convince herself.

It felt real. It feltrealto her.

But if he was messing with her, it would still feel real to her. Wouldn’t it?

She couldn’t quite let it go. She couldn’t quite make herself believe either thing.

His pain worsened as he felt the conflict on her, as her fingers tightened around his.

Her mind grew almost panicked.

What does he want from me?A shiver of fear coursed through her light.Is this because he saw me as a whore? Because he saw me in that place?

He shook his head, adamant.

“No,” he said.“No,cousin. Do not think such a thing. Please.”

When she looked down, her cheeks and neck darkening with blush, he closed his eyes, fighting to control his light. She seemed to have accepted that he could read her mind, which turned him on, too… maybe because she still didn’t feel overly afraid of him.

When he continued to watch her, her jaw hardened.

Her dark eyes grew defiant.

“Because I’m not like that,” she told him. She gripped his fingers more tightly in hers. “I’m not like that. You know that, right? I was just trying to survive. For Dani. And for me.”

“I know. I know this. And it wouldn’t matter, either way,” he assured her. He gripped both of her hands with the one of his. “Cousin, do not concern yourself with this.”

“I know how it looked––” she began.

Loki shook his head.

“No,” he said. “You do not. Not to me.” Making a subtle seer’s shrug with a gesture of one hand, he met her gaze. “You will find there is little judgment on such things from seers. I am not unusual in this. We never assume one would do this thing, given a better choice. It is not a matter of morality for us. It is survival. It is a reality of life. Nothing more.”

His words seemed to stump her.

He saw intelligence spark in her eyes, though, understanding. He could feel she understood him the way he intended the words, however clumsily he expressed them.