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“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “Can’t I even have a morning jog in peace?”
“We need to talk, Buttercup,” he said, driving away the mist between us with a conjured breeze.
“What’s there to talk about?” I hissed in a low voice. “If you think now that you know a thing or two about me you can blackmail or control me, you’re mistaken.”
“I’ve been trying very hard not to piss you off,” he said.
“Then leave me alone.”
“I can’t. I can’t stay away. It’s in my blood to lend you any support you need. I know I screwed up and I don’t deserve to have a chance with you. But I want you to know that you shouldn’t feel guilty about holding back on my cousins. You don’t owe them any of your secrets, and they aren’t ready to hear them. Plus, they all have numerous dirty secrets of their own. Have any of them confided in you? They don’t feel the slightest remorse or guilt.”
I blinked. I had never thought of it that way. I had never thought that the demigods could have many dirty secrets. Of course, I was twenty, going on twenty-one, and I was already burdened by a couple of dark secrets. They were immortals, so how many skeletons were in their closets?
“And don’t assume that your truth is dirtier than any of theirs,” Paxton added.
Instead of curious, I got angry. I turned to him, narrowed my eyes, and demanded, “What kind of dirty secrets do they have?”
“You can ask them when you’re ready to trade, Buttercup,” he said with a smirk.
“Don’t play games with me, Pigston.”
“I love your charming nickname for me.”
I quickened my pace to ditch him, but he easily kept up.
“Just keep your mouth shut for now,” he ordered.
“You don’t tell me what to do.”
“No matter what I say, you always have a sharp comeback.”
“Thenyoushould keep your mouth shut.”
“And no matter what my intention is”—he sighed as if I’d wronged the greatest guy in the world—“you forever think my heart is a shriveled husk.”
“Is it?”
“No, Buttercup. I’m a coldhearted bastard, but my heart isn’t dead.”
I sneered.
“I know you’ve been practicing your magic in secret,” he continued over my distrustful glare. “You don’t need to practice it alone. I’m here to help you. I’m the only person who can since I already know exactly what kind of magic you have. I also know how to stimulate your power and motivate you to reach your greatest potential.”
“Right, you turned me into a fucking succubus by pushing me into a corner, initiating a feeding power I don’t want!” I stopped after that slip of the tongue. Would I be categorized as a succubus in the demon taxonomy? I hadn’t started my demonology class with the headmistress yet, and I was already so not looking forward to it.
And I didn’t need this demigod to help me screw up my shit.
I slowed my pace as icy rage traversed my veins.
“You aren’t a mere succubus, Buttercup,” he said. “You’re more than that. You’re the queen of the succubi.”
I halted, eyes burning. I should toast the fucker, but I couldn’t since I had to be extremely careful with my fires. The God of War’s spies were everywhere. And with so many witnesses around, it wouldn’t look good if I attacked a demigod first. I didn’t want to add more craziness to my reputation.
“I wasn’t ridiculing you,” Paxton said softly as he stopped a few inches before me and reinforced the sound barrier he’d wrapped around us earlier. I was getting better at detecting and categorizing spells even without a formal education. “You’ll have to face every part of yourself one day, and every part of you is amazing. Do not be ashamed of who you are. You’re one of a kind. Embrace your uniqueness.”
I heard nothing but truth and adoration in his words.
“I don’t want that part of me,” I said bleakly. “If I could get rid of it or bleed it out, I would. I’d give my soul to be just a human. I know I’m living on borrowed time with your cousins. I wouldn’t even blame you if you told them about me. I’m just too much of a coward to come clean. But eventually they’ll know and everything will end.”
