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"Knowing is half the battle, I guess" My heart rate had picked up "Step back"

He shook his head slowly

I drew in a deep breath as I raised ers curled around asped at how quick his reflexes were and hoarods, tellproblem, too," he said I snapped aze dropped to the arm he held between us His lips parted "You’re bruised"

What? My gaze followed his and I really couldn’t see anything, but I realized he was holding onto the saripped yesterday There were erprints, but I could barely see theht "How do you see theaze flicked back to mine "I’m sorry"

Before I could respond, he lifted ainst the skin of my inner wrist A soft exhale crashed out of led, buzzed even after he lifted hisjust shy of closing around my wrist He smoothed his thumb over the area where his lips had just been

The breath in ?"

An eyebrow rose as he spoke "I’ pulled off, try to make it as quick and painless as possible"

I tensed That didn’t sound good

"Do you know anything about the Greek gods?"

Okay That wasn’t a question I was planning to have to answer today And I really shouldn’t have needed to answer it I needed to be plotting ways to gethis thumb in a slow circle

"Josie?"

"Yes I knohat the Greek gods are" I wet htened when his gaze dropped to uy was potent and dangerous and absolutely crazy "Can you let o and back off now?"

"Not yet," he said "I’ends then? About the gods? But what you probably don’t know is that, a long tiot it on withbabies, those kids were called deether with each other, their kids were called pure-bloods Then soot a little frisky with mortals, and they created half-bloods," he went on "And sometimes, not always, and who knohy, when a pure and a half got together, they created an Apollyon"