Free The Guardian Page A

been
    questioning Solin.
    Once he got back to his room, he’d manifested one and it’d taken him awhile to figure out how to use his
    powers to make it connect to the human world.
    The rest of it, though …
    Some special kind of sadistic demon must have invented this damn thing.
    But Lydia seemed to know how to work it. “Do you…”
    Don’t ask. Don’t do it .
    She arched a brow at him. “What?”
    He hesitated. He’d stopped asking others for help a long time ago. Either he was ignored, or humiliated
    over it. It was a no-win situation for him.
    And he’d been kicked in his teeth and insulted enough for one day. “Never mind.”
    A knowing light sparkled in her eyes. His cock jerked at that playful expression.
    “You want me to help you, don’t you?”
    Yes . But he’d never admit that. “I can figure it out on my own.”
    She tsked at him. “It doesn’t make you weak to ask for help when you need it. Rather, it’s a strong man
    who knows and acknowledges his limitations.”
    And it was a fool who exposed himself to ridicule. “Do you mind? I need to concentrate.” He turned away
    from her.
    Lydia wanted desperately to tel him where to shove that laptop. But the almost boyish shyness about him
    kept her from being hostile.
    He’d started to reach out to her and then something had made him pul back.
    Something? Hell, girl, you’ve seen his body. It wasn’t an intangible thing that reeled him in. It was years
    of abuse that had taught him to stay inside himself.
    There came a point in everyone’s life when they’d been slapped too many times for reaching out. After a
    few concussions, they stopped doing it. She understood that better than most.
    “Guardian?”
    A tic started in his jaw as he turned toward her with a scowl so fearsomely evil, she wondered if it was
    one he’d practiced in a mirror to scare the other demons of this place.
    Good thing she didn’t scare easily.
    Instead, she smiled at him. “Computers are extremely annoying and hard to operate if you’re not used to
    them. Sometimes even if you are. If you’l let me go, I don’t mind helping you do whatever it is you’re trying to
    do.” She jiggled the chain expectantly.
    Seth didn’t move for a ful minute as he debated with himself. It was safer for his sanity when she stayed
    away from him.
    Who are you fooling? She might as well be on top of you, the way you react to every breath she takes,
    even when it’s across the room.
    And he needed to get this done. His time was running fast through an hourglass he couldn’t stop or break.
    Noir wouldn’t give him any kind of extension and he knew it.
    Steeling himself, he nodded.
    Lydia final y breathed again as her chain vanished instantly. Whoa … those were some scary powers he
    had and she stil didn’t know the ful extent of them.
    Trying not to think about it, she got up and went to his desk.
    He moved out of his seat and offered it to her.
    Cracking her knuckles, she sat down, then hesitated as she reached for the laptop. “This thing isn’t going
    to eat my fingers is it?”
    “Pardon?”
    “I tried to use it earlier and it slammed shut on me. It almost took a couple of my phalanges with it.”
    Something twitched at the side of his mouth that might have become a smile had he al owed it. “No, it
    won’t hurt you.”
    Stil a little skeptical, she careful y pul ed it over to her. But he was right. It wasn’t hungry anymore and she
    was able to type in safety.
    She looked up, and saw another new lumpy bruise on his temple that wasn’t visible until you got close to
    him. Her stomach clenched. Knowing he would never talk to her about it, she focused on what they were
    doing. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
    He took a step away from her. “I need to learn more about the key to Olympus.”
    Okay. She had no idea why and had never heard the term before. But then there were a lot of things she
    didn’t know about her native culture. Solin had raised her in other