Page 57 of The Gathering
“I’ll teach you,” he said. “Your first lesson is how you interact with males.”
She perked up at that. “How?”
“Youdon’t. You let other males interact with them. If they have a problem or a need, report it to their HatchCaptainthat you mentioned they all have. Report it byphone.”
“That… would be nearly impossible—”
“Not impossible. You make a request, you tell them you’re in training, tell them whatever the hell you need to, but do tell them you willnotinteract with males.”
Her mouth hung open with her furrowed brows. “Do I even need seduction lessons if I’m never around males?”
“That’s only one shield, Sister. You need lessons for those who slip past it.”
She nodded, back to serious and focused. “What else?”
He considered that while his analytical brain threw up warning signals. Treading in useless waters. “It’s not something that can be taught with words. I’ll have to demonstrate it.”
“You’ll need to seduce me?” she asked, worried.
“That’s the thing, Sister. Seduction isn’t something you see, it’s something that happens while you’re not looking. Behind the words, the looks, the random accidental touches. It’s a set of very subtle moves that lead to a final act.”
She appeared confounded as she glanced around then right at him. “So you’d… have to lead me without me knowing. Like I’m blindfolded and you’re directing me with only words to a destination?”
The vision of her in a blindfold, feeling her way, trusting his voice to lead her moved across his mind. Then morphed into some sick fuck taking advantage of her.
Damn this fucking world.
Oh right. He did that.
What thefuckwas he doing? “I need to find Morgue.” He set off down the path, putting his mind on other things.
“I’m coming!” she called, suddenly racing past him, jumping right back into her role of protector and leader and bringer of joy. “So, you will seduce me, and I will have to catch you in the act of it or recognize it and then I’llknowwhat seduction is. Is that right?”
“Yes, Sister, it’sright. And when that happens it’s too late. You’ll have succumbed to the thing you were being seduced to.”
“Well… all seductions don’t have to be bad, right?”
“I’m not here to teach you about the good seductions, I’m here to teach you about the bad ones, the ones that can hurt you.”
“Ha! I knew it.”
“You knew what?” he muttered, realizing he was starving.
“That you are agoodperson.That was my bet.”
“Your bet, huh? Hope you didn’t put money on it.”
“Never money, I put something of much greater value.”
“A song?”
Her big laugh made him grin again.
“Waaaaaaaay greater than that!”
“Must be your laugh.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned an astonished happy face to him. “Mylaugh?”
