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tried to destroy him, and they had failed.
    Perhaps it was time someone tried another tactic besides violence. One he might not be able to defend
    against.
    She crossed halfway to where he sat, afraid to get too close lest he put his defenses in place and repel
    her. “What’s your name?”
    Licking at the cut on his lip, he furrowed his brow as he final y turned his attention to her. “Excuse me?”
    So the beast had manners after al . It was refreshing to see them.
    “Your name. What is it?”
    Seth sat in silence as he pondered how to answer what should be a simple thing. No one other than
    Azura’s servant, Jaden, had used his given name since he’d left the human realm.
    To his face—whenever he wasn’t pinned down and unable to strike back—the demons cal ed him
    Guardian or Master. Noir and Azura only cal ed him by insults or Slave, so much so that he wasn’t even sure
    if they knew his name.
    Bastard was probably the most common or least offensive epitaph he bore.
    Stil …
    Why would she want to know his name when no one else ever had? Not even Jaden had asked. He’d
    merely plucked it out of Seth’s head, without his permission, the first time they met.
    Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear it on her lips. A part of him was even afraid of that smal
    intimacy and what it might do to him. No good could come of her cal ing him by name.
    None.
    “Why do you want to know it?”
    Lydia sighed wearily. “You are ever suspicious of everything. Are you real y that afraid of me? What in the
    name of Olympus could I, as smal as I am, do to you?”
    She could weaken him, and here, in this hel where he was forced to live, that could get him hurt a lot
    worse. To care about anything or anyone …
    Those were the most lethal of weapons. It was exactly why he was holding her.
    To weaken and control Solin.
    I will never be such a fool. Not for anyone or anything.
    He’d come into this world alone and alone he would forever remain.
    “I’m not afraid of you, woman,” he sneered. “I fear nothing.” How could he? His entire life was nightmare
    after nightmare. If he feared something, it was used against him.
    So any fear he might have once held had been purged centuries ago.
    Now …
    He was empty at best and furious at worst. Those were the only two emotions he had. The only two he
    was capable of understanding anymore.
    Her topaz eyes fil ed with sadness, she shook her head. “Exchanging names is what people do when they
    meet.”
    “Yes, but I’m not a…” he stopped just short of saying “person.” They had long ago stripped that last bit of
    dignity out of him. He didn’t know what he was anymore. Not real y. But she didn’t need to know that either.
    “You’re not what?” she asked after a minute.
    “Human.”
    Lydia sensed that that wasn’t what he’d started to say. “But you do have a name, don’t you?”
    He nodded. “You may cal me Master.”
    Fire burned bright in her eyes as she curled her lip derisively. “I cal no man Master. Ever. And that
    includes you, for the record, buster. So get over yourself. Gah! I can’t believe the nerve of you.”
    Those words angered him. “Are you mocking me?”
    Lydia seethed at his ridiculous question. “Aren’t you mocking me ?”
    He actual y managed to appear stunned by that. Several other emotions she couldn’t identify flickered
    over his features as more blood trickled from his nose. Absently, he wiped it away before he spoke again.
    “How so?”
    She closed the distance between them, wanting to strangle him for it. Was he real y that dense? “Tel ing
    me to cal you Master? What kind of bul shit is that? No one owns me and they damn sure don’t control me.”
    Her anger didn’t seem to faze him at al . Of course, he lived and served Noir who, she’d been told, lived in
    a state of constant PMS. He was probably immune to any form of heated words.
    “Fine then,” he said in a calmer tone. “Cal me Guardian.”
    She made a