Reluctantly, she smiled back. “That’s the worst attempt at reassurance I’ve ever heard.”

“You should see my bedside manner.”

Ha. She eyed her beer. If she was going to be cautious, she should never have contacted Josiah to begin with. Screw it. She reached for the bottle.

“Molly,” he said. She looked up from her drink and met his intent amber gaze. “Meditation, yoga, and breathing techniques—those are all Band-Aids. You have far too much Power.” He paused, and then for the first time in her life, someone else’s voice entered her head. <We’re not talking a sparkle of a little magic that gives you the ability to telepathize or see shiny spells. You’re capable of doing incredible damage. Ignore your own Power at your peril—and at the peril of everyone around you.>

The meaning of his message slid away as she realized he was…

In. Side. Her. Head.

The beer bottle fell out of her lax fingers. She launched off the picnic table and didn’t stop until she had put fifty yards between them. Then she turned in a circle, hands clapped to her temples.

“You could have given me some warning!” she yelled when she faced him again.

He laughed so hard he nearly fell off the table. “How could I know you hadn’t tried telepathy before now? It was the first thing I reached for when my Power awakened.”

“I’ve been a little preoccupied with other things!” She stomped toward him. “Don’t talk to me that way again!”

He waited until she had almost reached him. <Why? Other people are going to try telepathizing with you, so you might as well get used to it.>

“Agh!” She clapped her hands to her head again. “I don’t have to get used to anything right now! Seriously, stop!”

His face was still creased with amusement. “When I offered to take you on as a student, I didn’t realize how entertaining it could be.”

“I’m not your student,” she told him irritably. “This is a onetime lesson, remember?”

His laughter faded, and he eyed her with a leisurely, almost sensual glance. “It doesn’t have to be. Nobody else can teach you what I can teach you. Nobody else will encourage you to be whoever you want the way I would. To shed your inhibitions and explore everything you’re capable of being.”

She let herself be ensnared by the allure in his words, by his sexy voice. Just for a moment. It was such a dangerous, pretty fantasy to run to someone who claimed to have all the answers.

Then she looked away, and the fantasy burst. “I still don’t trust you,” she heard herself saying. “You’re too ambitious, too manipulative. I can see you calculating every move as you weigh what’s in it for you.”