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What had changed her mind? He wanted to demand an answer, but his pride wouldn't allow him. A woman had never pulled
away from him before, and he didn't like that one had now one he wanted more and more as the seconds passed. One he
wanted more than he'd ever wanted another.
He ate the bread first, relishing the familiar taste, then tore into his energy bar, eating half in one bite. Jewel, too, ate her bread,
then nibbled on the bar, wrinkling her pixie nose in distaste.
The wind kicked up, rustling leaves and gusting tendrils of her hair over her shoulders, onto his chest It felt like a caress of her
hand.
He gulped. "We really should get moving soon. The longer we stay here, the more likely the demons are to find us."
"They'll never find us here. In fact, we're safer here than we would be anywhere else."
"How do you know?"
"Marina fears the owner of this land."
He considered that and nodded. "So tell me, Prudence. Where will I find the Jewel of Dunamis?"
Her cheeks paled, leaving her skin pallid. "You need rest. There is no reason to worry about that now."
"You swore to take me to it. Are you planning to renege on me?" He spoke quietly. Deceptively calm.
"No, of course not." The thunderous look Gray was giving her now was the look he usually reserved for his enemies. Ominous.
Deadly. "I have every intention of revealing exactly where Dunamis is."
His shoulders relaxed. "So where is it?"
She turned to him, meeting his gaze and holding his stare. The fact that she was still fighting her need to kiss him didn't help
matters. But run, she would not.
Kiss him, she would not. He might not remember what had happened inside his consciousness last night, but she did. She
remembered how he'd thought of her as "not for him." Remembered that he'd intended to push her away if she hadn't done it
herself.
If she kissed him now, she wouldn't have the strength to pull away from him, even if she heard him curse her to Hades in his
mind. She'd spent the entire night caring for him, bathing him when his fever raged, pouring water down his throat. Sleep had
been impossible when his survival depended on her, so shards of fatigue rode her hard, weakening her resolve to remain
distanced from him.
"Where is it?" he demanded again.
She pushed out a breath and prayed he took her next words as the answer. "I need you to escort me to the Temple of Cronus."
A sense of foreboding swept over her. For her? For Gray? Or the temple? She closed her eyes, trying to center the sensation,
to study it, but it slipped out of reach.
Gray bared his teeth in a scowl. "That wasn't the deal, babe."
He hadn't taken it the way she'd hoped; instead, he'd heard the hesitation in her voice, the wistful catch. She couldn't lie to him,
but now she'd have to utter a distorted truth he would assume meant one thing, when in fact, it meant another. It's what she had
done with Marina, and she hated to do it to Gray, but she had to reach the temple.
The only memory she had of her father was inside that temple. His face was a blur to her, but she remembered how he'd
descended the long, white steps, coming straight for her, his arms wide.
"I sprang you from prison," Gray snapped. "You take me to Dunamis. That was the deal, and you know it."
"What if I told you that you will discover Dunamis at the temple?"
"Will I?" he asked, suspicious.
"I wouldn't have said so otherwise, would I?"
He remained silent for a long, protracted moment, then relaxed. "If Dunamis is in the temple, that's where we're going. Geez.
For a minute you made it sound like they were entirely separate things."
She blinked innocently. It had taken Marina over a year to even suspect that when Jewel responded with a question, the real
truth did not lie in the answer. Gray was well on his way to that realization after only a few days.
"Is anyone or thing guarding it?" he asked. "Dunamis, I mean?"
"It does have one protector, yes."
When she said no more, he added, "You want to tell me what I'll be up against?"
How did she explain without lying? "The protector is strong and brave, but he will let you do whatever you wish with Dunamis."
Gray's eyes narrowed. "Just like that?" He snapped his fingers. "The man will give it up just like that?"
"Answer a question for me first. Why do you want it so badly? The jewel, I mean."
"You mean you don't know?"
"All I know is that you do not wish to conquer and rule the surface world, nor do you plan to use it to destroy an enemy."
His silver gaze pierced her all the way to her core. Jewel didn't think a man had ever looked at her the way Gray did, as if she
were a platter of some unknown, but delicious smelling dessert.
"Will my reason affect your willingness to take me to it?"
"No," she said, and it was the truth. No distortion. No dancing around the issue.
He nodded, deciding to trust her. "I want Dunamis because it's dangerous. In the wrong hands, millions of people could be
annihilated. I want Dunamis," he added carefully, "because it needs to be guarded by the right people or be destroyed."
Her stomach knotted, sadness mixing with her dread. She'd had to hear that, hadn't she? What would he do or say if he knew
that destroying the jewel would destroy her? Would he hesitate in his determination, perhaps change his mind? Or would he act
without reservation?
"I will answer your question now," she said, forcing the words out. "The protector of Dunamis will let you destroy it. Just like
that." She snapped her fingers.
"Why?" Incredulity radiated from him.
"He believes as you do, that it needs to be destroyed."
Gray's brow furrowed. "Then why the hell does he protect it?"
"That is a question you will have to ask him yourself."
He opened his mouth, his eyes thoughtful, then he closed his mouth with a snap. Opened, closed. Finally, he growled, "What do
you have on under that robe?"
Confused, she blinked over at him. What kind of question was that? He knew what she wore under her robe: a thin white
chemise. He'd seen it. Had he planned to ask her something else, then changed his mind?
She sighed. She might have watched this man her entire life, but she doubted she'd ever understand him. Or maybe it was just
men she didn't understand. All the other male minds she'd ever read had been focused only on their survival. Some hoping to
block her out so that whoever owned her at the time wouldn't know of their crimes. Others had merely been nervous, wanting
her to see the truth so she could send them on their way. But for all of that, she'd never taken time to truly explore the male
thought process.
"You want to know what I'm wearing under my robe?"
"That's right."
"But why?" She wished to the gods she could read his mind right now.
"Instead of answering me, why don't you show me?" Gray let out a heavy breath. Damn it. For a moment, when they'd been
discussing the destruction of Dunamis, Jewel had looked so lost, so sad, and he hadn't known what caused the transformation.
He'd only known he had to fix it.
Thankfully, he had. Color bloomed bright in her cheeks, and her take-me-to-bed eyes sparkled. Desire flared to life, but it
couldn't beat past the sudden sense of lethargy racing through him. He gently stretched his arms over his head, arching his back.
His mouth widened in a yawn.
"You've already seen exactly what I'm wearing under the robe. Soaking wet, no less."
"Maybe I've forgotten." His eyelids were growing heavy. "Maybe I need to see again."
"No, you do not," she said primly. "What would Katie say about your behavior?"
Hearing her speak his sister's name so easily was disconcerting. Strange and surreal. "How do you know Katie?" His question
held curiosity and surprise as he fought to stay awake. "I haven't thought about her since I met you."
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