Page 131 of A Tribute of Fire

He was not going to dissuade me. “You saved my life.”

“I would disagree.”

“You gave me the clue I needed to navigate the labyrinth,” I tried again.

Jason shrugged nonchalantly. “I did no such thing. I was only singing a song.”

The fact that he knew how the clue had been conveyed to me meant that he had done it deliberately, no matter how he attempted to deny it.

Pieces started to fall into place and I realized all that he had done that day. He must have been watching over us. He hadn’t acted on my behalf until he’d shot the arrow and he’d only done it because I’d been about to die.

“The ambush waiting outside the temple,” I said, remembering how I’d expected a trap and instead found a bunch of unconscious men on the ground. “You fought them.”

“That had nothing to do with you. Those men owed me money.”

“All of them?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes. It was fortunate for me that they all gathered themselves together in one spot like that so that I could demand payment. And if they were there for you, well, it hardly seems sporting to lie in wait like that.”

“I expected a trap.” It was important to me that he knew I hadn’t run into that situation without realizing what the outcome would be. That I had understood what I would be up against.

With a shake of his head, he said, “You wouldn’t have gotten past them.”

I frowned. “You did.”

“I’m me,” he said with a grin.

Yes, he was. The one blessed with an incredible otherworldly fighting talent that he wasted in taverns and on ships.

And he had used that gift to save my life. To help me get into the temple.

“The spear?” I asked.

“I’m not much of a spear thrower, either. Again, I was aiming for you but I missed you on the wall.”

He must have been an incredible shot. I remembered how precisely that spear had been placed, exactly where I needed it. How it had buried itself deep in a rock wall, speaking to Jason’s strength. “You gave me the additional hand- and foothold I needed to climb.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” he said. “But it was very clever of you to go down through the roof after you found the doors locked.”

Had he been keeping pace with me the entire time? Watching over me, protecting me?

“Why?” I asked. I needed to understand this, more than I had ever needed to understand anything.

“You know why, Lia,” he said quietly.

I did know why. Even if I couldn’t have said the words, I felt the reason in my soul.

The defensive walls I’d built up around my heart shattered with that realization, leaving a pile of rubble behind and no way for me to protect myself against him and his charm. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep him out any longer.

Everything else faded away. My fears, my sorrows, my worries. All I could concentrate on was Jason and what he’d done.

If I managed to save Locris, it would be because he had saved me first.

Without thinking I stepped forward and pressed my lips against his.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

His first response was shock. His body stiffened, his lips unmoving against mine.

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