Page 46 of A Tribute of Fire

“I don’t envy the men of Troas,” he added.

The way he spoke made it sound like he didn’t plan on participating. “You’re not going to hunt me?”

He went absolutely still, his intense gaze boring into mine. “I would never hurt you.”

And again, I believed him. Although why I took the word of and felt safe with a womanizing man who never stayed in one place for very long because he was saddled with substantial gambling debts, I wasn’t sure.

“At least you’ll get a day or two of reprieve,” he said as he turned his head to the left, toward the lighthouse. “The pirates left a lot of holes in the hull that will need to be repaired before we set sail.”

“In a way, that’s almost worse. I don’t like delaying the inevitable.”

“Neither do I.” And that honeyed tone was back, the one that promised all sorts of delights and pleasures if I would just agree.

I remembered my dream, of him kissing me, lying on top of me, while begging me to yield, to surrender.

“There is no one here but us,” he added. “No one to see if you’d like to reacquaint yourself with my other set of special skills.”

A spike of desire struck me hard, making my legs feel weak. Maybe his suggestion, as repellent as I’d found it, that those who survived a battle sought others out in order to remind themselves that they had lived merited some consideration.

Because I’d never felt quite as alive as I had when he’d kissed me.

It would be so easy to accept. To kiss him again in the shadows, to lose myself in his touch, to let him make me forget all that was coming.

A good memory to carry with me once we landed in Ilion.

Just as in my dream, I didn’t want to say no.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

But even though I didn’t want to refuse him, I had to. I had to stay in control of myself and my emotions.

No matter how difficult that might be.

Needing to put some distance between us, I walked over to the railing on the coastal-facing side of the ship. I knew that he would follow me, and he did.

Maybe he felt the draw as strongly as I did.

There was a strange light coming from the water. It glimmered in a vibrant shade of light blue and white, almost as if it were alive, pulsating and moving with the waves as they traveled to the shore.

“What is that?” I asked, fascinated.

Jason stood next to my left shoulder, peering over to look. My breath caught from his nearness, from that warmth he gave off, like he was the sun and I wanted to bask in his rays. “No one is certain. Magic? Spirits? The gods?”

“Gods?” I repeated, turning my gaze to him. “As in, more than one?”

“There are many people who worship many different gods and goddesses.”

“I hadn’t realized.” My worldview had been so limited. The book my grandmother had given me only contained stories of the goddess. I’d never even imagined that there could be a god or goddess besides her.

“Are you afraid to die?” he asked, and I was surprised by the question. I probably shouldn’t have been, given how many times I had thrown my possible demise in his face.

“I’m not afraid. I don’t want to die. I want to succeed.” But if saving Quynh cost my life, I would gladly pay that price.

“What of your family?”

I couldn’t help but let out a short, bitter laugh. My family was in complete shambles. I didn’t know if my mother would ever be whole again unless Quynh and I returned. “My elder brother died a couple of years ago. They got past that; they will get over our deaths.”

“‘Our’?”

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