Tempted

his bow and arrow on the bedside table and gave me a rueful grin. “So, I won’t be needing these?”
    “Ya think?”
    “Which means my hands are now conveniently free.” He opened his arms to me and shot me a cocky look. “Why don’t you come here, Z?”
    “Hang on.” I hurried over to the window, buying time while I wondered how I could move from one man’s arms to another. “I definitely can’t rest until I make sure you’re not going to incinerate,” I babbled. While I was pulling the blinds I couldn’t resist peeking out, and was rewarded with the sight of a day that included very little light. It was a silent gray world filled with ice and gloom. Nothing was moving. It was like life outside the abbey, along with the trees and grass and fallen power lines, had been frozen. “Well, I guess this explains how you made it up here without being fried to a crisp. There is no sun out there.” I kept staring out the window, mesmerized by the world turned to ice.
    “I knew I wasn’t in any danger,” Stark said from the bed. “I could feel that the sun was up, but it’s not shining through all that icy stuff and the clouds. It was safe for me to come to you.” Then he added, “Z, would you come over here! My mind is telling me you’re okay, but my gut’s still a little shaky.”
    I turned around, surprised that the cocky tone in his voice was gone. I left the window and put my hand in his, sitting on the edge of the bed.
    “I
am
okay—a lot more okay than you’d be right now if you’d come rushing up here in the middle of a sunny morning.”
    “When I felt your fear I had to come. Even at the risk of my own life. That’s part of the oath I swore to you.”
    “Really?”
    He nodded, smiled, and lifted my hand to his lips. “Really. You’re my lady and my High Priestess. I’ll always protect you.”
    I cupped his face in my hand and couldn’t stop staring at him, for some reason that suddenly made me cry.
    “Hey, don’t do that—don’t cry.” He brushed the tears from my cheek. “Come here to me.”
    Wordlessly, I slid in beside him, being careful not to bump his chest. He put his arm around me and I leaned against him, hopingthat the warmth of his touch could wipe away the memory of Kalona’s cold passion.
    “He does it on purpose, you know?”
    I didn’t have to ask. I knew he was talking about Kalona.
    Stark kept talking. “It’s not real—the stuff he makes you feel. That’s what he does. He finds a person’s weakness and he uses it.” Stark paused, and I could tell there was more he wanted to say. I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to curl up, and in the safety of my Warrior’s arms, I wanted to sleep and forget.
    But I couldn’t. Not after A-ya’s memory. Not after Aphrodite’s visions.
    “Go on,” I said. “What else?”
    His arm tightened around me. “Kalona knows your weakness is the connection you have with that Cherokee girl who trapped him.”
    “A-ya,” I said.
    “Yeah, A-ya. He’ll use her against you.”
    “I know.”
    I could feel his hesitation, but finally Stark said, “You want him—Kalona, I mean. He makes you want him. You fight against it, but he gets to you.”
    My stomach squeezed and I wanted to be sick, but I answered Stark honestly. “I know and it scares me.”
    “Zoey, I believe you’ll keep saying no to him, but if you ever give in, you can count on me to be there. I’ll stand between you and Kalona, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
    I laid my head on his shoulder, remembering all too well that Aphrodite hadn’t said anything about Stark being in either of her visions.
    He turned his head and kissed me softly on the forehead. “Oh, by the way, nice nightgown.”
    A little bubble of unexpected laughter escaped me. “If you weren’t hurt I’d smack you.”
    He gave me his cocky grin. “Hey, I like it. Makes me think I’m in bed with a bad little Catholic schoolgirl from one of those twisted all-girl prep schools. Want to tell me about the naked pillow fights you and your roommates used to have?”
    I rolled my eyes at him. “Uh, maybe later when you haven’t just almost died.”
    “Okay, cool. I’m too tired to do any impressive proving anyway.”
    “Stark, why don’t you drink from me? Just a little,” I hurried on when he started to protest. “Look, Kalona isn’t here. Actually, from my dream it’s pretty clear that he’s far away, since there aren’t any islands anywhere close to