“Three.”
He allowed the alarm to show on his face this time. “You lost your abilities for three whole days?”
I shook my head. “Less than two days, but we met further complications.”
I proceeded to tell him about the soul eater, the Crib, and the agents from Veritas up until we reached the She and our dramatic entrance into the Temple.
He nodded but kept staring at me in an unnerving fashion. I told myself it was a paranoid thought of the guilty. I hadn’t told him about my familiarity with Emma, but it felt like he was looking right through me and into my transgressions.
“I sense a shift in you,” he finally said. “You have been gone too long, I think. I wonder, do you still seek to serve the mission?” His voice softened. “To protect this world from the terrors of the Stygian?”
“Of course I do.” I was almost offended he had to ask, but I had strayed from the path. My Master had every right to question me.
He spoke slowly. “I feel you already know how she looks at you.”
I didn’t respond, unsure of what he wanted me to say.
“Does she know what you have done?”
My gaze fell to the floor. He circled around me.
“Ah, I didn’t think so. You have trespassed against so many, Calan. You have caused destruction, violence, and evil. Do not let her be one of your evils in this life. Or you will doom us all, and her to an eternal hell.”
“Are you sure?” My words came out strangled, as half of me begged not to ask the question.
“Of what?” he asked once he came to stand before me again. He released his hands from behind his back.
“Are you sure nothing can be done to save the Propheros? There isn’t another way to prevent the coming darkness?”
Master Ylang’s mouth twisted, distressed with my question. “Calan, it is not your place to question such things.”
If it were any other Master, I would have been whipped ten ways from Sunday. Master Ylang seemed to favor me and granted me more patience than I deserved.
His tone hardened. “Your mission is ours to give, and the mission is to protect the Propheros at all cost until the time comes for her to be sacrificed. If you cannot fulfill this duty, we will call on another Chevalier who can.”
I nodded, afraid to speak. I wanted to cry out that no one could protect Emma as well as me. I didn’t trust anyone else. But I kept my lips sealed and face as impassive as I could manage.
“We’ll discuss this at length with the Order.” Master Ylang moved past me. “Get some rest, Chevalier. There will be much to do.”
As soon as the grand wooden doors shut behind him, I fell to my knees and shoved a knuckle into my mouth to muffle my scream of despair.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Iwound my way through the large stone halls, sunlight streaming in through the tall, narrow windows. We had traveled a long ways from the dawn where the She attacked us. Looming ficus trees surrounded the Temple like an army. I’d missed their lush foliage in my travels. The heavy scent of moist earth and flowers infused the humid air. Yet, I did not feel the usual comfort in returning home.
Reaching my modest quarters, I saw the stone tub had been filled with hot water for me. I took my time cleaning and treating the wounds on my abdomen. The scratches on my face from the Crib were almost completely healed. I cleaned the cut on my neck but left it un-bandaged.
When the door to my quarters creaked open, I did not flinch. Though I was completely undressed and still wet from my bath, I did not move to cover myself. I hid nothing from my Order. During many training sessions, I was required to complete tasks in the nude to shed modesty for the sake of being wholly present in my missions. It also toughened my skin to feel the scrape of rough of bark, brush underfoot, and harsh sunlight or the cold of night.
When I looked up though, Emma’s back was to me as she peeked out the door to make sure no one saw her enter my quarters. She had changed into a long, sheer white dress, no doubt provided for her. Bandages peeked out from the bottom of her dress. Someone had tended to the scratch wounds on her legs from the She. When Emma turned around, her mouth dropped open and she fell back against the door as if her legs suddenly couldn’t keep her up.
Paralyzed, I didn’t know what to do. I hid nothing from my Order because my body and person were not considered to be of consequence. I wanted to abide by my teachings, but the way Emma’s eyes hotly soaked in my exposed flesh, I felt the urge to cover myself. It was like when she looked straight into my eyes, reading my every emotion, but this was a million times more intimate. Dark heat flared in her eyes, and I somehow sensed her mouth was watering.
“Hello,” I said stiffly, unable to act natural. I cursed myself for another unnecessary dalliance with the ego.
Emma swallowed, but let her eyes slowly travel up my body starting with my feet and traveling up my calves, thighs, then her gaze lingered on my groin. Her eyes were puffy and red, as if she’d been crying but they were dry now. The necklace she’d forced us to stop for still hung on her neck, the pendant disappearing under the dress between her breasts. I looked away from her as I realized my manhood was rising to the attention, but I didn’t move. To cover up, would be admittance I thought myself special and separate. Chevalier were neither of those things.
“Jesus,” she breathed. “You’re like a goddamn Greek statue brought to life.”
