Painted Blind Part 27

I broke off a piece of dinner roll. My cheeks flushed hot with embarra.s.sment. "I was... after the tasks..." Did he know that Tyson Ewing saved my life? Did anyone else know that the honey-colored cards all belonged to that one man?

t.i.tus set down his fork. He reached into his s.h.i.+rt pocket and pulled out a rumpled card with embossed black letters. "This fell out of your coat pocket."

Before going to the wolf den I shoved that card in my pocket for luck.

t.i.tus set a blue pa.s.sport booklet on the tablecloth and slid it toward my plate.

I opened it and saw his picture next to the name Tyson Ewing. "You?" I almost dropped the pa.s.sport into my plate. I was too shocked to utter the thank you I should have. "Why?"

t.i.tus picked up his fork and spoon. "You're not much good to me dead."

There was a knock at the door, and I was grateful he left the table to answer it. The delivery was a large manila envelope. t.i.tus lingered in the doorway after the messenger was gone, then his eyes moved across the room.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Our travel itinerary and instructions. It lays out how far we need to go each day to reach the meeting point on time. We'll head out first thing in the morning and drive to the town at the foot of the mountains. It's only three hundred miles, but the trip will probably take all day." His demeanor changed. He pushed the papers aside with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Do you know about the billboard Eros stole from Aphrodite's warehouse?"

I continued eating and didn't look up. He moved from one uncomfortable subject to another just to torment me. I could not survive an entire week of this.

t.i.tus dipped bread into the extra sauce on his plate. "You remember the doors in the upstairs room that overlook over the sea?"

"Behind the curtains."

"Eros hung the center portion of the billboard-the part that's you-behind the curtains on those wooden doors. Everyone thinks he sits up there for hours staring at the sea, but he's really just looking at you."

I set my fork down and sipped some water. What did t.i.tus expect me to say? That I was flattered? I slid back from the table. "Then he'll be disappointed if he marries me. They edit photos to make them perfect. I don't really look like that." I tossed the napkin on the table. "I'm going to make use of that huge tub in my bathroom."

t.i.tus's glance darted across the living room, and he stood. "Lock the door."

I turned on him, suddenly furious. He spent the entire day trying to convince me I could trust him, but when it came to me bathing, I had to lock the door to keep him out. "I guess you're not as trustworthy as you claimed to be."

He set his hands on his hips. "I am a man, after all."

"That you are," I muttered before slamming the door and locking it. I was too angry to admit he'd hurt me. I wanted to believe he would be my friend and my guardian, but it turned out he was just like every other guy in the world.

While the tub filled, I watched the last rays of sunlight linger on the rooftops before the mountains stole the light and sank the buildings into shadows. When the stars began to sparkle in the sky, I drew the curtains. For awhile, I just soaked in the hot water. Then I found the switch that turned on the jets, and I let the air ma.s.sage the tension out of my back and shoulders. I stayed in the tub until my hands and feet were pickled and pale. With reluctance I finally wrapped myself in one of the plush towels embroidered with the hotel's crest.

Aeas only packed me a single change of clothes, two pair of underwear and some socks. The thought of Aeas in my underwear drawer was disturbing, but somehow my pride was being shredded on all sides since I had undertaken to win a G.o.d. I put on clean underwear and the satin nightgown from the closet. In the morning I would tell t.i.tus I needed more clothes, but I didn't want to see him again tonight.

Today was the easiest leg of my journey. Tomorrow would be a long drive, and each day after would grow more difficult. I had to wonder if it was all futile. I wasn't especially strong or smart or athletic. There was nothing that uniquely qualified me to beat these tasks except my will to win and the help I received from certain, generous immortals. Were Eros's planning and his money and his servants enough? Once I met the messenger, I was completely on my own, and that was what I feared most. Alone I was weak. If I failed, there would be no one else to blame but me.

I fluffed the pillows and pulled the blankets around me, but I couldn't sleep. I listened for movement outside the room, but the suite had been built for privacy. It was a giant coc.o.o.n.

I thought I imagined the light tap, tap, tap on the door. I sat up and listened, then I heard it again, barely louder than the first.

"t.i.tus?" I wasn't ready to forgive him, so if he was bugging me, it had better be important. "What do you want?"

Tap, tap, tap.

Aggravated, I climbed out of bed and pulled on the robe before opening the door. I expected to find t.i.tus standing there. Instead, I saw the suite darkened and completely still. "t.i.tus?" I stepped into an invisible body. A squeal of surprise escaped me before he put his fingers over my lips. The ring on his first finger brushed my nose. He held me immovable and kissed my cheek, giving me time to recognize him before he set me free. "You're here."

Of course, Eros didn't reply. He fingered the satin on my arms, then touched the thin strap of the nightgown that had fallen into view at my neck.

I snorted. "It was in the closet. Don't get any ideas."

He backed me into the bedroom, where he gathered me into his arms and kissed me.

I was so tired of being without him. I wanted to let him lay me down and marry me right there, except it probably wouldn't count since we were in the mortal world and we didn't have the pendant.

Eros, too, seemed complacent about keeping the boundaries between us. His kiss was long and hungry and deep. Standing there, completely lost in him, I didn't hear t.i.tus approach until he switched on the light.

"Isn't that a violation of the contract?" He leaned against the doorpost rubbing his eyes with the ball of his hand. If we had wakened him, he was one light sleeper.

I spun around. To a mortal, I would have appeared alone in the room, but t.i.tus could see the veiled Eros with his arms around me. "Technically, no." I forced myself to look in his face. I was supposed to be the master here, not him. "I can't see Eros, and he never speaks."

"Then, how do you know it's him?"

"I know."

"What if I said it wasn't him?"

Eros ran his hand over my hair. He leaned closer and drew his face across my cheek. I smelled his skin and knew the contours of his arms.

"You'd be lying," I replied.

t.i.tus looked past me. "If you need a bed, take mine, but you're not sharing hers. Let her sleep. Her days are only going to get harder."

The arms around me tightened.

"You, of all people, should want what's best for her. Let us finish this."

My invisible love sighed, and he let me go.

"NO!" I reached for him, but my fingers found nothing but air.

t.i.tus was jarred by a pa.s.sing body and accepted the blow without flinching.

"Don't go!" I tried to follow, but t.i.tus caught my arm and held on until the door out of the suite opened and closed. I jerked myself free and pounded a fist into his chest. "Don't ever send him away from me! He is all I want!"

t.i.tus shook my shoulders. "Then win your bargain." He pushed me away. "So you can have him for real, not just these games."

Suddenly calm and so angry it turned me cold, I stepped forward. My nose grazed his chin. Though I was no physical threat to him, I felt his body tightening as I overstepped the bounds of his personal s.p.a.ce. "Get out," I said slowly. "I do not take orders from you."

t.i.tus backed away, bowing slightly. "Yes, Lady." He returned to his room and closed the door.

When he was gone, I found the satellite phone. Eros was programmed into the contact list, so I punched out an angry text.

I don't know why you sent him. I don't like him. I don't trust him. He's worse than having my dad around.

I waited almost an hour, but he didn't reply. Finally I relented and went to bed. By morning my head was clear. Get the map, finish the task and live with Eros, or die trying. There was no other option.

In bags near our backpacks, I found clothes intended for me-tough cargo pants, long sleeved unders.h.i.+rts and pretty T-s.h.i.+rts to go over the top. They were nice clothes and I liked them, but I was irritated that they were women's and fit the contours of my body, especially since I was stuck lugging t.i.tus around everywhere I went. I carefully packed Aphrodite's box and the rest of my clothes into the metal-framed backpack, so I could leave the duffle bag in the car when we reached the climbing area.

We ordered breakfast the night before, and it arrived outside the suite promptly at seven o'clock. I had already eaten and was studying the map to the next town when t.i.tus stumbled out of his room. "You're late," I said.

"We aren't supposed to leave until nine."

"I'm leaving now." I gathered my things and phoned the front desk to have our car brought around. A few minutes later when the bell boys arrived to take our luggage, t.i.tus was eating with one hand and pulling on his shoes with the other.

Before the elevator closed to take me down, t.i.tus dashed out of the suite with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He caught the elevator door with his hand, and pushed his way inside. "You can't ditch me that easily."

"Oh, that I would be so lucky," I muttered.

When we reached the foyer, he stayed a step behind until we pa.s.sed the doorman. Then t.i.tus sped up and tried to steer me around to the pa.s.senger side.

Instead I went to the valet. "The keys, please?" I held out my hand.

The valet handed over the keys and wished me good day.

I climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. t.i.tus was gritting his teeth when he climbed in next to me. Ignoring him, I programmed the location of our next lodging into the GPS. There was no way I could navigate the streets of Kathmandu without it.

"Would you please let me drive?" t.i.tus said as I ground the gears pulling out of the parking lot. s.h.i.+fting left-handed was harder than I thought it would be.

"When I get tired, I'll let you drive." I put on the blinker and turned left as I was instructed by the navigation system. A car in another lane honked, but let me in. "Why don't you just crawl into the back seat and disappear?"

t.i.tus let out an angry breath. "If I thought for one moment that the two of you wouldn't have completely violated the contract, I would have left you alone."

"We've been alone dozens of times, t.i.tus, without you babysitting, so just step down from that high, self-righteous horse you're riding."

He turned his face toward the window. It was going to be a very long day stuck in the car together.

Chapter 23.

There was a single highway from Kathmandu to India, upon which nearly all goods travelled. The term "highway" was generous. It was a narrow, unmarked road that accommodated traffic in both directions without laws of right of way, pa.s.sing zones or crosswalks. Traffic consisted of everything from busses to hand carts, yaks and burros.

It took over an hour just to get out of Kathmandu. Unconsciously, I had antic.i.p.ated a grand exit from the city and the speedometer suddenly climbing the way it does when you pull onto the freeway back home. This did not happen. We were stuck behind one slow-moving truck after another, inching our way west. We might have been faster on foot. When we finally reached a more rural area, I learned that if I honked as I came up behind slower traffic, they would let me through.

I thought I was driving fast when the speedometer said I was going a hundred, but t.i.tus informed me with a grin that it was only about sixty miles an hour. The road was full of potholes and the pavement was warped. My dad would have hara.s.sed me about beating the shocks to death if we had been in my car, but I didn't care if the old SUV was worse for wear after this trip.

t.i.tus did finally climb into the back seat and prop his feet up on the window. He fell asleep using our bags as a pillow. Somewhere in his dreams he disappeared, but I could still hear him breathing.

The GPS signaled me to turn right, but when I arrived at the road, it was little more than a dirt trail. I hit the brakes and felt the unseen body slam into the back of my seat. Awake now, t.i.tus reappeared. "What's the matter?"

"I think we're supposed to turn here, but it doesn't look like a road."

He looked at the navigation system, then pulled out the map. Roads were not clearly marked, and neither were towns for that matter. One looked very much like the next. "I would trust the satellite. It's only supposed to be thirty miles to the village where we're staying the night."

"You can drive," I answered. I wasn't tired; I was starving. After he took the wheel, I found a bag of food and put it in between us on the front seat. The SUV was stuffy. With the windows down we gathered a lot of dust. I pulled my hair back as tightly as possible, but strands still whipped at my face. After peeling an orange, I offered half to my bodyguard.

He accepted it tentatively. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

I shrugged. I wasn't good at holding grudges. There was no one else to talk to for the next five days, so it was hard to keep ignoring him. "I don't think we should stop at the next village."

The orange gone, he opened a granola bar with his teeth. "Why not?"

"This schedule says it's another hundred miles to the village where we're getting the yak. From there we're on foot." I squinted into the sun, which was still high overhead. "There's no sense wasting an afternoon. We should go as far as we can tonight. It gives us more time to climb."

"You're the boss. I can't guarantee suitable lodging if you skip the village. You may end up in a barn with livestock."

"We've got camping gear. If worse comes to worse, we just pitch our tents." I was more concerned about finding suitable food. Would the villagers feed a couple of strangers a hot meal? I doubted there was going to be a restaurant, and I was getting tired of fruit and packaged snacks.

The road worsened with every mile, until I was clutching the window frame to keep from having my brain jarred loose. t.i.tus navigated the rocky terrain well, and since he had spent more time in Europe, he was better with the left-handed gear s.h.i.+ft. In all honesty, we probably would have made better time if I'd let him drive the whole way, but I would not admit it to him.

We were way beyond the popular tourist areas, and we were climbing fast. Steep, jagged peaks rose all around us. The road meandered between them. Outside the temperature dropped rapidly. Whereas in the city and on the lower roads, it had been warm, now the air carried a chill. Soon we would be in the lands of eternal winter.

The village, where we were supposed to stay, was made up of nearly a hundred buildings, mostly built of stone and mortar. The road cut right through a valley, and the town rose up in terraced steps on either side. We stopped for gas, which I wasn't sure we'd find. However, the village needed supplies, and the delivery trucks needed gas, so we did manage to find a working fuel pump. While I paid for gas, I sent t.i.tus for food. If we could at least find some fresh vegetables and meat, we could build a cooking fire at the next stop.

He returned looking triumphant. "Fresh meat from the butcher," he announced. "And vegetables from the market."

"What kind of meat?" I eyed the package suspiciously. It was wrapped in newspaper.

"I didn't ask. It's red, though, so I figured you'd like it." He eyed one of the taller buildings longingly. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"It's only two o'clock in the afternoon. We should keep moving."

He packed the food with our other supplies then climbed into the driver's seat.

I was probably making a mistake. Eros's men scouted the area and decided we should stay here, but Eros would also break up the journey as much as possible. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time once we reached the mountain.

The road narrowed terribly. In places I wasn't sure we could pa.s.s between the jagged mountain walls, but t.i.tus kept going while I held my breath. Eventually we pa.s.sed into a wider valley, where the shrubbery had lost its leaves, and the gra.s.s was spotted with snow. Trees became scarce.

"Can we get there before dark?" I asked.

"I'll do my best," t.i.tus replied. The road was pocked and rough, but he kept us climbing. Fortunately, it had been awhile since the last snow, so the roadway was partially clear.

We rounded a sharp corner with the SUV hugging the mountain wall. On my side the rocks fell away into oblivion. I gasped without meaning to and buried my face in the seatback.

t.i.tus threw me a momentary glance. "Are you...? You're afraid of heights?"

That one glance over the cliff made me nauseous. I turned my eyes toward him and the nice, solid mountain on his side. "Yeah."

"Great," he replied flatly.