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  “What was that all about?” I asked him as we navigated through the woods, being careful to stay on the path and avoid the colorful flowers and vines that grew all around us. “All that, ‘oh, my goddess stuff. And, uh…the kiss?’”

  He shrugged. “I told you the Majorans worship their females, didn’t I? I was just playing along—weren’t you?”

  “Oh. Of course.” I nodded, trying to look unconcerned. “But don’t you think you were, uh, laying it on a little thick? You know—overdoing it?”

  “If I was, you were overdoing it with me, darlin’,” he rumbled, giving me a look that made me blush and drop my eyes. “Besides, if you’d ever seen a real Majoran male with his fated mate, you’d know they’re really like that—and more so. Can’t keep their fuckin’ hands off each other.”

  I know how they feel, I thought, wishing I could be in his arms again. But that was ridiculous—we were just playing roles. Play it cool, I told myself. This is no big deal—just another situation to deal with in order to get Grav’s ward back home safe.

  Play it cool—right. But I still couldn’t help fishing for a little information.

  “So Braxians are different with their females? Than Majorans, I mean?” I said, as casually as I could.

  “Well, we don’t worship them as divinities,” he said, sounding thoughtful. “But we are very respectful and protective of our females—we’ll kill or die to keep them safe.”

  “I can see that,” I said quietly, looking up at him. I had seen first hand how protective he was—it was almost scary at times. And yet, I couldn’t help finding it incredibly attractive too.

  I had used to think that Gerald was protective of me but I saw now I had been wrong. My ex (as I was already thinking of him in my head) had been jealous of me—incredibly jealous—but that wasn’t the same thing as protective. There’s a difference between constantly accusing your girlfriend or wife of lusting after other men and being willing to jump in front of a truck or stand down an angry mob to save her. Grav illustrated that difference in the strongest possible way and I felt drawn to him because of it.

  Get over it, I advised myself for what seemed like the hundredth time. It’s not going to happen between you. He turned you down, remember? So stop acting so needy and just get the job done.

  “The thing with the guard—it won’t happen again. I just thought putting on a little display would be the best way to get her to let us go on through.” Grav laughed, though I thought it sounded a little forced. “You saw her face, right? We were really getting under her skin.”

  “Uh, yeah. I guess you’re right,” I said, trying to suppress a sigh. An act—it had all just been an act.

  Speaking of getting under the skin, I couldn’t help thinking of the image generator implanted right beside Grav’s hip bone, under his skin. Was it still doing its job? Had I seen his image flicker for just a split second? For a moment, I had almost thought I saw horns on his head again.

  But surely not. I frowned and shook my head. It must be just the shadows of the tropical plants bobbing over our heads.

  Before I could worry some more, we finally came to the end of the jungle. The long path led out to a broad, rocky beach which edged a serene-looking lake, a little darker pink than the priestess-guard’s skin. Far out in the center of the lake was a tall gray structure with graceful marble pillars. That was all I could see, though—it was hard to make out any more details about it from this distance.

  All in all, I thought the scene looked nearly idyllic—not dangerous at all.

  “Well, it doesn’t look like a lake of torment,” I said doubtfully, my sandals crunching on the silvery-blue rocks. Before us was a small, flat-bottomed boat that looked like it was made of glass or very shiny plastic. It was tied to a dark blue dock that stuck out into the pinkish water. The dock was also some slick, shiny material that didn’t look like wood or metal. Strange.

  Grav’s nostril’s wrinkled and he lifted his head, taking a deep whiff of the air around us.

  “I know it looks harmless but I wouldn’t touch it, if I were you, darlin’,” he said, nodding at the lake. “That stuff’s pure acid. No wonder the boat and dock look like they’re made of etho-glass. Only thing that won’t react to it.”

  “Ugh, are you serious?” I had been about to dip my toe in the water but now I pulled back quickly.

  “Hell yes—don’t touch a thing,” he warned me. “Here—let me help you into the boat.”

  I thought he meant to give me a hand but instead, he picked me up as though I weighed no more than a doll, and carried me over to the dock.

  “Grav,” I protested a little breathlessly. “I can walk.”

  He only grunted and didn’t put me down until we were right along side the bobbing boat. He lowered me carefully into it and I saw that the flat bottom was see-through. Great, a glass-bottomed boat ride on a lake filled with acid. Just what I wanted to liven up my afternoon. Still, we were here for a reason. I held onto the dock to steady the boat as Grav climbed in beside me, surprisingly graceful for such a big guy. Sitting opposite me, he grabbed the oars.

  “Okay—let’s go,” he growled.

  Just as he was about to being rowing, I saw something in the water, beneath my feet. It looked like a pinkish-white lump swimming around down there—almost the exact color of a blob of raw meat.

  I leaned down, getting closer to the glass bottom of the boat. What could live down there in the acid water? The thing came closer and then hit the bottom of the boat with a dull clunk.

  It was a skull, still half covered in long shreds of decaying flesh.

  It dipped and bobbed, tapping the bottom of the boat. The teeth grinned at me and the empty eye-sockets stared mockingly, as though daring me to take a dip in the deadly lake.

  I screamed and scrambled back, rocking the boat in my haste to get away from the grizzly sight.

  “What? What is it?” Grav’s voice was sharp and he was already scanning all around us, looking for the danger.

  “There—there.” I directed his gaze downward, pointing at the skull, still bobbing just under the flat bottom of the boat.

  “Hmm.” Grav just stared at it, a grim frown on his face but he didn’t look surprised at all.

  “What is that? I mean, how do you think it got in here? Did someone slip and fall into the lake?” I asked, putting a hand to my heart which was still beating like a drum.

  He shook his head.

  “More likely a blasphemer. Somebody else who tried to infiltrate the Temple.”

  “What? But why would anyone do that?” I demanded.

  “Gemina has the greatest collection of Holy Artifacts from the Ancient Ones in the known galaxy.” He started to row, leaving the grizzly skull behind. “It’s not unheard of for people to try and steal them. And the priestesses of the Goddess deal with thieves and blasphemers accordingly.”

  “You mean they toss them in the lake?” I looked around, wondering if I would see other body parts bobbing by. “But that’s awful.”

  Grav shrugged. “Told you they take blasphemy seriously around here. It’s why we need to keep a low profile and get in and out as soon as possible.”

  “I see,” I said faintly and for the first time I really did. This wasn’t just an exciting adventure I was on—a fun trip to pass the time before I went back to Earth and dealt with divorcing Gerald. This was serious business and I could be hurt or killed doing it.

  Grav must have read my thoughts on my face because he stopped rowing for a moment and looked up at me.

  “Havin’ second thoughts darlin’? It’s not too late for me to take you back to the ship.”

  “No.” I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath. “No, you need me for this. And Teeny needs both of us. I’m going with you.”

  A look of admiration crossed his features as he started rowing again.

  “Okay, we’ll keep going. But remember, once we get to the temple, there’