Page 59 of Beyond the Storm

I understood that he wasn’t referring to a physical ache that could be eased with medicines and salves. He referred to one much deeper. Yet, it didn’t explain what I had seen on the battlefield.

“This is not the answer you sought.”

“No.” I tilted my face to the sky. “I saw the sword impale you, but you stand here now with barely a mark. I have to wonder if I trulydidsee it.”

“Which answer would be more acceptable?” he softly asked. “My wound healing at a remarkable pace, or it never existing at all?”

I upturned my palm and studied it. I had scrubbed my hands clean of his blood, but the memory still lingered in my mind. “The truth. However incredible it may be. That’s what I wish to know.”

“What if the truth is too great?” Kallias stared at the moon. “Too much for one mind to fathom?”

“I still wish to know it.”

He said nothing at first. He only stared at the night sky. “Do you believe in the gods?”

“Yes.”

“Then you believe not everything in this life can be explained. There are things that go beyond our understanding.”

“Yes,” I said again. “Are you telling me the gods spared you? They healed you?”

“No. My brothers healed me.”

“How?”

“With the gifts bestowed on them upon their births. I share those gifts. They become stronger as each year passes, allowing us to heal. Among other things. That is all you need to know.”

“These gifts were given to you by the gods?”

“My mother believed so,” he answered. “The truth differs slightly, but one thing remains true regardless of whether I come from the gods or not.” Kallias’ gaze moved to mine. “I am not like you, Elasus. For this reason, you should return to the celebration and leave me with my thoughts.”

Hearing my name on his lips caused my pulse to quicken.

“And if I refuse?”

A deep sadness came off him. “Tell me one reason you’d wish to stay.”

“Because of you.”

“So your curiosity keeps you here,” he said. “I am a thing to poke and prod until you learn all the secrets hidden within. What if I told you that the more you learn, the more danger you place yourself in?”

“I’m a Spartan. I never flee from danger. Instead, I charge into the fray.”

“Return with your shield… or on it,” Kallias whispered. “Is that not what Spartans are told before a battle?”

“If you are familiar with our words, then you must also know the threat of danger is of little consequence. You say you aren’t like me—”

“Because I’m not.”

“You bleed the same as I do.” I stepped closer and placed my palm over his chest. Not only did he smell like the sun, but his skin felt the same, a heat that sank deep into my bones. “Your heart beats like mine. Mortal or god… it matters not.”

“I am no god,” he said. “I am a thing much darker.”

“Darker?” Closer I moved to him until no distance existed between our bodies. It still wasn’t close enough. I moved my hand to the side of his neck. His breaths shortened. Mind did as well. “How can you be dark when you shine so brightly? Like the sun when it touches the peak of Mount Taygetus. I once believed nothing was more beautiful.”

Until now.

But I dared not say the words aloud. Such soft words were not meant for a man like me. My brutal upbringing had stripped me of vulnerability and the gentleness meant to exist between lovers. Perhaps it was why I hadn’t sought anyone for myself. Intimacy, for me, had always come from an enemy’s blood on my hands. Hands that had no right to touch the man in front of me.