Kiss of Frost

forehead, and his lips were a thin white stain in his face. The fabric strips he'd just tied around his leg were already turning an ugly brown as the blood seeped into them.

'I'm sorry,' he rasped. 'I don't think I can walk any farther. Go on, Gwen. Get out of here. Run. Before he finds us both.'

I shook my head. 'We already left Oliver behind. I'm not leaving you, too.'

Logan grabbed my shoulders and shook me. 'Listen to me! This isn't like that night in the Library of Antiquities. I had weapons then. All we have now is your sword, and I'm stuck with a bum leg. There's no way I can beat Preston like this. He's almost as good as I am, and we all know it.'

'Listen to the Spartan, Gwen,' Vic chimed in. 'Go and get help. I'll stay here with him. We'll give you time to get away.'

'Shut up, Vic,' I snapped. 'I'm not going anywhere. Be quiet and let me think a second.'

Logan frowned and looked around, probably wondering who I was talking to since he didn't know about Vic. I ignored the Spartan and his confusion. Instead, I paced back and forth, my sneakers sending up puffs of sawdust into the shadows. Thinking. Logan couldn't beat Preston, not now, not with his leg cut up, and I simply didn't have the skills to go toe-to-toe with the Reaper and win. Preston had said that I was like a five-year-old with a toy sword, and he was right.

So what were we going to do? If only I'd been the one that Preston had injured instead of Logan. I could have just given Vic to Logan and let the Spartan use all of his years of training, knowledge, and fighting skills to beat the Reaper. If I'd had more training, if I knew how to actually use a sword myself, then I would have taken on Preston in a heartbeat. But I didn't, and there was just no getting around that.

If you can use my memories to help you with archery, why can't you use them to help with something else? I knowI'm right about this. I'm always right.

Daphne's words whispered in my mind, and I flashed back to that first day in the gym when I'd thought about the Valkyrie, when I'd called up her memories and used them to put my arrows into the center of the target. I'd done the same thing again on Friday, when I'd flashed on Daphne skiing and used those images to help myself get down first the bunny slope and then the higher ones. A crazy, crazy idea came to me then, a way that I could keep Logan and me from getting killed, maybe theonlyway that I could keep that from happening.

I crouched down in front of Logan. 'Listen, we both know that you can't fight Preston with your wounded leg, and I can't beat him by myself. But maybe we can stop him- together.'

'What do you mean?'

I quickly told Logan about this new thing I'd learned how to do with my psychometry.

'So you want to touch me and take my memories of all the battles I've been in and all the weapons training I've had. Then you want to use them to fight Preston yourself?' Logan asked after I explained everything.

I winced. It sounded completely nutso when he said it out loud like that. 'More or less.'

Logan thought about it a second. 'I think that's one of the craziest things I've ever heard-and one of the most brilliant. Let's do it.'

I blinked. 'You… believe me? You really think it will work?'

'I think you're one of the smartest, bravest people I know,' Logan said. 'I trust you, Gypsy girl. If you think it will work, then I know it will.'

Certainty blazed in his ice blue gaze, and his voice rang with an absolute, unwavering trust. The Spartan's rocksteady belief in me, that I could actually use my magic to get us out of this mess, made hot tears sting my eyes. Emotion clogged my throat, making it hard to breathe. I nodded and stretched out my hand toward his.

Logan held up his own hand, signaling me to stop. He looked at me a second, then gave me a crooked grin. 'Come on, Gypsy girl. I'm bleeding to death here, in case you haven't noticed. At least make it worth my while and kiss me before I die.'

Despite the situation, my heart lifted at his words, and I found myself grinning back at him. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted that more thananything,especially since this might be the last chance I ever got to do it. But I wanted to make sure Logan knew what he was doing-and what might happen when I touched him.

'Are you sure?' I whispered. 'I don't-I don't know what I might see, and I know there are some parts of yourself that you want to stay… hidden. That you have… secrets you want to keep to yourself.'

Logan nodded. 'I'm sure.'

I stared at him. 'It'll be okay, I promise. No matter what I see or feel. You'll still be Logan, and I'll still be your Gypsy girl.'

He stared back at me, his eyes as bright as blue stars in his rugged, pain-filled face. 'I know it will, Gwen. I know it will. Now shut up and kiss me before I pass out.'

'Well, when you put it like that, how can a girl possibly resist?' I quipped back.

Before I could think too much about what I was about to do, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

Chapter 22

The feelings and images immediately overwhelmed me. Touching Logan, feeling his skin against mine, flashing on him with my magic. It was all just-just-electric. He was so strong, so full of life, so fun and crazy and irrepressible. The Spartan's strength flooded my heart and mind, even as his arms crept around my waist and drew me closer. His spirit gave my own new power, energy, and hope.

Logan's lips were firm against my own, and the kiss was everything I'd ever dreamed it would be. Warm, caring, and sexy. I opened my mouth, and our tongues touched, slowly stroking against each other. For a moment I