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no demon, but it’s certainly prudent of you to check.” The tickle dissolved and the owl opened its wings. Drakkina indicated the distant river. “Lead on then.” And the great protector leapt silently into the air.
    ****
    Kailin breathed in deeply through her nose. The tangy smell of earth and water infused her and she stretched her toes inside her laced boots and blinked upward at the gray-blue sky that lightened directly off the bow of the boat. East, they were moving east, not south. They must be traveling on the curve of the Nile that wound east, just north of Thebes and Karnack. Kailin let the blanket fall down her arms and stretched them overhead with a satisfied smile. They’d made good time through the night, even without her interference. Her magic would have drifted off as she drifted off to sleep last night. Perhaps she’d made up enough time earlier in the evening. They should reach Luxor by the following morning.
    Kailin’s breath hitched as she turned and her gaze locked with Jackson’s. He sat, two chaises down, feet crossed at the ankles, watching her. She resisted the urge to check her hair with a quick pat.
    “Good morning, Kailin,” he drawled and raised his arms up in the air to interlock his fingers and stretch. Muscles bunched under his thin button-up traveling shirt. His hair hung loose and overly long around a strong, stubbled jaw. He grinned, which added a roguish appeal to the casual charm of his brilliant gray eyes. Kailin fought to quell the giddy unease at having woken up near the man, as if they’d slept in the same room.
    “What are you doing up here?” Her words came out a little breathless and she forced a smooth, calm exchange of air. “I did relinquish my cabin to you, Mr. Black. If you are still trying to protect me in a misguided attempt to make yourself useful, you needn’t, as I am more than capable of looking out for myself.”
    He shrugged and set his booted feet with a heavy clunk on the deck boards. “I too prefer to sleep under the stars. Does the constitution good. Growing up in wide open spaces”—he shook his head—“I spent many a night sleeping under God’s canopy.”
    His answer irritated her. Why? Her lips pursed together. Certainly it wasn’t because she’d hoped he’d admit to wanting to watch over her. Kailin rarely needed a protector. And when it was required for some social or cultural dictate, Anthony filled the role. Perhaps her irritation was merely that she sensed another lie.
    She crossed her arms over her lap and turned back to the lightening sky. “Do you ever speak the truth, Mr. Black, if that is indeed your name?” She turned her gaze to him when she heard a chuckle.
    “Do you ever speak without a wasp on your tongue, Miss Whitaker, or should I call you Dr. Whitaker?”
    Kailin stared at the cowboy. He made her anxious, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. “You irritate me more than most, Mr. Black.” She tilted her head to examine him. “You invade my personal space, not just physically like in the corridor but my”—she swirled her finger near her head—“emotional space.” She nodded, satisfied with her description, happy to slap a label on it so it could be cataloged away like other common human responses.
    “And Dr. Whitaker,” she continued, “though accurate, causes more trouble than it’s worth in this culture. Miss Whitaker is fine although you have a tendency to hedge on the scandalous side of propriety by calling me by my given name seemingly whenever you please. Again, quite irritating.”
    He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand. “And I am very aware that you answered my question with a question, thereby trying to change the subject.”
    Kailin crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
    Jackson raised one eyebrow. “Yes.” His gaze traced her features and heat crept upward from Kailin’s neckline.
    “Yes, what?”
    “Yes, I do speak the truth, when a lie is