Amethyst Bound (7 page)

Amethyst Bound

rolling through my mind was possessive.

“If he can’t handle it and wants to leave us, we cannot
keep him.”
Although I had to wonder what Amethyst would do if Davis left. Would she let him go? Part of me hoped she wouldn’t. The rest wanted to sit back and watch, waiting to see how all the pieces would land.

I locked away my pain and longing. If he left, I would be fine and go on without him. I’d learned a long time ago that if I pretended it didn’t matter for long enough, sometimes, in the end, it really didn’t matter. I was hoping for that kind of pain-free break from Davis.

“I’m sorry, Toni.” He stood in front of me, dropping his packed bag at his side. One strong hand tipped my chin up and made me look him in the eye. “I wish…I just want you to understand. It’s my body that suddenly is covered in a spooky tattoo, and my future that could be at risk. I—”

“Don’t sweat it.” My voice was low and calm. My emotions were tucked safely away and out of reach from any fallout. “Who knows…maybe if I could walk away, I would too.” All he had to cope with was a pretty tattoo and a demeaning title. I had that and a shitload more.

After all, I was now bound to a dragon, sharing my body and my mind with a whole other being.

“Don’t give up on me yet. Just give me a little time to think this through.” Davis looked like he wanted to say more but after a couple minutes passed with him just swallowing and shaking his head, his hands dropped away and he stepped back.

If he just needed time, why had he packed a bag? I turned away, unable to watch him leave me. I was sure he scooped up his bags and moved across the room. I imagined him hesitating at the door, looking back and L. Shannon

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seeing me motionless beside the bed. Then soft as a sigh, I heard the door draw open and whisper closed.

“He’s leaving the hotel.”

“Yes.”
I paced across the room. Nervous energy boiled up, begging for release. I was good at action, but not so good at dealing with emotional garbage.
So how in the
hell am I going to cope this time?

I started to sink down on the edge of the bed but was overwhelmed by how everything reminded me of Ben.

The subtle scent of old books and dust mingled with his more manly musk. That combination was the scent that was closest to Ben in my mind. But hard on the heels of his scent was that of our sex. I knew it was sex, not lovemaking, because people don’t walk out after making love.

My chest tightened. I picked up the nearest book from the nightstand and threw it as hard as I could against the far wall.

“He hurt you.”
Amethyst growled and I couldn’t help but appreciate her defensive tone.

Maybe it could be nice having a dragon. Maybe later I would be able to think of Davis and that adage about folks being crunchy and tasting good with ketchup. Yeah, that would be an amusing thought at a later time.

But for now, I had to get a better grip on my emotions.

As it was, I could feel both my anger and Amethyst’s boiling up. Was it my imagination or was the temperature of the room rising as well?
“No, he didn’t hurt me,
Amethyst. I hurt myself. I should have known better than
to trust him. All men take what they want and walk away.

All people do. It’s my fault for thinking he’d be different.”

“He is different.”

“He‘s like every other person out there. He sees only
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Amethyst Bound

his own needs and his own fears.”

“You trust no one.”

I didn’t bother to agree or argue. Amethyst was right, but in the end it didn’t matter. I could only see my own needs and my own fears just like every other person. I couldn’t blame Davis for an action I might have taken in his place.

“I will calm his fears and bring him back. I will not let
you hurt like this. If he will not listen then we can hunt
him down and tear him limb from limb.”
What? Could she do that? My heart raced at the thought of anything bringing Davis back, but then I realized how wrong that would be.
“Like hell we will,
Amethyst! We are not hunting him down.”

“We shall see. Perhaps he will return when I speak
with him.”

I stood and paced back across the room, and when the simple act of being in motion relaxed me some, I repeated it. I’d pace the damn floor as long as it took to calm myself and keep Amethyst from harming Ben.
“We’re not
going after him, so you can’t speak with him.”

“I can, and I am. The mark allows him to hear my
voice just as you do.”

Damn. I kicked the dresser hard enough to shatter the front. Apparently I was stronger now than before. Lot of good that would do me now. Amethyst was going to muck around in his head and he’d probably blame me for it.

“I do not muck. Besides, he is standing right outside
the hotel and is wishing he were brave enough to come
back to you.”

“Really?”
The image of Davis’s hesitation filled me with a twisted longing. I wanted to go out and beg him to stay. I bolted for the door.

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“You are not the begging type. He knows that fact just
as well as you do. Listen, and I will talk to him so you can
hear.”

Her words froze me before I turned the doorknob.

“You can do that?”
Instead of rushing out and acting like a fool, I leaned against the door and listened.

“I can, but I believe Dr. Davis would prefer to think
you are not eavesdropping.”

“Keep my mouth shut. Gotcha.”
A flash of amethyst blinded me and then I was looking out through another’s eyes and seeing the courtyard to the side of the hotel entrance. The angle changed as Davis sank onto a bench and stared at his hands. I was filled with his writhing emotions. And in that moment I knew he wasn’t leaving. Even before Amethyst had her talk with him, he was planning to come back to me.

His mind flicked between thoughts of me and Amethyst. The thoughts of me left me panting and wishing he would pick his ass up and get back inside so we could act out some of them. The ones of Amethyst were confused. He wanted to study her, but he was also in awe of the concept and afraid of how her magic affected him.

“Dr. Davis?”

The perspective twisted as if he’d leaped up and was searching the area for the source of the voice.

“I don’t wish to interrupt but wanted to offer you what
knowledge I can. It may put you at ease with the
situation.”

“Amethyst?” he whispered.

“Yes, Doctor. Do you have any questions for me? You
can think the words and I will hear them without
observers thinking you unbalanced.”
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Amethyst Bound

“Oh.”
Another sweeping view of the garden revealed no other occupants.

“Do you have questions about the minion mark?”

“Damn right I have questions. How did you think I
would react to you branding me and turning me into a
lousy minion? Never mind what you were or weren’t
thinking. Let me explain it without any doubt whatsoever.

I will not now nor will I ever be turned into a mindless
zombie slave. Not even by you, Amethyst.”
I approved of the angry determination that filled his mind since I felt much the same way.

“You have my apologies, Doctor. You will not be a
slave. You will always have free will.”

“Then why can’t I leave? I made it this far, but now…I
just can’t leave.”

I could feel triumph in Amethyst’s mind, though I considered her happy dance a little premature.

“Perhaps you don’t truly wish to leave. I know that
Antonia does not wish for you to leave her and neither do
I. You have prepared for my coming for many years. Your
knowledge will help Antonia do as she must.”

“I won’t help her destroy the world.”

“Even though the world has not been kind to Antonia,
she will not desire that destruction either.”

“Will she have a choice? You’ve already proven you
can hijack her body any time you want. Now I’m starting
to understand what that feels like.”
Ben’s gaze moved slowly around the garden, but his attention was firmly rooted on the mental conversation. As was mine, since his questions were ones I should have thought to ask.

“There is always a choice. Just as you now must
choose to either help her or walk away. She will need you
more than you can know at this moment. You will be her
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counterweight to keep her balanced in all the trials that
will come.”

His emotions softened to resignation.
“I can’t leave
her.”

“I know you cannot. She awaits your return. I don’t
believe she has damaged much of your room at this
point.”

“I can imagine.”
There was no anger in Ben over my temper. If anything he seemed to find my personality attractive, which I found quite a surprise.
“Will you tell
Toni I’m not leaving?”

“Of course I will, Doctor.”

“Amethyst? How are we able to talk like this?”

“The mark binds you to us. Through it I can speak to
you. The connection offers benefits to both you and to us,
though it may take time to discover all the magic offers.”
That was an interesting thought. I wondered just what else we’d be able to do with Amethyst’s magic.

“So I wouldn’t have been able to escape…”

“The farther you are from us, the weaker the mark
becomes. If you left and stayed away, the mark would fade
and might even disappear completely. The minion mark
will not burn you again. I apologize for the sensation. I
did not control it as I should have.”

“So when I come back, what will happen? You won’t
be sneaky and minion my brain later, will you?”

“No, Doctor. The bond that is now will not change
without your permission. I was wrong to mark you
without discussing it with you and Antonia first. I am
sorry for my rash actions.”

“It’s okay. I guess we’re all kind of new at this. Even
you.”

“If you have other questions, I’d be glad to answer
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Amethyst Bound

them.”

“For the moment what I have is more a demand than a
question. Don’t call me
minion
. Not you or Toni. The
word is too close to
slave,
and if we’re going to stay
together, our relationship needs to be partners right from
the beginning.”

“Time has changed much. If you find
minion
unacceptable, we shall find a better title for you.”

“Thank you, Amethyst. Tell Toni I’ll be back inside in
a minute or two.”

I felt Amethyst withdraw from Davis and relaxed. He was coming back to me. Ben wanted to be with me. The surprise of his warm thoughts left me giddy in an unexpected way. Like a child seeing Santa after being told he didn’t exist. He was offering me his friendship but so much more than that. His return offered hope that perhaps there was a way to connect with another human being.

Hope that I would not be alone in the world.

“You are not alone, Antonia. I will be with you
always.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

“I can see your past now that you do not block it from
me. Not all people are like your father. He was ill and not
able to be the parent you needed.”

“I don’t want excuses for the monster he became. You
weren’t there and didn’t suffer at the hands of a
madman.”

“But I am there with you now. You need to forgive him
and move on. I know you have left him behind in the
world, but in your mind he haunts your every thought.”

“I don’t think I can. Do you know why I finally ran
away? I ran because he was going to sell me to a drug
dealer for his next hit.”
I kicked the dresser again. This L. Shannon

59

time my foot throbbed with the contact, but the physical pain was more welcome than the memories from my past, so I kicked it one more time.
“He was so far gone that he
was going to let a strung-out dope dealer rape me so he
would be kept in cocaine. I was twelve and I ran. I wish I
could say I never looked back, but I spent a long time
looking back, terrorized by the thought of him or one of
his druggie friends recognizing me and taking me back to
that hell.”

“I am very sorry that you were so mistreated, Antonia.

I wish it could have been another way.”
The currents in the air shifted around me, raising me and putting me on guard for some danger I couldn’t yet see.

“What’s going on?” I asked, but even as I did I knew the threat wasn’t to me. “Benjamin!”
Chapter Eight

Ben was in trouble.

Of course I would go after him. A primitive roar in my mind cried out that he was mine and no one dared to threaten those who I took under my protection. I opened my mind and through Amethyst saw the world from the perspective of my lover’s eyes. I had to know what we were up against before I took on the bad guys to save him.

The assassins from the temple had caught up to us. It wasn’t much of a surprise. I’d known from first glance that they were professionals, and if they’d been set on us they wouldn’t be easily dissuaded from the hunt. Though I had thought watching me turn into a dragon might have given us a little more time.

“Amethyst?”

“We go when you are ready.”

“I’m ready. Or rather I will be as soon as I get
outside.”
I rushed through the door and sprinted around the corner of the building. Just in case any of them were watching the doorway, I kept up my blending the whole way.