Amethyst Bound (9 page)

Amethyst huffed disagreement into my mind.
“He’s
our minion. He must not leave us.”

“He is not a prisoner. He can leave if he wants to.”
No matter how much it hurt.

His soft sigh blew out over me. “Then what will you do?”

“What do you mean?” For a moment I thought he was asking what I’d do without him, and the answer wasn’t that complicated. I’d go on.

“You still have people hunting you.”

“And don’t forget an employer who will probably be impossible to satisfy.”

“Good point. What do you plan to do about that?”

“Oh…” I didn’t have a plan yet, so I closed my mouth 70

Amethyst Bound

and hoped he had a suggestion.

“Call your employer and tell him the truth about what happened.” Before I could object, he continued. “If he’s the one sending killers after you, you may be able to convince him to stop. And if he’s not, he may know who is. And even if he doesn’t have anything to do with them, your employer most likely knows more about the pendants and the prophecy. It really is the only choice that makes any sense.”

He was just full of annoyingly good points. I definitely didn’t want to burn the world. Maybe with enough knowledge, I’d be able to avoid that particular destiny.

“Since he’s your best lead, I think you should start with him.”

I drew back from Ben and stared out into the night. I hated feeling so lost, but how else could I feel?

Everything I’d known had changed. My decade of working as a thief was wasted now that I didn’t even have control over my body. Everything about the job demanded complete command over the smallest details, something I could no longer claim. I felt a sinuous twist in my gut and knew my thoughts had hurt Amethyst. I just couldn’t change how I felt.

And the absolutely worst part of it all was the burning need in me to protect Ben at all costs. I wasn’t entirely sure I would let him walk away. A deep part of me whispered that I’d never let him go. I couldn’t protect him if he left me.

But who would protect him from me? From Amethyst?

“Are you thinking or ignoring me?”

“Thinking,” I whispered. “We can go to my house first. I think we can make it in three or four nights. If we stop in the morning near a town, you can get anything you L. Shannon

71

need there.”

Or leave me then. He hadn’t actually said he was leaving, but how could I miss that the plan he’d outlined was all
you
, and no longer
us?
Swallowing a lump, I had to face the truth—he would leave and it was probably for the best. At least for him. I couldn’t help but search his face and see all the hurt he’d already taken after knowing me for less than one night.

“Do you think it would be better to get some fresh clothes and buy tickets for a commercial airliner?” I shook my head. “I can’t explain it, but I’m sure they would think of that and be watching the airports. Besides, I don’t have any ID or money here.”

“Okay.” He shrugged. “Do you need to rest first or are we leaving right away?”

I felt tired but not in any way that sleep would help. “I guess we should go right away.” His busted lip quirked up. “Can I have my shirt back before you change?”

“Good idea.” Much as I liked the sight of him shirtless, he’d freeze to death flying without protection. I slipped out of the shirt and dropped it in his outstretched hand. I missed his scent immediately. The cool air tickled over my bare body, but I didn’t bother to hide myself. After all, he didn’t have night vision.

“Where does the clothing go, anyhow? Is it torn up or melted or something?”

“I don’t know. It just goes away.”

“Maybe I should give you some room too. I wouldn’t want to be melted or whatever.” I waited for him to move back and then reached for the image of Amethyst. Her glittering body surged to my call and filled my mind with a completeness that eased a little 72

Amethyst Bound

of my pain.

“You learn quickly.”

“I’ve always had to.”
The dragon form felt so much stronger, almost invincible, but I still ached just as much inside as I had before. I lowered my shoulder and moved my right wing to make room for Ben to climb up. The feel of him clinging to my neck ridges shivered through me. It felt…right. Just as the press of his thighs against my shoulders was comforting, like a hug.

“He is right for us.”

Amethyst couldn’t know that. People moved on all the time. In my fear I knew Davis would be one who left.

“You do not know that. You must give him a chance to
prove himself. I can look into his mind and see nothing
but acceptance for us. You could see this too if you dared
to look.”

Great, my dragon thought I was a coward.
“I believe
you, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
In a way I did believe her. But thinking he might stay really didn’t change my fear of him leaving.

I leaped into the air and we swept northward. I figured if we stayed near the coast we shouldn’t have trouble finding smaller towns and villages. We would need the towns to get food, which I was reminded of rather rudely by my growling stomach. Or rather, Amethyst’s stomach.

“I hunger.”

Much as I wanted to cover more ground and eat later, I couldn’t argue with her request. It had been quite a while since my last meal and I felt the pangs as strongly as she did.

“I can hunt quickly. Then we can continue.”

“Hunt?”
Oh no…she wanted to hunt living prey.

What would a dragon want to eat?

L. Shannon

73

“There are herd animals in the wilds below us. One of
those should fill me well. I could set Ben down and we
could hunt.”

“Not we, chica. If you are hungry enough to eat food
without cooking, fine, but I don’t need to participate.”

“That could be a problem.”

“I won’t let my hang-up stop you.”
It wasn’t that big a hang-up, after all.
“Davis? Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”
There was wonder in his tone.

“Amethyst wants to hunt. We can put you down to save
you the experience.”

“No need to do that. If she doesn’t mind, I can hang on
for a little hunt. What does she plan on going after?”
He took to it easier than I did. I didn’t bother to pass on the information to Amethyst. I knew she’d have heard him too. I even heard her whisper of a voice tell Ben to hold on a moment before she took control of our flight and dove for a small herd of running guanacos. Their cinnamon-and-light-brown shapes dodged back and forth just beneath Amethyst.

But the dragon didn’t reach for any of them. She circled lazily and ran the llamalike animals back around. I didn’t think she was playing with them but couldn’t see why she hesitated.

My breath caught as she struck. She was so lightning fast. With a snap of her jaws and a swipe of one foreleg, she pinned a larger male and crushed its throat in one motion. The other animals scattered then settled almost at once, as if they knew they were now safe from her hunger.

I, however, was not saved from the experience of her rending the animal into bite-sized bloody morsels.

“Davis! Please talk to me. I need to be distracted.”
74

Amethyst Bound

“What would you like me to talk about?”

“Anything.”
I squeezed my mental eyes shut but it didn’t keep out the scent of the blood or the taste of the hot meat as Amethyst tore pieces off and swallowed them without chewing.
“Please, Ben…tell me about your family
and where you grew up.”

“I can do that.”
He sent me the image of his hand tightening over mine and even though I didn’t have a hand, I clung to the image.
“I grew up in Vermont in a
really small town where my dad was the doctor at a small
family practice.”

I could see the image of his father in his white coat.

“My father was a good man who cared for his family
and his patients. He died a couple years ago from a heart
attack.”
Before I could offer any sympathy, he continued.

“Mom still lives in West Castleton, and so does my little
sister, Cheryl.”

I pushed aside the part of me that felt the bone crushing under Amethyst’s powerful jaws. I might revel in how her strength offered us weapons to keep us safe, but I wasn’t ready to deal with the act of her feeding. Or with how part of me was enjoying it. I stubbornly kept my focus on Ben.
“Do you visit them often?”

“I haven’t been back since Dad’s funeral. I was
planning on spending some time with them after this dig. I
guess that won’t work now.”
Through our connection I could feel how much he missed his family. Even while I rejoiced at his hinting about an obligation to me, I couldn’t expect him to give up a visit with a family he obviously loved.
“You can still
go. I don’t want to keep you from your family.”

“I don’t want to leave you, Toni. Being here with you
is where I feel I should be. Maybe after you’re more
L. Shannon

75

settled I can make a trip up to see them. Of course, I don’t
even know where we’ll be.”

“I can tell your family is important to you. Let’s see to
my boss first and then maybe we can both go up to West
Castleton so you can have a nice long visit.”

“Thank you, Toni. I really do want to see them. I will
always regret not seeing Dad before he got sick. I think
my mom and Cheryl will both like you. I hope you’ll like
them too.”

A rumbling groan welled up in my dragon body, drawing my mind away from Ben’s distraction. Then, without any other warning, I belched flame out over the ground, searing away the little bit of dry grass.

“Well, that was interesting,” Ben said. “Maybe next time you can cook the meat before chowing down on it.

How did you do that?”

“I did not mean to breathe fire,”
Amethyst answered.

“All that meat made me belch and out came the flames. It
has been a long time since I controlled my fires.”

“Let’s hope you don’t get the hiccups then.” Ben shifted as if settling in.

Oddly enough, the tensing motion of his thighs pressing against my skin—scales—was sensuous in an unexpected way. Did he feel anything similar? Or worse, could he feel what I felt?

“I guess we should be going. This is going to be a long flight and I’m kind of wishing we’d risked the airplane.” Amethyst’s voice rolled over us both.
“We should be
there by morning. Already, we are near to crossing the
ocean.”

“How is that possible? We had half of a continent to cross first…”

“We travel quickly.”

76

Amethyst Bound

That was putting it mildly. If we could go from Bolivia to northern Mexico in one night of flying, I was relieved and more than a little impressed.

“You should both rest. You might find it unsettling to
travel over water, and there will be much to do when we
arrive.”

“How can I rest when we’re the ones flying?”
I asked her.

“You can trust me to navigate, and let go of your need
to control our every motion. Just as you backed away
from my feeding, you can rest while I fly.”
I should, but could I give up my need to be in control even with Amethyst?
“Can I trust you to not burn down
the world while I sleep?”

“Of course.”

I heard the laugh in her thoughts and would have smiled if I’d had lips. I’d felt a lot of things from her, but no desperate desire to end the world. Ben shifted around on his space between ridges and I wondered how he would be able to sleep there. Still, if he was trying, so should I.

“I’ll try to rest. Don’t let Ben fall into the ocean, and
let me know if you need directions.”
Amethyst gave a huff and I laughed mentally at her disgust. She’d never let Ben fall, nor would she admit to needing aid finding my home. Somehow her very human response did relax me.

Chapter Ten

I awoke to the sense of coming home. Through Amethyst’s eyes, I looked down and watched in awe as my small cottage came into sight. The biggest wonder of all was that I could see it crystal clear even in the dim predawn light.

“Our eyes can see well in the dark.”
Amethyst settled onto the sandy beach that stretched out in front of my house instead of a yard.

While Ben slid from his perch, I felt Amethyst yawn mentally. Almost before Ben’s feet touched the ground, I shifted back to human form and my dragon half settled into a restful slumber.

Ben’s eyes ran over my body like a caress.

“I have some clothes inside.” Though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hide from his burning gaze or revel in it.

“But do you have any food? I’m starving.” I didn’t have much food. I rarely kept any perishables in the cottage because I didn’t spend much time here.

Still, I retrieved my hidden spare key and opened up my home. It took all my self-control to keep from telling him to not touch anything. The act of inviting another person into my space left me feeling exposed. Or maybe that was because I was hanging around buck naked again… Yeah, that might be it. I hurried in and pulled on a T-shirt and shorts and then wandered back out to where I found Ben 78

Amethyst Bound

rummaging in my cupboards.

He’d already found my can opener and was digging into a can of SpaghettiOs. I don’t think he even heated it up.

The urge to tell him to leave my things alone hit me again. Which was ridiculous. My house wasn’t all that homey or personal. Far from it. I had a few trinkets here and there that I’d accumulated from all over the world, but even those were less than personal. Would he see my house as bare, with its basic furniture and limited decorations?

I pictured how the rooms would look with his books stacked everywhere and was surprised to find the thought pleasing.