Free Braving Fate (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 1) by Linsey Hall Page A

the hell out of here so that they could leave Edinburgh and her pursuers, yet the idea of being in close proximity to her had his heart sinking and his cock stirring.  
    What had that been in there? Seeing Diana, being near her, had felt like drowning. She’d made him feel , and he wanted to despise her for that. He’d worked so hard over the years to cut off emotion that he didn’t know how to fucking deal with it anymore. Who the hell could live as long as he had, alone, and keep feeling and expect to stay sane?  
    The door creaked behind him and he turned, heart thudding just a little bit harder. The small, black overnight bag was slung over her shoulder.  
    “Where are we going?” She sounded calmer, more collected. With her glasses perched above a straight nose and the intelligence shining behind her eyes, she looked like a 1940s librarian. The kind from a pin-up calendar posted above a bunk on a WWII battleship. He hadn’t known he had a fetish for sexy librarians.
    Shite . His self-control was going to be a problem. Staying away from her, keeping himself focused, was the only way to ensure her safety…and he was already failing.
    “We’re leaving Edinburgh. It’s no’ safe for you here.” There were too many Mytheans in this city, and he was afraid that some of the more dangerous ones already knew she was here. She’d been a soldier for good in her first life, and the underbelly of Mythean society wouldn’t want her fulfilling her destiny.
    “Come on, I’ll take your bag.” He reached for it.
    “I can carry it.” She clutched it closer and glared at him.
    “Sure you can, lassie. But I’ll be taking it all the same.” He grabbed her bag, ignored her protest, and turned to head down the hall. Her light footsteps quickly caught up.
    “Is that your idea of chivalry? I can carry my own damn bag.” She scowled at him.
    He supposed it was, though normally he was smoother. He never had any trouble with other women. But this one...
    “And quit calling me lassie . I’m not your lassie.”
    “Never said you were. Lassie.” He didn’t know why he baited her. To see her reaction, probably. Was she as volatile as Boudica had been?
    “Whatever. Why are we leaving?” she asked. “Shouldn’t I stay here to discover who I was in my past life?”  
    He glanced at her. She moved gracefully even as she hurried to match his longer strides. The sight of her, fresh from her shower with a thin sweater clinging to still-damp skin, confirmed that she was shaped like a woman from his fantasies. She was smaller than he liked, true, but she made his hands itch to touch her again. Returning to Arthur’s Seat for her bag had been worth it just to see her in that sweater. He’d wanted her to have her own things, something to comfort her, but the sight of her now reminded him of last night. There, in the shadow of the mountain with the moon hidden by clouds, she’d felt like a goddess beneath him.  
    “Well?” Diana’s voice pulled him out of the memory. “Shouldn’t I be here if I want to learn about my past?”
    Gods, he needed to get his mind back on the here and now. “So, you agree that this isn’t all a giant hoax?”  
    “Like you said, I have to accept this. I’m not an idiot, and I don’t have many other options, do I? I want to know why monsters are stalking me, why this tattoo has appeared, and why I’ve been having the same dreams my entire life.” There was frustration in her voice, but also something more he couldn’t identify.  
    “Dreams?” He hoped his dread wasn’t evident in his voice. How much was she remembering?
      “Yes. It all makes a terrible kind of sense. I’ve had these dreams forever, and they’ve always made me a step shy of crazy, especially during my childhood. It’s like I know myself, but something is missing. Like I’m living a second, horrible life when I’m asleep.” She shook her head. “God, it’s hard to explain.” She hesitated before speaking