Free Amethyst Bound by L. Shannon Page B

time.”
    I didn’t mind being strong. “It’s all right. I can handle it.” But his arms felt damn good too. I relaxed against his L. Shannon
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    body, accepting the comfort and support he was trying to offer. Leaning into him, I was surprised by how much taller he was than me. His chin rested on the top of my head, and long arms cradled me. The full effect left me almost feeling…protected. Sheltered. Safe.
    Ben stroked up and down my back. “We won’t be staying here long, will we?”
    “I don’t think we can.” I looked up and my dragony night vision picked up the cuts and bruises on his face.
    My own injuries had been healed with shifting, and I wished I could offer him something as good.
    “Our connection will help him heal quickly.”
    “Then what do you plan to do?” As I lightly ran my fingertips over his injuries, I thought of my home on the Mexican coast. “I have a small beach house near Mazatlán. I plan to head there. I figure if I fly at night, no one will notice me passing through. You can come with me, if you want, or I can drop you off anywhere.”
    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
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    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
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    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