Free Stone Guardian by Kassanna Page B

basement. You are so lucky my hunger is overriding my need to break something. So, where did you hide my stuff?” She leaned over to see along his sides and behind him. Silver glinted. She leaned back and laughed. “Dude, you have a tail! That’s cute.” Ember tilted around him. Thorns bit into her arms as she groped the ground around his ass, snagging a strap and yanking it free. Dropping it, she reached for the other shoe, crying out in triumph when her digits grazed the heel. They slid off the smooth sole and she stretched to recapture the footwear, dragging it through the mulch. “Ha!”
    She leaned back on her haunches and stared at Timur. “Babe, you got buns of stone—get it—stone… Never mind,” Ember giggled at her joke before continuing. “I’m not even going to try and figure out where the hell you put my gun. On a side note, though, being that you’re a tad indisposed I’m going to go ahead and catch a flight to Salem. I’ll see you when you get there.”

Chapter Eight
    Timur hunted through the airport for Ember. He kept pushing the errant hairs off his forehead as he searched the crowd for her. People hurriedly stepped out of his way, clearing a path as he passed the different food vendors and embarkation areas. She was somewhere in the vicinity, he could feel it deep down in the soul he thought he’d lost. He wasn’t about to question the fact that he knew she was there. It was a scope of thinking he wasn’t prepared to tackle, but he would find her and he would do so tonight. He glanced at a gate sign. The red rolling scroll advised that the Boston flight would leave LaGuardia Airport in a few hours, confirming he was in the right place. The next flights were scheduled for much later or had already left.
    He stopped and the crowd flowed around him. Some guy scowled at him and he cocked a brow. The little shit dropped his head and scurried away. Timur rumbled in his throat and a couple of other people looked up at him, giving him a wide berth as they hurried by.
    Ember was still an enigma to him. He couldn’t understand how she could up and leave, and his head hurt trying to figure her out. He rubbed his temple and sighed, glancing around. He felt a tug, as if someone was physically pulling him toward the bathrooms. Timur stood in the passage, staring at the ladies room. She was in there. He knew it with as much certainty as he knew he would become a living statue at sunrise.
    Placing a broad palm on the swinging door he pushed it open and stepped into the ladies room. The strong antiseptic smell of bleach mixing with the cloying air freshener was more reminiscent of a hospital than an airport. A quick click and shush, scented particles rained down on him. The poor imitation of what a rose smelled like. One of the stall doors creaked as it swung in.
    Ember walked out mumbling to herself as she pulled the strap of their duffle bag over her head. She stopped right in front of him and turned her head to meet his gaze. A smirk was on her lips as she moved to the sink and squeezed a dollop of foam into her hand from the soap dispenser. He listened to the water pour from the faucet and she raised her head to meet his stare through the mirror.
    “I thought for sure I had a little time. How you find me so fast?” She shook her hands and walked by him to the air vents that would dry them.
    “So, you were trying to get away from me?” He cocked his head.
    “Not really. I mean, I figured you’d find me, and about an hour ago I got this tingle in the pit of my stomach and I knew you were coming.” Ember pulled her hands away and angled her body to face him. “I know I said this before, but you look damn good in a suit.”
    He turned and crowded her up against the sink. “What are you up to? And do not change the subject.”
    She leaned back on her hands. “Don’t you find it interesting that we can find each other so easily? I mean, this morning I had no problem pinpointing your location. You