Amethyst Bound

by L Shannon

  “Of course you would keep a car here. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “There have been more interesting things happening than my means of getting around.” I wasn’t going to sweat it anymore. If he didn’t come back, I would deal with it. Until then, I would have plenty to do while he was gone.

  “I’ll be gone a couple hours. I might not be back until close to dark. That should give you time to catch up on some rest.”

  “I can rest later. I have to make some calls and do some planning. I’ll be contacting my employer. It’s better for us to work quickly in case those mercenaries catch up to us here before we can move out.” I ran my fingers through my hair in a vain attempt to tame the wild mess. “Where we go next will depend on what information I get.” If I got any information. “The keys for the car are under the driver-side fender. The number here is 555-555-6212. Use the cell phone in the glove box to call if anything comes up.”

  “That’s not a Mexican number.”

  “No, I don’t use landlines, and all my cell phones are American.” I wanted to tell him so much more, but the fear of never seeing him again trapped the words in my chest, leaving all the important ones unspoken. “Don’t use your credit cards either. They can be traced.”

  “I don’t have much cash.”

  “There’s some under the floor mat. Use that. It’ll be safer for both of us.” I was glad he trusted me enough to not ask if there was enough there. I had stashed about three thousand in the car and had other safe sites in case I ever got into trouble. I figured this counted, but was a little surprised by how willingly I’d given up my security money to Ben. Maybe I was learning to trust after all. Or maybe I just knew that small amount wouldn’t hurt my finances any.

  Ben leaned in and brushed a kiss over my cheek and then glided out the door. If this was my last view of him, at least it was a good one. His jeans hung low and clung to his butt and he still carried his shirt, leaving his broad back bare except for the claw marks I’d left on him. Then the door swung shut.

  I was fairly certain my heart broke at that moment. So I fell back on my skill of ignoring mental issues and focusing on physical action. Survival came first. Then and only then could I worry about recovery.

  Priority was to get information from my employer. I’d destroyed the folder of details he’d given me, but only after I’d memorized the contact info. I retrieved my house cell phone and dialed the emergency contact number.

  He answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”

  “Is this Weaver?” Even using an anonymous cell phone, I wanted to get the call over with as quickly as I could.

  A sound very much like choking crossed the line before the man cleared his throat and said, “Yes. This must be the thief.”

  “I’ve had a small problem.”

  “I figured, since you’re using a number that some have died just for dialing. Elaborate on your ‘small problem.’” The voice had a definite growl to it. My employer was not happy.

  For about a second I considered keeping some of the situation secret, but as far as I knew Weaver might be my only source of answers. “One of the artifacts contained strange properties. I’m hoping you know more about the pendants than just that they’re pretty.”

  “I know about them. Tell me what happened. Skip past the part where you put on one of the jewels.”

  I sighed. He knew at least something. “The pendant turned me into a dragon.”

  “And?”

  He wasn’t surprised, and that fact was rather terrifying. “I can’t take the pendant off, so the option of returning it to you is no longer available. A tattoo of a giant dragon burned its way across my back and now a smaller version is stamped on the shoulder of the guy who’s helping me.”

  “The dragon claimed and bound you. The bond is forever, or at least as long as you live.” He sucked in a loud breath of air. “Which stone?”

  Why would it matter to him which stone? “Amethyst.”

  His breath whooshed out in a roar over the line. “That’s some good news then.”

  Not sure how that was good, but since I was fairly happy with Amethyst, I guessed he was right. “Do you know anything about the tattoos? I’m not so concerned about my own but need to know if the smaller tattoo will hurt my friend.”

  “It’s a minion mark, not a tattoo. Your friend is now your minion. It is a symbol of his duty to serve you and your duty to protect him.”

  So Amethyst was right. Davis wasn’t going to be happy to have that fact confirmed.

  Weaver continued, “However you claimed him, you will have to claim several more if you want to be able to survive in the human world. The mark will only flare to life if the person can be trusted. Whatever you did with your friend just before the mark appeared is likely your method of claiming.”

  “Impossible.” I’d had sex with Davis. If he was right about me needing several minions, I wasn’t about to start sleeping around just to see who turned up with new tattoos.

  “Did you recover the other pendants?”

  “No, before I could take possession they disappeared into thin air.”

  There was a prolific string of angry words in some foreign language, then silence as my employer stewed over my failure. But he didn’t seem at all surprised by the pendants disappearing. “You will come to me to learn about the prophecy and how to survive with your dragon. Then you will continue the search for the other pendants.”

  Damn, he was getting bossy, even for a boss, and his intensity left my gut twisting with anxiety. “I appreciate your offer, but I have other jobs—”

  “Do you not understand what you have unleashed? By putting on the bloody charm, you have taken the world one step closer to the apocalypse. Nine dragons to burn the world. How many do you think are already out there? Five? Six? All nine? You will either be a protector or I will have you killed to protect the world from you.”

  I cringed from the barely leashed violence in his tone. Shit, Weaver clearly believed in the crazy prophecy. Not that I could blame him. I was more than halfway convinced myself.

  The man’s voice dropped to a snarl. “Will we both hunt the stones or will I waste my time hunting you?”

  “Not a great choice.” Especially considering the pendants had poofed into nothing, and as far as I knew there were no leads on their new locations.

  His tone softened just slightly. “I’m sure the situation has been unsettling. Just get your ass to the third checkpoint and I will teach you all you need to know. You have until then to make your decision.”

  “How do I know that you won’t just kill me? I already seem to have a hit squad on my trail.”

  “You can trust me to not kill you at this time, because if I do, then I will have one more pendant to search for. So long as you live, the amethyst pendant will be safe, but when you die, it will seek out another companion. As for the others who may be after you, there are those who would rush headlong into the apocalypse to further their own goals. Stay alive long enough to reach me, and I will offer my considerable protection for your service.”

  “I see.” I sort of did anyhow. Though if I couldn’t protect myself as a dragon, I wasn’t sure what help he could offer me. On the other hand he was offering to teach me to live as a dragon. Perhaps he’d already found one of the pendants. “I guess you’re still my boss, at least for now.”

  “Good. Be at the checkpoint on time.” The line went dead.

  I had one more task to finish before Davis returned. I started making calls to collect Davis’s materials from his former hotel room. I couldn’t bring them here, nor could I send them to any address that might link back to either of us. I tracked down a storage center in Castleton, one town over from his family home, to have his things shipped to.

  If he didn’t return, I would let him go. A single call to my cell and I could give him the means to get all his belongings back and he could walk away as if I hadn’t almost ruined his life.

  It was the right thing to d
o…no matter how wrong it felt.

  “Our minion will return to us.”

  “Not if you keep calling him minion. I think he made it pretty clear what he thinks of that entirely outdated title.”

  “But he is our minion—fine. I will consider a new title for him, for when he returns. Because he must return.” There was an odd pain to Amethyst’s thoughts that had me looking harder into that part that was her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  To anyone else that might have been convincing, but I was queen of that mystical place, Nothing Wrong. She wasn’t fooling me. I did the thing she’d tried to show me before, focusing on relaxing my own shields and looking into her emotions and thoughts.

  Amethyst wasn’t human and didn’t have human thoughts. Her consciousness was like water swirling in a pool. At first I couldn’t make anything out, but after a moment images came to me. Dragons made out of wispy clouds circled and danced together. Dozens, maybe more, filled a huge cavern. The light from their ghostly bodies lit up the black marble floor and walls in a kaleidoscope of jewel tones.

  Then as suddenly as the beautiful images came, they were locked away once more.

  “Amethyst? Was that a memory?”

  Long minutes passed before she whispered, “Yes.”

  “What happened to you all? Why aren’t you still dancing together in that beautiful cave?”

  She did not answer in words. Instead she pushed more memories into me. Where before, I’d sort of snuck in and stolen her thoughts, now they came at me in an overwhelming flood, pouring into me, faster and faster. A man in shadows looming up over the dancing dragons. Chasing. Hurting. Power rushed over them, over her, over me. Magic. Pain. All being driven forward with the dragons, not dancing but fleeing before the terrible assault. One by one they were captured and torn apart. Forced into the pendants. Locked away from everything, from everyone. Alone, so terribly alone.

  “Oh my God.” The suffering and misery of her captivity faded and was replaced by a moment of bright escape, the moment she’d awoken inside me, inside a temple and finally free from her prison. “How could that bastard trap you like that? Why would he? Oh, Amethyst, I’m glad I put on your pendant. I won’t let that happen to you ever again.”

  But I felt the unease in her mind. Then I understood.

  “Those other dragons are still trapped.”

  “Yes.”

  The words offering to free all the others hovered in my mind, but I bit them back. I couldn’t make promises that might be impossible to keep. But I could offer at least some hope. “Weaver expects us to keep searching for the amulets. Maybe we can help some of them.”

  She didn’t answer, which worried me. She’d probably felt my reluctance. But surely she understood. If Weaver was right, then nine dragons could bring the end of the world. From Amethyst’s memories I’d seen many more than nine. Whatever we did or didn’t do for the dragons, it would have to be very carefully considered.

  Amethyst closed off her thoughts, leaving me alone to worry about ending the world, being killed by monsters and losing the man who was becoming far too important to me. The first two I couldn’t do much about, but as for Davis, my thoughts returned to him over and over, refusing to be doused by even a long shower.

  I wanted to go after him, find him and convince him to stay no matter what. But what would that prove? Nothing. If he changed his mind today it would only change back later, when I was less prepared.

  To keep from charging after him, I took out my frustrations on my workout bag. Long ago I’d used it to teach myself kickboxing and my own version of martial arts, but this time I just strapped on some gloves and used it like a punching bag. I let time flow away while I focused on my action and pushed back my thoughts and emotions. It helped. It always helped.

  And before I knew it, I heard sounds coming from the front of the house, maybe a car door cracking closed…

  Was it Ben? A glance at the window showed it was dark and past time for him to be back. Had he really returned to me? I ran to the door, letting my hand hover over the handle just a moment before throwing it open. “Thank God you’re back…”

  Words faded away a moment slower than my thoughts. The leather-clad man standing with his hand raised to knock was not Ben.

  Nor were any of the twenty-odd other goth rejects who were backing him up with massive amounts of weaponry.

  Chapter Twelve

  Oh shit. I slammed the door and spun at the same time, screaming at Amethyst to wake the hell up. I felt her stir lazily and come awake.

  “You must shift and attack!”

  Before I could respond to her abrasive command with the logic of how changing into a dragon would destroy my home, the door burst open and the men flooded into the house. They rushed in with a heedless speed which seemed faster than I’d ever seen men move before, and in seconds they had flanked me.

  My hands slipped to my sides, but I didn’t have my knives. I was at home and should have been safe here.

  “I am your weapon. Release me!”

  She was right, but I was out of time.

  The man to my right threw his arms out. I expected a knife or even a grenade, but what flew through the air was a net. Spider-web thin, the almost invisible netting settled over me.

  I should have been able to tear through the gossamer threads like nothing. Instead I was thrown to the floor by a heavy mass that I couldn’t see. The weight alone left me moaning. It felt like an elephant sat on my back.

  Then the screaming started. Amethyst let out roar after roar of agonized pain. She screamed into my mind, “It burns! It burns! Get it off!”

  I felt the burn through her as an echo, and even that was enough to convince me the net could and probably would kill us. I fought against the strands, but struggling only tightened the net.

  I reached for the magic used to shift forms and was hit with a wall of pain.

  “My magic is bound by the gleipnir.” Amethyst’s voice sank down into a whimper. “I cannot help us get free.”

  “It’ll be okay, Amethyst. I’ll think of something. I’ll get us free.” Though I didn’t have any idea how I would do that. Hell, I didn’t even know what these guys wanted.

  If I had a chance of getting us loose, I’d have to get more info on these men. I twisted enough to see the one who seemed in charge, which wasn’t all that hard since he crouched right next to me.

  “You don’t seem so tough to me.”

  The man’s rough voice didn’t seem to fit his handsome appearance. Not that he didn’t look like a badass—he managed that just fine—but his grating voice sounded ruined by some massive damage yet he didn’t seem to have a scar on him. His smooth pale skin covered a passive face.

  “Interesting. I wasn’t sure my master was being honest when he swore the gleipnir would hold. And yet, here you are helpless, within my grasp.” Damn, the man had an almost gentle smile. But there was something strange about how his handsome lips moved when he spoke.

  “What are you?”

  His smile widened, revealing sharp fangs. Several of the other men around him laughed at my question. Those I could see also had fangs, but their sharp tips weren’t nearly as dangerous-looking as those of the man who knelt beside me.

  “I’m a blood demon, and this is my coven of vampires.” He reached out and pushed back my hair so I could see him more clearly. “I am called Farryl. Do you have a name?”

  “Names have power. Do not give him ours.”

  “What do you want?”

  “What a lovely question.” He flashed me another fangy smile and settled down with his legs crossed under him. “I want many things, including my freedom, unlimited sex and blood, and my master to be happy. Because when he is not happy, I and my coven suffer badly.”

  So he wasn’t thrilled with his boss. Right now, neither was I. The cynical side of me couldn’t help but wonder if they were one and the same. “What will make your master happy?”


  “The end of the world.”

  Okay, probably not Weaver playing both sides. I struggled to hold my head up high enough to keep an eye on him. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea for the rest of us though.” Maybe this guy wasn’t all for the plan and could be talked out of this part of it.

  “I believe in the here and now. The immediate punishment for failure outweighs my desire to avoid the end if he ever succeeds.” The man, demon or whatever looked entirely too relaxed although his men looked just as serious as before. “So my question for you is simple. Will you obey my master willingly or will this become unpleasant?”

  It was already pretty damn unpleasant. “I won’t willingly destroy the world. And to be honest, I’m not very good at that whole O-word.”

  “Oh word?”

  “Obey. I’m not good at that.”

  He laughed. “I like your spirit and I rather agree about the word being unpalatable. Unfortunately, you will be taught the value of succumbing to the master’s demands. The alternative can be painfully instructional.” Farryl reached under the netting and captured my hand. In a single smooth motion he wrapped a band around my wrist.

  It burned but I didn’t bother complaining. Compared to the sizzle from the net, the band was almost unnoticeable.

  The demon petted my hand as if to comfort me. “Relax. This is the easy part.” A scraping sound from the back of my house froze the smile on Farryl’s lips. He motioned two of his men to go check it out.

  “Where is your minion?”

  I wasn’t about to give up Benjamin to this demon. “Minion, what’s that?”

  Rather than answer with words, Farryl slid his arm from the expensive-looking leather jacket and pulled his shirt far enough aside to show a nipple ring and his shoulder where a green dragon had marked him. “Where is your minion? You do only have one so far, correct?”

  Oh, my God…another dragon, the green one, was behind the attacks. It was him who wanted to destroy the world. “He took a demon as his minion?”