Amethyst Bound

by L Shannon

  Should I try to get Ben out of the way? Would he even survive an attempt to move him? As I hesitated, the choice was taken away.

  The other dragon braced its enormous body over us and faced down the charging bloodsuckers with a wall of fire.

  Son of a bitch! The monster was huge! And from this perspective I could tell he wasn’t the green dragon, though the fact that he was obviously fighting Farryl sort of hinted at that fact. This one was as black as the night sky above.

  I clung to Ben and prayed that the damn thing didn’t crush us. Once in place, the claw-tipped feet didn’t budge, as if he knew how deadly his dancing around would prove for us.

  Endless minutes passed. The battle so close at hand was deafening, so loud that it almost drowned out Ben’s whispered words. “Good Lord, he’s big.”

  “Amethyst? Amethyst, is there anything we can do for Ben?”

  She twisted through my mind. “Not with the cuff on.” Her voice was little more than a whimper.

  The cuff. How could I have forgotten the damn thing? I shifted enough to claw at the band. It was narrow and flat against my skin. How could something so innocent-looking cause so much pain? Damn magic. There wasn’t even a clasp or any fasteners, just one solid piece of metallic material. Yet Farryl had slapped it on like a children’s plastic bracelet.

  “I’m sorry, Amethyst. I can’t get the band off.”

  There was no response from Amethyst but Ben’s voice grew louder. “Quetzalcoatl.” He was staring at the foot nearest to us and the deadly two-foot-long claws on it. “The feathered serpent.”

  No, not louder. The battle was dying down. Looking around, I was relieved to see the vampires in full retreat, with snapping, snarling wolves on their heels.

  With the vampires and werewolves on the run, the clearing grew empty and quiet.

  Except for the huge dragon that slowly moved from above us.

  And Farryl, where was he? Not here in the clearing. Though he didn’t seem the sort to retreat without some last word.

  With that thought, the cuff lit up, shooting agony through my body in wave after wave. I writhed on the ground, throwing myself away from Ben to save him from further injury.

  Then through the pain I saw the face of the dragon loom close. Wind pulled the air from around me, and then fire became my world. Heat tore away the pain, devoured the agony, and became the comfort and peace I’d so badly yearned for all my life. Fire so safe and cleansing. Flames so pure and demanding. In the center of the burn, nothing broke through. Not the pain, not the fear. Not even the memories.

  I accepted and gave myself to the fire. And only then did it fade.

  “It’s done.” The rumbled voice was aloud. Why didn’t the dragon speak mentally like Amethyst? The image of black dragon lips morphing to form human words flickered through my mind. A chuckle burst out.

  The familiar swirl of my own dragon twisted calmly inside. She felt different. Unafraid and without pain.

  “Amethyst?”

  “I’m better now. He burned away the band. He can save our minion.”

  Ben. I forced my eyes open and rolled toward him. “Ben?” He was unconscious. Was he breathing? I couldn’t tell. Hand to his throat, I checked for a pulse, but I was no doctor. A flutter. Was that a pulse? Was it imagined? “Shit, Ben. Don’t do this to me.”

  Don’t go. Don’t die. Don’t leave me alone.

  “Not alone. Never alone.”

  I mentally hugged Amethyst close. No, I’d never be alone again. But having Amethyst didn’t make Ben any less important. The sentiment echoed back to me from Amethyst. She felt as I did, ached with the pain of loss.

  A shuffle of movement caught my gaze. Wolves. The damn wolves were back and they were circling in closer and closer. “No, stay back!” I bellowed, even though I had no way of protecting Ben. Where was the black dragon now? Wasn’t he the one who’d kept the wolves at bay?

  Amethyst bellowed through my mouth, a roar of warning, promising trespassers imminent death. She swelled within me, her form filling my mind first and then expanding until every inch of my bare skin tingled with her magic.

  She was coming. And she grieved and was more than happy to strike out in her pain.

  “Damn children.” A man surrounded in black swirling mist stepped out of the shadows from between two of the biggest wolves. “I don’t have the time to fuck around. Knock off the games if you want your minion to live.”

  Amethyst let out a quiet yelp and settled back to quiescent. Was she responding to the hope that Ben might be saved? No, there was more to it. Something about the guy left her feeling weak, outranked, submissive. Afraid.

  Instead of seeing to Ben, the man grabbed my elbow and dragged me away while the wolves closed their circle tighter around where Ben lay.

  “Stop! Wait! Don’t let them hurt him!” I fought but without Amethyst’s help there was no escape from his hold.

  The man stopped my struggles with a violent shake that rattled my bones. “Goddamn idiot female, stop fighting. They can save him.”

  “How? How can werewolves save him?” Hysteria welled up inside me. “Are they going to bite him and make him furry or what? Tell me what they’ll do!”

  “Holy hell, shut up already.” Another ruthless shake left me nauseated and off balance. Then he ran his hands down my body. The motion was so fast I barely opened my mouth to object before I realized he’d somehow covered my nudity with a plain T-shirt so long it reached my knees.

  What the hell? He was dressing me? What kind of villain was he?

  “One with no interest in your body.” He spun me back toward where the wolves huddled around Ben. “Not that you have any reason to trust anyone, but if you look, you’ll see he isn’t being eaten or turned hairy.”

  One of the wolves turned hazy and in a burst of powdery sparks transformed into a man dressed in black leather, badass enough to fit in with any of the vampires. In low tones that rose and fell he sang a chant. Even I felt the power in the werewolf’s angelic voice. All the others crowded close, touching either the singer or Ben, and each added his chorus to the song with low echoing howls.

  “They’re healing him?”

  “Yes, their kind is very good at healing.”

  “Who are you? Not that I’m not grateful. I am, but why are you here? Why did you save us?”

  “I take offers of protection very seriously. I could hardly let you get kidnapped or killed within hours of promising you’d be safe.”

  “Promising…” My brain spun sluggishly.

  Amethyst put it together before I did. “He is the one who hired you.” There was more than a little awe to her thoughts.

  “You hired me. And you are a dragon too. I should have known.” The black dragon was Weaver. Man, the guy was even scarier than I’d expected. I would have said more, but just then Ben sat up in the midst of the werewolf pack.

  He let out a bit of a panicked squeak before lurching awkwardly to his feet. His gaze darted around, landing on me. “Toni?”

  I glanced at Weaver to be sure he wasn’t going to hold me back and then I rushed to Ben’s side. The wolves parted to make room for me to reach Ben, and he seemed even more relieved when they backed off and moved into the still-looming shadows of the approaching dawn.

  I crashed into his arms, holding him tight despite the tingle that rushed from his skin with even the lightest contact. There was so much I wanted to say. It all jumbled, and nothing but a short sob escaped.

  He leaned heavily against me, holding me just as tight. “It’s all right, Toni. I’m here.” His mumbled comforts blew into my tangled hair.

  I pulled back enough to look up into his face. Cupping his jaw, I watched in awe as the remaining bruising faded away, leaving perfectly unmarred skin. Still, I couldn’t put my emotions into words. How could I possibly express it? If he’d died, it would have been my fault. Even though he’d lived, everything he’d been through was my fault. His pain, his injuries, everything… If I’d just s
tayed out of his life, he’d have been fine.

  But now, with him here, with us both escaping death or worse, all I wanted was to tell him how much he meant to me. To beg him to stay and join me in whatever craziness lurked around the next corner.

  Amethyst was murmuring into my mind. Ben stroked my face and brushed his gentle lips over mine. It was all too much.

  Me, the international thief, always in control, calm in the face of anything…I was lost. Tears prickled my eyes and then burst like a damn, streaming silently down my cheeks.

  “Oh, Toni.” Ben dragged me tight against his chest. “It’s all right, baby. It’s all right.”

  The wave crested and eased. I turned my face up and claimed his lips in a savage kiss, diving in to claim every molecule of Ben. He was mine, all mine. On and on, I kissed him until we were both panting with the need for more than air. Only then did I pull back. “Demons and vampires and the new nightmare that is my life I can handle. But damn it, don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

  For a second he looked lost. Then he laughed. “I should have known it wasn’t the battle that made you cry. I’ll do my best to not get mangled again any time soon.”

  A throat cleared, sounding more like a growl. “You two can suck face after I’m gone. As for you, thief, never mind the checkpoint. I will return here at sundown to escort you to a safe haven for training. Until then, stay alive and try to keep your minion out of trouble.”

  On the last word, Weaver disappeared into a swirl of black shadows just a heartbeat before the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Weaver disappeared before I could ask any of my many questions. Despite the abrupt exit, I couldn’t complain, since his leaving emptied the clearing. The werewolves must have left before Weaver. Now it was just me and Ben, and of course Amethyst.

  And my utterly destroyed house.

  At some point the fire must have gone or been put out, but little remained of my refuge. Just blackened walls and charred ground.

  And surprisingly it didn’t hurt as much as I’d expected. Maybe it was Amethyst in my mind or Ben in my arms. Whatever the difference, the future wasn’t as grim.

  “Don’t know about you, Toni, but I could use a shower and a bed.”

  We wouldn’t be finding either in my house. “Mmm…that does sound good, but would you settle for a dip in the ocean and a blanket on a beach?”

  “I could live with that. Only…”

  “Only what?”

  “Could we go to a different beach?”

  With smoke clinging to us and the scent of burned flesh still lingering in the air, it made sense. “Sure. Let’s scavenge some things and then fly to someplace a little less damaged.” I stepped out of his arms, but before we parted completely, he caught my hand. The warm grasp felt damn good. As we wove around the devastation, retrieving some of the bags he’d collected earlier, holding his hand made it all easier.

  By the time the sun was fully up, we’d collected a good stash of weapons and enough tidbits to get by on until we could reach one of my hidden safety caches. I let Amethyst take control, shifting our form and flying Ben and our supplies along the shoreline.

  Amethyst flew silently at first but then interrupted my thoughts when she spoke directly to Ben. “Dr. Davis, I have given your objection to minion much thought. I may have another title that will suit you better.”

  Her voice trilled through me. She sounded content in a way that had been missing since Farryl knocked on my door. The musical tone in her thoughts had me mentally smiling back at her.

  Ben patted the dragon neck. “Not much wouldn’t be better than minion. So let’s hear it.”

  “In the old language there is a word that is often used to refer to the honored partners to a being of power. Kae’tolen translates specifically to mean ‘balanced and complete.’ I believe it fits you well.”

  “Kae’tolen? What language did you say it is?” The historian in Ben had come to the fore. I knew without a single doubt that he would fall in love with the new title and fling it around often.

  “It is the eldest of all languages, known as Daenok. Very few beings speak Daenok now, but those who do have ties to the land of the dead.”

  “I’ve never heard of it. Daenok, you say?”

  “It is very ancient and nearly extinct.”

  Old as dirt, rare and cool sounding. Yep, he was one happy…er, kae’tolen. Despite everything that had happened in the last three days, I couldn’t stamp down the simple pleasure of listening to Amethyst and Ben.

  A small part of me was uneasy at how good it all felt. After all, not much in my life worked out like the Lifetime Channel. A fact I usually accepted without question. But this feeling of…family was something new and frightening, and very appealing. Even if some nights were hell on earth, filled with fire and fighting, as long as there were moments of calm like this, it might be worth it. Wouldn’t it?

  Yeah, this fragile joy was worth the fight. Worth risking everything, even my independence if it came to that.

  Moments later, we landed on a narrow strip of beach only a few miles from my home. Amethyst had chatted with Ben for the whole trip and seemed to be looking forward to thanking him as much as I was. Which was saying something, since I wanted to shift forms and jump him the second we touched sand.

  Ben must have felt my excitement. “Wait, don’t shift or we’ll lose all our supplies, and I bought something special for you.”

  We couldn’t lose everything I wore, so I waited while he threw down all the bags and then started digging through one of them. The second I was free of baggage, I shifted forms. I was about to jump into his arms when he held out a long silken robe.

  “I thought robes might be easier to manage when you have to shift often.”

  His thoughtfulness touched me. And the robe he slid over my arms was complete decadence in the form of soft fabric. Decorated in reds and rich purples, the Asian design included dancing dragons. It was beautiful. Perfect. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back.

  He held me close and murmured in my hair, “Hey, Toni, what’s all this about?”

  “I’m so glad you came back to me. I thought you were gone…figured you were too smart to come back—and then we were so helpless.” I burrowed into his embrace, pressing kisses to his neck between words. “I was scared, and scared is something I don’t do very well.”

  “I have no intention of leaving you. Being with you is a chance of a lifetime even without all the perks.”

  I pulled back and wiped at my face, embarrassed by the tears. “What perks? Seems like being a kae’tolen is a pretty crappy job.”

  He dragged me back against his body, where I felt his heat and arousal. His lips claimed mine in a gentle kiss that went on and on, leaving me quivering with want. “You are the perk. Never in all my life have I met someone like you. Even if Amethyst hadn’t carried me off the mountain, I’d still have hunted you down, and I wouldn’t have done it because of your pretty scales or a disappearing artifact.”

  I was stunned speechless. With tears still slipping from my eyes and a silly smile on my face, I grasped at his words. “But I have an evil dragon and a bunch of vampires after me…”

  “So you need me. I like that feeling. I love you, Toni.”

  Damn. I was going to cry some more. “I—I do need you.” The old me would have run screaming at such an admission. But this was a whole new me, a dragon-shifting, vampire-fighting, falling-in-love me. “Ben…I love you too.” I said the words quietly into his shirt collar. “You are my kae’tolen and I can’t live without you.” I raised my chin and met his gray eyes. “You complete me.”

  I tilted up and nibbled at his lips lightly and then deepened the connection until we were both burning with the ever-expanding need.

  “Mmm,” Amethyst commented as I kissed the lips off Ben.

  Gasping, I pulled back. “Okay, that is still kind of weird.”

  “What?
Kissing?” He chuckled and let me go to start moving our things off the beach and under the shade of the palm trees.

  “No, not the kissing.” I helped him move the bags and wish I’d thought of where we wanted them before unloading my scales. “I was talking about Amethyst breaking into my thoughts while I’m thinking of naughty ways to get sand into your shorts.”

  “Oh…I don’t think I want sand in my shorts.”

  I let that slide, since I intended to get sand all kinds of places. “Well, now and then I wish there were a way to let Amethyst have a little more independence.”

  “There may be a way.”

  “She said—”

  “I heard. What are you suggesting, Amethyst?” Ben piled the last of the bags and began digging through them.

  “I was once a Kindred Spirit, which is sort of ghostlike. I may be able to separate my spirit from your form for short periods of time.”

  “Is that safe?” As much as I’d like to have a little private time, it wouldn’t be worth it if the separation put Amethyst in any danger.

  “That would be nice, but I agree with Toni. Safety first and all.” He pulled a folded blanket out of one bag.

  I giggled. Obviously he was looking forward to being rewarded.

  “I don’t believe there is a danger beyond it perhaps not working. Do you wish me to attempt to pull us apart?”

  I didn’t like that description, but she had said there was little risk, and having a new skill might be useful—besides letting me and Ben have sex without it being a threesome. “If you think it’s safe, I’d like to try.” As I said it, I wondered if she would be hurt by my thoughts. “You do understand that I don’t mind you being bound—”

  “I understand, Antonia. I also know you both enjoy dragon fire, and I do not feel left out.”