Amethyst Bound Read online

  And the fool was oblivious to the devastation he was wreaking on my body.

  How typical was that for me? I couldn’t walk into a bar and pick up an easy lay. No, I needed a conquest who would be a challenge to even get his attention. I firmed up my control, steadied my breath and leashed my wayward desires. There would be time for pleasure later. For now, my only need was to be free of the pendant. “So, Doc, what’s the verdict?”

  “It’s not glue, is it? Hmm…”

  “No.” I might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but even I wasn’t dumb enough to glue a priceless pendant to my chest just to catch the eye of a man. Of course, now that it was there, and he was hovering with his nose between my boobs…well, now I could enjoy the moment. I tipped my chin down and to the side so I could see his face at least a little.

  His tongue licked his upper lip, hesitating in what might have looked idiotic on most men, but on Davis looked cute. He straightened but continued to stare at my chest with a puzzled frown. “What did you do?”

  I tugged at the thin chain that was all but useless now. “All I did was put it on.” Sheesh… My voice was little more than a purr of arousal. When had that happened?

  “That’s it? You just put the pendant on?”

  I nodded and resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his doubt. As if I could make up a story like this. I wasn’t that imaginative.

  “Hmm…” His gaze finally left the pendant and wandered down my body. Maybe he finally noticed that the pendant was attached to something warm and fleshy.

  Would he find my lean body sexy? With my luck he went for curvy. I pushed aside the insecure notion. Insecurity wasn’t my thing. I was more the jaded-and-untrusting type. “Well?” I couldn’t keep the slight bite from my tone.

  He shrugged, which wasn’t the response I was hoping for. “I have no idea.”

  “What does the box say?”

  “The Tawasuyus? What does it have to do with the pendant besides having a common symbol?”

  “The amethyst dragon was inside the box.”

  His gaze jumped to mine. “Impossible. We haven’t figured out how to open the Tawasuyus yet.”

  “I opened it.” I wasn’t altogether sure how, so maybe I shouldn’t have claimed the deed.

  His expression remained skeptical, with one eyebrow drawn up. “Show me.”

  I reached for the box, which I’d set on the nearest table, and he jerked as if he wanted to jump in and save it from me. My fingers brushed over the lock and it clicked open again, this time without me even threatening it with the lock pick.

  “Impossible,” he whispered.

  “Obviously.”

  He peered inside the box, looking very much like a little boy on Christmas morning. “There are more…”

  “More dragons, yeah. I don’t recommend putting them on.”

  “Very funny.”

  I didn’t think so, but maybe he had a better sense of humor than me. “I’m hoping it might have some information on the sides of the box, but I can’t read those symbols.”

  “Maybe.” He carefully turned the box to one side, then to the other, studying the glyphs. “Let’s see. I think there might be some relevance here but…” He pulled out a pair of glasses and a small brush from his shirt pocket. “These are power symbols…and chaos, destruction, birth, fire.” Davis mumbled more to himself than to me, so I sank down out of sight while the guards made their first pass through the room. They called out hello but didn’t seem surprised when Davis didn’t answer them.

  “Not Incan…not Tiahuanaco, either.” His fingers caressed the carvings almost lovingly. Mmm, very nice fingers, long, tanned and strong. How would they feel on my body? Would they be gentle or commanding? They petted the box carefully, almost reverently. Would they touch me like that? As if I were precious to him?

  “I think it’s a prophecy of the apocalypse. These symbols empower the wearer to become something…a being that will destroy the world in fire.” He pulled out some fine paper and used his pencil to copy the etchings.

  That caught my attention. “Do you mean to tell me that the people who wear these pretty charms will somehow turn evil and destroy the world?” Sounded like a pretty wild myth to me, but Davis spoke as though he believed every word. I pulled at the pendant again and still couldn’t budge it from my chest. And then there was the strange dream about burning the land with dragon fire…

  “I mean to say that you put the thing on and are now part of this prophecy. You are going to destroy the world.”

  I jumped to my feet. “I will not! I didn’t even know about the stupid prophecy.”

  “Let me see…yeah. Right, look where I’m pointing.”

  I bent over, squinting at the etched symbols, and instead noticed how his warm breath blew against my cheek. Focus! The markings were in the same glyphs as everything else, and I didn’t have any clue what they meant. “What’s it say?”

  “‘Too bad.’ It says ‘too damn bad. You put it on. Now it’s too late.’”

  I had to pick up my jaw at his irreverent tone. I didn’t expect him to be respectful of me, but I thought he would at least be serious about the box. “It does not. You are so full of shit.”

  “Maybe it doesn’t, but it should.”

  I studied his expression. He was serious—seriously pissed. Yeah, okay, I’d stolen one of his toys, but jeez. “I don’t believe in the prophecy, so I can’t be forced to be part of it.”

  “So take the pendant off.”

  “Don’t be an ass. You know I can’t.” I glared at him. I didn’t need his attitude.

  His hand caught my shoulder. The grip was a shade harder than firm. “So what else will you have no choice in? You have no idea what you’re now involved in. I bet you haven’t even noticed that you’re glowing.”

  “I’m not…” But I was glowing. I stared at my hands in wonder. There was a slightly purple—amethyst, really—glow to my skin. I quickly pulled on my gloves to cover up the strangeness.

  “You can’t cover all your skin, and every inch showing has that same glow.” He stared at me with an intensity that brought the butterflies back to my stomach. It might be the scientist studying a subject, but it felt like a man looking at a woman.

  My stomach flipped over. What was happening? Could he be right about the pendant having power over me? The thought left me cold, scared. Made me want to run even if I couldn’t see the danger, even if the danger was glued to my own damn chest.

  “Can you tell me anything more…anything that might get this thing off me?” If not, I might as well leave. I didn’t need to hang out with him. I also didn’t need to take him with me if he couldn’t offer any more information.

  He sighed. “I don’t know what these pendants are or what having one bound to you will do.”

  “So where can I find the answers? If they already shipped out any artifacts, I’ll just steal them and problem solved.” I didn’t like the idea of extending my schedule but I liked it a hell of a lot more than losing control of my life to an ancient prophecy.

  “There were no other dragon artifacts at this temple. Trust me, I’ve looked.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, leaving the curls ruffled out at odd angles. “Since you know next to nothing about the artifacts, I take it you were hired by someone else. We’ll have to go back to the one who hired you. He or she might know more than we do.”

  I let his words sink in and swirl through my blood. He’d paired us together in this problem. Even though I did everything alone, this time I was oddly grateful at the thought of having him on my side. While facing down the end of the world, we sounded a lot better than little ol’ me by myself. But of course his idea of going back to grill Weaver was out of the question. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m just guessing, but I don’t think he wanted one of the pendants glued to my chest.” For two million dollars or the sake of my sanity I might eventually consider cutting the
pendant off myself, but I wasn’t to that point just yet.

  “That may be true.” His gaze dropped to my chest, leaving me tingling in response. “But I don’t see any other choice.”

  “Then let’s just call that the last option.” I slid past him and looked into the box. “Until then, I have to get out of here.”

  Davis’s hand wrapped firmly around my wrist, stilling my reach, before I’d done more than brush the side of the box. His touch sent a flurry of need through me that settled low as a moist heat. His hand was gentle but his voice was steel. “Not with that, you don’t.”

  I glanced past where our skin connected and gasped at the sight. “Where are the other pendants?” I tugged my wrist free and reached in, moving the ones around that were still there. “There were more before, but now only three.”

  “How would I know where they are? I’m not the thief. For all I know, you have them glued all over your body.”

  “Whatever.” I wasn’t about to take much offense, especially seeing as I’d been sent to steal what he put so much work into preserving. “The only pendant I can account for is the one stuck to my chest. I left the others in the box where they’d be safe.”

  “What the hell…”

  From what I could tell, Davis wasn’t into swearing idly, so I couldn’t help but follow his gaze back to the box. What I saw stopped my heart. The sapphire pendant faded into nothing and was gone. Just like that. Gone.

  “Looks like your chest problem might disappear soon.”

  I reached in for the remaining two pendants, but he beat me to them and snatched up the jade and opal jewels only to have the opal one fade away from his palm.

  He raised the chain for the jade dragon and started to slip it over his head.

  “No!” I grabbed his hands and stopped the motion. “You can’t.” The jade dragon faded away just like the others.

  “Yeah, I could have, but now I can’t.” Davis accused me of another fault when all I’d wanted was to keep him from getting stuck like I was.

  “At least we still have the box.” Though I was pretty sure Weaver hadn’t cared about the box, at least if I had something to hand him, the damn thing might save my ass. My bigger concern was thinking up some brilliant way I could explain blowing the job that wouldn’t end up with the last pendant cut from my dead corpse. Yeah, I had nothing yet. I’d have to think on it more before admitting my utter failure.

  Davis picked up the box only to have it crumble to powder and sift through his fingers.

  Never mind Davis’s lost toy or even the loss of the rest of the glyphs. There went my last hope for appeasing Weaver.

  Chapter Three

  “Why did you stop me from putting the pendant on?”

  I looked at Davis for a minute wondering why his voice had an odd hitch. “I didn’t want you to get stuck like me, and just on the off chance that I’m about to destroy the world, you are so far the only one who might be able to figure out how to stop me.” As much as I usually thought the world sucked, I didn’t actually want it destroyed, though toasting a few of the bigger assholes from my past might be kind of fun.

  “I don’t know what help I’ll be without the Tawasuyus. I’ve never heard of this specific prophecy before.”

  “Never? Isn’t it an Incan thing?”

  “No, it’s not an Incan thing. This temple is from an older culture than the Inca, and I’m not sure the Tawasuyus even belongs to this find. There are few records of dragons in the history or mythology related to the Incan or Tiahuanaco cultures. Serpents, yes, but not dragons. And in this much earlier temple—only one—the Tawasuyus.” He sighed. “That one artifact was actually why I was here. Dragons are my specialty.”

  “Really?” That could prove useful if I turned into Puff at any point. “So any idea how we can find out more about the prophecy or the pendants?” Or how to get it unattached?

  “Not offhand, but I have more reference books and materials back at the Hotel Rosita in La Paz, where I’m staying. We can start there.”

  The far-off look in Davis’s eyes took a little heat from the invitation back to his hotel. A player he wasn’t. But at least he was willing to help me with my little chest problem, as he’d put it, and as long as we were heading to his hotel room, I might get a chance to grab his cute behind yet.

  Davis returned to gathering his things as if this were any normal evening and he wasn’t helping a thief get a magical pendant unstuck from between her breasts. I couldn’t help watching his hands move smoothly from one item to the next as he carefully packed each into the proper place in his cloth bag. He organized the bag with an almost mindless rhythm, as if he’d done the task so often his thoughts could wander to other things. Before he’d finished packing, the guards were making another pass through the room.

  I was so caught up in watching Davis that at first I didn’t notice the increased pace of the guards’ footsteps or the slapping tread of more than the usual two men heading our way.

  Grabbing Davis, I dragged him back just as four strange men burst into the room and spread out in a scouting pattern.

  “Shh,” I whispered into Davis’s ear as I eased my fingers away from the warmth of his lips and reached down for my knife.

  Davis stilled my motion and drew up my sleeve enough to point out that my skin was back to its normal nonglowing shade of ivory. Apparently my self-preservation skills worked to control that new talent. My blending had always been that way. When threatened, I faded into the background. During those times it actually took concentration to keep it from happening. Now, with the threat of being hunted, the blend came easily, and strongly enough that I shared it over Davis.

  The men moved through the shadows like longtime lovers of the night. The dark caressed and protected their bodies, but not well enough to hide from me. I too knew the dark and all her secrets. And what she told me right now was that these men were professionals and they were more than passing serious about whatever they’d come for.

  With a tap to Davis’s arm and a motion for him to follow, I moved slowly to my right. A bit of insight told me the men might be after what I’d already stolen, so we needed to move back from where the box had been stored.

  After two slow, creeping steps, I looked back and saw Davis hesitating. His eyes scanned over where he’d left his bag on the table.

  I mouthed “no” but knew my warning came too late.

  He reached up and caught the strap of his bag, sliding it from the table in a slow, almost noiseless motion. Almost. The quiet rasp was enough.

  The sudden stillness from the men hunting us was the only clue that they’d heard. I looked around and found only two of them in the darkness. The other two were a big concern. When I was being hunted, I wanted to know where my hunters were at all times. These ones were scenting blood, and I didn’t like it one bit. Thank goodness I wasn’t glowing like a firefly. Thanks to Davis, their job was easy enough without us adding that or any other mistakes to the list.

  A motion to the left was my only warning.

  I grabbed Davis’s hand and pulled him hard behind me. The time for hiding was gone. The chinking impact of bullets hit where I’d pulled Davis from.

  Damn. They were very serious.

  I dragged Davis several yards and shoved him behind a pile of storage boxes. Then I spun, taking a throwing stance and sending my knife hurtling toward the man who’d shot at us. I didn’t wait to see what, if anything, I’d hit. It was meant only as a distraction. My pretty knife wasn’t balanced well enough for throwing. I pushed Davis toward the main exit even as I drew one of my smaller knives.

  One of the men remained hidden and I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn’t be happy when he finally chose to reveal himself. We’d almost reached the room’s exit when a shot hit between Davis and me, taking a small puff of stone wall with its ricochet. I ducked backward, right into the arms of the fourth man. Bastards had more skill than I’d given them credit for. He’d been waiting for my move and crushed m
e in a hold that left almost no wiggle room.

  Fortunately I was small and didn’t need much room.

  I twisted and struck with my knife, driving it down into the man’s thigh just as Davis punched the guy in the jaw. The well-timed combined attack set me free and we both fled through the doorway. The quiet chinks of shots chased us down the short hallway.

  Halfway out of the temple, Davis stumbled as we passed the bodies of the two usual guards.

  “Grieve later. Run now…” I dragged him toward the exit.

  We ran on and reached the exit even as the shouts of the men followed us out. By now Davis seemed to understand that they were definitely bad guys and their bullets would kill him. He kept up and didn’t once let go of my hand. For some bizarre reason, his large hand wrapped around mine made the run-for-our-lives race easier to handle.

  Or at least it did until the bastards shot me in the ass.

  Chapter Four

  “Yooowww!” Pain radiated through my body in wave after wave, leaving me gasping and all but falling on the ground when I needed to be running.

  “What the hell?” This time it was Davis pulling me forward.

  The pain subsided but so did the strength in my legs. And then my vision started getting all funky. The light from the setting sun danced and blurred so brilliantly that I was left squinting to make out the stone floor where it flooded out around the temple.

  And stupid Davis was going to get himself killed trying to play hero.

  “I’m shot. You need to run.” I growled out the words between gritted teeth.

  “I’m not leaving you…” His arm slid around my waist and he hauled me along on his hip. “I don’t even know your name, but I’ll be damned if I’m leaving you behind to die like Frank and Harry.”

  “Be calm and I will take your pain away.” The words trilled into my mind like the tinkling of raindrops. And with each tiny drop, it eased my pain away.