Dragon Blood 3: Surety Read Online Free PDF Page B

That’s got to be the worst thought in the world.”
    Laughing again, and waving her away, Kade said, “Go.”
    Still shaking her head, Amber slowly headed down the stairs, finding her mother at the base of them. She discarded several comments, making do with giving her mother a hug when she reached the foot of the stairs.
    “Are you okay, honey?”
    Still holding her mother tightly, Amber nodded. “Yeah.” She forced herself to let her go.
    “Are you sure?” Donna’s eyes were filled with worry.
    “Yeah.”
    Donna stared at her for several minutes before she nodded. “I have someone I want you to meet. Come into the lounge room.”
    Amber followed her mother through the kitchen and paused in the doorway of the lounge room, her way blocked by her grandmother. She couldn’t clearly see the man her mother wanted to introduce her to, but his presence seemed familiar. More familiar than it should have for someone she’d only noticed from a distance.
    “Out of the way, Mum,” Donna said.
    Helen didn’t move.
    “Please Helen, Donna didn’t invite me here to-”
    Helen interrupted the soothing voice. “I don’t know what she told you-”
    Amber pushed past both Donna and Helen to stare at the overweight, balding man with faded brown eyes and wire-rimmed glasses. “You!” It was the doctor who’d treated her when she and Ronan had escaped from Paili.
    “Rude. No manners, that’s what wrong with you.” Helen glared at Amber.
    “I didn’t know.” The man’s words were soft, his expression worried.
    “You’ve met my daughter before?” Donna asked.
    “Not exactly. I didn’t know who she was.” He stepped forward, holding out a hand to Amber. “Gary Russ.”
    Amber ignored his hand. “I thought you were a doctor.”
    “A psychiatrist.”
    “There was nothing wrong with my head.” She stared defiantly at him.
    “Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Donna demanded.
    “You have to study general medicine for six years to become a psychiatrist.”
    “How much did he pay you?” Amber demanded, ignoring the argument that started between her mother and grandmother.
    “He always pays well for out of hours house calls.”
    Amber shook her head. “No. To date my mum.”
    “Nothing. I didn’t even know,” Gary protested.
    At the same time, Donna abruptly stopped arguing with Helen to turn to Amber. “What are you going on about?”
    “Bloody interfering dragons.” Amber pulled her phone from her pocket.
    Helen pointed at Gary. “Don’t tell me he’s a dragon too.”
    “Mum! Will you please stop. Dragon’s aren’t real.”
    Amber dialled Ronan’s number, desperately trying to keep the panther from escaping. She didn’t know what would happen if she let it escape, but she doubted it’d be good with how she currently felt. “Stop interfering in my life and leave my mum out of this.”
    “You were the one who asked me to interfere. I’ve already told you we can’t leave valuable hostages with our enemies. Although I have no idea what that has to do with your mother.”
    “Gary.”
    Ronan chuckled. “I know. It surprised me too. I thought she’d have gone for one of the others.”
    “What? You paid a heap of men to date her.”
    “Who are you talking to, Amber?” Donna demanded.
    “It wasn’t like that,” Gary protested.
    Amber turned her back on them, trying to focus on staying human. “Well?”
    “I didn’t pay anyone. I organised to meet some of my employees at places I knew your mother would be and then I cancelled on them or told them to entertain themselves because I’d be late. Gary was a long shot.”
    “Are you sure?” Amber found it hard to believe he was telling her the truth.
    Ronan laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, kitten. It was deliberate, but I never paid any of them or let them in on my plan.”
    “What is your plan?”
    “Think about it. You have to work this one out for yourself.”
    Amber growled when Ronan hung up. The sound was far too much like a