Quick, Amanda Read Online Free PDF Page A

and told Parah to send one of the prisoners to the jinan to clean up the wreckage.
    She wished, but didn't dare believe; prayed, but expected no answer. It was too much to hope that
    Parah would send him – Number Four, with his shaggy black hair and cool blue-gray eyes. She stood at
    the back door, one finger tapping restlessly on the wall, her gaze fixed on the side gate. She felt her heart
    jump into her throat when she saw Number Four enter the yard, followed by Dain. Some prayers, it
    seemed, were answered after all. She stood in the doorway, listening surreptitiously while her father
    issued his instructions. Number Four was to dig up what was left of the tree that had been struck by
    lightning and haul it away, and then he was to clean up any other debris left by the storm. Excitement
    bubbled up inside Ashlynne's stomach as she found a book, grabbed a couple of big yellow apples and
    headed outside to sit in the sun and read. She found a perfect place on a flat rock a few yards away from
    where Number Four was working. Pretending to be engrossed in the old novel she had hastily pulled off
    one of the bookshelves in the library, she studied Number Four from beneath the veil of her lashes. She
    hadn't realized how tall and broad-shouldered he was. He wore a pair of loose-fitting tan leather
    breeches and black mud boots, nothing more. His skin was a deep golden brown; each muscle was
    clearly defined beneath his taut skin. The gash on his cheek had healed, leaving a thin white scar. Sunlight
    glinted off the thick lynaziam collar at his throat, off the heavy shackles on his wrists. His hair, as black as
    the baneite crystals he dug out of the mine, fell past his shoulders. She had never seen anyone quite like
    him before. He was beautiful, wild and untamed. Exciting. Forbidden. As dangerous as one of the big
    black mountain lions she had seen at the circus when she was a little girl. The cats had been prisoners,
    too, she thought, locked in cages at night, controlled by a collar and leash by day…. Falkon listened to
    his instructions in silence, nodded that he understood. A muscle worked in his jaw as he began shoveling
    dirt from the base of the fire-ravaged tree. He sent furtive glances at the girl. There was no doubt in his
    mind that she was the one who had watched him from behind a tree that day at the dock, the same one
    who had come into his hut and tended his wounds. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
    She wore her hair in queenly fashion in a thick coil atop her head. Her skin was the color of pale honey,
    her cheeks were dusted with a light sprinkling of golden freckles. Her eyes, those deep green eyes that
    had been haunting his dreams, seemed intent on the book in her lap. He recalled the way she had looked
    at him when she treated his wounds, her expression one of pity and revulsion. Much as a fine lady might
    look at a wounded cur. Rage spiraled through him as he shoveled dirt from the tree's roots. He was a sky
    warrior, meant to fly, to fight, not to dig in the earth like a Hodorian slime-worm! Among his own people,
    he was a hero, treated with honor and respect. He had achieved scores of battle honors, saved dozens of
    lives at the risk of his own. He felt the girl watching him. Did she take pleasure from his captivity, he
    wondered, in knowing that the fine clothes she wore, the food she ate, everything she possessed, came
    from the forced labor and misery of others? She was his enemy, as he was hers. No doubt it brought her
    an enormous sense of satisfaction to watch him toiling in the hot sun. Boldly, he lifted his gaze to hers.
    Ashlynne's senses reeled as Number Four's impertinent gaze met her own. The hatred in his eyes was
    almost palpable. She saw him glance at the guard, his thoughts as clear as the words on the book in her
    lap. Could he kill Dain before Dain activated the collar? And if he managed to kill the guard, how far
    would he get before they came after him? If he