The Protector of Ambra (Mercenaries of Fortune, #5) Read Online Free PDF

checked the time on her phone again. Pierce had been gone forever. She must have been half-asleep when he left. She tried to remember what he said before leaving. They hadn’t driven up to the monastery because of prayers or some such? She didn’t buy it. The monks probably had some ancient rules about women on the grounds.
    She wasn’t going to make the poor man walk because of archaic practices that made no sense in the modern world. Hell, she wasn’t about to hop into bed with any of them. And the way she smelled, they’d have to be insane to want to do anything other than pray for her.
    That sealed it.
    Melody hopped into the driver’s seat, turned the ignition and put the car in gear. Then immediately shut it off. The guy was a freaking agent. Presumably, doing agenty things. He wouldn’t have brought her out here if it was dangerous, but the man had a reason for leaving her out here.
    Unless it actually was dangerous and he’d put her in a place as far away from that danger as possible. Maybe he wasn’t even in the monastery at all. “Crap.”
    Her skin prickled and her mouth was as dry as cotton. She twirled the coin, looked at the gun, then looked at the mirror again.
    The monastery lights that had pissed her off moments ago suddenly became beacons of hope. If there was something crazy in the woods, that crusty, old building might be the one place to save her. The urge to rotate in the seat was overwhelming. Even if she couldn’t see it clearly, it was good to know that there were people out there. If she screamed, they’d maybe even hear her.
    A twig snapped to her left. “Pierce?”
    No response, but the snapping morphed into heavy crunching. Not closer, but parallel. Like it, whatever it was, was sizing her up.
    “Fuck this.”
    She turned the key again. Mud splattered and earth crunched under her tires, but nothing was as sweet as the sound of rocks beneath her jeep. With each second, her heart lightened at the prospect of seeing another human being.
    She only made it a few hundred feet up the road before shattering shards of glass prickled her face. She should have paid attention in high school physics. Something about the speed of sound? Because she didn’t hear the bullet until it hit its mark and the windshield came crashing in around her.

Chapter Six
    “K ill the damned lights, Melody!”
    Pierce’s feet crunched on the road while he zigged and zagged to avoid getting shot. It was one of four sounds; the senses strip down to the essentials in times like this. His brain only processed the sound of his feet pounding the gravel, his heart punching against his eardrums, a bullet racing for his back and Melody shouting, “What’s going on?”
    Who asks that while getting shot at? Apparently, the same type of woman who didn’t freak out at the prospect of getting shot. She wasn’t crying or driving off in the other direction. She just looked pissed. Woe to the men trying to kill her if she ever caught up with them.
    “What the hell have you done, Pierce?”
    And maybe woe to himself. “The lights,” he screamed. “Off. Sooner is better than later.”
    The jeep faded away from direct view. His ears took over again. His breathing, his feet, the bullets and the deep crunch of slow moving tires. Good girl. She was still coming for him.
    When the awkward square of the vehicle was within his sights, he heaved himself into the seat. Glass pierced his left hand on the cushion. “Are you hit?” he asked, shining his flashlight across her face.
    “Lights!” she hissed back, then in one of the best three-point turns he’d ever seen, she whipped that jeep around and jetted down the road.
    “You okay?”
    “Peachy.”
    “Shot?”
    “Got lucky.”
    He wanted to see her face again to make sure she was okay. To perhaps see if there was a hint of excitement on her lips. He thought he’d heard it. She’d handled this a little too well to be not enjoying it. He sure as fuck was.
    Pierce leaned back