Page 23 of The Lamb and the Llama
Richard seemed to sense that it did bother her some, because he reached for her hand with both of his and placed it on his upper thigh.
“I want you to know that you really impressed me yesterday. You are an awesome FUC. You, my dear, held your own with Zagan and his cronies. I’ve never seen an agent perform so well on the first assignment.”
“An assignment I failed, considering Zagan got away.”
“No. Not at all. Your assignment was to keep Gregor safe, and guess what? Zagan didn't lay a hand on him. You succeeded.”
She shook her head, unconvinced. It still felt like a failure to have let Zagan escape.
“I’m serious, Amira. I can’t fathom what you or Quinn went through while you were human pincushions for Zagan. It must have been awful. But you faced him yesterday with no hesitation. Hell, you were about to fly off after him on your own.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” she said, meaning it to the depths of her soul. “He’s pathetic. He has minions working for him. He can’t do anything on his own. That’s why he left so fast. Becausehe’sthe one who’s scared.”
“Right.” Richard placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. “But if I recall correctly, you said your fears were swimming and snakes, yet you dove head-first to grab Sam even though he was a snake.”
“Hmmm, I guess I didn’t think about it. I guess my owl form helped me overcome that fear.”
But it wasn’t just her owl form. She thought Richard might have had a little something to do with it, too. Having him by her side made her feel braver than she ever thought possible.
“I’m glad you’re here with me,” she said again before resting her head on his shoulder and falling asleep.
11
Once they landed, a smiling Quinn greeted them at baggage claim.
“It’s so good to see you again, Amira!” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “I hope Dick is behaving himself with you,” he met Richard’s gaze with a steely one of his own.
“Richard is a perfect gentleman,” Amira stated before moving away from Quinn.
Richard wrapped a protective arm around Amira’s waist. Quinn gazed at Richard’s hand on Amira’s hip and looked up at them both with wide eyes. “Are you two an item now?” His tone was as incredulous, as was the look on his face.
“I guess you could say that.” Amira smiled and nodded at him.
“Wow! I didn’t see this one coming at all. Let me guess—Stan?”
“Yeah, it was Stan all right,” Richard said as he placed a palm on the back of his neck.
“I should have known. Only Stan would get you thinking about dating again, Richard.”
“I would have to agree with you there.”
“Let’s head over to Harriet and Lear’s so we can brief you. SHIT is happening in Skyros this year, and with Zagan on the loose, we need to protect all the royals.”
“Since you’re Lear’s cousin, that makes you part of the list of people that need protecting, Quinn.”
Quinn gave Richard a cocky grin before responding. “I’m just the spare to the heir. Lear’s the one I’m most worried about.”
“Still, it’s our job to protect all of you. We’ve already gone up against Zagan. He’s a slippery one for sure and always escaping.”
Quinn introduced them to Dayton, their driver, who helped them gather their bags and then escorted the three into the car. When they arrived at the palace, they were introduced to Lear, Treasure, and Mateo.
“Welcome to Skyros!” Lear greeted. “I’ll show you around the place, but I wasn’t sure if you needed one room or two.” Like Quinn, Lear had spotted Richard’s arm around Amira.
“Did Stan fix up another couple?” Treasure asked with a laugh. “Looks like TLC strikes again!”
“TLC?” Amira asked.
“Tender-hearted Loving Caringbear,” Treasure explained. “Stan played a part in all of our matchings. Didn’t you know?”
