Page 10 of Amethyst

Until she pulls away quickly and stoops to pick up the flowers. “For me?”

“No,” I joke. “I brought them for Lexi.”

She chuckles. “You’re the same old Max, aren’t you?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

Because I’m not the same old Max, and she’s not the same old Jenna.

If possible, she’s even more beautiful. Her hair is still long and dark, and her figure is still lean with just the right amount of curve. Her lips are full and pink, and her eyes…still so beautiful.

But her cheek…

I reach toward her, and she flinches.

I snap my arm back to my side. “I’m sorry. I just… Your cheek…”

“It’s a scar. From a knife.”

I gulp back the nausea that threatens to explode from me. A scar on her beautiful face. It begins at the side of her eye and slices downward until it curves toward her chin. What other scars might her clothes be hiding? It’s early December, and though it’s a warm day, she’s dressed in a gray long-sleeved sweater and jeans.

I can’t bear the thought.

“Come on,” she says. “Let’s go inside and I’ll put these in a vase.”

“Just a minute.”

She looks over her shoulder. “What?”

“I have something else for you. I want to give it to you now.”

“You shouldn’t have, Max.”

“I know. But I’ve had it for… I bought it for you…well…a long time ago, and I want you to have it.”

“All right. What is it?”

I pull the velvet box out of my pocket and open it, revealing the purple pendant set in white gold on a thin chain.

Jenna widens her eyes, , and then she drops the flowers and runs inside the house.

4

JENNA

On the island I was known as Amethyst.

We all had names corresponding to gemstones. That’s what they called us. Gems.

Aren’t gems something special? Something to be treasured?

We weren’t treasured.

We were tortured. Abused. Hunted. Violated.

Raped repeatedly.

The scar on my face that Max tried to touch? It’s from a hunting knife. The only reason it doesn’t look worse is because the knife was so sharp and the person who brandished it was methodical.

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