Read Online Forsaken Realms (Bounty Hunters United Book 1) by Katalina Leon - Free Book Online

know these things.”
    “When I was a boy, my family spent a holiday on Sarna. It was a special place. Very remote.”
    For a fleeting moment in her mind’s eye she saw a faint image almost like a watercolor painting on tissue of a handsome family with young children. All had jet-black hair and were dressed in colorful flowing clothes as they walked together in what looked like a lush Eden. A heartbeat later the image faded, and no amount of concentration would recall it.
    “That was Sarna,” Syan’s tone was somber. “But I don’t want to dwell on it. The memory is too sad. Still I’m glad you saw it.”
    For her part, there were no memories of family outings with beautiful parents and sibling to repress, and, for a second, she felt a stab of envy. She drank her fill of bava and set the drained pieces of vine on the ground. “That was refreshing. I feel better.”
    “You feel sad.” His gaze locked on her, and his mile-deep look seemed to penetrate her armor. “You don’t have to pretend or lie. I already know.”
    It was true. A slight shudder passed through her as he said it, which she found disturbing. “You’re a stranger. I’m not used to this sort of intimacy. It’s certainly nothing I would volunteer for. Do I have to be in your thoughts and you in mine? This situation is too entangled for me.”
    Syan glanced down. “I’m sorry, but it has to be this way at least for now. I can’t stay out of your thoughts.” His face bore misgivings. “Am I truly unwelcome there?”
    As he said it, she felt terrible. “Let’s forget about it and concentrate on getting those packs.” They walked onward in silence. The distance was greater than she’d anticipated. “You carried me all this way. Why?”
    “I wanted to make sure we remained unseen beneath the densest portion of the canopy.”
    “You do understand we’re going to need Jason Naveen’s help to send a communiqué to the outside or get a ship. We can’t approach him with accusations. Aside from treating you badly, I’m not convinced he’s done anything more than be a weird eccentric protecting his privacy.”
    “You don’t understand yet? Look what happened after you turned your ship over to Naveen’s autopilot. Naveen’s an underhanded man who wants us dead.”
    “A weirdo trillionaire wants me dead? It makes no sense. I had to turn my ship over because I was on private property. I follow the rules. I don’t make it up as I go. My line of work demands I honor the facts. I can’t afford to chase every paranoid thought. It seems pretty straightforward to me. Naveen wants control of his little kingdom. You’re a trespasser, or have some other beef with the guy.”
    Syan looked perplexed. “What is a beef? I thought beef was a food animal but the way you are using the word made it sound like a complaint.”
    She sighed. “Telepathy only works if two minds think alike. We’re having a little communication meltdown, aren’t we?”
    “Beef? I still don’t get it. Not only are there cultural issues to deal with, I am also aware of the vast differences between the male and female brain. So much of what I thought I knew about women is beefshit.”
    “Bullshit.”
    His face was ultra serious. “Yes, that is what I meant. The meaningless defecation of male bovine.”
    They came to a broad white beach dotted with palms that stretched out into a shallow turquoise sea.
    He pointed to a tiny island on the far horizon. “We splashed down near that atoll, but it was too exposed to the elementals. I decided to swim to shore where our chances of survival would be better.”
    “You swam all that way, towing me and the packs and then started the jungle march?”
    “And the chutes. They dragged along with us. I couldn’t figure out the release mechanism until I got to shore.” He walked toward a pile of rumpled orange fabric stashed under the brush. “Here’s what’s left of the chutes. The packs are underneath.”
    The whir of an engine