Atomic Mage by Garrett Carter (short books for teens txt) 📕

of hers if we leave it free those lips of hers will be flapping all night."

Bound and muzzled Mina was led out of the cover of the trees to stand across from a familiar beach.

Cade watched his attention rapt as the group of ten men lead her to a rickety raft where five of them pulled her aboard and forced her into a seated position.

Cade, engrossed as he was he still noticed the difference in the number of bandits.

"Looks like she missed a few" he groused as he watched the memory play out.

Crossing his arms he began to contemplate how far he was going to dive into Mina's memories, as he watched the group on the raft with Mina toss a length of rope attached to the small raft to the remaining bandits and shove them off to the other side of the river.

As he moved on to the final memory of last night finding a possible ally in Mina, Rista's attack on her village clearly a good motivation for her to join him.

Not only was Rista a horrible person in general, but she also ran most of this part of the jungle's slave trade.

Her removal would not go unnoticed but he wasn't going to let the attacks and enslavement continue.

Cade watched on wishing for a fast forward button as the afternoon drug by, the only thing of note that happened was a runner being sent to notify Rista of Mina's capture.

He was about ready to call it quits, the bandits clearly the bad guys and Mina the heroine of this story.

The only reason he had waited was less than honorable.

He wanted to see the gorgeous woman in motion once more, the memory of the earlier fight a feast for his eyes.

Finding himself in a moral quandary he groaned as he decided to be a good guy and not a letcher that watched wounded women fight just to watch their wonderful curves in motion.

Sticking to his decision Cade backed out of Mina's memories to once again lay eyes on the beautiful woman in her mindscape.

"I see you are back" said Mina.

Cade took a moment to process that, evidently he disappeared from the mindscape when he was in someone's memories.

Storing away that for later he passed his judgment.

"You and I have a common enemy, this Rista needs to die. Six of her crew tried, and failed horribly, by the way, to capture me a couple of days ago. I pulled the location of their camp from the minds of those idiots and I plan on paying them a visit, do you want to come with?" Cade said as he laid out his admittedly sparse plan.

Mina's eyebrows rose as Cade spoke.

"Why should I trust you?" Mina replied as she looked at him through suspicious golden eyes.

Cade thought on that for a moment, "if I heal you and help you retrieve your family would you swear to help me remove the threat to my home?"

"I have seen you in action and would be glad to partner up,, even doing a decent pincushion impression you are still plenty dangerous."

Mina's eyebrows rose higher then dropped as a smile bloomed on her face, "just a partner?"

He was thrown for a loop by the question.

Was the attractive woman flirting with him?

He certainly hoped she was.

"I would love to be anything you want me to be" Cade said in a rush before he realized the words had actually came out of his mouth.

Mortified at what he had said Cade chastised himself "smooth move ex-lax now she thinks we are going to be a little puppy following her around everywhere. Woman hate clingy men, the only way that could have gone worse was if we had drooled as we said it."

As his internal tirade ended he noted barley suppressed laughter on Mina's face.

"Sounds like a deal" she replied, her shoulders shaking as she held her laughter back.

"May I ask what is so funny, and can I call you Mina." Cade asked wondering what had her ready to bust a gut.

"Yes cassanova you can call me whatever you want but Mina is my name." Mina answered as she won the battle against her mirth.

Cade shook his head as what he thought was an earth tone slipped out of Mina's mouth, not wanting to make any assumptions he pushed his curiosity to the back of his mind.

Walking forward past the now purring guardians he extended his hand to Mina who grasped it in her lightly furred one.

After they shook on it Cade stepped back looking at the gorgeous woman in her golden eyes he smiled.

"See you soon." He said with a grin as he left Mina's mind.

Cleaning up shop

Coming back to himself in the physical world Cade looked down to the woman whose mind he had just left.

A pained smirk crossed her face as Cade released her trapped arm.

"Let's get you up and running."

"My name is Cade, by the way, Cade Willmartin."

He cautiously looked around for any new surprises before he got to work finishing what Kaz had rudely interrupted earlier.

Looking back at the dead man he was surprised to find him still freshly dead.

Blood still ran down his face from his eyes and nose not having had time to congeal.

He was thrown off by the still liquid blood, the time he had spent in Mina's head had felt like hours but had evidently only taken seconds.

Finding no immediate threats Cade got to work getting Mina