Bound (World of Shadows Book 2) Read online

  Bound

  (World of Shadows Book Two)

  KENSIE KING

  Bound

  Copyright © 2020 by Kensie King

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  SUMMARY

  Lincoln thought trapping Gage would solve his problems, but he’s still no closer to figuring out the curse which keeps paranormals powerless in the small town of Knob Creek. When Gage agrees to a deal to help put the spell back in place if Link helps his sick sister, Link is on board—in spite of Dylan’s reluctance.

  When evil from beyond the grave interferes with his plans, Link’s not sure whether to trust Gage or stay as far away from him as possible. But one thing he knows for sure, he can’t fight the attraction he feels—and it could result in someone’s death.

  Bound is the second book in the World of Shadows series. Each part is a continuing story, so if you’re interested in a sexy paranormal gay romance, please read book one first.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Summary

  Newsletter Signup

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

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  Chapter 1

  I folded my arms and lingered in the sunshine on the back deck of the house Dylan was letting me rent.

  A low hum of energy pulsed through me—maybe a product of all the power I used today seeking Savannah, my dead with ancestor, or trapping Gage, my vampire stalker, in a cave.

  I could feel him, too. I was trapped in his house more than once and did a spell against him, linking us somehow. Right now, I could feel his pain. It was a lot like the fire that rushed through my veins when I used magic.

  But this was painful.

  I could hear his voice deep inside. Lincoln… He was calling to me, like he knew I could hear him.

  But that made sense. After all, we were descendants from the original four paranormal families in Knob Creek. So were Dylan and Grace. Witch, vampire, werewolf, and shapeshifter.

  “Are you plotting an escape?” a voice said behind me.

  I turned and found Grace standing outside the sliding door. She was wearing her sexy librarian glasses and offering a gentle smile. Pretty sure I never imagined I’d have a werewolf as an ally.

  “Mine or someone else’s?” I asked her.

  She laughed but there was an edge to it.

  “You know, Dylan’s right,” she said with a sigh. “We need to think about this before we do anything. Weigh our options.”

  “I know you’re worried.” I was too. We were up against a vampire here. “But things aren’t black and white like before.”

  Gage was trapped in a cage full of amethyst, which bought us time, but I didn’t think keeping him trapped was the answer. Not now that we knew his sister, Audrey, was sick. And from what it sounded like, it was terminal.

  How could I overlook that? Especially when Gage was doing everything he was doing to help his sister? It wasn’t for his own selfish or evil purposes at all.

  Besides, leaving him in the cave was torturing him. How could I do that in good conscience?

  “He’ll survive being in that cave a little while longer,” Grace said as if reading my mind.

  I nodded. I knew that. I also knew that he would heal after he got out and probably go back to normal like nothing had ever happened.

  Grace gestured to the door. “Your mom wants to talk to you.”

  I turned away, hiding a frown. I didn’t want to talk to her. I wanted to blame her for all of this. If she’d told me about my powers and the spell and the situation the town was in, all of this could have been prevented.

  When the door opened again, I turned back and saw Dylan. I could tell he was still upset with me. His mouth was set in a serious line. Almost disapproving. I was aware how much time he’d spent trying to stop the reversal of the curse.

  And in one short week, I’d managed to ruin it all.

  He swallowed before he spoke. “Helen wants to go home. She said she might have some books there that could help.”

  “Help what?”

  “Figure out how to end the spell. Or how to put it back into place.”

  I let the words settle in. I knew that was the original goal, but now…would that take away Audrey’s chances at healing?

  Dylan started to stay something again but then seemed to change his mind. His eyes searched mine for a long moment. He tried again. “I know this whole situation is fucked up.” He ran a hand through his hair and stared out into the yard.

  Grace sensed he had more to say and moved to the door. “I’ll wait inside.”

  Once she was gone, Dylan stepped closer to me. “What can I say that will make you see my side of this?”

  “I do see your side.” He was bound by history and tradition to help the witches—to help me. He wanted to protect me. Not just that, we had something more—a deeper bond than friendship.

  This had to be hard for him.

  Dylan tipped his chin down, meeting my eyes. Then he set his hands on my arms, squeezing them. “Then can you please wait to go until your mom checks the books at her house? Maybe there’s a solution there we haven’t thought of and no one has to get hurt in the meantime.”

  Gage was getting hurt in the meantime. I lifted my eyebrows at Dylan.

  He sighed. “All right. I know. But a few hours—or days—of him being in there is better than someone else getting hurt permanently.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and continued. “You can’t heal like him. And if he gets out, he might come for you again. Or your mom. Then we have no clue what he’ll do.”

  There was truth to that. Gage was probably going to be angry and it was a solid bet that he’d take it out on us.

  I blew out a breath. “Okay, let’s wait until we see what Helen can find.”

  Dylan winced when I said her name instead of calling her Mom. “I’m assuming you don’t want to come with us.”

  I smiled at him. “That would be a correct assumption.”

  “Link…”

  “Link, what?”

  He shook his head. “Never mind. We can talk later.”

  But if he wanted to talk about my mom, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready.

  “I’ll take your mom home,” he said, opening the door.

  I nodded to myself and let him go. I needed a moment to take a breath. To gather myself. Even if I didn’t let Gage out, I needed to make sure he was okay. He
needed food and water at the very minimum. And I was sure he wouldn’t mind an update on his sister. Just to know she was okay, too.

  A dog barked in the direction of the front of the house. A moment later, Grace burst through the back door. “Dylan’s shifting again. He saw a dog and—”

  “Shit.”

  I followed her through the back door and to the front of the house. Dylan was just inside the front door on his knees on the hardwood floor.

  Helen glanced at me. “We had to come back in. We can’t let anyone see him change.”

  Dylan looked up at me, speaking through clenched teeth. “I can’t…stop it.”

  I reached down for him, but he jumped up and ran past me, heading down the hallway. We heard a door slam shut a moment later.

  We all stood in silence for a long moment. Then Grace turned to my mom. “I can take you to your house.”

  She nodded, her gaze flicking to mine before she walked back out the front door. I couldn’t help but study her from behind, noting that her dark brown hair resembled mine. Remembering times when I was little, and I thought she was the most amazing thing in the world.

  “It went fast last time—he didn’t stay in his animal form for long,” I told Grace. “Hopefully he’ll be back to himself by the time you guys are done.”

  Grace gave me a sympathetic smile. “Right. We’ll hurry.”

  Link…

  I swallowed hard. Fuck. Gage was in my head again. Maybe he wasn’t even aware of it. Maybe he was thinking about something else—or simply about getting out of there.

  But it was getting exhausting. First it was Savannah’s voice following me around, now Gage’s.

  And dammit, it was making me feel guilty.

  I ignored that idea and peered down the hall. I didn’t hear anything.

  I walked slowly, passing the open door to the bathroom and moving to the bedroom, where Dylan shut himself in. Listening again, I waited to hear sounds of Dylan shifting. Or something similar. But instead it was silent.

  My heart raced as I opened the door, which made no sense. I should be used to this by now. And it wasn’t like he was going to attack me or anything.

  Inside the room, everything looked the same. The covers were rumpled where Dylan and I laid earlier. My jacket was tossed on top of the dresser and my boots sat at the bottom of the bed.

  It was all the same. Except for the dog in the corner. My eyes locked with his.

  “Dylan,” I said.

  The dog didn’t move, just stayed in the corner, sitting on his haunches. He looked wary. Dylan had turned into a large golden dog, a retriever, with familiar and kind eyes.

  I took a step closer, but he backed away. The last time this had happened, he turned into a fox. He hadn’t wanted me to see him then either.

  Folding my arms, I said, “You know, you saw me when I was vulnerable.” When he didn’t move, I added, “I understand this is something you can’t control.”

  He had seen me vulnerable with the fire. I was still learning how to control it and it made being close to people hard.

  When he stayed where he was, I scowled. “Fine. Just trying to help.”

  I snagged my shoes off the ground and brought them to the other room. I sat on the couch and put them on, doing up the laces of the boots. I heard the creak of the floorboards as I stood and saw the dog at the edge of the hallway.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I told him.

  He probably wasn’t going anywhere until he shifted back to human form anyway.

  Before I could move, he padded over and sniffed my shoes. I reached a hand to touch him again, but he backed way.

  Burying my frustration, I stalked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Then I picked up my satchel from the table by the door. Dylan bolted in front of me, blocking my way before I could leave.

  “What are you doing?”

  He angled his head, like I should know exactly what he was doing. And I did. He was trying to stop me because he probably guessed accurately that I was going to see Gage.

  “I’m not going to let him out,” I told Dylan. “I just want to make sure that everything looks okay.”

  And that Gage was okay. Fuck, Dylan was right when he suggested I had a bigger connection to Gage. I did. I wasn’t sure what it was, but we were drawn together.

  Dylan didn’t move. Well, I supposed I wasn’t the most trustworthy person when it came to Gage. I hadn’t played it safe in the past.

  “It’ll be fine,” I told him. “You’d better move unless you plan on coming with me.”

  After a moment, he moved around me and then went for the hallway again. Pouting, I was sure.

  I rolled my eyes and called over my shoulder, “Should I stop for some dog food?”

  He barked in response as I slammed the front door. It was a petty comment, sure, but so was his behavior. It wasn’t like I couldn’t handle him shifting. I’d handled more since I’d gotten to Knob Creek and it hadn’t broken me yet.

  I rolled down the window to feel the fresh air as I drove. It didn’t take me long to reach the hotel, the imposing building sitting in a maze of trees not too far from Gage’s house. I had mixed feeling about the place. Savannah must have lived here at some point, and I felt drawn to it. But I’d also been stuck behind the walls inside the hotel and chased through the hedge maze in the back when Gage was angry.

  When I’d arrived in Knob Creek, I was sure it was going to be a mellow place—if not boring—but I was wrong.

  I walked to the back of the hotel, leaves and sticks crunching under my boots. The closer I got to the cave, the more I could feel Gage. It stood to reason that he could feel me, too.

  When I arrived at the mouth, the large rock Dylan used to cover the hole was still in place. Last time I’d used my power to get it to move. I was afraid of what would happen if I did that again, so I opted for human strength this time.

  I braced my back against the rock and pushed with my legs, triumph rushing through me when it budged. It rolled a few more feet, and I kept pushing until it was far enough to give me a look into the opening.

  My heartbeat raced in an uneven rhythm, and I knew it was more from the idea of seeing Gage again than the exertion.

  It was quiet except for birds chirping somewhere behind me. I brushed aside a vine that dangled in front of me.

  “Gage?” My voice came out quiet, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Gage?”

  No response. I stuck my head in farther, trying to see him. Was he hurt? I could tell he was in there somewhere—I could feel him. But maybe he wasn’t even conscious.

  Could the amethyst hurt him that badly?

  “Gage,” I called again.

  After he still didn’t respond, I stepped back and glared at the small opening. “Shit.”

  It made sense to leave, especially since I didn’t have any back up. But dammit, I just couldn’t do that.

  Bracing my feet on the ground again, I pushed the rock with my back and nudged it even farther.

  With the opening wide enough for me to step inside again, I leaned in slightly. “Gage?”

  Damn. I should have brought a flashlight.

  There was no response at first, then something grabbed my shirt and hauled me into the darkness.

  Chapter 2

  I whipped out of his grasp and spun around, hands up to defend myself. But it wasn’t necessary. Gage was bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing measured.

  “You…trapped me in here,” he said, voice low and pained.

  “I had to.”

  He didn’t argue with that. We both knew it was true. Maybe he was just surprised by our ingenuity.

  There wasn’t much light entering the cave, but it was enough for me to see the sparkle of amethyst lining the wall and sprouting up from the floor. There were dozens of crystals and no place where Gage could stand that he wasn’t within a few feet of one.

  “Gage,” I said quietly.

  His h
ead was still hanging. After a moment, he lowered himself to the ground close to one of the walls. He leaned against it and draped one arm across his knees. “You’re welcome to rub it in if that’s what you came for.”

  “That’s not what I came for,” I said, glaring at him. I sat as well, in a small patch of light that came in through the opening. “I wanted to see if you’re okay.”

  He started laughing, but it quickly turned into a cough. “You wanted to see if I was okay? Does it look like I’m okay?”

  I opened my satchel and pulled out a bottle of water. He stopped it with his hand when I rolled it across the cave floor. “I stabbed you with a letter opener and you were okay. I figure if you can make it through that, you’ll make it through this and be just fine when I let you out.”

  He gulped down half the bottle of water before recapping it. “You’re going to let me out?”

  “You were planning on letting me go after I did the spell, weren’t you?” I countered.

  He didn’t hesitate to nod seriously. And I believed him. I was pretty sure I had when I was locked in his house, too.

  “Audrey doesn’t know where I am.” Gage’s voice was full of pain, but he wasn’t complaining anymore. He just sounded resigned and sad.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about her? And that she was the reason you wanted me to do the spell?”

  His lips curved but there wasn’t any humor in his smile. “I tried, Link. I didn’t want to say much at first because I didn’t know you. But then I came to you outside the library. Don’t you remember?”

  “You mean, after you’d already kidnapped me and held me hostage? You can’t really have expected me to sit down for a reasonable dinner after you’d gone and done something like that to start.”

  He rubbed a weary hand over his face. “It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

  I was quiet for a moment before I told him, “I can check on Audrey if you want.”

  He lowered his hand and met my eyes across the dim space. He lifted his eyebrows.