Bending Steele by Sadie Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

eyes
narrowed.
    “You know something?”
    Steele cut him a glance, but she didn’t
answer him. Her attention was pinned on the woman still kneeling in
front of him. She took a step closer, the threat of violence
filling her. “Could he have followed you here?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t know!” She gripped
Hexe’s jeans tighter, her body starting to shake. “I bolted when he
started coming down… I watched though, he just sat down by Liam. He
had a knife; he didn’t look like he was going to follow me.”
    Steele turned for the door and Hexe lurched
to catch her, grabbing the wrist with her knife out of habit. She
froze, her lips lifting in a hiss but he didn’t back down.
“Wait.”
    “Mark or not, I’m not staying here.” But
there was nothing in her eyes that showed fear. Just anger—raw,
tormented fury that filled her, ricocheted through her gaze and
tore at him. This, this was part of her story. The part he needed
to know.
    Hexe tightened his grip on her wrist. “We go
together.”
    Something flashed in her eyes, surprise
maybe, but it was gone too fast for him to be sure. She started to
jerk away, to leave anyway, but he didn’t let her go. “Steele.
Wait. I’m going with you.”
    He turned back to the woman still kneeling in
front of him. “Go home. Lock yourself in and don’t come out until
I’ve given word.”
    Her lip trembled. “I don’t want to go
alone.”
    Of course she didn’t. Hexe couldn’t blame
her, but she didn’t look like the kind of woman who wanted to go
hunt a killer. Steele on the other hand was damn near gnashing her
teeth over his command. Hexe blew out a sharp breath. “Then stay
here.”
    He stepped away, moving for the door but she
scrambled after him. She caught the edge of his shirt and tried to
drag him back, raw terror flashing in her eyes. It tore at his
heart. She needed time, comfort. She’d seen something most people
would go their whole lives never having seen.
    But he couldn’t afford the time to
linger.
    Hexe caught her by her upper arms and hauled
her to her feet, placing her steadfast in front of him. His gaze
was firm when it met hers. “Stay here.”
    “Don’t go. Please, please don’t leave me…”
Another sob escaped her and she reached for him, only to jerk to a
stop as Steele pressed a knife to her throat. There was nothing in
those gunmetal eyes that spoke of warmth, just cold
determination.
    Steele stepped closer, forcing the woman back
a step. “Stay here or go home, but shut the fuck up so we can
go.”
    Steele jerked the knife away and left the
other woman standing there. Her eyes were round with fear, but she
didn’t move as Steele jerked open the door and strode out into the
cold. She melded into the forest. The wind whipped snow around in a
blur and Hexe had to blink into the darkness before he spotted
Steele. Crouched along the edge of the house, she slipped into the
shadows of the forest. The sky had grown dusky with an oncoming
storm, darkness creeping in. Hexe followed, his front door swinging
shut behind him.
    The woman inside didn’t so much as make a
peep in protest.
    Steele’s boots left marks in the snow, easy
enough to track normally, but with the wind picking up, blasting
snow across the ground, they were fading fast. Hexe muttered a
curse and jogged after her. The howling gales of an oncoming storm
left the sky lighter than normal despite the evening hour, but when
it finally closed in, they’d be left outside in the dark, with a
blizzard moving in. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck
out in a storm.
    “Tell me what you know,” he said as he caught
up with her, stepping carefully into her tracks. An experienced
tracker would easily see two sets of prints, but with the wind and
darkness coming, they’d soon fade all together.
    “Poacher.” Steele glanced back over her
shoulder, her eyes molten to the core. There was nothing left under
that anger, that fury. That look was almost enough to make