Binding Ties by Shannon K. Butcher Read Free Book Online

deal with the terror of what was done to them. Poor little Tori had been half-mad—violent and deranged—from what she’d suffered. And she’d had the benefit of being a Theronai—stronger than a human child would have been—but even she’d had to be sent away in the hopes that beings more powerful than the Sentinels could purge the demon blood from her veins and heal her.
    â€œI’m not reinventing the wheel here, Joseph. This is how I was taught. We were forced to push our limits, take the pain, grow stronger. All the Slayers learn the same way.”
    â€œBut these kids are human.”
    â€œSo? If you stop telling them that’s a limitation, maybe it will stop being one. I know you’ve taken a vow to protect humans, but if you just stop and think about it, you’ll see that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
    â€œYour ways are violent.”
    â€œBut they work. Generations of Slayers have been raised exactly like this. And we’re survivors. Fighters. Just like those kids need to be.”
    â€œWhat would your brother say?” asked Joseph.
    She rolled her eyes. “Who cares? I stopped worrying about his opinion the minute he dropped me off on your doorstep.”
    â€œI care. He’s the leader of your people. He was the one with the guts to walk into the home of his enemy, completely unarmed and naked, asking for a truce.”
    â€œWith me draped over his shoulder,” she added. “Don’t forget that part. The bastard.”
    No chance of that. She’d been naked, too, though Andreas had gone to the trouble of wrapping her up in a sheet. To this day, Joseph still regretted not insisting that they unroll her and check for weapons.
    â€œThe point is,” said Joseph, “that your brother is not the kind of man I want to piss off. I don’t know a lot about him, but I’m fairly certain that if anything happened to you, it would be my balls getting ripped off first.”
    â€œA trick he learned from me,” she said. “You should remember that.”
    â€œIs that a threat, kitten? Care to have a little sparring match of our own? Prove who has the bigger pair?” What the hell was he doing? He couldn’t spar with her. What if he hurt her? What if he got his hands on her and couldn’t let go?
    â€œYou think you can beat me?” she asked, teeth bared.
    He couldn’t seem to stay quiet. His mouth dug a deeper hole. “I know I can.”
    â€œYou’re out of practice. You spend all day sitting on your ass, doing paperwork and listening to people whine. Face it, Theronai. You’ve gone soft.”
    Joseph normally kept a tight hold on his anger. It didn’t serve him well in his position of leadership. But right now he was furious, his blood heating with morethan mere lust. He knew it was a mistake, but she got under his skin, and before he could stop himself, he was rising to her bait. “I’ll show you soft.”
    He reached for her, planning to grab her hand and force her to feel his body. Sure, he spent long hours behind a desk, but his body was still toned, thanks to a set of kick-ass magical genes and the few sparring sessions he managed to fit into his schedule. And even if he didn’t have a genetic advantage, he never would have let himself go soft and weak. Too many lives depended on him being able to protect them with fast, brutal violence when needed.
    Before he could so much as wrap his fingers around her wrist, she darted away, scurrying out through his office door. “Don’t you touch me. Don’t you ever fucking touch me.”
    Joseph immediately realized what he was about to do and let his hand fall to his side. “I’m sorry, Lyka. I lost my head for a minute. It won’t happen again.”
    â€œDamn right it won’t.” She inched down the hall, backing away from him. “Let me teach the class or not—I don’t care