Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1 YA Paranormal Romance by Kira Saito Read Free Book Online Page A

before I searched for Sabrina.
    “ That was so tragic!”
Sabrina shouted as she waved me over. Somehow, she had managed to
drag formerly-shirtless guy back to her side.
    Formerly-shirtless guy looked me
straight in the eyes and smiled. He looked entertained as I ignored
him. “I have to go help out a guest!” I yelled at her from across
the room. “I have to go give him a Coke.”
    “ Come back when you’re
done.” Sabrina had already turned her attention back to the
guy.
    “ Sure.” I grabbed the Coke
from the table where I had left it. It was a lie because there was
no way I was going to talk to formerly-shirtless guy after he had
seen me in a bath towel and attempted to save me from Mr. Dumpty.
Walking towards the staircase where I had left Ben, I could feel
someone watching me. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I could just
sense formerly-shirtless guy’s probing eyes watching me as I walked
away. What was it about him? There was something different, but I
just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I had to snap out of it
otherwise I was going to start sounding like Sabrina.
    “ Ben, I got your Coke,” I
announced as I kneeled down and peered under the staircase. “Ben?”
There was silence. “Where are you?” When I saw that Ben wasn’t
under the staircase, I went into panic mode. He must have gone
upstairs. I ran up the stairs and went inside every open bedroom. I
searched under the beds, and behind the antique chests, but there
was no sign of Ben. “Ben, Ben!” I continued to shout.
    It was useless. He obviously wasn’t
there. I needed to think. Where could he have gone to this time of
night? Fear gripped me, as I thought about Ben’s obsession to see
the alligators and ghosts. Could he have actually headed towards
the swamp alone? I ran into my bedroom and pulled out the Summer
Plan. I flipped through the pages until I found a map. Ben had been
right, the swamp wasn’t that far away from the house, but it was
dark and what lived out there was dangerous.
    Map in hand, I flew down the stairs
almost tripping on my gown. When I reached the bottom, Ben was
still nowhere in sight. Sabrina was holding a champagne glass and
slow dancing with formerly-shirtless guy. I decided not to
interrupt her because explaining what had happened would waste
time. I headed out the front door and made my way to the
swamp.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 5
    Where are you?
     
    I was lucky enough to have a full,
bright moon on my side as I ran down the oak-lined path that was
supposed to lead me to Darkwood swamp. The night was humid and hot.
Wearing what felt like a fourteen pound gown with a corset and
layers of petticoats was not helping me any either. “Ben, Ben!” I
shouted hoping that he had gotten scared and had decided to head
back or at least sit under a tree until someone came to look for
him. When I signed up for this job, I hadn’t thought it would turn
out to be a babysitting gig. While Sabrina was having the time of
her life with formerly-shirtless guy, I was running around in the
woods. I told myself to suck it up and go on, no one was forcing me
to stay here.
    After running around in circles, I
decided to stop and read the map. I wasn’t very good with
directions and something told me that I was on the wrong path since
I couldn’t see any cypress trees that were typical of swampy areas.
All I could see were more oak trees. The path had long disappeared
behind me, and now I was deep into a fully wooded area. The trees
covered the moonlight cloaking me in darkness. It seemed as if the
oaks were alive and vigilantly paying attention to my every move.
The chirps of exotic birds hummed in my ears as I reached under my
gown and took out my cell so that I could actually read the map. I
was fortunate to have squeezed it between my stomach and a
petticoat, so it hadn’t fallen out while I had been running. The
hoot of an owl interrupted my thoughts, and I knew that I had
company.
    “ Hello Arelia,” whispered