Bound (Bound Trilogy) by Kate Sparkes Read Free Book Online Page B

creatures we were familiar with on the other side of the mountains. There was fiction there, too, bound in leather and paper, probably nothing I would recognize. Scholars in Tyrea studied Darmish culture, such as it was, and I’d learned enough to know that their stories were like their land: scrubbed clean of magic.
    And interest, I thought.
    When I stood again, the heavy quilt I wore knocked the girl’s travel bag onto its side, and another book slid out onto the floor.
    As I flipped through the brittle old pages, I smiled. “That’s more like it,” I told her, and tried not to laugh. In my country, these were children’s stories. There was a girl with a fairy godmother, as if the fairies would have any interest in the position. The prince turned into a monster and restored by love came next, followed by talking animals, burnt witches, and magic of the lightest and gentlest sort. But, I reminded myself, things were different here. The Darmish didn’t allow their children to be exposed to these stories, which they considered heretical. Just possessing this book would get my unlikely rescuer into serious trouble if it were discovered. 
    She was a mystery, but one I couldn’t dwell on for long. When I extended my awareness again, the house was quiet. It would be safe to leave. But as I stepped past the body on the floor, she moved. Not much, just a slight arch of the back. Her head turned to one side, and the waves of tangled reddish hair fell back from her face.
    She was lovely. I’d caught a glimpse of that when I was in eagle form, but had been unable to appreciate it fully. Now, in human form and with the pain receding, I could see it. The memory of her thick eyebrows knitting together over clear and intelligent eyes increased my pulse, as did the thought of her well-proportioned torso as she struggled out of her heavy sweater.  No woman in my home city of Luid would have allowed herself to be seen in such an unkempt state, but there was something appealing about this girl’s clean face and wild hair. Too appealing.
    “Definitely time to go,” I whispered.
    I should have been able to leave her there. She’d served her purpose. If a night on the floor was the worst she suffered from meeting me, she would be better off than most. And yet, I couldn’t do it.
    I rubbed my hands over my face then wrapped the blanket around my waist. As I lifted her, her head rolled back, leaving her throat exposed as the collar of her shirt pulled open where she’d neglected to close the top few buttons. Such vulnerability should have seemed pathetic to me, but I found myself instead pulling her close to my chest and wanting to protect her.
    It’s her magic , I realized, and released the breath I’d been holding. Of course. It was still affecting me. Completely natural. Regrettable, but natural. It will pass, and no one ever has to know.
    My left arm screamed with pain, and I hoisted the girl over my shoulder to carry her to her bed one-handed.
    I gave into my weakness for another moment and made her as comfortable as I could, removing her boots, loosening the ties at the waist of her trousers, and pulling a blanket up to her shoulders. I reached out for her mind, but found that I couldn’t see her thoughts. She was there, but blocked—another indication that her hidden magic was strong.
    “Goodbye, Rowan,” I whispered. “Best of luck to you with your magic hunter.”
    As I stepped out of the sitting room and onto the top stair, a certainty that she wasn’t safe stopped me. She had used magic to help me. Would that change anything for her? Would her betrothed see what she was?
    “Not my problem,” I muttered, and forced my feet forward. Still, my mind wouldn’t let go of her. And how could she not know what she is? That was powerful magic that she used, that my body is still using.
    A memory from history lessons tickled the back of my thoughts, but wouldn’t come forward. Something about a punishment that kings once