Bound by Sin: The Beginning of a Prophecy (Prophecy #3) by Stevie J. Cole Read Free Book Online Page A

the window. Gathering the smooth fabric in my hand, I pulled the curtain away and stepped inside it, allowing it to envelope me. I looked out the window at the world I once knew. The white fog on the window grew from the heavy breaths blowing against it as I stood staring out across the green landscape of Hyde Park. My hand slipped down the glass, the friction creating a soft screech. I pushed gently on the slender handle to the French door leading out onto the balcony, and the door let out a soft creak. Peeping through the curtain, I watched Gavin for a moment to make certain he hadn’t stirred from sleep and then I stepped out onto the concrete patio, painfully pulling the door closed behind me in an effort to keep it from making any more noise.
    The cold breeze whi pped across my face and I immediately wrapped my arms around my frame. I looked down at the people below me: families in the park, couples walking hand in hand – were all these people as naïve to the darkness that lurked among them as I had been? All of them looked human, but so had Gavin. I could no longer deny that any of these people may be monsters masked by a human exterior. My mind wandered to the book; if the words printed on those pages were truth, I had no doubt that we were all doomed.
    A siren wailed below and I directed my attention to the street, where an ambulance swerved in and out of the crowded roads. Afraid the noise may have woken Gavin, I turned to go back into the bedroom. Spinning around, my nose brushed against Gavin’s warm bare chest. I hesitated before lifting my eyes to his face. The muscles in his jaw flinched, and the noise of his teeth gritting against each other caused me to wince. His fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist and he glared down at me.
    His ton gue darted from his lips, almost like a snake, and his nostrils flared from rage. “I thought I told you that you were not to leave my side?”
    My heart held back a beat and then quickly pulsated. “I just –”
    Gavin interrupted me, “No! You do not leave my side – especially not to wander outside alone!”
    Yanking me back into the bedroom, he slammed the door behind him. He ran his hand over the top of his head and his gaze fell to the floor. I noticed his pulse throbbing in his neck before he faced me. “I can’t protect you if you’re not with me, now can I, love?”
    Gavin’s hand dropped to his side. Shaking his head, he walked back to the bed. There was a soft thud as his head hit against the fabric headboard. Arms behind his head, stare glued off behind me, he looked utterly disgusted and annoyed.
    My fingernails dug into my palms and heat whelped across my chest. My eyes burned into him, trying to force him to look at me, but he refused and held his gaze above my head. I spun around to face back out the window. It was as though I had been sucked into a vortex and was tumbling down into a deep pit. Banging my fists hard against the glass, I let out a loud scream and warm tears gushed down my face. The back of my throat burned and tightened as I tried to hold back the emotions raging within me. My hands slammed against the smooth glass again, but this time, my body fell into the transparent barrier and I crumpled to the floor. Emptiness crippled me when I realized that all I’d known was gone – my entire life had vanished. All the things I had grown to love had been blotted out of my life by the man who I craved more passionately than life itself. My shoulders pitched as I struggled to control the cries of pain from the emotional gash tearing through me.
    The covers dropped from the bed and I heard Gavin’s bare feet slapping against the floor. “Shhhh, shhhh,” he whispered as he came behind me. Dropping to his knees, he drew me into his lap and swathed his arms around me. He held me – just held me – as I broke. His arm cradled my head and he kissed my forehead, resting his lips against it. “I know … I know…” he spoke soothingly to