Bound in Darkness by Cynthia Eden Read Free Book Online Page A

stared at the thick line of trees. At the mountains that waited.
    She’d gone off alone. Fuck.
    Didn’t she realize? There was no place that she could go—no place that he wouldn’t follow.
    He’d had one taste, and he wasn’t about to let his little pureblood go. 
    ***
    Elsa stood in the clearing, smiling.  Her mirror had shown her just what she needed to see—Allison, running. Allison, scared and desperate.
    The fool didn’t fully understand what was happening to her body. She didn’t know about vampire weaknesses.
    She was about to find out.  And a vampire running in the day…she might as well be human. Elsa could take out a human any day of the week. She’d been wrong to think that Allison was too powerful for her to handle alone. She could destroy the pureblood vamp. She would.   
    Elsa lifted her arms and called forth her magic.  The spell of fire was always the first mastered by her kind. The first, and the most powerful.
    The flames began to spread to the trees around her.  The fire leapt from branch to branch, jumping through the forest.  Soon, the fire would sweep out into a giant circle that would surround the fleeing vamp-to-be. 
    Surround Allison and trap her.  The fire would close in. Slowly. Slowly .
    The wolf had done his job after all. He’d lured Allison from the protection of the city. Got her into the wilderness where she was helpless.  And soon…
    Soon the fire would take her.
    Elsa would make sure she stayed close enough to hear the bitch’s screams.
    ***
    The scent of smoke reached her, thick, cloying, and Allison froze.  Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, pounding hard enough to shake her.
    She turned slowly. The smoke…it was coming from the right. Allison could see the dark streak of gray in the sky. A forest fire?  Hell, that couldn’t be—
    Flames crackled. But that crackling came from behind her, to the left.
    Her gaze jerked toward the sound.
    More smoke. More fire. And that blaze looked like it was racing right toward her.
    No…no…
    “ Allison!”   The roar was her name.  A roar loud enough to push across the crackling fire.  “Allison!”
    Cade was coming for her.
    She spun around, seeing only smoke and fire now.  So much. Too thick. She began to cough.  This…wasn’t right. The afternoon had been fine moments before.  Clear. Calm.  She’d been the one running wild and—
    “Allison!”
    She choked, but managed to cry out… “Cade!” And, oh, damn, was that fire racing toward her? 
    She jumped back, barely avoiding a wild surge of heat.  The fire was so close now.  It seemed to be heading right for her.
    Because it was. Understanding was like ice in her veins.
    Freaking witch. 
    There wasn’t anywhere to run. The flames were all around her.  No, not just around her.
    Allison screamed when fire licked its way up her arms. She dropped to the ground, rolling and slapping at the flames. But more flames just came, burning her, burning…
    “I’ve got you.” 
    She was still screaming so she barely heard the words. He had to tell her three times, then Allison managed to glance up. 
    Cade was there, pulling her against his chest. And it hurt. She hurt. Deep blisters covered her skin, and the smell of burnt flesh—her flesh—had her stomach rolling. 
    “Hold on,” he told her as he rose, tucking her body close against his. The movement hurt, but she locked her teeth to hold back the cry.
    A wall of fire blocked them. There was nowhere to go. No—
    He bent his head over hers. Curved his body so that he was covering her, and he leapt right through the flames.
    Allison heard the rush of the fire—a wild whoosh of sound—and the burning breath of the flames blew over her body.
    Then they both hit the ground. They fell in a tangle of limbs, spinning, rolling, falling down a hill. Faster, faster.
    She didn’t feel the bumps. Didn’t feel the bruises. But when they fell into the too-chilled water of a lake, oh, sweet hell, yes, she felt