Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur Read Free Book Online

where Gateway spent most of his time. There were newspapers

stacked beside the sofa and remotes neatly lined up on the stained coffee table. The rest of the

room was surprisingly tidy. There wasn’t even dust on the top of the TV, which isn’t something I

could claim in my own apartment. I swept aside the curtains to check the window locks, but again

they were intact.
Which left me with the bedrooms.
I was walking toward the front rooms when the little dog suddenly began barking. I jumped

slightly and glanced at the door as a shadow loomed. But as I reached for the door handle, I felt

it.
A familiar—and altogether unwelcome—tingling that ran across every sense, every fiber, setting

them alight. Setting my soul afire.
There was only one man who had that effect on me.
My soul mate.
Kye.

Chapter 3
    M y hand froze against the doorknob.
I didn’t want to confront him. I didn’t even want to see him.
I hadn’t set eyes on him since he’d walked away six months ago, and if I never had to see him

again, that would have been all right by me.
I might have spent most of my life longing for my soul mate, but the reality wasn’t what I’d

hoped for.
Kye was a killer for hire—a man who didn’t care who employed him or who he had to kill. All that

mattered to him was the money, the thrill of the chase, and the satisfaction of getting a job

done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. He wasn’t a man who wanted a wife or a family or

entanglements of any kind. He was everything I didn’t want in a soul

mate.
But I couldn’t deny that he was, or change the fact of it—no matter how much I might wish

otherwise.
“Are you going to open the door or not, Riley?”
His voice was like a good red wine—rich and smooth—and it touched places deep inside that no one,

not even Quinn, could reach. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then complied.
He stood in a halo of sunshine, his golden skin glowing with warmth and the dark red of his hair

running with brighter highlights. He was a golden man with chilling amber eyes set in a face that

was handsome and yet uncaring.
But not unfeeling.
Because I could feel his hunger. I felt it rip through my body before it settled down low. It was

a fierce and unwanted ache that had nothing to do with my heart’s desire and everything to do

with my werewolf soul. But while she had wanted this feeling, she didn’t want this man. That made

it a little easier to ignore the hunger.
And if I kept telling myself that, I might eventually believe it.
“What are you doing here, Kye?” My white-knuckled grip on the edge of the door belied the

calmness of my voice.
“I might ask you the same question.” He glanced from me to the squirming, barking dog in my arm.

“Found yourself a pet, have you?”
“He belongs to the owner of the house.” I glanced down at the almost frantic terrier and

scratched his head. “And he doesn’t seem all that happy to see you.”
“Neither do you,” he said, voice dry. “I would have thought you’d at least have a smile for the

man of your destiny.”
“Destiny can bite my ass.”
He laughed. It was a soft, seductive, and altogether dangerous sound. “Ah, Riley, it’s nice to

see you haven’t changed.”
“No, I’m still a guardian, and you’re still interfering in Directorate business.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And what business would the Directorate have with a vampire who has

obviously been dead for several days?”
I opened my mouth to ask how he knew Gateway was dead then snapped it closed again. Kye was a

werewolf, so he’d smell the decay even if he couldn’t see the body.
“And my questions to you would have to be: Why are you here to see him, and did you have anything

to do with his death?”
His sudden smile made my stomach lurch, and it was all I could do not to drop the little dog and

step into Kye’s arms. They would be waiting for me, despite the outward indifference and