Soul Unbound (Key to the Cursed Book 3) by Jean Murray Read Free Book Online Page A

Red eyes bore into him from the dark stable. Smoke curled out of
the edges of flaring nostrils.
    “What are you looking at,” Theris hissed. He hated
the beast. The stallion slashed at the steel gate with its hooves. “The feeling’s
mutual.” He glared at the horse, being very mindful of his proximity. He had
been bitten more times than he would like. “Not getting through these,
asshole.”
    The stallion charged and slammed its chest into
the barrier. The metal groaned under the stress. Theris jerked back. The horse
whinnied in satisfaction. Damn equine was almost sentient.
    Flames shimmered along his fingertips. He would
like nothing more than to slit the horse’s throat and burn it to ash. Until
that time came, Theris thrust his fist between the gaps of metal and slammed
into the tender underside of the horse. An audible snap announced the crack of
several ribs. He shook his hand as his own bone buckled. Damn things were near
indestructible and healed incredibly fast. “Next time I will poison your
grain,” Theris snarled at the beast. The horse bucked its back hooves against
the gate and popped one of the latches.
    “Damn it.” Theris lurched to slam the pin back
into the hinge before the horse got any more bright ideas.
    “I will take care of it.” Siya strode through the
door and grabbed the feed bags. “Run some water, I will take these in.”
    The horse whinnied and stomped on its front legs.
Siya opened the gate and closed it behind her. Sealed in with the steed, she
hung the hay and feed bag on the wall. “Water.” She gestured with her hand over
the top girder.
    “It seems more agitated, today.” Theris looped the
hose through the slats and cranked the faucet’s handle. Her light green eyes
met his. He held her stare for a moment before looking away. “As do you.”
    “We need to prepare to leave.”
    Theris tilted his head. He had been asking to
leave for three months now. He had no love for this city. Siya had spent more
time on the streets and less time at the warehouse, leaving him stuck to watch
over their growing horde. Not to mention, he had not lain with her in over a
month. Anytime he touched her now she pulled away. He had worn her down over
the years until her own need consumed her, but she would never allow him to
mark her.
    Heat flared along his skin. He had given
everything up in the hopes he would mate with her. If he could not be General,
then he would have her for his own. Nothing stood in his way of getting what he
wanted. With one exception, Siya’s weakness for unwanted trash.
    He nodded. “We have two entering their cycle.
Their transition should occur within the next fourteen days. If we leave now,
we should be settled in the new location to handle their maturational changes.”
    “Prepare to leave within the week. I have another
to retrieve off the streets.”
    He stared across the steel bars, careful to hide
his annoyance. “Why wait? It should take you no more than a few hours to track
the youngling. We have fifty able hands to pack by tomorrow morning.”
    “I need to check into Henry’s sighting. If it’s
hostile, I will terminate it. We cannot risk it following us.”
    “That loon of a human told you he saw something?
What exactly—fairies, unicorns? How can you trust anything he says?”
    “He has not been wrong, thus far.” She pushed the
hose back through after filling the trough.
    “I prefer to trust your instincts over some
mentally-ill human.” Siya had an extrasensory gift for all things evil. It had
served them well over the years. He hated to admit it, but based on her recent
agitation, the human may not be far off the mark. “What are we dealing with
exactly?”
    She met his gaze across the steel girder. “Henry
stated he saw the devil. Large like us. Black skin.”
    “A siravant?” Memories of millenniums past
filtered into his mind. The second plague, if Siya’s theory was correct. Apep’s
minions. Recruiters for the dark master. “How