Summoned and Bound (Summoned Series Romances Book 3) by Susan Hayes Read Free Book Online

a few times. More like a few dozen by her count. She dipped the cloth in the water and started to wash away the gore that covered his back. “You said that Az and Ak were still my protectors. Do you know them?”
    “Aye, I know them.” Vamir watched her work, his big body relaxed, and his expression unguarded. “I’m the commander of the last Garda outpost. We volunteered to stay and guard the last gateway. Aztar and Akhal are part of my company. They asked to join so that they could keep searching for you. They’ve never stopped looking for you, little one. They promised your parents they’d bring you home someday.”
    Gwyn’s mind reeled, and her hands were shaking as she continued cleaning his back. “I don’t understand. What gateway? If there are some of you left, why has no one heard anything about my people or yours since our plane ceased to exist?”
    “Our home is exactly where it always was, but the elementals found a way to seal it off from the other planes. They had to, to protect it from the Magi. You know their kind of magic consumes and twists the essence . Our races were being threatened, and one of the basic components of our home plane was being destroyed, so they did the only thing they could. They retreated from a war they couldn’t win.”
    “So, I can’t go home to Essa, and neither can you?” She didn’t know how to feel about all she’d been told. To know that home was still out there but unreachable was somehow worse than thinking that it was all gone.
    “There’s still a way to get home. When the war ends and the last Magi is dead, we’ll be able to see Essa again.” Vamir had started to question if any of them would ever go home. He’d been haunted by doubts that only grew with the passing of the years, but now he believed once more. He’d found Gwyneth and located the enemy all on the same day. That had to be a sign.
    “And my parents?”
    Gwyn’s fingers were trembling hard enough he could feel it through the cloth she held, and her voice was thick with barely restrained emotion. Vamir turned onto his side to face her. He caught her hands and cradled them within his own. “They had to stay, little one. They were the ones who created the spell that sealed the plane, so they had to remain on the other side to cast it.”
    “They left me with him. All this time, I’d convinced myself that they must be dead. They had to be because I cannot imagine a parent leaving their daughter to face the life I’ve had.”
    She tried to jerk her hands out of his grip, but Vamir didn’t let her go. He couldn’t, not when she was in so much pain. He pulled her against his chest, releasing her hands to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. She stiffened and tried to pull away, every move she made pressed against the bruised and torn flesh of his body, but he ignored it.  She may not want to be comforted, but he knew deep in her heart, she needed this.
    Finally, she went still, her face pressed to his shoulder and her entire body trembling with the force of the emotions coursing through her.
    “I’m sorry, little one. I’m not good with words. I should have found a better way to tell you all of that. I didn’t mean to upset you.” The thought that he’d hurt her was more agonizing than any of the injuries he’d received today, and he’d do damned near anything to make it better.
    “I don’t know what I am, really. Mad, hurt, unhappy, and relieved all tangled up together, I think. It’s too soon to tell.” She didn’t move before speaking so her words were muffled, and her breath was a warm caress against his bare skin.
    “I hit you with a wagonload of information a moment ago. You’re allowed a few minutes to wrap your head around it all.”
    “Only a few minutes? Why the rush?”
    He pressed his hand against the small of her back and tried not to be distracted by the way her body fitted to his perfectly. “Well, once you’re ready, we need to talk about how