Bound by Destiny

by Stephanie Yarns

  Bound

  by

  Destiny

  By Stephanie Yarns

  Copyright 2019 Stephanie Yarns

  Amazon Edition License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  To everyone who took the time to tell me they loved my stories, thank you. Those words are everything to me.

  To the characters in this trilogy, thank you for talking to me, for sharing yourselves with me. Thank you for being alive and I’m sorry for the crap I put you through.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Darkness surrounded her. A cold inky black. No, cold wasn’t right. This was freezing.

  Over the constant ringing in her ears came a new sound. A pounding that grew faster, louder. The sound that matched something she could feel. A merciless thrumming in her chest. Was it her heart? Why was it thundering? Racing so hard?

  Was she going to die?

  Death.

  The blackness. The cold. It was Death.

  There was heat now, a rising burning in her chest. It was then that she realized she wasn’t breathing. That her lungs were the source of the flames.

  Why couldn’t she breathe?

  The cold was the reason.

  A memory came back to her.

  The crunch of folding metal. A bright splash of light. Light that spiraled into a kaleidoscope of colors as the windshield fractured. Chaos as the car cartwheeled, flipping faster and faster down the embankment. The implosion of the shattered windshield as it met water.

  Eve remembered.

  Her car. Her car that was sinking, ferrying her to death’s door.

  Panic filled her, burning inside her veins, almost as hot as her lungs, starving for oxygen.

  Trapped.

  The seatbelt.

  She had to get out!

  Clumsy fingers moved independent of thought. They knew what to do. Had done what was needed countless times in the past. The small rectangular button gave way and she was free. Terror of drowning joined the adrenaline coursing through her blood, giving her the energy to push off the back of the seat and swim through the remnants of the windshield.

  Bubbles streamed from her lips as she fought the overwhelming desire to breath deep.

  The moon wasn’t visible through the dark water. Only a faint glow that grew faintly brighter the more she kicked.

  Just a little more.

  Then, such a small thing, such a normal thing. A tiny cough. The icy water that surrounded her now filled her. Another cough, this one much larger as her body tried to rid itself of the killing liquid. But there was no escape.

  This was it.

  The end of her.

  A shadow blocked the moonlight as her vision went black.

  #

  Sebastian and Alex quit running at the sound of screeching tires and crumpling metal. Alex tilted his head in the direction of the sound and Sebastian raised his eyebrows, putting a finger to his lips. Alex gave a brief nod and they took off.

  They stopped once more at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the road and river beyond it. There was a scent in the air, like the smell of rain on hot asphalt, although it was winter with no chance for rain.

  The last tire of a submerged vehicle slipped into the rushing black water.

  “You think someone’s still in there?” Alex asked.

  “Most likely.” Sebastian stared at the spot where the tire vanished. There was a feeling inside him that made him want to venture out into the swollen river. A tugging that grew stronger the longer he stood watching. He looked back at Alex, raising his eyebrows. “Shall we?”

  “Really?” The idea threw Alex. The older one wasn’t exactly known for getting messy. But at his nod, Alex grinned. “Let’s do this.”

  Sebastian jumped from the cliff and raced across the road. He could hear Alex just a second behind him and smiled. Soon, he would have to apply himself to be faster. He dove into the frigid water.

  Had he been human, the darkness would have prevented him from seeing the body. As it was, he barely managed a glimpse of an exposed wrist, delicate and pale. A shock of red hair. Then it was gone. He turned toward Alex and pointed at the car. The younger nodded before swimming away to check for more people. People. Most likely bodies at the point. Sebastian kicked with the current, taking off like a bullet to find her.

  There.

  Her leg was caught by jutting boulders and he grabbed the thick fabric of the coat before tugging. She came free and he swam for the surface. Carrying her over his shoulder, he got her to the riverbank. Alex helped him lay her on her back before ripping the coat open.

  “She’s not breathing,” Sebastian said.

  “I may be new to the whole vampire thing, but I’m not an idiot.” Alex said. “I don’t suppose you know CPR.”

  “I kill people. Not save them.”

  “Yet here we are,” Alex tilted the woman’s head back. “I can breathe if you’ll do compressions.”

  Sebastian put his hands where he was told but then stopped. “I’ll crush her.” He was old and his strength was far greater than Alex’s.

  “Fine.” Alex shifted his position, hovering over the girl. “Breathe when I tell you. Tilt her head back and make sure you pinch her nose. But be careful, Methuselah. Don’t rip it off her face.”

  Sebastian watched as Alex carefully began compressing the fragile chest.

  Breathe. Something he hadn’t had to do in quite some time. He lowered his head to hers and took his first non-hunting breath in nearly two centuries.

  “Now. Give her two one-second breaths.”

  Her flesh felt odd against his as he sealed their lips. Cold, damp, but with a slight a trace of heat. She hadn’t been gone long.

  “Good,” Alex said, resuming his compressions. What he was doing was harder than he thought. Such a fine line. It wasn’t so bad when he was a human. A lot harder to collapse a person’s chest and the compressions took effort. The hard part here was not applying too much pressure. Sebastian was right. He would have finished her off, supposing she wasn’t already gone.

  “Breathe,” he said and watched as the brown head in front of him lowered.

  They repeated the cycle. Compressions then breathing.

  “Go—” Alex stopped as the body beneath him jerked and he moved to the side, turning her as the river water bubbled then poured from her lips.

  Sebastian rose to his feet and watched. There was nothing else he could do. So, why did the pull not go away? Alex glanced up at him. “We’ve done what we could,” he said.

  Dropping his eyes, Alex ran his hand down the back of the coughing woman. Finally, she grew still.

  Sebastian squat beside the youngest of their group and pushed wet tangled hair off her face. Her eyes were closed.

  “What now?” Alex asked. “Do we take her home?”

  “We save her to eat her? Seems a lot of trouble for one meal.”

  “No, not that. I mean…” He trailed off. He was young for a vampire and still had empathy for humans. He didn’t want to save her only for her to die from all sorts of complications. “We can take her home, get her warm while calling for an ambulance.”

  “And the others?”

  “Why are you asking me? It was your idea to save her.”

  Sebastian still didn’t know why. Her death would have meant nothing to him. Not after the countless
he had caused. At least, hers wouldn’t have been on him. But he couldn’t ignore it. It was like someone had whispered into his head, directing his thoughts.

  A sharp gasp pulled their attention back to woman. Her eyes opened and Alex knew he had never seen anything as beautiful or terrifying than the glowing blue. Moving almost as fast as him, she reached out and grabbed Sebastian's hand. The glow faded from her eyes, only to reignite between their joined skin. She collapsed back with a soft exhale, totally unconscious. As her hand fell away, Alex saw the bright red mark on Sebastian’s palm.

  “What was that?” he asked, jumping to his feet. “What in the fuck was that?”

  Sebastian said nothing as he stared at his hand. He knew what the rune was. There was the dimmest, foggiest, almost memory of having been marked with it once before.

  How did she do it?

  “Don’t do this, Sebastian. Don’t go radio silent on me. What in the hell just happened?” Alex reached out to grab the elder vampire’s hand.

  “This is what happened,” Sebastian’s voice was low. He held up a finger and let the nail elongate. Before Alex realized what was happening, he grabbed her hand, pressed the nail into her palm and pulled.

  Nothing happened.

  But as Alex stood confused, maroon drops splashed onto her pale skin. Sebastian stood and raised his hand. Blood ran from the gash that split his skin.

  Sebastian’s lips twisted into a smile. “So, yes. We take her home and after I make her take it off, she’s mine.”

  Alex wanted to argue. They didn’t save her to kill her. But watching the blood drip from his friend’s hand, seeing what she did, he couldn’t find it in him.

  #

  The darkness lessened.

  Was she in heaven? Hell? She knew she died. Could remember it vividly. So cold. Slowly, she began to realize that she could feel… things She was laying on something soft and she was warm. Could this be the afterlife?

  “You’re awake.”

  The voice startled her, and she opened her eyes.

  There was a man sitting beside her, close enough to touch. Was he a doctor? Was he a demon or an angel? She would guess angel because he was beautiful. Mesmerizing hazel-brown eyes caught hers and she looked away.

  “Am…” She trailed off and held a hand to her throat. It ached. Was it because of thirst or because she drowned?

  “You’re very much alive,” the man beside her said.

  He couldn’t be a doctor. There was no long white coat. No charts. No beeping of machinery. Where was she? Her heart started to race at the same time her breath faltered. Did she survive only to find something worse?

  “You have nothing to fear from me.” The man rose to his feet, giving her space to breathe.

  “Who are you?” her voice was rough. “Where am I?”

  “My name is Gideon and you are in my home.”

  “How—”

  “Two of my friends brought you here. They pulled you from the river.”

  “The car accident.” She frowned. “Is the other driver okay?”

  He tilted his head. “There was no other driver. Not that they saw.”

  She shifted, sitting up in the bed. There wasn’t much she remembered about the time before, but surely, it was headlights she saw right before the impact. “Why would they leave? How long has it been?”

  Gideon looked at her for a long minute before he finally spoke. “You’ve been here for two nights.” He was confused, not something he felt often. When Sebastian had told him what happened, he was certain he was dealing with a witch. Standing in front of her, he knew that wasn’t the case. Everything about her screamed human. Just a girl. But the brand on his friend’s hand showed otherwise. Unfortunately, it was a brand he could do nothing about.

  She had to remove it.

  He eased back to the edge of the bed and resumed his seat at her side. She didn’t bolt from the bed and he took a breath. He didn’t need the oxygen, but he would be able to smell a lie. Only… there wasn’t one.

  Simply a woman. A woman and a feeling inside him that made him believe her.

  This girl didn’t look like the same one that was brought in, all wet and lifeless. No, she was so much more now. Her hair was full of flames, long and lush, curling gently at her waist. Her green eyes gleamed with life in the lamp light. While she was still pale, it wasn’t the parlor of death. He could see the underlying pink flush to her cheeks.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “Eve.” She glanced back at Gideon. “Thank you for helping me, but I should go. I’m sure I’ve been a burden.” She moved to pull down the blanket before realizing she was in a robe. Wait. She was in jeans, a sweater, and a coat. It was the dead of winter. Heat rose in her face. “How… I mean… Who…?”

  “It’s okay. My housekeeper took care of you. You’ll find your things in the top drawer.”

  He smiled as she slumped back on the bed. “But, no, you won’t be going anywhere just yet. You’re still recovering.” If Sebastian had his way, she never would. That was something else. Why did that idea disturb him? Unsettle him? “We also have a situation that needs resolving.”

  His lips thinned as she looked at him and there was a look in those beautiful eyes. A look that gave lie to the words that he spoke. A look that brought her fear roaring back to life.

  “You said—”

  “I know what I said. And it’s true. You have nothing to fear. From me.” His eyes seemed to stare into the heart of her. “Sleep.”

  Fluttering lids covered terrified green eyes and she went limp.

  #

  “She’s human,” Gideon told the furious vampire in front of him.

  “She can’t be. Humans can’t do this.” The red of the rune was a darker, not the neon red from before. “I eat people, Gideon. I don’t protect them.” He slammed his hand down on the desk, hiding his new vulnerability.

  “Destroying my furniture won’t make it go away.” Gideon leaned back in his chair while fighting a smile. Yes, he knew the timing was horrible. But despite the severity of the situation, he enjoyed seeing his stoic friend angry.

  “And neither will destroying her. Yet.” His fingers curled, digging into the wood. “As soon as she gets rid of it…”

  “Well, I would suggest not mentioning that when you talk to her.”

  “I’m not a fool.” Sebastian pushed away and stalked his way to the bar. “Where is Alex?”

  “I asked him to retrieve the car. I’d like to store it here. Maybe we can learn something from it.” He leaned forward and rested his chin on his fingertips. “I have a question for you.”

  Sebastian poured a whiskey into a rocks glass. Gripping it, he turned to his friend. “Ask.”

  “Why?”

  How could he answer that when even he didn’t know? Why did he bother? He could have ignored that little tug inside him that pulled him to the river. She would be dead and he wouldn’t have a protection rune burnt into his palm.

  He gave a brief shrug before tossing back the whiskey. Though he couldn’t get drunk, the taste was something he could never give up. He didn’t need food. Didn’t need water. For that matter, he didn’t need oxygen. But he could enjoy the flavor. Finally. His reward for decades spent teaching his body that whiskey wouldn’t kill him. It was something human he could cling to.

  “I was bored,” he finally said.

  “Bored?” Gideon’s eyes showed his disbelief.

  “That was part of it.” Feeling every one of his years, Sebastian sat in the deep leather chair across from his friend. “It was something new, something different. After so many years of killing, I was curious to see what it would feel like to save.” He gave a low laugh and glanced at his hand. “That curiosity has been satisfied.”

  Gideon gave him a tight smile. “What happens if she doesn’t remove it?”

  Sebastian looked back up at his friend, an inferno of rage blazing in his eyes.

  “Her life will become a living hell.”
>
  #

  Before Eve opened her eyes, she knew she wasn’t alone. There were noises, rustling, clinking.

  Was it Gideon? He wouldn’t hurt her. But the way he said ‘from him’ implied that she needed to be afraid of someone. Was that the person that was in here now? She cracked an eyelid. There was a woman standing with her back to Eve, fussing over a cart. She slowly sat up and the woman turned to her.

  “Oh good! You’re awake. Just in time for dinner.” The woman smiled at her. “I’m Essie, the housekeeper. I also do a little cooking and what-not. What’s your name, dear?”

  Eve couldn’t help but smile at the woman. She was older, stooped in the back a bit, and reminded Eve of her grandmother. Age had done nothing to diminish the light in the woman’s shining blue eyes or her energy as she practically bounced on her feet.

  “I’m Eve,” she said, sitting all the way up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Aye, that I can put a name to the face. And such a pretty name too! For a pretty girl.” Essie laughed at the flush on Eve’s face. “By your coloring, might you be Irish?”

  “Both parents.” Eve smiled at Essie’s delight at having deduced her heritage.

  “Well, that’s fantastic.” The older woman looked back at her cart. “Do ya fancy your dinner in bed? Or will you be getting up?”

  Oh, to get up. Her muscles felt atrophied by lack of use. To stand. To stretch. “I’ll get up,” she said, and Essie beamed at her.

  “Alrighty, I’ll just get you set up over here and be on my way.”

  “Thank you for everything. Gideon told me you took care of me when they brought me in. I appreciate it.” Eve swung her legs off the side of the bed.

  “It’s fine. You being here has given me something new to do.” Essie looked over the small table by the floor to ceiling window. “This should be good. Just leave the dishes when you’re done, and I’ll swing by in a little bit to collect them.”