Burned

by Kensie King

Dylan frowned but nodded, his hand still on my hip. “I know.”

  “And now he’s trapped in the cave.” In pain. Enough pain that I could feel it inside of me, making a slow but continuous circuit.

  Dylan didn’t respond. What was he supposed to say anyway? We had to do what we had to do. But now that I saw the bigger picture, I knew we had to do something else. I also silently cursed Gage for not telling me in the first place. He had plenty of opportunities. He only tried to explain to me after he’d already kidnapped me and threatened my friends.

  “You didn’t hurt Audrey, did you?” I asked.

  Dylan flopped back on the pillow with a sigh. “No. She’s sick, like she said. She couldn’t fight us off for long. Once we were able to get out with you, we left her alone. She’s still there as far as I know.”

  Sick with cancer. Dammit, that made things so much more difficult.

  If Audrey became a vampire, she wouldn’t be sick anymore. That seemed like a much better reason to end the spell than wanting power. Or world domination or some shit like that.

  I sat up slowly this time and looked at Dylan. “We can’t leave Gage in there.”

  His eyes locked on mine. He reached out and gripped my wrist. “Do you hear what you’re saying. After what he did? Kidnapping you? Holding you captive in his house. This is ridiculous—”

  “I know. I know what he did, and it wasn’t right. But he was doing it for a reason and—regardless of that, I can’t be like him.”

  I pulled free of Dylan’s grip and stood carefully. When dizziness hit me, Dylan caught me around the waist. “You’re making this more complicated than it has to be.” His breath was warm against my ear. “We need to take this one day at a time—and you should be resting.”

  I leaned against him, trying to remember that he was just trying to take care of me the best he knew how. His free hand slid into my hair, making me shiver. “I don’t know how I can—especially not when I can feel his pain.”

  “It’s more than that,” he said, voice gravelly.

  I looked up. “What do you mean?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Do you have feelings for him?”

  My mouth opened in surprise. “No, I just feel bad…”

  Dylan released me and propped his hands on his hips. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Don’t be mad,” I said, though I could see he was. “You don’t understand.”

  His laugh was humorless. “Damn right, I don’t. He kidnapped you and he’s basically a total lunatic, with violent tendencies, and you’re defending him?”

  “I’m not defending him—I just see why he did what he did.”

  Dylan shoved a hand in his hair. “This is bullshit.”

  “Dylan. Listen to me. All I’m saying is that he wasn’t being selfish like we thought—”

  “Yeah, well, I am being selfish. I want you safe and you being around Gage means you aren’t. It’s that simple.”

  And to him, I was sure it was. I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want to do the spell, but I didn’t want to leave him in there either. And I definitely didn’t want to see his sister hurting.

  But I could see where Dylan was coming from and him wanting to keep the town safe.

  With a sigh, I turned to the door. “I guess I should go talk to my mom.”

  Dylan’s jaw clenched but he didn’t say anything, just followed me out the door and to the hallway. I walked to the living room, hearing voices before I saw who was there.

  Grace and my mom.

  I didn’t realize I’d stopped until I felt Dylan’s supportive hand on my back. When Grace saw me, she stood, and my mom looked up.

  “Link,” Helen said.

  I pulled in a sharp breath. I couldn’t call her Mom. I had no idea what to call her.

  “This isn’t how I wanted things to go,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Our first meeting.”

  Grace looked back and forth between us, appearing nearly as uncomfortable as I felt.

  Helen stood and said, “Dylan told me you could feel some of the pain Gage was going through.”

  I lifted my eyebrows. Wow, she just got right to the serious stuff. But it was actually better this way. I could talk about this—business.

  I nodded.

  She sighed. “You’re connected to him.”

  Dylan cleared his throat and looked away.

  “I’m sorry,” Helen said. “It happens. You’ve done spells against him and spells in his house. He depended on you for this and it connected you to him.”

  “But it’ll go away, right?” Grace asked. “It’s just temporary.”

  Helen nodded. “As long as he’s not around, yes. It’ll eventually go away.”

  They all looked at me to see my reaction. I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t want to be connected to Gage, but I wasn’t entirely sure it was just because of the spells. I understood him in a way that everyone else didn’t. He was doing what he could for his family, and it made sense to me. If there was anything I could have done to save my dad when he died, I would have done it.

  “Link,” Grace said.

  I glanced at Dylan, but he didn’t say a word. So I took a breath and said, “I can’t leave Gage in the cave.”

  Grace made a noise of surprise.

  I gave a slow nod and put it out there, knowing I was going to have a fight on my hands. But I had to do the right thing anyway.

  I lifted my chin and said, “We have to let Gage out.”

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at Bound, Book Two in the World of Shadows series or sign up for Kensie’s newsletter for emails about her next release or discounts on books.

  CHAPTER 1

  I folded my arms and lingered in the sunshine on the back deck of the house Dylan was letting me rent.

  A low hum of energy pulsed through me—maybe a product of all the power I used today seeking Savannah, my dead with ancestor, or trapping Gage, my vampire stalker, in a cave.

  I could feel him, too. I was trapped in his house more than once and did a spell against him, linking us somehow. Right now, I could feel his pain. It was a lot like the magical fire that rushed through my veins when I used magic.

  But this was painful.

  I could hear his voice deep inside. Lincoln… He was calling to me, like he knew I could hear him.

  But that made sense. After all, we were descendants from the original four paranormal families in Knob Creek. So were Dylan and Grace. Witch, vampire, werewolf, and shapeshifter.

  “Are you plotting an escape?” a voice said behind me.

  I turned and found Grace standing outside the sliding door. She was wearing her sexy librarian glasses and offering a gentle smile. Pretty sure I never thought I’d have a werewolf as an ally.

  “Mine or someone else’s?” I asked her.

  She laughed but there was an edge to it.

  “You know, Dylan’s right,” she said with a sigh. “We need to think about this before we do anything. Weigh our options.”

  “I know you’re worried.” I was too. We were up against a vampire here. “But things aren’t black and white like before.”

  Gage was trapped in a cage full of amethyst, which bought us time, but I didn’t think keeping him trapped was the answer. Not now that we knew his sister, Audrey, was sick. And from what it sounded like, it was terminal.

  How could I overlook that? Especially when Gage was doing everything he was doing to help his sister? It wasn’t for his own selfish or evil purposes at all.

  Besides, leaving him in the cave was torturing him. How could I do that in good conscience?

  “He’ll survive being in that cave a little while longer,” Grace said as if reading my mind.

  I nodded. I knew that. I also knew that he would heal after he got out and probably go back to normal like nothing had ever happened.

  Grace gestured to the door. “Your mom wants to talk to you.”

  I turned away,
hiding a frown. I didn’t want to talk to her. I wanted to blame her for all of this. If she’d told me about my powers and the spell and the situation the town was in, all of this could have been prevented.

  When the door opened again, I turned back and saw Dylan. I could tell he was still upset with me. His mouth was set in a serious line. Almost disapproving. I was aware how much time he’d spent trying to stop the reversal of the curse.

  And in one short week, I’d managed to ruin it all.

  He swallowed before he spoke. “Helen wants to go home. She said she might have some books there that could help.”

  “Help what?”

  “Figure out how to end the spell. Or how to put it back into place.”

  I let the words settle in. I knew that was the original goal, but now…would that take away Audrey’s chances at healing?

  Dylan started to stay something again but then seemed to change his mind. His eyes searched mine for a long moment. He tried again. “I know this whole situation is fucked up.” He ran a hand through his hair and stared out into the yard.

  Grace sensed he had more to say and moved to the door. “I’ll wait inside.”

  Once she was gone, Dylan stepped closer to me. “What can I say that will make you see my side of this?”

  “I do see your side.” He was bound by history and tradition to help the witches—to help me. He wanted to protect me. Not just that, we had something more—a deeper bond than friendship.

  This had to be hard for him.

  Dylan tipped his chin down, meeting my eyes. Then he set his hands on my arms, squeezing them. “Then can you please wait to go until your mom checks the books at her house? Maybe there’s a solution there we haven’t thought of and no one has to get hurt in the meantime.”

  Gage was getting hurt in the meantime. I lifted my eyebrows at Dylan.

  He sighed. “All right. I know. But a few hours—or days—of him being in there is better than someone else getting hurt permanently.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and continued. “You can’t heal like him. And if he gets out, he might come for you again. Or your mom. Then we have no clue what he’ll do.”

  There was truth to that. Gage was probably going to be angry and it was a solid bet that he’d take it out on us.

  I blew out a breath. “Okay, let’s wait until we see what Helen can find.”

  Dylan winced when I said her name instead of calling her Mom. “I’m assuming you don’t want to come with us.”

  I smiled at him. “That would be a correct assumption.”

  “Link…”

  “Link, what?”

  He shook his head. “Never mind. We can talk later.”

  But if he wanted to talk about my mom, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready.

  “I’ll take your mom home,” he said, opening the door.

  I nodded to myself and let him go. I needed a moment to take a breath. To gather myself. Even if I didn’t let Gage out, I needed to make sure he was okay. He needed food and water at the very minimum. And I was sure he wouldn’t mind an update on his sister. Just to know she was okay, too.

  A dog barked in the direction of the front of the house. A moment later, Grace burst through the back door. “Dylan’s shifting again. He saw a dog and—”

  “Shit.”

  I followed her through the back door and to the front of the house. Dylan was just inside the front door on his knees on the hardwood floor.

  Helen glanced at me. “We had to come back in. We can’t let anyone see him change.”

  Dylan looked up at me, speaking through clenched teeth. “I can’t…stop it.”

  I reached down for him, but he jumped up and ran past me, heading down the hallway. We heard a door slam shut a moment later.

  We all stood in silence for a long moment. Then Grace turned to my mom. “I can take you to your house.”

  She nodded, her gaze flicking to mine before she walked back out the front door. I couldn’t help but study her from behind, noting that her dark brown hair resembled mine. Remembering times when I was little, and I thought she was the most amazing thing in the world.

  “It went fast last time—he didn’t stay in his animal form for long,” I told Grace. “Hopefully he’ll be back to himself by the time you guys are done.”

  Grace gave me a sympathetic smile. “Right. We’ll hurry.”

  Link…

  I swallowed hard. Fuck. Gage was in my head again. Maybe he wasn’t even aware of it. Maybe he was thinking about something else—or simply about getting out of there.

  But it was getting exhausting. First it was Savannah’s voice following me around, now Gage’s.

  And dammit, it was making me feel guilty.

  I ignored that idea and peered down the hall. I didn’t hear anything.

  I walked slowly, passing the open door to the bathroom and moving to the bedroom, where Dylan shut himself in. Listening again, I waited to hear sounds of Dylan shifting. Or something similar. But instead it was silent.

  My heart raced as I opened the door, which made no sense. I should be used to this by now. And it wasn’t like he was going to attack me or anything.

  Inside the room, everything looked the same. The covers were rumpled where Dylan and I laid earlier. My jacket was tossed on top of the dresser and my boots sat at the bottom of the bed.

  It was all the same. Except for the dog in the corner. My eyes locked with his.

  “Dylan,” I said.

  The dog didn’t move, just stayed in the corner, sitting on his haunches. He looked wary. Dylan had turned into a large golden dog, a retriever, with familiar and kind eyes.

  I took a step closer, but he backed away. The last time this had happened, he turned into a fox. He hadn’t wanted me to see him then either.

  Folding my arms, I said, “You know, you saw me when I was vulnerable.” When he didn’t move, I added, “I understand this is something you can’t control.”

  He had seen me vulnerable with the fire. I was still learning how to control it and it made being close to people hard.

  When he stayed where he was, I scowled. “Fine. Just trying to help.”

  I snagged my shoes off the ground and brought them to the other room. I sat on the couch and put them on, doing up the laces of the boots. I heard the creak of the floorboards as I stood and saw the dog at the edge of the hallway.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I told him.

  He probably wasn’t going anywhere until he shifted back to human form anyway.

  Before I could move, he padded over and sniffed my shoes. I reached a hand to touch him again, but he backed way.

  Burying my frustration, I stalked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Then I picked up my satchel from the table by the door. Dylan bolted in front of me, blocking my way before I could leave.

  “What are you doing?”

  He angled his head, like I should know exactly what he was doing. And I did. He was trying to stop me because he probably guessed accurately that I was going to see Gage.

  “I’m not going to let him out,” I told Dylan. “I just want to make sure that everything looks okay.”

  And that Gage was okay. Fuck, Dylan was right when he suggested I had a bigger connection to Gage. I did. I wasn’t sure what it was, but we were drawn together.

  Dylan didn’t move. Well, I supposed I wasn’t the most trustworthy person when it came to Gage. I hadn’t played it safe in the past.

  “It’ll be fine,” I told him. “You’d better move unless you plan on coming with me.”

  After a moment, he moved around me and then went for the hallway again. Pouting, I was sure.

  I rolled my eyes and called over my shoulder, “Should I stop for some dog food?”

  He barked in response as I slammed the front door. It was a petty comment, sure, but so was his behavior. It wasn’t like I couldn’t handle him shifting. I’d handled more since I’d gotten to Knob Creek and it hadn’t brok
en me yet.

  I rolled down the window to feel the fresh air as I drove. It didn’t take me long to reach the hotel, the imposing building sitting in a maze of trees not too far from Gage’s house. I had mixed feeling about the place. Savannah must have lived here at some point, and I felt drawn to it. But I’d also been stuck behind the walls inside the hotel and chased through the hedge maze in the back when Gage was angry.

  When I’d arrived in Knob Creek, I was sure it was going to be a mellow place—if not boring—but I was wrong.

  I walked to the back of the hotel, leaves and sticks crunching under my boots. The closer I got to the cave, the more I could feel Gage. It stood to reason that he could feel me, too.

  When I arrived at the mouth, the large rock Dylan used to cover the hole was still in place. Last time I’d used my power to get it to move. I was afraid of what would happen if I did that again, so I opted for human strength this time.

  I braced my back against the rock and pushed with my legs, triumph rushing through me when it budged. It rolled a few more feet, and I kept pushing until it was far enough to give me a look into the opening.

  My heartbeat raced in an uneven rhythm, and I knew it was more from the idea of seeing Gage again than the exertion.

  It was quiet except for birds chirping somewhere behind me. I brushed aside a vine that dangled in front of me.

  “Gage?” My voice came out quiet, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Gage?”

  No response. I stuck my head in farther, trying to see him. Was he hurt? I could tell he was in there somewhere—I could feel him. But maybe he wasn’t even conscious.

  Could the amethyst hurt him that badly?

  “Gage,” I called again.

  After he still didn’t respond, I stepped back and glared at the small opening. “Shit.”

  It made sense to leave, especially since I didn’t have any back up. But dammit, I just couldn’t do that.

  Bracing my feet on the ground again, I pushed the rock with my back and nudged it even farther.

  With the opening wide enough for me to step inside again, I leaned in slightly. “Gage?”

  Damn. I should have brought a flashlight.

  There was no response at first, then something grabbed my shirt and hauled me into the darkness.