Page 38 of Bound
Chapter 14
Gage
Amoret’s hoarse cry rips through me, and I wrench the conference room door free of its hinges as I barrel into the suite. “Amoret?” I call as my heart thunders.
“Gage, help me. Please.”
I run toward the sound of her voice, slipping down the narrow hall to the last room. The door is open, and I skid to a halt across the wood.
Something sickly sweet fills the chamber, tainting the purified air with the stench of burned sugar. I shake my head, trying to clear my nose as the room spins alarmingly. I scour the space through a daze.
A shadowy shape pins Amoret to the floor, its dark bulk crouched in menace.
Fire blazes down my spine, and I lunge.
I pass straight through the gloomy apparition and roll into a crouch at the foot of the bed. The figure turns toward me, its head canting in an animalistic tilt.
My hand raises and emerald flames shoot across the distance, sinking deep into the dark figure and hitting the wall behind it. The wallpaper blackens and curls.
What—
Amoret thrashes, her petite frame struggling as the phantom being continues to hold her in place. “Gage. Help me,” she cries.
But how?
My mind whirs and I move closer, fear of her being harmed building inside me with every inch of space I clear. The shadow remains poised over her, black claw-tipped hands like something from the darkest pits of Hell raking over her creamy skin.
As I watch, those dark claws split her flesh in little bloody rivulets.
Amoret’s sobs seem to cloy in my ears, making my heart race faster. Fear seizes me, squeezing at me like my body is in a vise.
I scramble toward her, trying to climb between the figure and her petite body. To shield her. I slide one arm under her back, hoisting her against me as I wait for the thing to sink its claws into my skin. There is nothing. Nothing but Amoret’s warmth. Her soft curves, the sweet scent of her skin.
“Gage!”
My head whips up. A snarl rips from me as another dark shape crowds the bright opening across from me. Glowing red eyes lock with mine, the face behind them obscured in shadow.
“What is that smell?” Another voice demands.
Red light shoots toward us. I cinch Amoret against me and wreath us both in emerald fire. A distant wail pierces my ears.
“Shit,” comes a male voice. “What the fuck is wrong with him?”
“Gage, let down the damn flames.”
My teeth bare, and I force the fire higher in a rolling emerald dome. Amoret whimpers against my chest, and I lean back just enough to see her tear-stained face.
Her eyes flutter. “Gage.”
I drop my head to hers, keeping her in the safety of my hold. The flames will not harm her. The shadow figures won’t get her.
Mine.
She’s mine.
The absurdity of the thought pushes through the fog inside me. Or maybe that is the cold droplets pelting my skin like rain.
What—
