Shadow Bound (Unbound)

Shadow Bound (Unbound) by Rachel Vincent Page A

Book: Shadow Bound (Unbound) by Rachel Vincent Read Free Book Online
Authors: Rachel Vincent
I shouldn’t have been surprised when one found her. And I couldn’t let her serve her time alone. “Besides, I signed on voluntarily. I make my own damn choices.”
“Not anymore,” she insisted. “And that’s my fault.”
“It’s not your fault. But I can’t argue with you about this anymore.” I let go of her, and exhaustion washed over me, pulling me toward sleep with a force I couldn’t resist. “Not tonight, okay, Kenni?”
She nodded and picked the hanger back up. “I’m sorry. You’re not well yet. Two weeks isn’t enough time for anyone to recover from…whatever they did to you. You still look half-starved.”
“Some women do this to themselves on purpose, you know. Others pay to get this look.” I spread my arms, trying not to see how thin I still looked in the mirror.
“Those women are crazy.”
“No argument from me.” I pulled a pair of fuzzy socks from my top drawer and stuffed my feet into them, trying to make up for the abuse they’d endured most of the night.
Kenley slid the straps of her dress into the notches on top of the hanger. “So, do you know what you’re going to do? How you’re going to snag him?”
I followed her with the stilettos when she carried the dress into her own bedroom. “I’m going to snare him with my demure manner and natural charm, of course.”
Kenley laughed.
“I don’t think Jake realizes how much he’s bitten off with this one, and I’ve tried to tell him I’m not a recruiter, but he won’t listen to reason.”
“It could be worse, though, right?” She hooked the hanger over the top of her closet door and knelt to dig through the junk on the floor. “I mean, he could be making you throw yourself at someone hideous, like the Tracker Monica had to reel in last month. He’s truly—” She flinched when she realized what she’d said. I’d been locked up last month. All month. And I had yet to meet whatever ogre Monica had recruited to replace Cameron Caballero, when Cavazos bought out his contract. “Well, trust me, he’s hairier than a gorilla and he smells even worse. At least Holt’s clean. And he’s nice-looking, right?”
I dropped the shoes into the box she held open for me. “He must be, if you noticed.”
Kenley flushed and slid the box onto a stack of others in one corner of her closet. “Like you didn’t.”
I shrugged. We’d never actually talked about her taste in men. Or lack thereof. But I didn’t give a damn whether she slept with men or women, or both at once, so long as it was her choice. So long as she wasn’t being used for anything except the bindings she’d been recruited to seal.
“What the fucking hell is this?” She slid one hand behind the dress still hanging on her closet door and pulled the material closer to her face.
“You sound like a kid playing dress up when you cuss. Give it up. You lack the skill.”
Instead of answering, she held the dress out to me. “How did you manage to get blood on my dress at a formal party, Kori?”
“Shit. Sorry.” I sank onto her bed and folded my legs beneath me. “I thought I avoided the spray.”
“Whose?”
“David’s,” I said, and she waited, obviously expecting more of an explanation, so I rolled my eyes and sighed. “He started it.”
“What’d he do?”
“Doesn’t matter. The point is that if I let the bastard get away with something small now, he’ll try something bigger next time.”
Kenley hung the dress in her closet. “It was about the basement, wasn’t it?” she said, and when I didn’t answer, my sister sighed. “The blood’s dry now, but there may be enough for a decent binding, if I dampen it. I could make him leave you alone.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I fight my own battles.” As well as most of hers.
“What happened in the basement, Kori?” She spoke with her back to me, like she didn’t want to see my face when I answered. Like she already knew I’d lie.
“Nothing.” Some lies between sisters are okay. Some are

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