Bound Guardian Angel Read Free Page B

of her
peripheral vision, cutting her thoughts off cold.
    She stopped abruptly and frowned as her gaze
trained upward, toward the Sentinel apartment building and the
shadowy figure rappelling down the building’s east face. What the
hell?
    She cocked her head in disbelief as the
hooded, black-clad figure lowered halfway down the building then
stopped. A moment later, a hand pressed against the glass. She
heard a brief, high-pitched sound—kind of like a dog whistle—and a
moment later the pane of glass shattered and Mr. Mysterious
vanished inside.
    At least she assumed the burglar was a Mr.
and not a Mrs. The way the figure moved was much too masculine to
be female.
    But my, my, my, what fun toys he had.
    The first drops of rain splattered the
sidewalk. One splashed on her nose.
    She really needed to go, but her curiosity
was piqued. She couldn’t just leave like she’d never seen the guy.
She had to know what he was up to.
    Cursing under her breath, she glanced around
to make sure no one was watching then projected herself up to the
broken window and into the dark apartment.
    She rematerialized inside the living room. A
quick inhale confirmed her earlier assumption. The thief was a
male. A vampire male, but obviously not a full-blood. A full-blood
wouldn’t have used rappelling gear to gain access to the apartment.
He would have just poofed there the way she just did, which told
Cordray she was dealing with a mixed-blood who couldn’t
dematerialize. Good to know. It meant his exit options were
limited.
    She glanced around and frowned as she homed
in on his trail, which led down a hall to the left.
    Wait a minute. There was something familiar
about this place. She’d seen it before. Inside Trace’s mind.
    She sucked in her breath. Holy shit on a
plate. This was Micah’s apartment. Not that she gave two shits
about what happened to that ball sac’s digs, but anyone who knew
Micah knew not to mess with him. He was AKM’s deadliest enforcer
with a nasty reputation to match, and he had powerful friends.
    Trace came to mind. He could turn a
perfectly good body into ground meat with a snap of his
fingers.
    Which begged the question, why would this
guy be fucking around with Micah’s shit? Micah’s reputation
preceded him even in civilian circles, so the burglar had to know
how hot the fire would get once Micah learned his apartment had
been broken into.
    From the high-end rappelling equipment, as
well as the fancy toy that shattered the window, the thief was
sophisticated. He wasn’t the type of cat burglar who didn’t do his
research. He knew who he was hitting, and he knew him well. And as
a vampire himself, he knew the consequences of his actions, both
according to Bain’s law, as well as Micah’s, because Micah tended
to operate in the grey area between what was legal and what wasn’t.
And sure as bears shit in the woods, Micah would go after this guy
with everything he had once he found out what had happened.
    Then again, maybe that was the allure. Maybe
this guy was an adrenaline junkie, and what greater rush than to
rob a live wire like Micah and evade him all while breaking royal
law?
    Cordray knew a thing or two about adrenaline
rushes. Without the ability to feel physical sensation, such states
of excitement were just about the only pleasurable experiences she
enjoyed, which was probably why she got off on the thrill of the
chase as much as she did. There was nothing like a shot of
biological get-up-and-go to tingle her insides when, on the
outside, she felt nothing.
    Except with Trace.
    For the first time in eight centuries, she
had been able to feel again, and it was because of Trace. He’d
awakened something she thought she’d lost forever. Physical
sensation. And every time he was near her, he awakened it even
more.
    Quiet rustling from the room down the hall
drew Cordray’s attention. Dismissing thoughts of Trace and what he
could do to her sense of touch, she slinked silently toward what
she