Soul Bound Read Free

father, Apollo, was known throughout the world as being beautiful and charming.  Brennan had inherited the best of those traits, which was a little funny since he had never actually met his father.  He had been raised by mortals. 
    My fingers made their way to the cleft in his chin and I rose on my tiptoes to kiss his lips. 
    “I didn’t get the chance to thank you for saving me from the lava,” I told him, my gaze frozen on his.   He smiled, his perfect lips stretching over a white smile.
    “Anytime,” he answered confidently.  “Anytime, anyplace, moon princess.”
    “Ugh,” I rolled my eyes.  “Don’t you start.” Twisting out of his arms, I padded across the dirt floor to the bed.  Brennan followed closely on my heels.
    “What?” he raised a golden eyebrow.  “You don’t enjoy adulation?”
    I cringed even at the word.  “I don’t deserve adulation,” I replied quietly.  “Nothing about me is deserving of that kind of respect.  My mother, yes.  Me?  I’ve never been given the chance to earn it.  I’ve spent my entire life, my entire existence, running from my own curse.”
    Brennan inhaled sharply, pulling my chin up with his index finger.  “I don’t ever want to hear that you are not worthy or undeserving of something again,” he cautioned me.  “Your curse is what it is.  You didn’t ask for it and it isn’t your fault.  We will search the earth from top to bottom to find a way to reverse it.  If we can’t find an answer on the earth, we’ll search elsewhere. I promise you, by all that is holy, we’ll figure it out.”
    I nodded tiredly.  I knew he wanted to believe that.
    “I believe that because it is true,” he told me firmly. “Now, hop into that bed.  We’re going to rest.”
    “Yes, sir,” I answered with a weak smile.  Pulling the skins back, I did as he said.  He climbed in beside me, pulling me into his arms. It was my favorite place to be.
    “And when we wake, you will need to feed,” he told me.  “I know that you’re weakened now from everything that happened in Death Valley.”
    My heart raced at the thought.  “I can’t feed from you,” I stammered.  “We haven’t mastered our powers yet and your strength has grown.  I don’t know if I could control it.”  The thought, the simple thought, of drinking Brennan’s blood now terrified me enough that I started to see his aura.  The colors blinded me and I closed my eyes against the light.
    “Don’t worry,” he whispered softly into my hair. Cupping my face, he ran his thumb lightly along my cheekbone.
    “You don’t need to drink from me.  We’ll think of something else.”
    I squeezed my eyes tightly closed.  This part of my curse was truly a curse. But it was something I’d think about after I’d rested.  Brennan was right.  I was in a weakened state.  A little rest would go a long way. 
     

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    When I awoke, Brennan was gone.  Sniffing the air, the acrid scent of a dying fire filled my nose.  Glancing sideways at the fireplace, I saw that its red embers were the only remainder of its once roaring flame.  Sighing, I propped myself up on one elbow.
    The crack of light that peeked from the buckskin covering the window was dim.  It was late in the day.  I glanced at the skin of my arm.  Even here in the dark of this closed hut, I could see that I was deathly pale.  Brennan had been correct.  The scene in Death Valley had taken my energy and I desperately needed to eat.  With a sigh, I swung my legs over the side of the heavy bed and sat up.
    A wave of dizziness passed over me and I steadied myself with my hands before I stood.  I really was weak.  It was never good to allow my strength to become this replete.  I couldn’t remember the last time it had been this bad.
    “Son of a –“
    “You’re up.” Brennan interrupted my curse as he ducked into the hut.  He was followed closely by Branwyn and another girl.  The girl trailing her