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  Bound by Vengeance

  The Sentinel Wars

  Shannon K. Butcher

  NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

  Published by New American Library, a division of

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  Published by New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First E-Book Printing, February 2012

  Copyright © Shannon K. Butcher, 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-54845-5

  Printed in the United States of America

  publisher’s note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Special Preview

  Chapter One

  Kansas, March 29th

  Liam had only met Dakota Kacey once before, but she was not the kind of woman a man easily forgot.

  Watching her seemed to ease some of the pressure behind his eyes. It was a bit creepy of him to hide in the shadows and stare through binoculars, but her cousin Jake, the leader of the Defenders—humans who helped the Sentinels fight the war against the Synestryn—had warned Liam that she had been skittish since the attack. Liam didn’t want her to bolt, which he knew she’d do if he wasn’t careful.

  Her strawberry blond curls flowed over her shiny black leather jacket, reaching all the way to her narrow waist. Worn jeans clung to her long legs, outlining the kind of curves that had caused Liam to wake in a sweat more than once since meeting her. And he didn’t sleep much, especially lately.

  The war against the Synestryn wasn’t going well. His people were dying. Humans were dying faster. Even Liam, who’d fared better than some of his Theronai brothers, was starting to feel the strain of his growing power.

  Pain pounded through his body, making his veins throb as it passed. The constant headache grinding between his temples had grown to the point that he could no longer ignore it. Strenuous exercise and meditation had helped, but not nearly as much as they had only a few weeks ago. The pain was getting worse as his body fought to contain the magic swelling inside of him with each passing day. He couldn’t make it stop, and he knew that it would eventually kill him—one way or another.

  Dakota tossed another duffel bag in the back of her truck, and from the looks of it, the thing weighed just about as much as she did. Not that that was saying much. She’d lost weight since he’d seen her last.

  Grief had a way of doing that.

  The thought of her going through that pain alone weighed on Liam. He should have been there for her. Not that there would have been much he could have said to make her brother’s death any easier. He was fooling himself if he thought his presence would do anything more than make him feel better.

  Dakota disappeared back into her parents’ home where Jake said she’d been staying. It was quiet out here in the country. Isolated. The kind of place Synestryn loved to hunt.

  If she was blooded as many of the Defenders were, if she carried even a trace of the ancient Athanasian blood in her veins, chances were the demons would smell it and come after her the first time she bled. She couldn’t stay out here alone any more than she could go hunting her brother’s killers alone. Liam was here to see to it that she did neither.

  He started his Jeep and left his hiding place. It wasn’t fully dark yet, but it would be soon, and while that would make his spying easier, he didn’t want to scare her if she happened to see him. He’d seen more than one weapon go into the back of her truck, and he preferred not to be at the business end of any of them.

  He used his Jeep to block off her gravel driveway so she couldn’t leave, and headed toward her house. The second he stepped out, the front door slammed open and Dakota stood in the doorway, outlined in yellow light. A shotgun was braced in her hands and her confident stance told him she wasn’t afraid to use it.

  “It’s Liam Lann,” he called, lifting his hands so she could see them in the fading sunlight.

  “What the hell are you doing slinking through the dark like that?” she demanded. The business end of the weapon stayed trained on him, steady and unwavering.

  “Jake asked me to come talk to you. He’s worried.”

  She lowered the weapon. “That man meddles more than is healthy for him. I told him to stay out of it.”

  “Mind if I come in?”

  “I’m on my way out.”

  He glanced in the bed of her truck and saw two crates of ammo. “I see that. I’ll be quick.”

  Dakota let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll give you five minutes.”

  He hurried up the steps and slid past her as she held the door open for him.

  Light bathed one side of her body, highlighting the smooth line of her jaw. The hollows under her cheekbones were deeper than they had been a few weeks ago, as were the shadows beneath her eyes. As close as he was, he could see fatigue hanging on her, sloping her narrow shoulders. The set of her mouth was tight, disguising the fullness of her bottom lip. A spicy, rich scent rose up from her skin, weaving its way around Liam so that his pace slowed as he passed, giving him more time to breathe it in.

  She shut the door behind him and turned to face him with that weapon still in hand. Her posture made her impatience clear, but as soon as he saw her fully in the light, all rational thought leaked out of his ears.

  He’d never been this close to her before, never put his sole focus on her the way he was now. Dakota was more than merely pretty. Her appeal ran deeper than that, calling to Liam on a level that no other woman had ever touched. He knew he had no business allowing himself to be attracted to a human woman, but he couldn’t help the visceral, gut-level reaction he had to her nearness.

  She was tall for a woman—just the right height for a man like him. N
o need to break his neck to kiss her. Not that he was ever going to be that foolish. Not only would it be a mistake for her, but Jake would likely chop Liam’s balls off and serve them up fried.

  Her striking turquoise-colored eyes stayed fixed on him in impatient expectation. “Tick tock, Liam.”

  For a moment he forgot why he was here. The urge to touch her was all but consuming, leaving him shaking as he fought to keep himself in check and remember his mission. Her scent had haunted him since their first, brief meeting. He could only imagine that the feel of her skin would be even harder to forget.

  He shoved his hands into his jeans and stared at her booted feet. “Where are you headed?”

  “If Jake called you, then you already know the answer to that question. I’m going hunting for Daren’s killer.”

  Liam was proud that he refrained from calling her stupid for even thinking about going demon hunting. “Alone?”

  “I know how to fight. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  He barely stifled a bark of mocking laughter. Of course he worried about her. Too much. In fact he spent more time worrying about her than he did worrying about his own safety. It was becoming more than a bit of a distraction—one that could get him killed if he wasn’t careful. “I saw shotgun shells in your truck. You can’t kill demons that way.”

  “I know that. But you can knock them on their asses that way. I packed an axe to finish the job.”

  Just the idea of her getting close enough to a demon to cut off its head made nervous sweat form along Liam’s spine. Even if her plan worked, their blood could be acidic and poisonous. One misplaced splash and that would be the end of her—a thought Liam couldn’t stomach. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Her eyes narrowed in defiance and she inched closer—so close he could feel the heat of her skin sinking into him. “What’s dangerous is leaving that demon out there to roam free and kill someone else’s family.”

  “We’re fighting as hard as we can,” he said.

  “It’s not enough.”

  He flinched as the truth hit him like a fist. “I know,” he whispered, ashamed at his own weakness. If he’d been bonded to a woman of his kind, he’d be stronger. The pain wouldn’t slow him down. He’d be the warrior he’d been born to be.

  But women of his kind were rare. Synestryn had killed most of them and only a few had been born in the past two hundred years. Without a woman to wield the power that was growing inside of him, he’d be chained to this life of pain and unfulfilled promise until his soul could no longer stand the strain.

  Before that time, he’d seek out his death. He would not become like the things he hunted.

  She glanced at the door, a clear sign of her impatience. “It’s time for me to go. Sun’s going down. I need to get moving.”

  “Let me do this for you. I’ll find the demons that killed your brother.”

  “You don’t know where to look.”

  “And you do?” he asked.

  Her gaze jerked away from him as if she had something to hide.

  Liam stepped closer, knowing it was a mistake even as he did it. Her intoxicating scent wrapped around him and pulled him in, making him forget why he shouldn’t get even closer.

  He was near enough now to see a scattering of light freckles across her cheeks. Lines of pain creased the corners of her eyes, and he had to steel himself to keep from trying to smooth them away. He couldn’t do anything to replace what she’d lost, but he could keep her from adding to the grief her family felt by losing her, too.

  “What are you hiding from me?” he asked.

  Her chin jerked up too fast, and her jaw tightened in defiance. “Nothing.”

  He saw the lie in her eyes, in the way she couldn’t look at him directly. Dakota was nothing if not direct, and her inability to look at him now only proved he was right.

  “Tell me,” he coaxed, trying to keep any hint of demand from his voice. She wouldn’t react well to orders—a fact that Jake had pounded into Liam’s head before asking him to come and talk some sense into her.

  He saw her pupils dilate, and the pulse in the hollow of her throat pound faster. Her lips parted as her breathing sped, and the color deepened to a lovely, intensely kissable pink.

  His mouth watered for a single taste of her, but he knew the folly in that course of action. He’d been with a few human women over the years, but they’d always been fleeting moments meant only to alleviate some of his pain. He hadn’t known them. He hadn’t known their families. Dakota was part of the Defenders, and after years of her people mistrusting his, he couldn’t mess up the fragile trust they now had—not for something so selfish.

  If he kissed her, he’d want more. And if he took more, he wasn’t sure Jake would ever forgive him. Dakota was vulnerable right now. Grieving. He refused to be the asshole who took advantage of her momentary weakness.

  And it was momentary. Dakota was too strong a woman to let her loss hold her back for long. The proof of that was loaded in the bed of her pickup, ready to kill some demons.

  Or, more likely, get herself killed.

  He kept his voice quiet and soft, letting it stroke over her in a way he’d never allow his hands or mouth to do. “Tell me, Dakota. Let me help you.”

  She licked her lips, and he felt it as if her tongue had slid across his spine, wet and hot. A shiver raced through him, and he had to stifle a deep groan of need.

  “I . . . saw the demon that killed Daren. I’ll be able to recognize it.”

  It was another lie, but Liam sensed it was closer to the truth than she’d been before. “You saw it and it didn’t attack you?”

  “I was hiding. It never saw me.” She swallowed and tears amplified the striking blue of her eyes. “Daren led it away from me. Distracted it.”

  Her pain struck Liam like splinters of glass, stabbing his heart. He could no more have held himself back than he could have stopped the world from spinning. Her grief and guilt left him powerless against his deeper urges to offer comfort.

  He took a step toward her, closing the gap between them, and wrapped his fingers around her hand. The moment her skin touched his, decades of pain evaporated as if they’d never existed.

  Shock made him go still, but it was washed away on a wave of pleasure that rolled in in the absence of his pain. His whole body became weightless, as if his pain had been the only thing binding him to the earth. A warm, bubbling sensation suffused him, curling along his skin until there wasn’t an inch of his body that wasn’t tingling. Exploding splotches of color expanded in his vision, blocking out the sight of her for a long moment. He heard himself moan in pleasure as Dakota sucked in a shocked breath.

  His luceria—the magical ring and necklace that he wore—buzzed in excitement. The necklace pulled away from his skin as if it wanted to get closer to her.

  Liam couldn’t believe what he felt. This had to be some kind of trick. His luceria was only supposed to react to a Theronai, not a human woman.

  Which meant that either his luceria was wrong, or Dakota wasn’t human. And the luceria was never wrong.

  He didn’t stop to think about what he was doing. Instincts were driving him now, forcing him to act. Darkness was falling and he had to keep her safe. Keep her close.

  His vision cleared enough for him to see her face. Her eyes were mostly closed, and her head was tilted back in pleasure, exposing the lovely lines of her throat. He could almost see his luceria there, and ached for that, needed it in a way he hadn’t known was possible. It was like a hunger that couldn’t be ignored—deep and consuming, driving away all rational thought.

  Liam moved to her and enfolded her in his arms, tucking her head under his chin. She was his now. He didn’t know how it was possible or why, but that no longer mattered. Dakota was his.

  Chapter Two

  Dakota knew better than to lean on anyone for support, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away from Liam. Not yet. Not when it felt so good to be held like this.


  No one had touched her since her brother’s death. She hadn’t let them. She’d kept everyone at arm’s length, knowing that she was a threat to anyone who got close. It was her fault that Daren had died. She refused to be the cause of anyone else’s death.

  Despite her promise to push everyone away, Liam had somehow shoved through her resolve to stand alone. It felt good to be held. Shamefully good.

  Her whole body was humming with contentment. The sadness and guilt that had been haunting her for the last six months dissipated, fading away until she couldn’t even remember what it felt like to mourn her brother.

  Liam’s arms tightened around her, and she could feel the strength of his body radiating through his hold. Hard muscles encircled her. The tips of his fingers had worked up under the hem of her shirt to slide across the small of her back. Despite the fact that she probably shouldn’t have let him touch her like that, she couldn’t pretend she didn’t like it. She could feel the rougher patches of skin where his sword had left calluses behind. His strength and his deadly ability with a blade were comforting to her. A man like Liam wouldn’t die easily, and for that reason alone, she could allow him to come this close to her.

  Tingling streamers of heat sank into her skin wherever he touched. Something warm vibrated against her cheek, making her head spin with pleasure.

  An odd, nagging memory tried to surface and interrupt her moment of peace, but she shoved it down. She hadn’t felt safe or happy for six months. As artificial as whatever Liam was doing to her was, she needed it. Just for a little while.

  “Did you know your father?” he asked.

  The question confused her, jolting her back to her senses. She tried to pull away, but his grip was firm, holding her against his hard body.

  “What?” she asked, hoping to stall long enough for her frazzled mind to figure out what he meant.

  “Your father. Who was he?”

  She still didn’t understand what he was getting at. “His name is Martin Kacey. You met him, remember?”