The Binding

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

Copyright © by L. Filloon December 2011

All Rights Reserve

Edited by Hollie
Westring @
[email protected] Cover Art by Majanka Verstraete @
[email protected]

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

A special thanks to the following:

Anthony Stevens
, for your unrelenting support and encour agement. I could not have done it without you. I love you.

Jennifer Guevarra
, for the foresight to see what I could not see and threaten to kick my butt if I did not see it now ! Love you, Sis.

Dorothy Cable
, f or the valuable (and often funny) suggestions and for that ‘pink’ pen of yours . Thank you so much, my Wind Blown Lady !

For Afatia Christina Thank you for being you and for making me be a better me .

*

Lily

I have celebrated my birthday the same way ea ch year for the past four years, I go for a run. It has been two days since I hit the big one-eight . Until that night, I didn’t realize just how much I missed running. It has been way too long since I’ve exercised.
A t first , my body protested my sudden need to work out , but once I got going, it was like track season all over again.
When the big day happened, there was no celebration with family or a party with lots of friends from school . It was just me, my running shoes, and the lonely running path at the nearby park. First off, the only family I have, or should say had , was Lucas, my brother who disappeared four years ago. Second, I have only one f riend : Julia Manns, my best friend. Since Lucas’ disappearance, it’s just been the two of us, and Marilyn, my foster parent. However, there has always been a special bond between Julia and me . After four years, she knows that the birthday run is a solitary ritual. Be sides, she couldn’
t make it anyway , even if I wanted her to.

For the first time since I can remember, I overslept. I promised myself that when the day was over, I would be hitting the park for a run. And that’s how I find myself here late at night, in a park devoid of any human presence, with lots of dark, thick trees and bushes. I contemplate my , perhaps rash, but determined decision to get a run in before the day’s end. I try not to notice the dark shadows among the trees. I didn’t realize how late it was until I was halfway through my run. Sometimes I don’t think things through as I should.

I can feel my heart pumping with each breath along with the solid feel of the pebbled path under my feet. I love the feel of cool sweat on my skin, as a light breeze sweeps tendrils of hair across my face.
Tendrils? Who uses that word these days…tendril ?
That’s another thing I do. When I know I’m in over my head, stupid random thoughts go unchecked. The next time I decide to finally get off my butt and go for a run, I will maybe just wait for morning.

The path curves to the left a few yards ahead. Once I make that turn, I’ll be able to see the parking lot where Marilyn’s Jetta sits under a light post, alone. The sound of a snapping twig among the trees startles me and my muscles automatically tense. It could just be my imagination, but I pick up the pace anyway , trying to stay calm. Just keep moving, calmly.
What am I thinking? Just cut across the path and run like hell, you idiot!

Out of nowhere someone blindsides me.
I automatically stretch out my arms, e xpecting to hit the ground face—
first. The impact is delayed when he spins me into him. I feel a sharp sting cut my cheek, barely missing my left eye.
An arrow? Was that an arrow?
He hugs me to him, using his own body as a cushion.
I end up on top of him when we finally hit the ground , the wind knocked out of me. I can feel my chest tighten with pain as the air catches in my throat.
I hear him curse as I try to twist out of his hold, accidentally kneeing him. He roughly pushes me off him so I end up on my stomach, but I quickly turn over into a sitting position. In an instant, he’s on his feet and facing the direction from which I came.
Gasping for air , I touch the cut on my cheek. When I look at my fingertips, I see blood.
I’m stunned for a moment before my gaze travels to the back of his boots and up along his dark coat to his shoulders. Looking at the back of his head, I expect to see a cowboy hat. Instead, it’s covered with a dark beanie pulled over his ears, the long hair underneath it falling just past his shoulders. I can’t see his face as he’s facing someone before him. I lean to my left to look past him, and the shock of recognition overcomes me. I silently shake my head in denial as my attacker’s name comes to me.

*

From behind a tree, I watch her as she jogs toward me .
She is athletically built and small, just over five feet, but not as compact as I thought she would be.
Although my life would be easier if Lily Michaels were not a part of it, I’m honor—
bound to her by the treaty. I close my eyes for a moment, slowly sending my thoughts out to find Cessa. There, hidden by the t rees, on the other side of the path , she waits in the dark .
I send a silent command, releasing her to go and find Mellis. She’s not needed for now , as I don’t sense any immediate danger ―
the same reason I sent Tolan and the others to wait for us at th e check point .
I want to be alone when I meet my betrothed for the first time. I thought it would be easier for her to meet me without the others around. Actually, I really don'
t care how she accepts the news .
I think of Kalis. Her beauty teases my mind, and I inhale deeply. I try to shake off the feeling of loss, but the weight of my responsibility to the clans feels heavy on my chest. I sigh as I push Kalis from my thoughts and concentrate on the runner before me. Lily Michaels has no common sense.
What was she thinking when she decided to go running in a park at night ?

I watch her as she comes closer to where I remain hidden.
From here, I wonder if her hair color is natural , not that it would matter.
A treaty between her family and my own has bound me to her, stopping me from choosing my own bride, my own destiny. The sound of Kalis’ sweet laughter comes to me on the fading breeze .
I feel the same heartbreak each time Kalis enters my thoughts. There is nothing I can do about it now. I swore to my father that I would stay true to the treaty and to his own oath to Senestra of the Willow Clan.

Distracted by my thoughts, I hear the snap of a twig before sensing the danger. I ha ve no time to waste, but just when I’m about to grab her , s he speeds forward and out of my reach. I have no choice but to dive for her and take her down when I hear the arrow’s release . We hit the ground hard . I hear her suck in a harsh breath as the arrow cuts her , but she doesn’t scream. I take in a deep breath myself, cursing as her knee catches me between the legs. I push her off me before she can do any more damage and stand to face her attacker .
I set myself ready to move when from behind me, she speaks.

*

“Lucas?” I call his name just barely above a whisper. The guy before me glances over his shoulder looking at me for the first time. I would have seen the color of his eyes then, but it’s too dark. Besides, m y eyes are drawn to the man standing in front of us.
Lucas takes another arrow from his quiver and adjusts his shot. I watch, in shock, as he slowly lower s his aim at me.

Finding my voice, unsure of what’s going on, I call out to him , “Lucas!”
Wordlessly, my brother releases the arrow.

As soon as my rescuer yells, “Run!” he shifts to his left . He blocks my view of Lucas and the speeding arrow. He spins inward, letting the momentum of his body pull him through . He rolls out facing me as his hand catches hold of the arrow ’s shaft, stopping it only inches from my face.
He leaps forward with lightning speed back into a crouch between my brother and me .
His eyes never leaving Lucas, he shouts at me again , “I said, run !”

This time I don'
t hesitate. I hear the release of another arrow and I instinctively duck, but none fly by me . My breath releases and I know my rescuer has once again saved me. I start to take off but come up short . As I glance behind me , I see the stranger hurl two knives from under his coat at Lucas.
So fast! He’s so fast that I almost missed it .
It might have been four years since I last saw Lucas, and he might be trying to kill me now , but he’s still my brother. I hear someone scream and realize it’s me.

Lucas has another arrow cocked and aimed at the stranger , but my scream distracts him. He quickly shifts his f ocus back on me. Our eyes meet, and for a moment he hesitates. For one moment he is Lucas, the big brother who raised me.
He is the one who was there for me when our uncle and aunt were killed in a freak accident.
He is the big brother who comforted me and made me laugh until I cried again . As swiftly as it came, the moment is gone. The two blades hit him hard in the chest. I watch as his eyes grow wide, but not before he releases his last arrow. I hear my rescuer curse under his breath . E
ven without looking at him, I know he can never reach me in time.

A
sob sticks in my chest as I watch Lucas drop to his knees . H
is face is a mask of disbelief staring at the knives sticking out of his chest.
The air around him begins to shimmer, and slowly he begins to disappear. He looks up at me and lifting his hand , he stretches toward me. He lunges forward as if to grab me and take me with him.
Then he’s gone without a trace, disappearing just as he did four years ago.

I hold my breath , waiting fo r the arrow to hit me, and I don'
t care. I just lost my big brother , again . The pain I felt four years ago hits me once more like a sledgeh ammer.
It’s as if my chest was pierced b y the stranger’s knives. I can’t go through this again. Not again. So I stand and wait, but the piercing sting of the arrow never comes.

“Burn.” The word comes in a whisper. I sense the heat as the arrow goes up in flames only inches from my heart. I turn toward the trees and watch as a man who is identical to my rescuer walk s out with his hand raise d before him.
A black mist rises, swirling and slithering about him until it takes the form of a deep blackness, a hollow nothingness that freezes me to the core . Then two eyes pop open within the blackness ―
f reezing my heart in an instant.
I try to scream , but the breath I’ve been holding burst s out of my throat in a large gasp.
T
he world around me spins out of control.
The last thing I remember is the ground rushing up to meet me.

*

What the hell was she thinking? She had a clear opportunity to make her escape but in stead she hesitated. If it wasn’t for Tolan she would be dead now. Damn.
She’s going to be more of a problem than I anticipated.

I rush over to h er side to make sure she’s not seriously hurt.
I breathe a sigh of relief to find that the only wound she has is the one under her eye. I brush back her hair from her face and find that she’s beautiful. I touch her hair…all natural. It’s as jet black as her mother’s. I want her to open her eyes to see if they ’
re the same color as Senestra ’s. Earlier, when she whispered her brother’s name, I looked down at her, but her eyes were focused on Lucas . Now, I have this sudden need to see them.