Bound to Shadows Page 0,69

She took a sip of coffee, then pushed it to one side. "Give me your hand."

She held out a hand, palm up. I took a large gulp of coffee to fortify myself, then placed my hand in hers. Her eyes closed and her fingers wrapped around mine. Her skin was cool initially, but electricity soon surged, jumping from her skin to mine and spreading up my arm like wildfire. It made the made the hairs on my arms stand on end and my pulse race, and it felt like her essence was somehow entwining around mine. It was a merging that was both metaphysical and ghostly, and stronger than anything she'd done before. The wolf inside instinctively bared her teeth, ready to fight against the intruder, but this was a force I'd invited in, and I couldn't back away from it now.

She shuddered. "I see the murders. The papers didn't report half of it, did they?"

"No." My reply was soft. I knew from experience that if I spoke too loudly, it seemed to jar her out of the moment.

"There is a lot of hatred in those killings. And a fair bit of revenge." She paused. "Look to the vampire council, to old decisions. This began seven months ago. It is not a recent thing."

"You can't tell who or what sparked this?"

"No." She tilted her head slightly and added, "You need to be careful."

"Dia, don't - "

Her grip on my fingers tightened, even though I made no move to pull my hand from hers. "There is a player in your life at the moment. He is more dangerous than you think or know."

No prizes for guessing who that was. "I know - "

"No, you don't," she said, voice suddenly fierce. "He is a man without heart, without conscience, and he threatens people you care about. He will kill. You need to tread softly around him, and never, ever trust him."

"I don't. Believe me on that."

Her bright gaze flew open and pinned me. "You need to walk away from him. Now, before it is too late."

She actually sounded scared, and that was scaring the hell out of me. What on earth had she seen? I might have said I didn't want to know, but was the not knowing any better? Suddenly, I didn't think so.

"I can't, Dia. He's my wolf soul mate."

"Oh, God." Her fingers were clasped tightly around mine now, this time free of energy beyond the tension I could feel in her. "Fate really does have it in for you, doesn't she?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. I'd said it so often myself that it just sounded so funny hearing it on someone else's lips. "Yeah, she really does."

Dia's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Cling to what you have with Quinn. Use that link to fight the wolf one. It will give you a strength most other wolves would not have in this situation."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are there actually other wolves out there who hate their soul mates?"

"Not hate, perhaps, but there are certainly those who are disappointed." She shrugged. "We all have our dreams and desires, and fate doesn't always deliver."

As I'd discovered time and again. I hesitated, and then asked the question that I feared the most. "Who does he kill?"

Her gaze darkened. "I didn't see. You just need to be very careful around him. He is playing a game, and while I can't see his end goal, I sense it is a dangerous one for you." Her fingers crushed mine. "Please, please, be careful."

"I will. I promise."

"Good." She squeezed my fingers a final time, then released them and picked up her coffee. It was frightening to see her hand was still shaking in reaction to whatever she'd seen.

Meaning she'd seen a whole lot more than she'd ever admit.

I suddenly lost my appetite for cake and picked up my coffee. It didn't do a whole lot to warm the sudden chill.

Still, I'd known the moment I agreed to the reading that this could happen. And she warned me often enough that she would not hold back on what she saw.

And yet she was, and that was the scariest thing of all.

I glanced at my watch and saw it was nearing six. Time for me to get going, or I'd be late for my date with Quinn. I gulped down the rest of my coffee, scalding my insides for the second time that day, then retrieved my credit card from my purse.

. "I need to go," I