Unbound (Bound To You sequel)

ELEVEN - Price of Distraction pt. 2 - *Lucy* + *James*

*Lucy*

She wasn't sure what the sound was. It was a scratching kind but at the same time reminded her of leather rubbing and chalk on a chalkboard.

"I hear it too," Tommy said to Lucy, looking up from the computer he'd been focused on.

They were in Megan's room - the WiFi room as she called it. But to Lucy this was Megan's room; the place that reflected her, a modern touch in this old castle. She'd brought flat screen TVs, actually comfortable chairs and sofas into a space that was all stone, gargoyles and mustiness. Lucy felt close to Megan here. Safe.

"Markus?" he asked his brother. He nodded too. They were twins Lucy knew, even though they didn't look it, and sometimes needed no words to communicate.

Markus moved to the door that opened to the balcony as something crashed down there.

No.

It hadn't crashed so much as landed Lucy decided.

"What the-" Markus' words were drowned out by the sound of splintering wood and shattering glass as the balcony door exploded apart.

It took Lucy only a moment to recognize what had come into the room. But several more to accept it as true.

The creature was the one from her nightmares. It's skin not scaly as she'd thought then but rough because it was made of stone. It had wings and claws.

Gargoyle.

Stone demon...dragon. Yes. Dragon, for it had wings and fangs. And claws.

One of the ones that guarded the front entrance.

Except alive.

No. Not alive. But no longer just stone either.

"Lucy, go," Tommy said as the stone beast leaped on Markus. It was surprisingly graceful and quick for something so solid. "Go find James."

Lucy backed up as Tommy joined his brother in the fight. Lucy wondered what they hoped to do.

Didn't they understand? This was not a creature of flesh and blood. They could not kill it. Not with their fists or fangs. Nothing could kill it, for it was not alive.

The beast threw Markus into the wall, screamed and flapped its stone wings. Its eyes were red.

Lucy had been hunted by red-eyed things before.

All you could do was run.

So she did.

*James*

He woke up because someone was scared. He'd had an uneasy feeling all night. He wondered if it was Megan. But right then it was not Megan's fear or unease that had woken him. It was Lucy's.

Strange. She was not pack.

She was one of his, but not technically.

Remember, the girl whose voice he had never heard whispered. It made him want to roar at her in anger. Who was she to come into his mind? How could she even?

"James?" Megan said, putting a calming hand on his bare chest.

"You're back?" he asked, frowning but so happy. He'd missed her. Seeing her lovely dark locks, her grey eyes, her smile. It made him want to pull her close and never let her go. To open their bond and be truly one with her.

"Yeah, we just got in," she said, gently touching his cheek before leaning down to kiss him. "And I have quite the tale to tell you about our trip."