Bound to Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

would care? She pressed her fingers to her forehead trying to ease the pressure. Should she go away? Head further north, lose herself in the Highlands?
    But she was so tired of running and hiding.
    Maybe the time had come to face up to what she was. Perhaps there was someone who could help her get control, even reverse whatever they had done to her all those years ago.
    And for some reason, she trusted Connor.
    She’d wait and hope that somewhere in the world there were people who didn’t want her dead.
     

Chapter Four
    They arrived the afternoon Connor left.
    A man and a woman.
    Keira had seen them from a distance and known instantly they weren’t the usual hikers. They were hunting for something—probably her—crisscrossing the moors, constantly alert. The woman appeared vaguely familiar, medium height and slender, with long dark hair, but from her safe distance, Keira could tell nothing more.
    They didn’t come near her the first day, but all the same, she hadn’t returned to the keep to sleep. She didn’t want to be trapped inside if they found her. Instead, she grabbed a sleeping bag and spent an uncomfortable night wedged in a rocky outcrop. It had started to rain just before dawn and she was cold, wet, and tired by the time the sun came up.
    They returned that morning and found the keep around midday. Bel-Bel, her tame magpie had swooped down on them. They must have taken that as a sign there was no one around, because they circled the place once and then left.
    Keira spent a second night outside and was close to exhaustion by dawn. But at least this morning, she was dry.
    She rose to her feet and stretched, her muscles sore from the uncomfortable position. As she stared out over the moor, she became instantly still. The sun had burned off the last of the early morning mist revealing a solitary figure striding toward the keep.
    Connor.
    Relief rolled through her and she realized that despite his note—which was still in her pocket and which she read at regular intervals—she hadn’t really believed he would return.
    She raised a hand and waved. He stopped walking and lifted his own to shade his eyes. She’d forgotten how stunningly gorgeous he was. Tall and lean, and even in human form, he moved with the lithe grace of an animal. His black hair was glossy and fell over his forehead. He wore faded jeans that hugged his narrow hips and long legs, and a black sweater with the sleeves pushed up. A rucksack hung over one shoulder but he carried no shopping bags this time. Maybe he didn’t plan to stay.
    She waved again, and he started walking toward her.
    What was he doing?
    He was getting too close. She started to back away.
    “Keira, wait.”
    She stopped at the sound of her name. How long since she’d heard it spoken?
    “Don’t go. I think I’ll be okay, just stay where you are.”
    Okay? How could he be okay?
    Then she realized how close he’d gotten and her fists clenched at her sides. She studied his face for signs of pain, but he showed nothing. Her feet itched with the need to run, but she held herself in place, hardly daring to breathe as though if she moved now, everything would fall apart.
    Finally, he came to a halt only a foot away.
    And she stood staring at him, her mind refusing to function. He seemed real. So why wasn’t he rolling about in agony?
    “How?”
    He lifted his hand and touched the side of his head, behind the left ear. “I’ve got an implant. It stops telepaths from being able to read your mind. The Agency developed it—”
    “You work for the Agency?”
    Her panic must have shown.
    “No. Never,” he said quickly. “The people I… work with, they discovered the technology when they rescued your sister, Tasha, from one of the Agency’s labs.”
    She found it hard to take in. For the first time in over five years, she stood close enough to touch somebody. And she couldn’t resist. Her hand reached out of its own accord and her fingertip stroked his cheek. His skin