Todd Ruger is a sentry, a very good one, some might say the best. He was eleven when he and Nick were bound as master and slave. Todd spent the years Nick lived in the slave village waiting for the day Nick could leave and they’d be together, bit by bit building a life for both of them. He took his role of master seriously. It was his responsibility to provide for Nick, protect him and along the way he learned to love him. Todd loved Nick deeply and completely. They were more than a pair of sentries. Todd and Nick were friends, lovers, mates.<br><br>Eighteen months ago, Nick left the small village where he’d spent his entire life being raised and trained as a slave. Blessed with a unique skill set, Nick became a sentry. He took his place beside his master, Todd Ruger, defending society against the many paranormal threats that abound. They became more than master and slave, they became mates. Nick had found a home with Todd and together they became a family. Eventually, Nick’s special abilities and skills attract the attention of the second most powerful man in New Colorado Protectorate’s government, Vice Chancellor Clarke. Or, maybe certain people knew of Nick all along and just now had cause to use him. He believes Nick might be the answer to explaining Chancellor Shaffer’s sudden, unusual behavior.<br><br>Forced to go undercover the Chancellor’s Estate, Todd and Nick discover an ancient and deadly creature preying on residents of the estate. The same creature that is radically effecting Chancellor Shaffer. A creature only Nick can see in its true form. It hunts using specialized skills and has Todd and Nick in its crosshairs. Even if they defeat the creature and survive, they still face the possibility of being torn from each other when their lives are thrown into chaos by the thing they’re hunting.

Together Bound

He was nearly to the staircase when something dark and quick slid into his path. Drawing up short, Nick stumbled back a few steps. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t see—”


“You should pay more attention. Here all alone?” Chancellor Shaffer moved so he blocked Nick’s exit.


Gaze flicking up for an instant, Nick swallowed the gasp when he got a look at the chancellor’s face. Again it morphed from human to something else. Shaffer shifted his weight back, brought one arm up, and the next thing Nick felt was the sting of the back of Shaffer’s hand across his face. The blow jerked his head to the side and sent him tumbling off balance to the floor.


Clamping his lips shut against the defiant snarl of “My master will kill you” that was pushing to spill out, Nick bit his lip and pulled his legs under him so he was kneeling, not sprawled over the floor.


“You do have a problem with that, don’t you, boy?”


Chapter 34