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

“Todd.” Nick’s voice was breathless and shaky. “I can’t breathe very well…”


Eyes getting wider, Todd froze for a second, staring at Witze. In the next instant, he turned on his heels and moved toward his slave. “Nicky!”


Nick’s head dropped, and his hands twitched at his sides. His mouth opened, gulping in breaths, and his chest shuddered with the effort. In the next instant, his knees bent, and he started a slow crumple toward the floor.


“Oh, no, no, no.” Todd’s arms thrust forward in a jerky, odd type of action. The rest of him followed, and he caught the kid before Nick hit the floor and scooped him up, held tightly to his chest. “He needs a doctor.”


“Yeah.” Witze grabbed the arm of the closest person, a young woman. “You, and you—” he took a few steps and addressed a man “—help him get this boy to the clinic.”


“We’ll need a wagon, sir. The slave clinic is on the other side of the estate.” The woman looked from Witze to the two young men.


Chapter 60