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 could hunt and build a shelter; he had the skills. A gun was something he was forbidden by law to carry unless with his master, so the knife was useful as well as having an emotional value. Tomorrow he’d find a better place deeper in the wilderness to live. For now, it was this meager fire and hoping the storm blowing up wouldn’t drench him too badly, that the escarpment offered enough protection.


The sound of someone with unfamiliar footsteps approaching set Nick on edge and on guard. A man stepped out of the woods. He had a pack slung over one shoulder and carried a rifle in his hand. Several smaller handguns and a knife in a sheath hung on various parts of his legs.


“Where’s your owner, boy? Runaway, eh?”


Nick shook his head and groaned inwardly. He knew he should have taken off his collar, but it was the last tie to Todd. He may not have felt he deserved Todd’s love anymore, but he wasn’t ready to sever his only remaining link to Todd.


Chapter 68