Binding Death E-Book

Cecile Tellier

• Herausgeber: Cecile Tellier
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Cillian is no stranger to the pull of dark magic as he is the son of both the Dark realm Princess and the Light realm Prince. What doesn’t help is that he may have been further infused with dark magic as a child, during an abduction. The only person with insight into that, however, is not talking.
When Cillian finds himself drawn to a human woman in the dream realm, he discovers his dark nature may be worsening her health in the waking realm. Despite trying to reverse this by no longer visiting her, he will find it’s harder to give up their visits than he thought.
Annabelle has lived a difficult life and after many years in foster care, she has finally aged out and is trying to make her way and figure out her medical needs at the same time. Her fatigue has worsened since she began traveling but she has found a doctor willing to see her for free. While navigating her life, she finds escape in the form of a mysterious dream man who gives her hope and listens to her worries. When he abruptly announces he will no longer be in her dreams, it’s as devastating as losing a real-life friend.
When things worsen in Annabelle’s waking life, will Cillian merely observe and allow things to proceed or will he intervene? Will Annabelle understand Cillian’s fae world and the magic he has?

Leseprobe

Binding Death

BINDING SERIES

BOOK THREE

CECILE TELLIER

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 by Cecile Tellier

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

1. Annabelle

2. Cillian

3. Annabelle ~ Cillian

4. Annabelle

5. Cillian

6. Annabelle

7. Cillian

8. Annabelle

9. Cillian

10. Annabelle

11. Cillian ~ Annabelle

12. Annabelle/Cillian

Fangs, Flight, and Feathers - A Love Story

Also by Cecile Tellier

Also by Cecile Tellier continued

Chapter1

Annabelle

“I will not see you anymore.” The words had an immediate effect on my anxiety.

I’m not sure why my dream seemed different this time or why, even in dreams, I am riddled with worry. My dream man seemed almost sad, which was not usual for Cillian. “I don’t understand. Why?”

“I wasn’t supposed to come to you in the first place, but these things escalate. I’m causing you damage, and if I don’t stop, I will stake a claim you can’t fulfill.” His voice was soft as he stood facing away from me, looking out the window of the strange tower-like room we always hung out in. I couldn’t remember seeing a room set up quite like this one. It was a round room with plush furnishings and curtains blocking many windows. One window had a bench seat.

“I still don’t understand, but I don’t want you to stop visiting. Seeing you is the only time I’m ever happy. I know it’s a dream, but I don’t want to let you go.” The thought had my stomach cramping with dread. I knew that pining away over a dream man was only slightly more pathetic than not having many real friends in my reality.

“You do not know of what you speak. You don’t need to. Only know that it’s for your own good. If you knew the real me, I promise you wouldn’t find our parting such a loss.” The skin on his back flexed, and I watched his muscles ripple. He didn’t wear a shirt today. His smooth skin and long blonde hair were almost white. His facial features were far sharper than I had seen outside my dreams.  He wore a pair of cloth black pants that were form-fitting and followed the line of his trim waist to solid legs.

“Am I going to be talking to your back then? You can’t even look at me.” I couldn’t explain why I suddenly was angry at the thought that he’d grown bored with me. Even though it was a dream, I felt I was again losing someone with whom I had become attached.

Finally, he turned around, and I saw an expression I’d never seen on his face in my other dreams. He looked almost as though he were in pain. The lines near his eyes drew tight, and his fists balled.

“I didn’t want to come to you to say goodbye. I should have just stopped coming. Don’t push me for more than I’m able or willing to give. As horrible as I am, I will not continue to cause you harm.” His tone was harsher than I’d ever heard him. I always got the sense that he was purposefully kinder to me than he may normally be.

The sudden sadness of the idea of him not coming to me anymore was overwhelming. Irrationally, I choked back tears at the idea that I’d be alone, even in my dreams. “What does that mean? What will happen to you and me?”

He laughed with a dry sound. “There is no you and me. You’ll go back to dreaming whatever it is you mortals dream about. Mother would say you’d find your happy place or something. I’ll go back to not sleeping, I imagine. I don’t need to. I allowed myself to be self-indulgent, as I often do.”

The tears came now, and I was the one turning away. The pain in my chest hurt even. “What if this is my happy place?”

Rough hands grabbed me before spinning me around. Before I knew what to expect, he had my face pressed against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist. The vibration of his voice against my ear made the tears come faster and with more force.

“Then I would say we are quite a pathetic pair indeed. Anna, you must find something to make you happy in your waking world. I can’t help you with that, but you must. You will forget about this after some time. Goodbye, darling. Be well.”

I grabbed for him as both he and the tower disappeared. The fire alarm thrust into the waking world behind me, with my heart pounding. I cried even as I gathered my meager belongings and left the homeless shelter.

One of the women looked at me with pity. “Hell of a way to wake up, right? I’m sure it’s a false alarm. Don’t you worry.”

“Thank you. I’m sure you’re right.” I wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself. The dream had left me feeling unwell and off-kilter. Despite reality's intervention, my sense of loss was still strong.

After an hour of waiting outside in the heat, the fire department declared a false alarm. Everyone went back into the shelter. It was my last night there, as I was moving on to Dallas from Killeen. The first step in getting my life stable was meeting with the specialist in Dallas who had agreed to see me, even without medical insurance.

I decided that sleep would be impossible now. Starting early in the morning, after I ate breakfast, I gave a brief wave of goodbye to those I considered being at least friendly. Pulling my large backpack onto my shoulders, I began the long walk to the bus station. I had worked odd jobs at a local farm to save money for this ticket, and I wouldn’t wait any longer.

After waiting for the bus for three hours, I sighed in relief when it pulled up, and I boarded—the cool air conditioning contrasted with the heat currently going through that part of Texas. Settling in, I drifted off during the over two-hour bus ride. When I awoke the next day, I heard the bus braking and everyone getting up. My first thought as I gathered my things was that I hadn’t dreamed of anything for the first time in months. I remembered Cillian’s vow not to return to my dreams. The crushing sadness stayed in the peripheral, waiting for me. Chin up, I walked off the bus, determined to not be as pathetic as my dreams would suggest.

I walked to a motel four miles from the bus station and went to the front desk. The attendant at the counter looked me over and curled his lip.

“I’m sorry, but our bathrooms are for customers only.” His voice was stern but polite.

“I’m looking to book a room for a few nights. I have the money upfront. I arrived on the bus, so I apologize if I look rough.” Not for the first time, I felt ashamed at how I appeared to others. I couldn’t control what led to this point, but I had to focus on my future.

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry. We have one room available. Once I’ve got you registered, I’ll show you where it is.” He appeared contrite and began processing my room. Once he finished, he walked me to the room on the other side of the large outdoor pool.

As soon as I got into the room, I took a long, hot shower. No matter how hard things were, I did everything I could to maintain a sense of normalcy in my life. Often that meant sink bathing or going to the local gym that had friend community memberships. I never took for granted the simple luxury of a hot spray running over my sore muscles.

After rinsing my hair out and donning a bathrobe, I walked out to the bedroom. I immediately heard knocking at my door. “Room service!”

Walking over to the peephole I saw a man outside the door with a tray.

Thinking it must be a mistake I called out through the door. “I didn’t order anything.”

“No, ma’am, this is complimentary. With our apologies for any poor customer service upon your entry.”

“Oh, well, thank you. I’m just out of the shower. Is there any way you could leave it at the door?” He seemed nice enough and genuine, but I was still leery.

“Yes ma’am. Enjoy your meal.” I watched through the peephole until he walked back to the office and then opened the door and picked up the tray. It smelled delicious, which triggered my stomach to rumble. I realized it was lunchtime. Sometimes I didn’t eat for days, so it was nice that I was getting a few meals in one day.