Echo UnMarked~ A Shadow Watcher Novel~ WIP

A woman cursed with the power to cause pain with her touch teams with the mysterious Mr. Summers to hunt down the man who could be her savior or Mr. Summers’s next kill.

“Drugging and hand-cuffing me won’t get you a date.” Echo’s words slurred while her head pounded.

The man behind her didn’t say a word, hadn’t said a thing to her since she’d regained consciousness. She was on the bed with her knees bent, ankles tied and wrists cuffed against her back. Through a part in the curtains of the bedroom, rays of sunshine peeked in. She’d guess the curtains hid a big window or possibly a sliding glass door that opened to a balcony. The rays hurt her eyes, and she blinked several times, her eyes tearing.

“You didn’t have to attack me,” she said, her words becoming clearer as the drugs wore off. “Give me some chocolates and a bottle of red wine, and I might’ve considered getting to know you better.”

She heard a chair creak as though her kidnapper shifted in his seat either from discomfort or . . . guilt?

“I didn’t attack you.” His voice was deep, sultry and dangerous.

“You shot me with a loaded dart then yanked me off my motorcycle. The last thing I saw was my ride careening into a wall before I woke up here, tied and cuffed. How is that not an attack?”

A rustling noise then footsteps told her he made his way to her. She lay in a vulnerable position. Her backside faced him while her arms were bare. He had taken off her leather jacket. He skimmed a finger over the back of her arm. “I was given orders to bring you in and to do it without letting you touch me.”

“But you have a right to touch me?”

“Cage said you would need it. That you go too long without physical contact.”

Echo shook her head. “You’re lying. Cage would never tell a soul about my curse.”

A slow ache churned in her chest. Cage was her boss, but most importantly, her friend.  He couldn’t have betrayed her. “Once I get a hold of him, this misunderstanding will be dealt with and you’ll have hell to pay—”

“The devil wouldn’t want me, darling. I’ve sinned too much and have killed too many men and monsters. And Cage won’t come to your rescue. He’s in Europe.”