Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) (2 page)

The sensation to seek him out on my own was something that
had been building inside of me, growing with every breath I took.

“Oh, I meant to tell you, I picked up some of those giant
sparklers for tomorrow night,” Callie said as she lay down again on her
stomach. She stretched her arms out at her sides, palms facing upward.

“I love those things,” I admitted, situating myself to soak
up more rays.

I was slowly, but surely, gaining a decent tan, which meant
I was finally looking more like a local and less like a tourist.

“Me too,” Callie said. “It doesn’t feel like the Fourth of
July to me without them.”

“I know,” I agreed, glad we were striking up a conversation
once more. Theo always seemed to invade my mind when I was in silence.

“The show they do on the beach every year is pretty cool.
You’ll like it,” Callie muttered from beside me.

“Kace said something about a carnival too,” I said. “When
does that start?”

“It started on Monday. It’s down on South Beach. They have
it every year.”

“You don’t sound too thrilled. Are carnivals not your
thing?”

“Eh, they’re fun. It’s just that it’s the same rides and
stuff from when I was a little kid,” she said.

I sat up and reached for the bottle of water I’d brought.
“That sucks.”

“Yeah, every year I go, expecting to see something new. But
nope, it’s always the same.”

“Are you going this year?” I asked, only because I wanted to
go. It had been a long time since I’d been to a carnival.

Callie sat up and pulled her hair free from the elastic band
holding it up. It fell in a stringy, wet mess past her shoulders. I watched as
she twisted it all back up into a high bun on top of her head.

“Probably, Adam loves it.” She smiled.

I chuckled. “Of course he does.”

How could Adam not enjoy a carnival? He was practically a
big kid.

“I mean, I do too, but I also like a little variety,” she
said. She lay back down and turned her head to face me.

“So, does that mean we’re all going tonight?” I asked with a
little smirk.

“Absolutely.” She grinned.

I chuckled. “What time?”

“Adam wanted to go around nine. Is that all right with you
guys?”

I shifted to look at her better. “I don’t think Kace gets
off until around then, but it should be fine.”

“Cool.”

I lightly sprayed another thin layer of sunblock across the
tops of my legs and stomach. Closing my eyes, I hung my head back to enjoy the
sunshine a little more. That was when I felt a familiar warmth stirring within
me. The blood in my veins heated, and I knew exactly why. It was the sensation
I’d been pathetically waiting on for a while now—the feel of Theo’s nearness.

Sitting up straighter, I glanced around, hoping Callie
wouldn’t notice and ask what I was searching for. The warmth vibrated beneath
my skin, and the awareness of Theo’s emotions filtered through my mind. He was
just as desire-filled and blissful as I was to have finally felt what we’d been
yearning to for almost two weeks now.

It didn’t take long before I found him in the crowd.

He stood off to my right, with a group of three other guys,
wearing a pair of solid sage green swimming trunks and nothing more. I zeroed
in on him, taking in the dark curves and ridges that made up his sculpted
frame. When my eyes finally traveled higher than his shoulders, they locked
with his—even through the lenses of my sunglasses.

Theo stared directly at me as though we were inches apart
instead of a few feet. The intensity of his gaze made my stomach flutter. His
lips pressed together firmly as his eyes narrowed in my direction. My muscles
tensed, and my heartbeat quickened from the sudden burst of irritation coming
from him.

It became clear then that Theo hated what the tether made
him feel for me.

It took everything in me, but I ripped my gaze from him and
lay flat on my towel. His apparent irritation with everything about me was just
more confirmation of my decision to get this initiation over with.

“Are you getting hungry at all?” Callie asked in a muffled
voice. The side of her face was now pressed firmly against her towel.

I wasn’t starved, but I could eat. Bonus—getting something
to eat would get me away from irritable Theo too.

“Yeah, a little,” I said.

Callie pressed up onto her elbows. “Can we head back to your
place and get something? I’m starved.”

“Sure,” I said, thinking that sounded perfect. “I’m not sure
what I have, but I’m sure we could find something.”

Sitting up, I tossed the sunblock I’d been using back into
my beach bag, and then stood to shake out my towel. Heat slithered across my
skin, trailing from my exposed cleavage, down my stomach, and along the length
of my legs. I knew whose eyes the heat belonged to without having to glance in
his direction—but the fact of the matter was, I wanted to.

So I did.

Theo and his buddies were standing just a little closer to
me than they had been the last time I’d looked his way. They were laughing and
cutting up as they scoped out the surrounding females. Theo’s eyes were
directly on me though, just like I knew they would be. I folded my towel and
draped it over my arm. After wiping my fingertips on the bottoms of my bikini,
I slid my sunglasses down to the tip of my nose so I could glare at him, all
menacing like, over the rims. I was positive he could feel my annoyance at him
for staring—for being here at all. Little trickles of amusement darted from him
to me, cooling the heat of my annoyance instantly.

This pissed me off. Why did he think it was so funny
whenever I was angry?

“Geez, Hoodoo boy is staring at you hardcore,” Callie said.
She tossed her wadded-up towel into her bag without shaking it out, and bent
down for her water bottle.

“I know,” I said, still glaring at him.

“What’s that all about?”

I shook my head and feigned ignorance. “I have no clue, but
I’m ready to get out of here.”

“Seriously,” she agreed.

I pushed my glasses up and slung my bag over my shoulder
before starting toward my house with Callie at my side. My eyes never moved
from Theo for more than a second during my walk across the sandy beach to the
bridge that led over the prickly grass and onto the sidewalk. He folded his
arms across his perfectly sculpted chest, and I felt double-edged daggers of
relief and resentment pierce at me. I continued walking with my eyes glued to
him, and tripped over a pile of some kid’s abandoned sand toys just before the
bridge. Theo’s lips had twisted into a small grin when I glanced back in his
direction. Either he’d thought something one of his friends had said was funny,
or else he really enjoyed seeing me nearly fall flat on my face.

From the emotions I felt stemming from him, it seemed more
like the latter. Asshole.

Callie poured herself another glass of the sweet tea I’d
made the other night, and leaned against the counter. We’d already changed out
of our bathing suits and eaten a small lunch, because I didn’t have much in my
pantry. It was definitely time to go shopping again and soon. Mom would be
upset if she saw the bareness that graced the shelves of both my pantry and
fridge at the moment.

“I haven’t asked you in a while—I guess seeing Theo staring
at you earlier jogged my memory about it—but has anyone tried any more Hoodoo
spells on you lately?” she asked while sloshing the ice around in her cup.

I rubbed the end of my nose, and I dropped my eyes to stare
at the condensation forming around the outside of my glass. “No, I haven’t
noticed anything lately.”

“That’s a little bit odd, don’t you think?” She crossed the
room to sit at the table in the corner with me. “I mean, whoever it was seemed
so adamant to get you to leave, and then all of a sudden they just stopped?
Why?”

I bit the inside of my cheek as I contemplated the two
reasons why—one, Callie’s mother had given up on trying, and two, because of
the tether and that whole
no Hoodoo against one another
thing.

My heart rate quickened when my eyes met hers from across
the table, and I noticed the questions swirling in the bright blue of them. I
swallowed hard, wondering if this was the right moment to confess that her
mother had been the one attempting to get me to leave.

It was either that or else I tell her about the tether.

“Well…I actually do know why they stopped,” I admitted. I
took in a small breath, and then released it slowly.

Callie tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her
ear, and drew her eyebrows together. “You do?” she asked.

“Please don’t hate me for not telling you right away.” I
fidgeted in my seat and took a sip of my sweet tea to wet my suddenly dry mouth
and stall for time. “But, I know who was paying the Van Rooyens for the spells
against me.”

I had her on the edge of her seat now and I hated it,
because I knew what I was about to reveal would no doubt break her heart.

“I won’t. Who is it?” she asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see her reaction.
“Your mom.”

Silence filled my ears. When I opened my eyes, Callie was
frozen. There was a dumbfounded, heartbroken gleam in her eyes that I instantly
regretted putting there. “I’m so sorry. In hindsight, I probably should have
come out and said something to you the moment your mom left my house. I mean,
she never said not to say anything to you about her visit or about all the
spells she’d been using against me. I honestly don’t know what made me keep it
a secret.” The words flew from my lips in a jumble of words.

The whole “don’t kill the messenger” saying crept into my
mind. I didn’t want her to be angry or upset with me, but I didn’t want her to
remain mute either. I sat back in my chair as a slight heaviness entered my
stomach, and wondered if I’d just made a huge mistake in telling her. I’d never
been one to stir up trouble—never the drama queen, or the type who enjoyed
confrontation—so this moment was as nerve-racking as could be for me.

“I’ll be the first to admit that she’s been acting strange
lately, but I don’t understand.” She slumped down in her chair a little more,
and dropped her eyes to the tabletop. “Why would she do that?”

I thought for a moment about what more I should tell her
regarding her mother’s visit, if anything.

“She said she did it all because of my mother,” I finally
said, filtering through everything I knew from what her mother had actually said
to me and not what I’d witnessed with Theo in the vision. “When they were
younger, they did a spell that allowed them to see the future. For whatever
reason, it showed them that something horrible was going to happen to me. Add
that to some odd feeling my mom had regarding Talan’s death and Admer, and you
have a brief reason for why she decided to leave town and give me up. She
wanted to keep me safe.” I paused, allowing her time to gather her thoughts and
speak if she wanted. When she didn’t, I continued. “Your mom was just trying to
get me to leave because she knew my mom wouldn’t want me here. She knew what my
mom sacrificed in order to keep me away…and yet, here I am.” I sighed.