Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (56 page)

The naked grief etched into the lines of his face nearly undid me again, but I bit my lip, sniffling and wiping at my cheeks. “He was a good man,” I said, my breath hitching. “And a good friend. He pissed me off more times than I can count, but I know he did everything he could to protect me.” I glanced toward Daniel’s pitifully mangled body. “You’re right. I thought he had an agenda. Even so, I trusted him. And I trust you too, Michael. Maybe even more.”

“Are you fucking insane?” he shouted, his bloodshot eyes flaring with anger. “You know damned well if I’d been told what the divinors had predicted, I’d have done everything in my power to keep Kieran away from you, encouraged you to despise him, whatever it would have taken to keep him from getting his hooks into you. I am not a strong man, Lire. Not like Daniel. Your trust is misplaced.”

“No. It’s not,” I snapped. “I know how you feel about what the elders did to your lives. Trying to alter the future corrupted them and left them open to demonic influence. They turned Invisius into an instrument of evil. Turned your friends into mindless husks. Turned Brian into a killer. They tried to kill me and it’s come to
that
.” I jabbed my finger toward the bodies but kept my eyes affixed to his. “All in an attempt to change things that cannot be changed. No, Michael. You are lying to yourself if you think you’d have acted any differently than Daniel. I know because I’ve touched you. I have your memories. You can lie to anyone else, you can even try lying to yourself, but not to me. I’m your friend and I
know
you.”

He stared at me hard, jaw clenched and chest heaving, before closing his eyes and blowing out a harsh breath. After a moment, his shoulders relaxed. “Okay.” He looked at me and nodded, repeating more decisively, “Yeah. Okay.”

“All right then.” I glanced over my shoulder, toward the stairs. “We’ve got some serious crap to sort out. Things are not good in the Otherworld. Did Kim tell you that? About their civil war? Once the two sides get the scoop about Tíereachán and hear about my capabilities …” I shuddered. “This thing I can do … it’s rare. Kieran told me there’s only one other who can do what I can do.”

He nodded. “Fisk’s tantrum kinda tipped me off about that. You’re an adept, whatever that means.” He narrowed his eyes. “And he called Kieran ‘the Deceiver.’”

“Yeah. I know. I’m, uh … yeah, not entirely sure what that’s about. Kieran hasn’t told me any details, other than he made a mistake a long time ago that he obviously regrets. I think it might have to do with his previous mate.”

His eyes narrowed. “If he isn’t telling you, it’s because he knows it’s something you’re not going to like.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But—” I shook my head, dismissing the topic. “Never mind. I’ll deal with that later. Right now, I’ve got other things to worry about. Lorcán is coming. And as soon as the King finds out about my abilities, and the Amhaín … Kieran seems to think they’ll stop at nothing to control me.”

“I’ve got your back. You know that.”

I shot him a grateful smile and said softly, “I do. And it means a lot. Right now, though, the best thing you can do is get Invisius healthy again. Rally your people. They need you. And we need Invisius. There’s a reason Azazel chose to infiltrate your ranks. You get that, right? It wasn’t just because of your ties to the sidhe. Telepaths are a huge threat to their plans. You guys have, like, freaking … demon possession
radar
.”

When Michael frowned and glanced at the broken circle, I amended, “Okay, maybe your radar’s not perfect since, clearly, the elders evaded detection. But Kieran and the part-bloods can help with that part. Kieran only had to touch me to know about Tíereachán and I wasn’t even possessed.”

I tucked my hair behind my ears, thinking the implications through.

And the more I thought about it, the more it felt right.

I paced in front of him, practically vibrating, my voice rising along with my excitement, and burst out, “This is big. Can’t you feel it?”

I stopped and stared at him. “Invisius can help find the demon’s minions and their summoners. Through them, we can find their gateways.
Us
—you, me, Invisius … Hell, I don’t know. Maybe Kieran, Kim, and Jackie too. All of us in it together. We’ll fight them. We’ll thwart their invasion. For Daniel … and … and for Earth. We’ll make them fucking sorry they ever messed with us. Yeah?”

He eyed me thoughtfully. Finally, he nodded and narrowed his eyes to fierce slivers. “Okay. Yeah. Fuckin’-A,” he growled and then his voice turned to granite, “Playtime is
over
.”

Upstairs, just outside the sitting room, we faced off.

Kieran stood at Tíereachán’s right, Kim and Jackie on his left. Across from them, Wade and Fisk stared at Tíereachán, their arms folded. The two other swordsmen had gone. I hoped it wasn’t because they were out gathering reinforcements.

As we approached, I couldn’t hear what Tíereachán
said, but Wade’s head jerked back as though he’d been slapped.

“Shit,” Fisk uttered. “You have to wake her. She needs to know.”

“Wake who?” I asked, stopping next to Kieran.

Curiously enough, Kim seemed even more agitated than Wade. She stared at Tíereachán, body frozen, eyes wide, lips pressed into a grim line.

When no one volunteered, I asked again. “
Who
needs to know?”

Fisk glanced at me but didn’t answer. He looked over at Wade, who finally replied, “The Amhaín. My mate.”

“Your mate?” I sputtered.

Holy crap. What next?

Last night, Tíereachán mentioned that his father had died during one of the Rift battles, but it was clear he hadn’t expected this. He looked about as shocked as I felt. The Amhaín must have bonded with Wade sometime after Tíereachán’s disappearance.

“What else did I miss?” I murmured to Kieran. “What does Fisk want the Amhaín to know?”

He leaned down to whisper into my ear, “Tíereachán just told them how Maeve betrayed him to the demons.”

I whispered back, “I didn’t expect them to believe him so quickly.”

“As soon as we came upstairs, Wade touched him, asked him questions I couldn’t hear. They do not doubt his identity.”

That explained why Kim looked so stunned. She’d just learned that the first in line to the King’s throne had colluded with a demon.

I caught Wade’s gaze and said, “How about we all sit down?”

As the others headed into the sitting room, I took Michael aside and asked him to find something for Tíereachán to wear. My expression must have been pained because he gave me an amused smile before nodding and turning toward the stairs.

“Where the hell is he going?” Fisk demanded.

“To find some clothes for Tíereachán. Go with him, if you want.”

Please.

Kieran smirked as he cupped his hand to the small of my back and directed me to a leather club chair. He perched on the padded armrest at my left elbow, leaving the matching chair to my right for Tíereachán. As I looked around me, I wondered which telepath had taken it upon himself (or herself) to decorate the room and whether they were still alive.

Tíereachán, who seemed to be completely at home in his skin, even when bared to God and everyone, settled easily into the leather chair.
Good grief.
Nobody had any business being that beautiful, except for Kieran. Noting my gaze, Tíereachán winked at me.

Oh,
hell.
Busted.

If the heat splaying across my cheeks was any indication, I blushed scarlet. I looked away and hoped nobody else noticed.

Kieran was the first to break the silence. “Not that we aren’t grateful, but what are the Amhaín’s retainers doing in King Faonaín’s territory?”

“When the demon hordes can access and exploit a territory as unprotected as yours, borders don’t mean jack shit,” Fisk retorted. “The incompetency of your
King
endangers all of us. That’s reason enough.”

Kim looked fit to burst, but she kept her mouth closed. I had a feeling Brassal was awake and listening.

“What happened down there?” I asked, jerking my head toward the basement stairs. “I assume you guys set up the ward. You know, if we’d been aware of it, we wouldn’t have tried to bring it down. We figured the elders had done it to keep everyone out. We came here to bring Invisius back in line.”

“Which was too fucking late,” Fisk snapped. “You’re lucky we showed up when we did. Caught those two asswipes in the middle of creating the gateway. Killed them along with a dozen of their brain-dead minions and secured that shit-spewing hole last night. And now we find out the King has his own pet adept who should have dealt with that shit days ago instead of prancing around doing television shows.”

Almost before I was aware of it, I was on my feet, magic churning inside of me, heating my skin. “Damn you,” I hissed. “Don’t you think I’d have closed it sooner if I’d known I could do that? I didn’t know. I didn’t
know
.” I tried to stay angry, desperate to avoid the blanket of grief Fisk’s words had thrown over me, but the weight of Daniel’s death on my conscience was too fresh. My bottom lip quivered.

Hell no.
I was
not
going to fall apart. I refused to give Fisk the satisfaction. Digging my glove-blunted fingers into the meat of my palms, I ground out, “And, just so we’re clear, the King can go pound sand. The only person I answer to is
me
. Tíereachán was trying to convince me to visit the Amhaín, but if you guys are her welcoming committee, then to hell with that. I’m staying right here. On Earth.” I flicked my fingers at him. “You all can go squabble amongst yourselves. Kieran and I … and the telepaths have other priorities. Like, say,
fighting demons
.”

“And me?” Tíereachán asked archly, “Am I to be left out of the fun?”

“I thought—” I studied him, trying to decipher his expression. “You don’t want to go home?”

“That would be … complicated.”

“Why? You’re not worried about Maeve?”

Tíereachán tutted as if the mere thought was preposterous.

“He is tainted,” Fisk scoffed.

“Yet, I know who I’d rather spend time with,” I countered, wishing my stare could give him a crippling case of shingles. On his ass.
Jerk.

I turned back to Tíereachán. “I don’t understand. You said I freed you.”

“Yes. You did. And that’s something I never dreamed possible. But nothing will change the fact that I remain bound to Azazel.”

I frowned at him. “Bound? What do you mean?” Dread, heavy and sickening, weaseled its way into my gut. I glanced at Kim. “No … not the same as—”

“An emissary? Not exactly. Emissaries are typically soulbound. They’re equals. Azazel and I are not. My soul is enslaved to it by blood covenant. Away from my master, I have free will, but in the same plane, it constrains my soul.” He shrugged. “So. Now you can see, regardless of my birthright, as long as I am bound to Azazel, I will never be trusted.”

Taking in my expression, he smiled and shook his head. “My love, don’t fret. You’ve given me a chance at redemption. I am forever in your debt. If you are determined to fight demons, I would pledge my service to you. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction than aiding you in that endeavor. You, of all people, know my feelings about Earth. But if my bond troubles you, I will leave you in peace with no malice.”

“There must be something we can do. There’s no way to break the bond?”

Fisk snorted, but Tíereachán ignored him. Instead, his blue-eyed gaze sought Kieran. I wondered why, but when I looked, Kieran’s expression was carefully guarded.

Tíereachán returned his attention to me and replied, “Just as both parties must willingly partake in the bond, its dissolution must also be mutual. It is not in Azazel’s interest to agree to such a thing.”

“So that’s it? The bitch wins? Here I thought you’d get your life back, but no.” I drew out the word until ‘no’ had a dozen extra ‘ohs.’ I huffed. “I should have known better than to get my hopes up.”

“If the bitch you’re referring to is Maeve, I think it’s safe to assume she will win nothing,” Kim announced from her perch on the adjacent loveseat. “Brassal has an upcoming audience with the King. With the Amhaín and her son involved, there is no way this can be swept under the rug. The King will be forced to deal with Maeve’s treachery. She will face the Tribunal. Anything else would question the legitimacy of his rule.”

Kieran jerked to his feet. “Please tell me Brassal didn’t go into this without support.”

“Oilithir and Ríoghán are with him.” She paused before adding, “So is your father. They all know the score.”

Kieran stilled, surprise clear on his face.

“What about Kieran’s status?” I asked.

Kim didn’t look happy. “In spite of Brassal’s pressure, Maeve refused to rescind her edict.”

Tíereachán reclined in his chair, crossing his right ankle over left knee, as though being buck-blinking naked was equivalent to being draped in the finest Armani suit. He practically crooned, “Ah, yes. Lire mentioned this, last night, during our dream time together. Didn’t you, my mate?” He smirked at Kieran. “Dear cousin, do tell. What mischief have you gotten yourself into, now?”