Released Souls (19 page)
Authors: Karice Bolton
“I’ve never let failure hold me back so far.” I grinned.
“You look really cute with
your ponytail and yoga pants by the way,” he said, scooting the chair closer. “But you might want to think about dressing in something a little warmer for tonight’s adventure. It’s supposed to be in the low thirties.” Somehow he could make his breath hover over me in such a way that even getting a weather report was hot.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” giggling came out instead of well-formed words.
He cupped my chin in his hands and turned my face toward him. “You have to promise me that if anything goes wrong, you’ll get out of there. I mean anything.” His blue eyes were darker, and something was changing behind them.
I nodded. “Totally. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” I wrapped my fingers around his biceps and jokingly squeezed them, laughing with each
flex he returned. “You are such a dork.”
Logan threw his head back and laughed loudly.
“I wouldn’t find it funny, if I were you. Worrisome. Only worrisome.” I shot him a look and crossed my arms.
He patted his thigh and motioned for me to sit on his lap. I left my seat and plopped down on his knee, and he quickly brought me in. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. Being pressed against him like this with his arms wrapped tightly around me, brought a flurry through me. Now was not the time! How could I let my mind wander like this? This next conversation starter should do the trick.
“I’m not comfortable with my mom and your mom in hiding. Actually, I’m okay with them being in hiding, but I’m not okay with not knowing where they are. I mean look at Bakula. She’s trapped in a box. If something happens with Dace, we’re out of luck.”
“I was thinking about that too. Once we get Bakula back, I think we need to bring that up,” Logan agreed.
Well
, that topic was shorter than I thought, and the energy running between us was getting stronger by the second. Darn him. He clasped on a little tighter and pressed his lips against my forehead. I moved away slightly and looked into his eyes that were now playful, and I knew I was at his mercy.
His lips only parted halfway as he spoke
, and I realized I wasn’t even listening to what was coming out.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
I began to flush and looked quickly away hopping off his lap. “I’m gonna go down to the basement and lock our side of the door,” I said innocently, ignoring whatever it was he must have raised.
“And why’s that?” his brow quirked.
“Sounds like you liked my idea?”
I stood there speechless.
Shoot! What was his idea?
“I’ll be right back,” I shot back to him, running down the stairs.
Pulling on the dangling chain, the dull glow lit up the basement, and I walked to the small door. The musty smell of the basement was a bit overpowering, and I didn’t really like being down here.
I s
lid the lock through and heard Logan’s footsteps coming down the old, wooden stairs. I turned toward him smiling, when I noticed the other basement door was slightly ajar. Logan followed my gaze and jumped to the ground, bypassing the last few steps.
“That’s not comforting,” I whispered, as if suddenly someone was in the basement with us.
He opened the door, revealing the other interior door and gently pushed on it. It was locked on the other side. He quickly closed our door and locked it.
“Maybe we just missed it when we were down here
last?” I was standing next to Logan and he nodded, grabbing my hand.
“Or Trevor could have been checking it out,” he said.
“It would’ve had to have been unlocked from this side,” I agreed.
“Now where were we?” he said, smiling down at me.
“I’m not really sure.”
My breath caught as h
e slid his big hands down my back and rested them at the base of my spine, pulling me into him. He brought his lips to the crook of my neck and began placing gentle kisses along my flesh.
“Whoa,” I said breathless
ly.
He stretched my shirt to the side, as his lips continued tracing along my shoulder.
My stomach was completely doing flip-flops and then he stopped abruptly.
“Let’s get out of this dingy place,” he growled, lifting me into his arms and carrying me up the stairs.
“How much time do we have?” I whispered.
“Why? You want to use it all up?
”
“Maybe.”
His lips pressed against mine, allowing me to escape into our own little world once more.
Chapter
16
The mansion sat back on a large piece of property, with an iron fence surrounding
the grounds. Everything was magnificently manicured — not a leaf out of place. The lawn was cut short, the edging precise, and the lit flowerbeds glowed off in the distance. But there was nothing warm about this place. The stately brick house looked more like an institution than a home. Even with the glowing windows, the home looked frigid.
Logan was standing next to me as I stared at the
home I’d be invading soon. I imagined Bakula trapped in the glass box and perched on a writing desk somewhere. I had no idea what spell they cast on her to keep her inside the glass walls, but I had several antidotes ready. To keep a fairy held captive, it’s gotta be a hummer. And if all else failed, I’d grab the box and run.
“Do you think everyone will be ready?” I whispered, looking into Logan’s blue eyes.
“They wouldn’t want to deal with me if they weren’t,” he joked, but there was sharpness to his words.
“They know not to come in
side unless I’m not out within twenty minutes, right?”
He nodded, his eyes wrinkling on the edge
s as he smiled at me.
“No matter how angry or worried I get once I’m in there
, I’ve got to remember to cast spells that won’t leave any evidence of my newfound talents.”
“Very true,” he agreed. “But if you have to, you have to.”
The wind was picking up, carrying the mist from the sea inland. I found myself taking a deep breath in and thinking of my mom.
As we
walked behind one of the large oak trees, I thought back to the day I entered into the Witch Avenue order with Logan by my side. When I was still unsure of whether my mom was dead or alive, he was the one constant in my life. He’s still the only one I can count on.
“What are you thinking about?” his voice softened, catching my glance.
“Just everything we’ve been through together,” I whispered. “You’ve done so much for me since you came back into my life, and I just can’t imagine —”
“Why you never wrote me back all those years?” he teased.
“Yeah, something like that.”
We could still see the house from where we were standing
. As a figure moved across one of the front windows, I froze in place. My nerves were already on high alert.
I wasn’t sure if it could have been Lara, Eben or one of the many follower
s that were staying with them, but it made everything very real.
I didn’t want Logan to see the
tension that had momentarily built up, so I slid back behind the tree and pulled him with me.
I reached in his pocket and grabbed his phone, checking the time.
“Three minutes,” I said, shoving it back in his pocket. “I should get going.”
Logan gently grabbed my wrist, bringing it to his lips.
“Be careful. Stay in contact.”
I nodded and
stretched, pecking him on the cheek.
I lifted my sweater, revealing the
nectunt
. “What do you think that’s for?”
He smiled and threw his head back. “God, you drive me crazy.”
And I was off, jogging along the fence that led to the backyard. Every so often, I’d see a slight movement in the trees and would recognize one of Trevor’s team. It actually made me feel pretty safe.
There was a part of me that wanted to call them in
, and we’d just destroy Eben and Lara, but I wasn’t sure it would go down that way. Plus, selfishly, I wanted to find out a few things from them first. It would be more difficult if they were dead.
There was
only a smattering of garden lights on the side of the house, which made it easier to hide as I ran quickly along the iron fence. Dodging twigs and dips in the lawn became more difficult as I reached the backyard where the landscape turned to a wilder, natural area.
I spotted the
back door that was next to the kitchen and noticed that all of the backyard lights were already on. They weren’t motion-activated so at least I wouldn’t be setting off blazing lights every time I took a step.
I felt a familiar sense behind me and realized Trevor must have been staking out the
backyard where I was entering. This wasn’t the first time I sensed Trevor’s presence, and I wondered if it had to do with the infamous spider bite.
I watched the back of the house for a few seconds and didn’t see any activity. Th
e lights were on in two of the windows upstairs. The kitchen light was on, along with the light from whatever room was next to the kitchen. I quickly turned to glance at the darkened woods behind me, signaling to Trevor that I was going in.
Rather than waste my time ducking, dodging, and hiding my way over to the entrance I just took off.
Reaching the door, I tried the knob, which was locked and I quickly muttered, “
Reserare Metalli,”
hearing a slight click as the door unlocked.
I pushed open the door revealing the kitchen just as the website showed. There was a large prep station and cabinetry that wrapped around the entire room. It was huge — huge and empty.
There was stainless steal everywhere. The kitchen felt very sterile. The appliances, sinks, and backsplash were all in the shiny stuff, and the walls were painted bright white. That would not be fun to keep streak free.
I stepped ins
ide and quietly closed the door, my heart pounding at an unprecedented rate. I heard the faint sound of a television down the hall to the left, which, thankfully, was not in the direction I had planned on going.
“
Inside,”
I channeled to Logan.
I walked to the hallway that I ho
ped would lead me to the office, but a voice met me halfway to nowhere.
“Did you want a beer?” a man asked
.
Shoot! Beer! Fridge! Kitchen!
I scanned for a place to hide and quickly crawled under the prep station. I tugged on the white drape that was meant to hide compost and garbage to hide most of my body. If someone looked hard, they’d probably be able to see my shoes, but I was hoping that he was more focused on retrieving the beer.
“Okay. I’ll grab a few.”
He was in the kitchen. His footsteps were all over the place. He didn’t just go to the fridge and grab the beers. Of course not! He putted over to the corner and grabbed a bowl and filled it up with something.
His mouth crunching on something was the next disappointing noise.
I was trying so hard not to make a sound; I realized I hadn’t been breathing. I slowly started to inhale a shaky breath just as his footsteps started again, and the whoosh of the refrigerator door opening covered up my suck of air.
He began talk
ing to whoever sent him in for the beer run, and his footsteps became more distant with each passing second. Time was really not on my side now.
I slowly slid the curtain open to
scan the kitchen, and it was empty once more. I stretched my legs out to get the blood flowing and ducked out from underneath the counter.
“
Minor setback,”
I channeled. “
On my way again.”
“Setback? What do you mean?”
Logan asked.
Shouldn’t have told him that.
“
It was nothing, just a guy grabbing a beer.”
Quickly making my way back down
the hallway that I had just abandoned, I saw an open door, leading into a room with the lights off. Please let that be the office. Following the cherry wood paneling that covered every inch of the wall, I turned into the mystery room. The shadows of the bookcases that wrapped around the entire room showed me what I needed to know. I was in the wrong room.
I spun around
and quickly made my way to the hallway.
All clear. I scanned
the hall, which seemed to be getting narrower the longer I stood in it. It looked like there were two more doors on this side of the hallway, but the doors were closed. I really didn’t want that to be my course of action. Across the hallway there was another room with the door cracked open and the lights off.
The
floor creaked above me, and I realized there must be quite a few people upstairs. Maybe that’s where the beer was headed. If the media room was upstairs that would only leave so many options for where the office was. I glanced cautiously up and down the hallway before darting to the next room. The hall’s light sprinkled into the room enough so that I could make out the wall of short bookcases and a giant desk — matching my visions perfectly. There was a desk organizer and one of those metal, cradle balance games, but no glass box. My heart sunk. I know I saw her on the corner of a desk just like this. Where could she be?
A soft yet persistent tapping began, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
I turned around slowly to see the back wall completely covered by mirrors, and in its reflection were the bookcases and desk, but in this view the tiny glass box containing Bakula was visible.
I
quickly turned around to face the furniture again and no Bakula. I turned back to the mirror and there she was. I walked over to the desk and felt for the glass box based on where it was in the mirror’s reflection and was beyond ecstatic when I found her.
My time was running out
, and I wasn’t going to bother trying to break any spells until we both got out. I leaned over the glass box, only able to see a shadow of the little fairy who I adored so.
But she wasn’t moving.
“
I’ve got her,”
I channeled to Logan.
“I’m bringing the box with me. We’ll try to open it at the house.”
My fingers wrapped around the
glass and slipped off as I attempted to lift it up. It wouldn’t move. I placed my other hand over the box and heaved with all the strength my fingers had, but it still wouldn’t budge.
“Slight problem. The glass box won’t budge.
My fingers just slide off.”
“Try
Glutinosius Digitis,”
he replied.
“Got it.”
“I’m just going to check on our little house guest,” Eben’s words spilled down the hall.
Oh
, no!
I looked around and spotted a closet
. I ran to it and hid inside, closing the door softly. I didn’t want to risk my feet poking out from under the desk with that annoying magical mirror so this would have to do.
My grandfather flipped on the switch and
slivers of light shot through the gap around the door. My heart was pounding, and I was running out of time. I know I could get out of here on my own, and I didn’t want a rush of sorcerers complicating things.
“How’s my magical
friend doing?” Eben taunted Bakula by tapping on the glass box and laughing. “You’re looking a little frail, like you’ve lost an ounce or two.”
“Tell Trevor to stand down for a few more minutes. I know that’s not what we agreed to
, but I’ve got a slight snag, and I need more time.”
“Triss, what’s the problem
?”
“Now’s not the time to fill you in.”
“Goodnight, my dear,” Eben replied, turning off the light. I heard the soft click of the door as he left.
I gave it a few seconds and then slowly pushed open the closet door, revealing an empty room. I ran over to Bakula
and slid my hands on top of the glass case.
“
Glutinosius Digita,”
I whispered.
Nothing.
“Glutinosius Digita,”
I whispered again.
Still nothing.
“Babe, not trying to panic here, but it’s not working. I’m saying Glutinosius Digita and nothing’s happening,”
I channeled to Logan.
“It’s
Glutinosius Digitis, tis not ta!”
Relief spread through me as I whispered the words, “
Glutinosius Digitis,”
and the glass box stuck to my fingers without a hitch.
“
Uh, how do I get it unstuck?”
I channeled again frantically.
“Never mind.”
Magic 101 – Must. Not. Panic.
“Glutinosius Digitis Non Plus,”
I whispered, feeling my fingertips slide off the glass as the box rested in my palm.
I gently placed
it against my body and walked to the door. I didn’t want to jiggle Bakula to death. I slowly and quietly opened the door leading to the hallway and checked for any sounds. Hearing silence, I ran to the kitchen and kept on running, throwing the back door open and not even bothering to close it. My heart was pounding, and I was beginning to feel lightheaded, but I didn’t care. I just kept running.
Making it to the edge of the backyard, I hopped the fence and fell into Trevor’s arms. He was grasping me so tightly
I didn’t know what to make of it. The other sorcerers began shifting uncomfortably as did I.
