Tegan's Power (The Ultimate Power Series #4) (25 page)

Okay, what the fuck?

I half expect Emilia to
be lounging nearby with a glass of lemonade in her hand, but she isn’t. She’s
sitting on a bench; her arms are tied behind her back with duct tape and the
same goes for her legs. She must have been crying at some stage because her
mascara has run all down her face.

I stare at Rebecca
again and understand exactly why Emilia had been crying. The little girl’s
blood is flowing through the tubes and out of her body where it floats in the
air in the shape of a rose. Theodore swishes his hands at the blood when he sees
me looking and the shape changes into a monstrous face. I jump with fright
because he does it so quickly. He giggles and the face dissolves and transforms
into glittering star shapes.

“This blood really is a
wonder,” he muses, seeming not at all bothered by our sudden presence. He
sweeps his hand out in front of himself and the blood stars turn into
glittering red rubies hovering in the air. Rita continues to swing back and
forth, taking us all in with no reaction. Roman, on the other hand, is staring
at the witch with interest.

As the blood swishes
through the air around Rebecca, I recognise that she’s standing on a human
sized music box. The blood begins to whistle as it moves rapidly through the
air, creating a shiver inducing tune. Rebecca’s body starts to turn around in
circles and Theodore claps in delight as he watches his horrific creation. He’s
playing with her blood, I think to myself, entertaining himself with the power
it contains.

The sorcerer’s eyes
flick to Roman. “I felt your presence return to the city, young Roman. Welcome
home, it’s been a while.”

“That it has,” Roman
replies and I wonder if I’m the only one who finds it odd that Theodore
referred to him as young. It’s not that he looks old, but I just get this
feeling that he is. Which only begs the question, how old is Theodore?

“We have come for
Emilia and the girl,” Roman goes on. “Release them and there will be no
bloodshed.”

Theodore suddenly looks
intrigued. “Is that a threat?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t like threats.”

“Few people do.”

“You know, I was once
threatened by another sorcerer about your age,” Theodore recalls. “I cut out
his heart for doing so. It was actually a lucky thing, because I needed the
heart for a spell I was casting.”

“Fresh hearts are a
rare commodity,” Roman agrees.

I almost laugh at how
they talk like they’re having a friendly chat over a cup of tea.

“This is outrageous,”
Marcel exclaims. “Grandfather, they have taken Michael’s hearing! Something
needs to be done.”

“Hush now,” says
Theodore motioning him to quieten down and returning his attention to Roman.
“Why do you want them?”

“They are not yours to
keep, and I have promised my kin that I would assist her in this matter.”

Now Theodore really
looks intrigued. “Your
kin
?”

“Tegan,” Rita says out
of nowhere. I’d started to think she’d lost the ability to talk since it’s been
so long since I heard her voice. “His magic looks like Tegan’s.”

Roman smiles widely at
her, so wide it’s almost creepy. I can’t tell whether he wants to kiss her or
kill her – perhaps a mixture of the two.

“You are related to my
dear little treasure?” Theodore questions with a disconcertingly cheerful
expression. “Why, this is a cause to celebrate.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be
doing that, Theodore. Now, return the girl’s blood to her body so that we can
be done here. I will kill this warlock I am holding if you refuse.”

“Go ahead, kill him. I
have no use for a deaf warlock,” Theodore says with startling casualness.

“Grandfather!” Marcel
cries. “Michael is our friend. We can’t let him die just like that.”

“Yeah,” I interject. “Poor
old Captain Hook here already lost his hand.” Almost everyone ignores my joke,
which, might I add, was pretty funny.

“Would you prefer I
gave up Emilia and the girl?” Theodore questions sharply and I see the crazy
coming out in his eyes.

Marcel remains silent.

Unexpectedly, Roman
releases his hold on Ridley, shoving him away. I’m about to ask him what the
hell he thinks he’s doing when he disappears. Seconds later he reappears behind
Rita. He takes the chain of the swing and wraps it tight around her neck.

She squeals and begins
trying to cast a spell to get away from him, but Roman casts one quicker and
her hands fall limp. I can tell he’s done something similar to what she’d done
to me and the others when we’d been forced into those head bags and jumpsuits
and transported to Crimson. He’s controlling her body. He leans close enough to
whisper in her ear, “Relax, dear, there is no use trying to fight it. I am
stronger.” His hand travels down her body in an undeniably sexual manner.

“Perhaps I was using
the wrong currency,” Roman says and Theodore jumps down off the monkey bars.

“Let her go.”

“I will once you do as
I asked.”

Theodore doesn’t make a
move and Roman tightens the chain around Rita’s neck, wrenching a gurgled cry
from her. Theodore’s eyes go black as tar, the dark irises completely covering
the whites.

“You will regret this,”
he seethes but Roman makes no move to release Rita.

Theodore closes his
eyes and moves his hand, shifting Rebecca’s blood back through the tubing on
her arms and inside her body. The box she’s standing on stops moving and the awful
music ceases. Once all of the blood has been returned to her she opens her eyes
and blinks.

Strangely enough, the
first person she recognises is Ira. She jumps off the box and runs to him. He
picks her up, holding her safely in his arms.

A chill runs down my
spine when Theodore’s black eyes land on me. “You, release Emilia from her
restraints.”

“Eye, eye, Captain,” I
salute him and hurry to the older woman. I pull a Swiss army knife from my pocket
and cut off the duct tape, which sizzles as though it’s been infused with
magic. She exhales in relief once she’s free and I lead her across the garden
to the others. She reaches for Rebecca, but the little girl holds tighter onto
Ira, refusing to allow Emilia near her.

What happens next goes
down so quickly that if I’d blinked I’d have missed it. Roman loosens the chain
from Rita’s neck and then my head goes foggy as he transports us all with magic
again. When I can see clearly seconds later I’m standing on the street outside
Cristescu’s and everybody’s heading inside the house.

Everyone except for me
and Allora. She’s leaning against the gate, staring at me in wonder. I smile at
her and she blushes.

“Well,” I say jokingly.
“Am I as handsome as you thought I’d be?”

“Shut up.”

“What? It’s a
legitimate question. You said you thought I was handsome, but I’m not sure how
good of a judge a pair of hands are.”

She glances up at me
now. “You’re very handsome, Finn. My hands are a fine judge.”

I take a step toward
her, closing the distance between us until there’s none left. “And you are so
fucking beautiful it’s hard to look at you sometimes,” I tell her in a low
voice, trailing my fingers along her jaw. She sucks in a shaky breath, unable
to make eye contact.

“We should go inside,”
she suggests.

“Yeah, we should. But
first, how are you feeling? Any weirdness from the magic?”

She shakes her head. “No.
I feel fine. All this light is a little hard to get used to, but I’ll adapt.”

I wrap my arm around
her middle and lead her inside the house.

It seems that Emilia
has simply replaced one pair for handcuffs for another, because Roman is in the
process magically biding her hands with rope so that she can’t cast any spells.
Tegan must be feeling better because she’s kneeling on the floor hugging
Rebecca.

“I’ll never let anyone
take you ever again,” she whispers in her ear. “I promise.”

Emilia watches her with
barely concealed jealousy, before exclaiming in shock. “Oh my God, please tell
me it’s not true. You’re pregnant!”

Tegan turns to her in
surprise. “How do you know?”

Emilia scoffs. “It’s
plain as day to see.”

“Yeah well, it’s none
of your business anyway.”

There’s a touch of
something desperate in her voice and Emilia’s eyes light up.

“You need me to help
you, don’t you? You need me to teach you how to survive the birth.”

“Shut up. I’ll come and
talk to you later,” Tegan shushes her and leads Rebecca upstairs to her room.

“Emilia,” says Roman
once Tegan is gone. “She is your granddaughter. Why do you treat her this way?
You should be cherishing her.”

“Don’t you dare talk
down to me. She has been nothing but rude to me since the day we met. Somebody
needs to put manners on the girl.”

“And that person is
you, is it?”

“Ha! I have far better
things to be doing with my time.”

Icy silence elapses
between the two of them and I cast Allora a ‘this is incredibly awkward’
glance. She suppresses a grin and I try to hide my elation at the fact that she
can actually
see
me now. I’m almost giddy with excitement. I want to
know everything she’s thinking, everything she thinks about me.

“I saw how you looked
at Theodore’s daughter,” Emilia says to Roman, breaking the silence. “You want
her.”

“She is a powerful
witch, too powerful for her age,” Roman replies as if that explains everything.
Emilia snorts.

Cristescu has been
standing by the window the entire time with his arms folded over his chest,
absorbing the back and forth between the witch and the sorcerer.

“Roman,” he speaks up.
“Might I request that you bind the house with magic to prevent Theodore from
getting inside? He is going to move against us after today and we need to be
prepared for when that happens.”

“It would be my
pleasure,” Roman answers and swiftly leaves the room.

Cristescu strides
toward Emilia and kneels down in front of her. She watches him with wary eyes
as he trails a hand down the side of her face.

“I apologise profusely
for all of this. It pains me to restrain a beautiful and powerful witch such as
yourself, but for the moment we must take every precaution for our safety and
your allegiance has not yet been solidified. I will put you in a comfortable
room and you will be provided with food and anything else you might need.
Please, call for me if you require anything.”

Okay, I have to admit he’s
good. The defiance that had strung Emilia’s body tight dissolves. She doesn’t
smile at him, but she doesn’t scowl either.

“Thank you. I
appreciate being treated with respect,” she says finally.

“A lady of your fine
standing deserves nothing less,” Cristescu replies in a smooth voice as he
helps her up off the sofa. “Come, I have had a room set up for you. You will be
able to rest there.”

“Your brother really
knows how to charm the ladies,” I say to Delilah once they’re gone.

She’s standing beside
Ira, her hand in his. “Ethan understands how essential it is to always leave
people with their dignity. He also knows the right things to say to earn their
trust.”

“He should become a
politician,” I joke.

“Well, he kind of is
one now, isn’t he,” she says and then tugs Ira by the hand out of the room.

I’m grateful to be
alone with Allora once more and I pull her swiftly into my arms. She gasps in
surprise but I muffle the sound with my mouth when I kiss her.

“Want to get out of
here for a while?” I ask breaking the kiss and she nods fervently.

Outside we find Roman
walking circles around the parameter of the house, golden magic streaming from
his hands. It wraps around the building as he mutters a Latin incantation. He
seems to be deep into it, so I make sure not to distract him from his task.

I’ve only known him a
day, but there’s something about Tegan’s grandfather that makes me feel like
he’s one of the good guys – and staying good when you have power like that is
no small feat.

I lead Allora to my van
and help her into the front passenger seat. Having spent the last few days
assisting her with every little thing because of her blindness, I’m having a
hard time getting used to letting her go it alone. I only realise I’m doing
this when I look at her and find her on the verge of laughter.

I have her seatbelt in
my hand and I’ve just secured it around her waist. “Sorry. Old habits die
hard.”

“It’s okay. It’s nice
to know someone cares enough to help. Still, I’m glad to have my sight back.
I’ll need to thank Roman personally once things quieten down.”

I hop into the driver’s
seat and start the engine. “Oh yeah, and how would you do that?”

“Well, normally if
you’re a seer like I am, the best way to thank someone is to tell them
something you’ve seen about their future. However, I’m not sure how much a
sorcerer as old as he is cares about stuff like that. It’s mostly humans who
fret over what’s going to happen to them.”