Tethered 02 - Conjure (5 page)

After staring for a while into the area Theo had occupied, making sure he was truly gone, I finally closed the door and headed to the kitchen for another cup of tea. I made a mental note to scour the books in the attic regarding teas and see which ones were best for calming nerves, because it appeared I’d need to drink a lot of it for a while.

A knock on the front door sounded, and I rushed to put my mug full of water in the microwave before answering it. Due to my talk with Theo, I’d nearly forgotten Kace was supposed to be coming back and everyone’s parents were going to be here in a few hours for me to meet.

Kace stood in the doorway when I answered the front door. He was dressed in a pair of dark, low-riding jean shorts and a pale blue, cotton T-shirt with some faded decal I couldn’t make out on the front.

“Hey,” he said, his face appearing boyish as he slid past me through the doorway.

I smiled. “Hey.”

The realization Kace and Theo had barely missed each other was not lost on me. In fact, it settled in the depths of my mind, and I was filled with an overpowering sense of gratitude and relief at how well that potential catastrophe had worked itself out.

The microwave beeped from the kitchen, letting me know my tea was done. I walked to retrieve it with Kace following close behind me. His hands were crammed into the front pockets of his shorts, his shoulders hunched up around his head. There was an awkwardness building between us that had never been present before.

“I talked with Adam on the way here. Everyone’s parents are excited to meet you tonight,” Kace said, breaking the silence that was choking me.

An empty feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and I swallowed hard. “Really? That’s good.”

Was it, though? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I was about to meet all of these people who wanted me to be their savior for some reason. Couldn’t they just continue to buy their spells from Theo’s family and not take advantage of their own children’s powers?

I didn’t know where the thought had come from, but once it entered my mind, I couldn’t ignore it. How was what they were wanting not wrong or greedy in the eyes of their children? What was
with
these people?

“Is Admer supposed to be here, too?” I asked. “I mean, I’ve already met him, obviously, and Callie’s mom too.” My mood was turning sour real quick.

“Possibly, they’ve both been invited.”

I reached into the cabinet above the stove for the honey bear I’d bought at the grocery store the other day. Pulling off the little red cap, I squeezed some into my steaming mug as I thought about how having Admer in my house made me feel. He’d withheld so much from me already. Kace reached into the silverware drawer and got me a spoon.

I raised an eyebrow at him as I took it from his fingers. “Already have my kitchen memorized? This means you’ve spent too much time here,” I teased.

He grinned cockily, his icy blue eyes lighting up as though my fun banter had been the icebreaker between the two of us he desperately needed to relax in my presence. “Oh, is that what it means, huh?”

I stirred my tea, blending the honey with the sweet wild berry flavor, without looking at him directly. “It does.”

Kace came around behind me, pinning me in place between his solid arms and the counter in front of me. He leaned in, putting his lips close to my ear and pressing his firm chest against my back.

“Anything wrong with that?” he whispered. His hot breath slid against my ear, making goose bumps spread across my body.

My sour mood disappeared

“No, nothing I can think of at the moment,” I breathed, enjoying the close proximity between us.

His lips descended, peppering the sensitive skin just beneath my earlobe with warm kisses that lulled my magick to just beneath the surface of my skin and dulled my mind. I enjoyed the feel of Kace, the way he seemed to awaken my magick, sparking it to life so it could course through me freely. Barely brushing his lips against the skin where my neck met with my shoulder, Kace’s warm lips made their way to my collarbone. When his tongue flicked out and licked along the bone, a slight moan escaped me.

“I love to hear all the sounds you make,” he said.

His lips, still pressed against my skin, grew firm as they twisted into an amused smile. He backed away, and I felt my magick begin to recede within me again, curling up into the place it had lived within me before he’d awakened it.

“I could say the same about you,” I said as I turned around to face him. Struggling to rein in my hormones, I took a sip of my tea. Glancing at the clock beside the back door, I checked the time—there were about four hours until I met everyone’s parents. My heart seemed to speed up and slow down all at the same time as I realized this. “So how do you feel about cleaning?” I asked randomly.

“Cleaning…” He dragged the word out and shrugged. “Not my favorite thing to do in my spare time, but not the worst either.”

“Good answer.” I took another sip of my tea. “Because you’re going to help me clean the downstairs before everyone gets here.”

I wasn’t a neat freak by any means, but that didn’t mean I wanted my house to appear trashed when I met everyone’s parents for dinner. It wasn’t the first time they’d been in this house, I was sure, so that meant they had previous times to compare it to in their minds. Kace had said at one point all of their parents and my biological mother had been close friends. This put added pressure on me to get the house in order. Besides, I was sure my grandmother had always kept it clean.

Hooking up my iPod docking station from my bedroom in the living room where we could hear it, I scrolled through my playlists until I found one that I didn’t think Kace would mind. It had a bit of everything mixed all together, but for the majority it was rock. “The Good Life” by Three Days Grace was the first song to play, and I couldn’t help but grin as the words filled the air. Wasn’t that what everyone was offering me if I chose to stay here and become initiated? A little piece of the good life?

“So you’re a rocker chick, huh?” Kace asked. One eyebrow raised as amusement twisted the corners of his lips.

“Somewhat. Why?” I held his stare and smiled. “Does that surprise you?”

He shrugged. “A little.”

“What type of music did you think I listened to?”

“I don’t know…like pop music or something of equal girliness.”

I snorted and went back to dusting the coffee table with an old rag I’d found. “Pop music or something of equal girliness? Like what?”

“Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Adele, Taylor Swift…take your pick.”

I flashed him a bemused smile. “Okay, I’m pretty sure you should not be lumping all of those artists together like that, first off. Second, I’m fine with all of them…except for Lady Gaga. I’ve never really been a fan.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “Another thing we agree on.”

I moved to the TV stand and sprayed a light layer of Pledge. “Okay, let me get this straight.
You
like Rihanna, Adele, and Taylor Swift? I find that hard to believe.”

He squished the pillow cushions back into place on the couch. “A beautifully exotic-looking woman, another with the most haunting singing voice imaginable, and another with some catchy lyrics and mad writing skills…hell yeah, I do.”

“And Lady Gaga? What about her?” I flashed him a crooked grin, curious of his answer.

“Any woman who dresses the way she does is seriously craving attention of some kind. She’s just not my style.” He moved to where I stood at the TV stand and crouched down beside me to organize the movies I’d left splayed about.

“I’ve never thought about it that way before. You’re good,” I said, my smile growing wider.

We continued to clean for another twenty minutes or so before I decided everything was as good as it was going to get. Then, I headed upstairs to take a shower and begin getting ready for dinner tonight. I was picking out my clothes when a thought came to me as swiftly as a punch to the gut—it wasn’t a dinner if there was no food! I raced to the top of the stairs.

“Do I need to go to the grocery store?” I yelled down to Kace.

He stepped into the foyer from the kitchen, drying his hands off with a dish towel. “I don’t know, do you?”

“Well, am I supposed to be cooking or anything for tonight?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Umm, why would you be?”

“Because…” I dragged the word out. “Everyone is coming over for dinner tonight. It’s sort of hard to have dinner if there’s no food to eat.”

Realization warmed the icy blue of his eyes. “Oh. Don’t worry about that. I’m sure Adam’s parents will be bringing something for us all.”

“Okay. I guess I’m going to hop in the shower then,” I said.

“Care for some company?” Kace asked.

Even through the length between us I could still see the devilish gleam enter his eyes.

I placed a hand on my hip. “I’d love some.”

He dropped the dishtowel and bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time until he was standing directly in front of me. His arms wrapped around my waist as his head nuzzled my neck. I squealed with surprise and delight at his motion. At the feel of his teeth carefully grazing over my shoulder, I closed my eyes and gave in to everything I was feeling. This shower was bound to be spectacular.

It was seven o’clock and my living room felt crammed with people. Kace sat beside me, his hand resting on my knee. If it hadn’t been for his touch and the effect it had on me, I would have been a nervous wreck. Instead, I was soothed and collected. My eyes darted around the room, taking in everyone’s parents again. Kace’s resemblance to his father was almost uncanny. They shared the same dirty blond hair and chiseled features, but his mother had given him his icy blue eyes. Although Kace’s were a little more masculine than hers, they each held within them that seemingly cold glare that melted away once they smiled.

It was Adam’s parents that I couldn’t decide on. He was the perfect mixture of them both. When he was beside one, I thought he was the spitting image of him or her, then he would move beside the other and I’d think the same. I’d never seen someone before with so much resemblance to both parents.

Callie’s mother sat down beside me on the couch, startling me slightly by placing a hand on my arm. “I’m sure this must be a lot for you to take in,” she said with a forced smile.