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Authors: Jennifer Snyder

Tethered 02 - Conjure (7 page)

BOOK: Tethered 02 - Conjure
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I held my front door open while everyone’s parents, as well as Admer, left for the night. A dull ache pulsated behind my eyes as I said my goodbyes and thank yous to each of them for coming to speak with me. The desire to be alone for the night throbbed in sync with my forming headache.

“Take tomorrow and the rest of the weekend off,” Admer said. He wore a sly smile as though he were doing me a serious favor and needed me to know this. “You have a lot to process from tonight and a large decision to make over the next few weeks.”

“Thank you,” I said as he exited through the front door, uncertain as to what I should say to a comment like that.

After closing the door, I leaned against it for a moment, allowing myself a moment to catch my breath. The sounds of Callie squealing and giggling from my living room cut that moment short, forcing me to become conscious of the others still in my house. Kace came from the kitchen, holding a glass of water in his hand. He took a sip and eyed me.

“What did Admer say to you just now?” he asked, his voice sounding clipped and tense.

I pushed myself off the door and took a few steps toward the kitchen—a glass of water sounded nice.

“Nothing really. He told me I could take tomorrow and the rest of the weekend off. Why?”

“I just don’t trust him, that’s all,” he said, following me into the kitchen.

I glanced at Kace from over my shoulder. His icy eyes were deadly cool; he was serious.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I was watching everyone tonight, trying to figure out if one of them could be the one who paid for the Hotfoot spell and the red creature. Admer was the only one I got those types of vibes from. I think it was him,” he insisted, his features becoming rigid and sharp.

“Are you serious? Admer?” I scoffed. I reached into the cabinet by the sink for a glass and then began to fill it with cold tap water. “Why him? I mean, don’t get me wrong, there is something oddly off about him, I’ll give you that, but I don’t think he’s the type to put spells on people and sic creatures after them. Why would he? I work for the guy! Besides, didn’t we say it could be the Van Rooyens trying to get me to leave, too?”

I hated even mentioning Theo or his family, but Kace needed to remember them and their motives before he went around blaming my new boss. They seemed more likely in my book anyway.

“I don’t know what his motive might be,” Kace said, ignoring my last few words as an odd warmth ignited his eyes. It was as though there was an internal war raging inside of him. “But I know he’s definitely not who you think he is. He’s got a secret.”

I took a sip of my water before speaking. Kace had no idea how many times I’d thought the same about Admer in the short time I’d known him. “I think so too, but doesn’t everyone? I just don’t see how having me gone would benefit him is all I’m saying.”

“I don’t know.”

“In fact, I don’t see how having me gone would benefit any of your parents.”

Kace set his glass down on the counter; his eyes remained locked on it. “Maybe there are benefits, maybe there aren’t. Maybe it’s just jealousy. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I don’t like Admer and I don’t understand what type of game he’s playing.”

“Game? Who said anything about playing games?” I scoffed, completely bemused as to what he was getting at.

He was getting riled up and I didn’t understand why.

Kace gripped the edges of the counter and hung his head. “I don’t understand why he’s withholding so much from you. Why all of them are for that matter. What’s the point?”

My heart picked up its pace and I set my glass down on the counter. “What do you mean? What am I not being told, Kace?”

He didn’t answer at first. Instead, he continued to stare at the countertop as though the right way to say whatever it was that he was trying to say would magickally appear written across it at some point.

“I don’t know if I’m right, Addison, but I think Admer is your biological father,” he finally said.

“Bullshit,” I said louder than needed. “Why wouldn’t he have told me that right away? There’s no way that’s possible. I don’t believe it for a second.”

Kace looked at me. “I don’t know if I’m right on this, but it would explain a lot.”

“Like what?” I demanded.

“Like why you have your mother’s element, why all of our parents seemed to clam up when you pointed it out, and why he stared at you so oddly the entire time.”

“What do you mean, why I have my mother’s element? You heard what Callie’s mom said; it’s just the luck of the draw or something.”

Kace shook his head. “But it’s not, not really. For an Elemental and a non-Elemental, yes. But for two Elementals, no. The child will have whichever element is most dominant…in your case, Fire beats Water.”

I shrank back. What he said made sense, but why would everyone keep that from me? Especially Admer? Were he and my mother a couple? Had he not wanted me? Is that why he was spelling me to go away? Then why was he going to allow me to take my place in the initiation? It didn’t make sense.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why would he be so adamant tonight about me being a part of the initiation, then?”

“Maybe it was an act?”

I sucked in a deep breath; maybe it was. Maybe he planned on taking me out before the waxing moon.

Kace moved to wrap me in his arms, but I sidestepped him. I didn’t want to be touched right now. I wanted to be alone. I
needed
to be alone. My mind was going to burst if I didn’t get some time to sort through everything I’d just learned within the last few minutes as well as the entire night.

“Please, I just…I need to be alone tonight. Can you just leave?” I asked without meeting his stare. My fingertips pressed into my temples again, massaging away my growing headache. The murmuring of Callie and Adam met my ears and I motioned toward the living room. “Take them with you.”

“You can’t be serious,” Kace insisted. His hands hung limply at his sides. “You were attacked just last night by some creature, and now you want to be alone for the night? I don’t think so.”

My eyes snapped directly to his. “I’ll be fine. I just really need to be alone right now. There’s too much going on, too much to think about right now. Besides, for all we know, that thing could have had a time limit on it or something and that’s why it burst into flames the way it did. Maybe the time limit had expired.”

I didn’t know why I’d said it, the little lie about the creature Theo had told me to use, but I did. And I hoped it did the trick and allowed me some desperately needed alone time.

“Time limit?” Kace’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know that? I hadn’t had a chance yet to tell you I thought I remembered some Hoodoo spells had time limits.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples even harder. “I didn’t. It was just a wild guess. I’ll be fine, please just go.”

He released a loud puff of air and stepped away from me.

“Keep your phone with you at all times, then. I’ll call you later and check on you. Please answer. If you don’t, I’ll be on your doorstep,” he said coldly just before he left the kitchen to go tell the others it was time to go.

I didn’t reply. I didn’t even move to show them out or say goodnight. Instead, I remained where I stood, allowing the counter to hold me up. Binks came into the kitchen from wherever he’d been hiding while everyone was here and headed straight for me. He brushed against my leg, purring loudly, letting me know it was time for his dinner. My legs wobbled as I walked to the pantry for a scoop of his food. Kace’s muffled voice from in the living room, where he was explaining to Adam and Callie that I wanted to be alone tonight, flowed to my ears.

“See you later, Avery,” Adam called as I heard the front door open.

“Bye,” I replied as I walked over to Binks’s bowl with a scoop of food in hand.

Callie stood in the entryway of the kitchen. “I’m sorry this is all so much for you. I get it, I do, and I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice as she fiddled with her fingers.

“It’s not your fault. It’s just a lot to take in all at once and I really need some time to myself,” I said, hating the fact I was telling her to leave, that I was telling any of them to leave, especially Kace. I just needed a moment.

She nodded and smiled. “I understand. Let me know if you need anything though and please keep your phone with you like Kace asked.”

“I will,” I promised, knowing they all had nothing to worry about.

Nothing would be coming for me tonight, regardless if Kace was right and it was Admer, or not. It didn’t matter, not anymore.

Callie turned and walked out of the kitchen toward the front door. I stood at Binks’s bowl for a moment, waiting to see if Kace would come back in and at least say goodbye. When he didn’t, I put the measuring cup I’d been using as a scooper back in the bag of Meow Mix and closed the pantry door.

The familiar sensation of warmth I always seemed to feel when Kace touched me sparked to life beneath my skin, and I knew it could only mean one thing… Theo was near.

 

 

I glanced around the kitchen, wondering where he could be and if he was using one of his glamours, as he’d called it, to be invisible. The whites of Theo’s eyes and that of his ribbed tank top caught my attention from outside the back door in the kitchen. A yelp escaped me as I noticed him standing there, staring at me through the tiny rectangular windows.

“Jesus!” I said. I made my way over to open the door. “You have got to stop doing that to me!”

“Doing what?” His voice rumbled out of him and reverberated deep within me. A slight smirk twisted his full lips while he stepped into my kitchen.

“Appearing from out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of me like that every time!” I snapped, pleased with how stern my voice had come out, considering the effect his had just had on me.

“My nearness to you shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, there is a telltale warning that flames beneath your skin to let you know I’m close by, is there not?” he asked in a smooth, Southern tone with just a hint of smart-ass mixed in.

“True.” I met his stare dead-on. “But still.”

My eyes traveled from his face down the length of his torso, until finally stopping at his hands. He carried a large black cloth bag in one and a few vials in his other. There were Ziploc bags tucked beneath his arms as well.

“What are you doing here, and what’s all that stuff?” I asked, still eyeing it all.

Didn’t look like I was going to be getting that moment of peace I’d wanted any time tonight.

“I said when I had something for us to use I’d be back,” he reminded me. “Well, I found something I’d like to try and these are the ingredients for it. Now point me in the direction of your workroom.”

“Workroom?” I had no idea what he was talking about. There was no workroom. I didn’t even own a tool, and I was sure my grandmother hadn’t either because I had yet to find even a screwdriver.

Theo sighed. “The room you work your magick in.”

I stifled a laugh while reminding myself this was Theo I was talking to and not Kace, as my mind instantly created a dirty comeback to his words.

“Oh, it’s upstairs,” I said. I started for the stairs and Theo followed. I could feel my magick rushing to the back of my neck and the backs of my legs in order to be closer to him. It was an oddly pleasant feeling. “That telltale warning you were talking about, what do you feel when you’re near me?” I asked without glancing over my shoulder at him.

BOOK: Tethered 02 - Conjure
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