Tethered 02 - Conjure (9 page)

Alarm jolted through my veins. He was going to use a spell against me? I thought of the two he’d already attempted to use and winced. “What type of spell?”

Theo took the towel from me and began to dry off. “One that was meant for me to use on you tonight anyway.”

My mouth shot open. “You were supposed to use something on me tonight? What? Who told you to?”

He wrapped his towel around his waist and reached underneath for his boxer briefs. They fell to the floor, creating a wet slapping noise that echoed through the room. “I was. It’s another Hotfoot spell. And my grandmother.”

“Well, someone really enjoys the hell out of using that spell, don’t they?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips and scrunching my face up in thought.

I glanced at Theo again, ready to ask him once more who was doing all of this to me, but my mouth clamped shut when I saw him. He was attempting to pull on his jeans while still remaining covered by the towel he wore around his waist. It wasn’t working out well for him. I caught a glimpse of a never before seen area on him and felt my face flush through twenty shades of red.

“Not necessarily,” he said, dropping the towel now that his pants were on. He buttoned the top button and zipped them while staring right at me. “Maybe they want you gone, but don’t want to be too rough about it.”

“Maybe,” I said, unsure about the reason he’d given, but glad he didn’t seem to notice the glimpse I’d gotten of his unmentionable area. “Are they the same person who sent the Boo Hag after me?”

That spell/creature seemed a little rough to me.

“I can’t say.” Theo’s eyes left mine then and dipped to view the length of me, leaving a hot trail behind in their journey. He bent down and scooped up his tank top, but didn’t put it on, then slipped his feet back into his sandals. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

I swallowed hard. “Fine.”

He turned and walked out of the room then, closing the door behind him. I took in a deep breath and tightened the towel around me before I bent over to retrieve my dirty clothes and head to my room. The sound of my cell phone ringing from someplace in my room made my heart lurch all the way to my throat. I knew who was calling without having to see the screen to be sure—Kace. He’d told me he’d call at some point to check in on me. He’d also said if I didn’t answer, he’d be right over to make sure I was okay.

That was the last thing I needed right now—for him to come over and see Theo in my house practically naked.

I bolted from the bathroom, trying to figure out what ring my phone was now on—three or four—and stepped smack in the middle of the Hotfoot spell Theo had said he’d be using on me at some point. The reddish-brown powder stuck to the bottoms of my damp feet like wet sand, caking them in a gritty coating. My phone continued to ring. It had to be on at least six by now and would definitely be going to voicemail any minute.

Without pausing to brush my feet off, even though every fiber of my being wanted to, I darted across the hall and scrambled into my bedroom to answer my phone.

“Hello?” I answered, sure I sounded like I’d just ran a marathon.

“I was about to hang up and head over there. Are you okay? You sound out of breath,” Kace said, his concern flowing through the phone and directly into me.

“Yeah, no, I’m fine. I was just getting out of the shower,” I said, looking down at my wet towel thankful for an excuse that was mostly true.

“Normally, this would be where I’d interject something sexual to take advantage of that interesting little tidbit like, ‘So are you still wearing a tiny towel or nothing at all?’, but I won’t. I’ll behave, but only because I know you’re stressed right now. Don’t think it’s because I’m losing my mojo or anything like that.”

I smiled into the phone and leaned against the frame of my bedroom doorway. “I won’t. Promise.”

“Good. So everything’s all right?”

I realized then I was still standing with the Hotfoot spell on the bottoms of my feet. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just sort of tired from everything tonight is all.” Again, not a complete lie. I was getting tired.

I wiggled my toes and grimaced while looking around, wondering what I could use to wipe my feet on.

“I’ll let you go then, but please remember to call me if anything strange happens,” Kace insisted, and I felt my bones melt at his genuine concern.

“I will. Talk to you tomorrow. Good night,” I said with a wide smile twisting my lips.

“Good night, sexy.”

My heart pitter-pattered as I hung up. I loved it when he called me that. Walking back over to the bathroom door, I began brushing the bottoms of my feet off with my hand.

“Lover boy content that everything here is okay?” Theo asked from somewhere behind me.

I whirled and came practically forehead to chin with him. “Don’t call him that and quit creeping up on me. I already told you that.”

“And I already told you, I can’t creep up on you. It’s not possible.” He grinned wickedly down at me. “And I’ll call him that because it’s exactly what he is to you, is he not?”

I took a step back and continued brushing my right foot off. “What’s it to you?” I didn’t get a quick retort like I’d expected. Instead, all I got was silence. I stalked back into the bathroom and rinsed my feet off in the tub. “Well…?” I called to him, still waiting for an answer.

“It’s nothing to me,” he said through gritted teeth.

I wiped my wet feet off on the rug in front of the tub. God, my mom would be pissed at me for doing that. Growing up, she always said those rugs were there for decoration only and were never meant as a towel to dry your feet on. In fact, they were never meant to get wet. Ever.

“Right, nothing. I forgot you cared so little about anything and everything involving me.” I tiptoed out of the bathroom, this time avoiding stepping in even a granule of the Hotfoot spell, and headed back to my room for some clothes. “I hope you know you’re cleaning that up,” I said as I closed my door behind me with more force than necessary.

Why was I allowing him to get under my skin so easily? Jesus, I needed a good night’s sleep.

“I’m not one for cleaning either,” Theo said, his voice loud and raw compared to mine in the silent house.

I scoffed at his response and peeled off my soaking wet bra and panties. Replacing them quickly with dry ones, I then pulled on a plain peach camisole and the matching Capri pajama bottoms that went with it. “So how do we know if the tether is broken? Shouldn’t I be feeling something from the Hotfoot spell by now?” I asked as I scooped up my wet towel and clothes from on the floor.

Theo didn’t answer. I opened the door and found the hall empty.

“You’ll know sometime tomorrow. It will hit you intensely and you won’t be able to ignore it,” he answered from the stairs.

I hurried to the top and looked down at him. “Are you leaving?” The disappointment in my voice was apparent even to me and I hated it.

Theo glared at me from where he stood at the front door. “Yep,” and just like that, he disappeared, succumbing to that invisibility glamour he always used when entering or exiting my house.

I bolted down the stairs and gripped onto the door tightly. “Next time, close the fucking door behind you!” I shouted, not caring who heard me screaming at nothing like a crazy person, and then slammed it shut.

Heading to the kitchen to retrieve the dustpan and broom, I thought of everything that had happened to me in the course of a single night—I’d met my boyfriend’s parents as well as my newfound friend’s; I’d learned about the initiation, some; I’d been told my boss could potentially be my biological father; and I’d taken a cleansing bath with a smokin’ hot guy.

Sighing loudly, I started up the stairs with a broom and dustpan in one hand and my wet clothes and towel still in the other, wondering what craziness tomorrow would bring.

I sat in my kitchen at the tiny breakfast nook in the corner, eating a bagel with cream cheese and sipping my last cup of wild berry green tea. I flipped through a book I’d found in the attic about the healing powers of tea. So far all I’d read about were the links between herbalism and witchcraft as well as the history of tea.

I skimmed the next few pages and came to a list of the top ten teas. Glancing over those mentioned, I noted two things in particular. One, I had only ever heard of three of the ten on the list. And two, my favorite, green tea, was nowhere on it. Apparently, I wasn’t drinking the right thing.

Next was a list of medical teas. I scoured the list for something to help with nerves, but all I saw were teas for fevers, diarrhea, coughs, sore throats, and ones to suppress the appetite, sleep aids, and headaches. The only words mentioned were nervine and nerve tonic. I had no idea what nervine meant, but a nerve tonic sounded like an alcoholic drink I could use right about now.

I reached for my phone and Googled both nervine and nerve tonic. Nervine meant: used to calm the nerves. And nerve tonic turned out to be a homeopathic remedy for nerves. Relief flooded me. I’d have something to calm all of this stress I was feeling without having to see a doctor and have them think I was nuts, which at this point in my life was sort of debatable.

Deciding I needed paper and pen to write a few of these names down so I could Google them later for any potentially serious side effects, I stood and crossed the room to rummage through the junk drawer I’d found when Vera and I had been cleaning the place up.

Skull Cap and Hops were the only two teas I was able to jot down before my cell rang.

“Hello?” I answered without looking to see who was calling first.

“Honey, how are you?” My mom’s voice jarred me from my thoughts and I stopped writing the next tea on my list—peppermint. “I didn’t hear from you yesterday. How are things?”

There was a slight sense of desperation in her voice. Our conversations were always odd and forced now. It was almost as though she thought I was being a stubborn little kid by staying here now that Vera was gone.

“I know, I’m sorry,” I said. “I was out sort of late with some friends I met.”

“Oh.” I could hear her tapping nervously at something. “So…have you decided what you’re doing there yet? Ya ready to come home?” She laughed, but it was forced.

“Mom, we’ve already been through this. I’m staying here for a while. I got a job at the bookstore in town and I’ve made a few friends.” I gritted my teeth, hating what I was about to say, but knowing it would keep her from asking if I was coming home for at least a little while longer if I did. “There’s even a school not too far away that’s pretty decent. I’m thinking of looking into it.”

There was an audible gasp that escaped her. “Really? You’re looking into colleges now? Oh, honey, that’s great!”

“Yeah,” I muttered. Had my being undecided about college really bothered her so much? For a moment, I imagined what she would have been like had I flat out told her I’d decided to never go.

“Well, I just wanted to call and check in with you. Let us know if you need anything.”

I knew she was getting off the phone with me so quickly only because she was about to burst with the news that I’d been looking into a college here. She had to go tell my dad.