The Binding (7 page)

“What are you doing to my cat?” Tharin’s at the door with a pissed off look on his face. For a moment, both Cessa and I freeze, looking up at him. Then Cessa lays back her head and continues to stretch . I go back to my rubbing and scratching.

“What does it look like? We’re having a girls ’
moment.” I answer without looking back at him.

“Cessa!” commands Tharin. Cessa stops for a moment , then slowly sits up, pulling away from me. “Come. Now.”
S
he looks back at me and reluctant ly moves toward her master.

“Go find Mellis.” Without looking back, Cessa saunt ers out of the room, leaving me alone with Tharin.

The
dim light in the room is coming from a white ball in the corner ; it seems to glow brighter at Tharin’s entrance. I no longer have on Tharin’s coat, but I’m wearing one similar to his that fits as if it were tailored just for me .
The difference is that his is a long coat that falls to his ankles, while mine falls just below my hips.

He continues to stand there watching me. Not really knowing what to say, I ask , “Are you al l right?”

“Am I al
l right? Are you al l right?”

“Yeah,” I answer, “I think I’m okay , but you were hurt . T
here was bl ood on my hand, from your chest...
I think?”

“It wasn’t my blood.
Wait. You thought I was hurt? Is that why you felt that you needed to protect me, because you thought it was my blood?”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m not very good about thinking things through. I just thought I’d give you time to get away or just, you know, get help.”

Suddenly,
he comes over and sits next to me. The light seems to follow him, and it seems to me that the only area now lit is around us. I glance over at the light again.

Tharin must have notice d my confusion, “
I t i s calle d p answa , a light source from our realm. Panswa is a plant . O
ur people have learned to use its energy source to produce light. It will only light where it’s needed . This saves energy and the light last s longer.”

“That’s amazing .
”
Continuing to look at the p answa , I have the urge to move forward and examine it further, but I remain still. As if reading my mind, Tharin puts his hand out toward the p answa , lifting it from its corner . It slowly floats to us. I look at Tharin’s hand and remember how Tolan elevated us earlier with just a hand movement.

I whisper, “How does it work?”

“The plant itself produces the light. It is scattered energy that’s contained within the casing of the plant . I t is raw energy like everything else on E
arth. But our people know how to harness that energy. Like the plants and trees , t he grass, the water, the air, energy from the clouds above us, everything. A ll of them come into play when harnessing raw energy.”

“So it’s magic? You used magic to produce this light, to make it float?”

“It’s a little more compl icated than magic . Magic is creating something out of nothing using slight of hand, smoke and mirrors. But energy is real ―
it goes through us, fuels us and all of the elements around us. And, t he largest container of elements is Mother Earth. She draw s energy from all living things because she’s all that is living ; and with the right will, her own energy can be pulled in to produce a force never before seen. But none of it can work if there is no will behind it.”

“No will?”

“That’s right. L
ook at the p answa, Lily. How is it that it’s here now, lighting this room for us so we can see each other? How is it that its source is harnessed in a ball?” I feel his eyes on me, concentrating hard as if his focus would pull the answer from me. I turn to him and my heart skips a beat realizing how close we a re sitting.

I look back at the p answa shaking my head. All of a sudden I’m afraid to answer and make a fool of myself in his eyes. Q
uietly I reply , “I don’t know.”

The
moment we shared is gone . He takes his eyes off me and looks back at the panswa. I can’t help but feel that I’ve somehow disappointed him. I can’t explain the sinking feeling I have as the ball of light floats back to its corner settling down once more . Mostly, I can’t figure out why disappointing him suddenly matters to me. Feeling the need to put some distance between us, I move away by pulling in my legs and crossing them, keeping my eyes on the floor.

I clear my throat and ask, “So, you said that it wasn’t your blood. Was it the guy who was chasing us?”

Hesita
n t ly , he answers , “No. It belonged to the boy behind the counter.”

I feel the air suck ed out of me as the image of the young clerk behind the counter comes to mind. Tall and lanky, probably still in high school or maybe just graduated this past June as I did. I still can see his face, wide-eyed and scared.

“That’s not possible. I saw him get on the floor behind the counter.” I’m looking at Tharin now, wanting him to tell me we a re not talking about the same guy.

“He didn’t stay down, Lily . When we got to the door to the backroom, Rinis, a member of the Ange , came through the front. The guy just didn’t stay down, he got up and when he saw Rinis , he tried to make a run for it. That’s when I pushed you through the door. I thought I could get to him first. I did what I could . When I was able to finally send Rinis back outside , he got the clerk before I could . I didn’t know it at the time.
I tried to carry the clerk to the back room and that’s how I got his blood on me.”

“Oh, my God,” I whisper.

I feel a numbness come over me. I close my eyes trying to shake the image of the clerk’s face from my mind. He was just a kid . L
ike me , he had a life, probably even a family who loved him. This is my fault. I don’t quite understand what’s going on or why my own brother wants to hurt me . W
hatever Lucas’
reasons, I am the cause.
A guy I don’t even know has put his own life on the line while trying to keep me safe .
And, another died simply because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
For reasons I’ve yet to completely understand, Tharin will not leave my side until he returns with me to Velesi. How many others will be hurt or killed before that happens?

“Are you al
l right?” Tharin asks , bringing me back to the moment.

“Yes
.
”
I lie not looking at him.

I keep my eyes on the floor realizing the truth of my situation. I have to find a way to escape from Tharin. I have to find a way to get to my brother and talk to him without anyone else being hurt, or wors e , killed.
First, I have to find out where he is and how to reach him.
I have no clue how to find him . Who am I kidding , anyway ?
I’m just a girl from San Diego who knows nothing more of the world than a few feet beyond her doorstep. I think of Marilyn and Julia.
Julia!

I sit up, “
What about , Julia? Was Tolan able to get her?”

Laughing,
Tharin replies , “Yes. He was able to get her, and she him.”

“What?” I ask confused.

He shakes his head laughing to himself. “Your friend is fine, Lily. She’s with Tolan. And if we don’t hurry, I believe they might kill each other.”

I look at him even more confused. He stands and offers me his hand. I pause for a moment be fore taking it. When I look up he’s staring down at me with a strange look on his face.

“Come, Lily,”
he offers as he helps me up, “today we wi ll not fight.”

“Yes,” I reply, “but the day is still young.” He smiles at my words and I can’t he lp but smile back. He holds on to my hand as he turns to lead me out of the room. As I watch the back of his head , I think about how much he confuses me with his mood changes.
Should I be afraid of him?
Think about i t , Lily, why would he try and kill you when ever since he’s met you he’s risked his life just to keep you alive?
This thought comforts me, but something deep inside tells me he can still hurt me, maybe not physically, but hurt me he could . My thoughts confuse me .
I try to take back my hand , but he tightens his hold, glancing back at me. I stop and he does, too. He faces me , and steps closer .

“I’m scared, Tharin.” I can feel an unknown fear well up inside of me, a long with sadness .
I was afraid of him hurting me. The worst part ?
He wouldn’t do it intentionally , and , I wouldn’t know why until it would be too late. In only a few hours of knowing him, I feel something for Tharin that I haven’t felt for any one else. I don’t know how to explain it, but I do know that Tharin and I are connected somehow . The thought of him suffering because of me is something I don’t want to experience .
How did this happen? He doesn’t even like me.

Tharin takes me in his arms and my body reacts strangely to his nearness. It feels so right to be close to him, to have him hold me. I lay my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat.

“
It’s okay , Lily. I promise I won’t let your brother or the Ange hurt you,” he says it with such quiet conviction that I believe him.

I make a small laughing sound. He has totally misunderstood my fears. It’s not me that I’m worried about ―
it’s him. I have to find a way to get Luca s without Tharin. I won’t put him or Tolan in danger any more. My arms are between us and I use them to slowly push myself away from him . He lets his own arms drop to his side.

He reaches up and rubs my cheek softly with this thumb, “You’ll be al l right. We ’
re in Victorville now for a rest , b ut we’ll be making our way to Las Vegas . We should be there sometime this afternoon . W
e’ll be able to lose the Ange there.”

“
Las Vegas ?” I whisper. That new bit of information shocks me out of my depressing thoughts.
I’ve never been out of San Diego , at least as far as I can remember.
My f irst time out of San Diego and I end up in Victorville on my way to Las Vegas .

Tharin is pulling me after him again. When we reach the door, he puts his hand out for the p answa. As it floats to him, it starts to shrink. By the time it reaches Tharin’s hand , it’s the size of a tennis ball. Using the p answa to light the way, we make our way down the stairs.

“Tharin?”

“Yes, Lily,” he answers without looking back, keeping his eyes on the stairs as we make our way down.

“What happened? I mean, what happened to me in the alley? It was like my whole body was one big charley horse.”

He stops, looking over his shoulder at me, “
Charley horse?”

“Yeah, you know, a really painful muscle cramp, except in my case it was my entire body. It was like everything just locked up.”

“Oh
,” h e replie s, continuing down the stairs. “Y
ou were hit by a glick.”

“A glick?”

“Rinis’ spinning blade.”

“What?” I
can’t believe how nonchalant he is about it! “But, shouldn’t it have cut through me?
”

“Hmm…yeah, pretty much, but my armor protected you from its blade.
And once he was able to, Tolan helped heal your body .”

I listen quietly, and then ask, “Your armor stopped it? Do you mean your coat?”

“Yes. It’s imbued with my energy.”

“Your energy?” This time I yank my hand away.
He’s now at the bottom of the sta irs and I’m two steps up, so we a re eye to eye for the first time.

“What does that mean, Tharin?
Your energy ? Does that mean that a part of you has been spent, used up? Are you hurt because of it? Tell me, what does it mean?”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and I stiffen, “Yes, my energy, Lily. No, I’m not ‘
spent ’ or ‘used up’
from it because the energy has been infused in the coat for years now. Once the energy is separated from the will that created it long enough, it becomes one with the object of infusion . The stronger the will, the more powerful the energy.”

I think about that for a moment. I recall the spinning glick when it cut through the door of the convenien ce store, how it went through the far wall and then hurled back at us. I look at the coat on Tharin, then back at him. Is he that powerful that the energy he put on his coat from years ago could keep the glick from cutting me in two? I shake my head in disbelief. Tharin laughs at that and grabs my hand again continuing to the front of the room.

I almost trip over some debris on the floor, noticing our surroundings for the first time. When I awoke upstairs, I thought we were in a warehouse or office, but I now realize that we a re in an abandon ed house.

“
How did Tolan heal me?”

“My brother is a healer, like our mother,” he answers without elaborating further.

“
So, all of the people from Velesi can do this?
I mean , with the energy?
” I continue to ask as I watch where I step.