Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) (16 page)

My eyes scanned the front of the house, searching for any
lights on, but found nothing. It looked abandoned ages ago and overtaken by Mother
Nature. I was amazed someone—let alone a few someones—lived here. Beads of
sweat dotted my upper lip and along my forehead, either from the chill of the
morning turning into the expected afternoon heat or flat-out nerves. Both were
plausible.

I cut the engine and swept my hand across my forehead,
wiping away the sweat, while readying myself to find Theo and learn if
everything I’d gone through last night had been worth it. Opening my driver’s
side door slowly, I climbed out on weak legs and started toward the crumbling
stairs leading up to the peeling front door. My sandals crunched in the loose
gravel, and then slapped loudly across the concrete steps.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered as I readied myself to
knock on the door.

It pulled open before I was able to knock, revealing a tall,
dark-skinned girl with amazingly bright caramel-colored eyes and ruby red lips.
She appeared to be no older than I was. I jerked back from the door and covered
my heart with my hand, catching the breath that had been startled out of me by
her sudden presence.

“Didn’t mean to scare ya,” she claimed, but the malevolent
smile stretched on her face led me to believe something else entirely. “You’re
the girl looking for Theo.”

It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement with a heavy
dose of judgment all wrapped together in a pretty little bow.

“Yeah, I am,” I said, going for nonchalant and failing
miserably.

The girl was intimidating to say the least.

“He’s in the carriage house out back,” she said, the
devilish gleam still sparkling in her eyes. It was almost as if I intrigued
her. “That’s where he lives.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Do I just go around this way?” I pointed
to the side of the house, unsure.

“No, you can cut through the house,” she said, stepping
aside. “Come on in.”

My stomach knotted as I crossed the threshold. I didn’t like
the vibes this house gave off. Or maybe it was just this girl.

Sweat beaded across my brow again as I took notice of the
temperature in the house—it was the same as outside. Obviously, it had no AC. I
enjoyed heat just as much as the next Fire Elemental, but sometimes it was too
much—even for me.

“I’m Kyra, by the way.” She introduced herself in a Southern
tone.

Kyra
, I knew that name from somewhere, but couldn’t
figure out where. After a few more steps across the tiled entrance, which led
past a grand staircase, I finally remembered where I knew the name from.

“You’re Theo’s cousin, aren’t you?” I asked, my eyes zeroing
in on her.

Her red lips formed into another smile, and she shifted her
intensely beautiful eyes to meet my stare. “I see Theo has talked with you
about me. That’s interesting.”

“Not much, he just mentioned you once,” I said,
backtracking.

She opened a door made of tiny square windows, which led out
to the backyard. “I’m sure he had a reason…question is, what was that reason?
What did he mention me in reference to?” she asked as we stepped through the
door.

I swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. Then I remembered
what Theo had said about her, how her parents practically pimped her out for
her mixed-breed magick. How she’d been trapped under their thumb.

“He said my situation reminded him of you.” I went for
honesty. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do, but what else should I have said
in the moment?

Her eyes skimmed over me, the devilish glare leaving them.
The smirk that had been twisted in place on her lips since first seeing me
dissipated. She stared down at her empty hands, glancing over her red
fingernails. “Yeah, well, let’s hope that if that’s the case you do everything
you can to get yourself out of it.”

She looked so sad. I didn’t know what to say. Had she found
a way to get out from under her parents' thumbs? Or was she only here for a
visit of some sort? It wasn’t my place to ask, even though I wanted to.

“Theo’s house is through those trees,” she said. “I know all
about the tether; Theo filled me in. I also know about your
other
situation. Listen to Theo when he tells you to be careful with the others. As
he said, betrayal can hide in the eyes of those we trust most. I should know.”
She turned around, leaving me standing alone in the shaded backyard.

She disappeared through the glass door before I had a chance
to respond.

Remaining where I stood for a moment, I took in all that
Kyra had said. Why did everyone keep warning me about the others? What was I
not seeing and which team was deceiving me—the Elementals or the Conjurers?

Glancing in the direction Kyra had pointed, I noticed a
footpath barely wider than three feet etched into the ground and decided to
take it. Tall trees with twisted branches lined both sides, same as they had
the driveway. I let out a slow breath and started forward, worried Kyra might
be staring at me through the windows and not wanting to waste much more time.
Everyone at my house was probably already awake and would soon start to wonder
where I was. After pulling my cell from my back pocket to check the time, I
realized with a falling heart I didn’t have any cell service.

Awesome. I’d just snuck out of my house to go visit the
Conjurers’ house, which was in the middle of nowhere, without cell service.
Smart move, Addison.

The walk from the main house to the carriage house wasn’t a
long one, but it still gave me plenty of time to doubt my being here. If the
tether was broken like it should be, I was certain I was the last person Theo
ever wanted to see again. Yet, here I was, about to show up at his doorstep.
Unannounced.

A small two-story house came into view. It was the same
dingy shade of white as the main house and had the same Haint Blue-painted
shutters. There was a small carport carved out of the left side, and awe swept
through me as I realized it was meant for an actual carriage to be parked
underneath. Rock walls no higher than my hip lined the front of the house and
spread off to the sides, leading to nowhere. They were covered with some sort
of vine-like plants. I made my legs move toward the narrow stoop of a front
porch, and that was when I felt it…the intense heat that only Theo could bring
from beneath my skin.

Apparently becoming initiated hadn’t worked, and the tether
was still in place.

A tingling centered itself in my chest, and I had to force
myself to take in small breaths of air. My hands came up to run through my
hair, just as the chipped and mangled-looking front door opened to reveal a
confused Theo. He was dressed in a solid gray pair of workout shorts and
nothing else. The sight of him, on top of all our raw emotions, was enough to
make me lightheaded.

My mind shifted from question to question rapidly. Why
didn’t it work like it should have? How was I able to feel my magick this
strongly? How was it possible to look so good first thing in the morning? Had I
eaten anything before I came?

“What are you doing here?” Theo’s voice boomed through my
head. It sounded distorted and too far away. I couldn’t be sure if he’d said
the words aloud or in my mind. “How did you even find my house?” he grumbled.

My vision blurred for a split second, and then everything
went black as a sensation of falling barreled through me. My mind was still, as
though all thoughts had frozen, as I was sucked into the blackness that took my
vision. I felt myself hit something hard, and then heat from Theo’s hands
scorched my sides. Blackness overtook my mind, and everything faded into
nothingness.

My eyes fluttered open, and I realized with a start that I
had no idea where I was. Sitting up against my elbows, I noticed I had been
lying on a plush white couch, and a fan had been directed toward me. The room
was small. The walls were painted a neutral shade of beige, and the floor was a
knotted dark wood. Virtually nothing hung on the walls besides a simple mirror,
and a wind chime or two hung directly from the ceiling at an entrance to a
hallway. A shelf, crammed with little glass vials and plastic bags of roots,
stood directly in front of me.

Everything came crashing back to me then, and I remembered
whose house this was—Theo’s.

A loud noise came from upstairs somewhere, followed by a
“Damn it” in Theo’s velvety voice.

A few seconds later, I could hear him making his way down
the winding stairs in the corner. He stopped at the bottom step, another small
stand-up fan held in his arms.

“Oh, you’re awake,” he said. He walked to me. “I thought
maybe you got too hot or something and passed out, so I brought you in here and
placed a fan on you.”

Relief and curiosity along with disbelief filled me the
closer he got. The heat of my magick grew more and more intense with every step
he took. I watched him as he adjusted the fan and plugged it in. His arm
muscles bulged and flexed with each movement. My eyes trailed over the length
of him, noticing that in the time since I’d passed out, he still hadn’t grabbed
a shirt to cover himself.

Thank goodness for small favors.

“It wasn’t that… It was just everything, I guess,” I said,
rubbing my forehead with my fingers. “The realization that the tether wasn’t
broken like I thought it would be, your emotions, my emotions, no breakfast…it
was all too much.”

Theo’s face scrunched up in sympathy. He adjusted the fan
once more, and I got the impression he was avoiding looking at me.

“It was a shock to me as well,” he said, “but there was no
guarantee it would work, just like with everything else we’d tried.”

He seemed too passive about the entire situation. It irked
me.

“It should have worked though. Admer said it would,” I
insisted, pressing a hand to the side of my head where a pulsating pain had
begun dully pounding. “I needed it to work.”

Theo’s eyes grew intense as they sought out mine. “You’re
not the only one.”

Sitting up all the way, I fought not to topple back over
onto the couch from the sudden head rush I got.

“I know that, but still. I mean, what now?” I asked, my
voice sounding severely defeated even to my own ears. “What are we supposed to
do now?”

“We wait,” he answered. “It’s all we can do. There are
things set in motion for this. Something bigger is about to happen.”

“Like?” I pressed. He kept saying that.

Theo moved to sit on the couch beside me, causing the magick
in my blood to sing at his nearness.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Theo admitted. His large hands
came up to rub against his shaved head. “My grandmother knows something, but
she refuses to discuss it with me. All I know is that the Spirits have been
talking with her.”

“Spirits?” I gaped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Theo cocked his head to the side and glared at me. “I
thought I already told you, I’m not one for kidding.”

Rolling my eyes, I scooted back against the couch.

“You did,” I said. I slipped my sandals off and pulled my
legs up to sit cross-legged. “So, explain to me what these Spirits are.”

My words sounded rough and almost as though I was humoring
him, which I wasn’t, at least not entirely. I blamed my tone on a side effect
of passing out.

“They’re who my grandmother listens to,” he said. “I’m not
sure about everything they told her involving the tether and the two of us, but
I do know they informed her to not interfere any longer with your being here in
Soul Harbor or with this tether between us. She said they assured her a balance
was about to be set in place, one that would benefit us all.”

“So, now we’re supposed to sit around and wait for whatever
the Spirits have planned to happen?” I asked.

“Right.”

This was not what I wanted to hear. I was done with sitting
and waiting.

“I don’t like that idea. I’m sorry, but I can’t continue to
sit here and wait for this tether to go away.”

I stood up to leave, unsure of where exactly I would go. All
I knew was that I was not sitting on Theo’s couch any longer.

“You have no choice.” Theo’s voice boomed through the little
living room. He reached out and gripped my wrist with his hand, immobilizing me
with his touch. Flickers of warmth licked where his hand was fastened to me,
and my eyes widened at the sensation.

You have to accept whatever the Sprits have in store.
His
voice echoed through my mind.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t. I don’t even believe in that
stuff.”

Theo stood, his hand still tightly gripping my wrist, and
chuckled, obviously amused by my outburst. “And why is that? You believe in
everything else,” he said. He motioned toward the shelf crammed with all of his
Hoodoo ingredients.

“That’s different,” I said.

“How?”

My eyes darted to the shelf and then back to him. “Because I
can see it…I can’t see Spirits.”

His eyes darkened at my words. “You can’t see the tether
either, but you believe in that.”

“Yeah, because I can feel it,” I said, the truth of the
statement coursed through my blood as the words left my lips.

Theo’s hands brushed against my arms. As they trailed along
my bare skin, the magick always flowing through my veins heated to a near
boiling point. I didn’t know which burned me more in the moment—the feel of my
magick attempting to mingle with his, or the extreme urge to kiss him clouding
my mind.

An image of Kace and our conversation about my last kiss
with Theo fluttered through my mind and pulled my hormones in a tad bit as I
remembered how I’d told him it would never happen again.