Reluctant Adept: Book Three of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (11 page)

"No, they are restricted to the material plane, but their tracking skills are unrivaled. Once set loose, they are compelled to pursue their quarry until it's trapped or killed. They are unrelenting and eternal. They cannot be killed or banished. They cannot be bargained with and are utterly merciless. They require no sustenance and have no need for sleep. Even if you escape to a higher dimension, as soon as you return to their plane, they will have you. Only a trained adept can escape them by harnessing a conduit to another world. This is why it's imperative that you go to my mother without delay."

Tíereachán stepped closer so that the lines of his face were plain in the moonlight. His expression was calm. "Kieran has a choice. You cannot make it for him, no matter how much you might wish to."

"Bond with some woman he doesn't know or face the Tribunal? Those aren't choices, they're punishments!" I fumed. "All because King Faonaín is a self-absorbed asswipe of the first order. Kieran deserves another choice—to escape with me—and I'm going to give it to him."

"What makes you think he doesn't already have that choice?" he asked. "Kieran isn't without resources. It is well within his abilities to follow in our path."

His response, aggravatingly composed and level-headed, as though we were discussing a camping trip instead of a life-changing escape into the Otherworld, pissed me off.

"He shouldn't have to follow," I exclaimed. "If I hadn't had my own personal Chernobyl, we'd be together right now. This wouldn't be an issue. I won't abandon him!"

"He doesn't deserve your loyalty."

I might have snapped back something hurtful if his tone had been harsh, but he'd sounded almost pitying. I frowned, unsure how to react.

He sighed. "Regardless, there are some things, even you, with your considerable power, cannot control. Kieran must decide what is most important to him. And you must find the strength to let him."

"So, that's what you expect me to do?" I glowered at him. "Sit on my hands and allow the king to shit all over our lives?"

"No,
Cúairtine.
I expect you to calm down, stop reacting emotionally, and
think
about what you're doing."

World Walker
. I almost snorted at his not-so-subtle reminder of my supposed importance.

My body flashed hot in spite of the cool late-night breeze. "Well, Mr. Iceman, since I'm obviously incapable of making smart decisions due to my hysterics, tell me, what would you do in my shoes?" I pinned him to the spot with my gaze, narrowing my eyes to mere slits. "If the woman you cared about most in the world was about to bond with some other guy or face prison time, you'd have no problem with this, right? You'd sit back, miles away, in the middle of a moonlit field, and let her face that decision on her own without lifting a finger to help. Easy as pie. Is that what you're telling me?"

A dark expression flashed over his features that I had a difficult time deciphering in the moonlight. "Easy?" he ground out. He laughed brutally. "I have no need to don your shoes, Lire. I know their torment all too well. And even though I'm no longer a world away, their fit seems to grow more intolerable by the day."

Huh?

At Tíereachán's brisk nod, cool fingers slid across the back of my neck and I flinched, realizing too late that Fisk had circled around to sneak up behind me in the dark. His minty breath tickled my right cheek as he muttered something foreign into my ear.

No!

I shifted to the balls of my feet, tensing to launch myself into the air, but my body had other ideas. All at once, my muscles gave way, every fiber suffused by tingling warmth, as though I'd been worked over, head to toe, by the world's best masseuse.

Unvoiced protest dying in my throat, I crumpled. Before I could worry about the ground rushing to meet me, oblivion rose up instead.

Show me one of your favorite places.

The thought floated to me in the darkness of my warm cocoon. Even in my mind, with no sound to vibrate my ears, the voice resonated deeply. A man's voice. Its lyrical cadence was familiar and comforting. It made me feel safe, but at the same time, I had the strongest urge to give its owner the middle finger.

I snuggled into the darkness as though it were a fur coat. I should have been angry about the voice's intrusion, but I was far too relaxed to do anything but drift, senseless and content.

Is it so much to ask that you would refuse?
the voice asked.

Unbidden, the image of a blond, vastly-appealing sidhe surfaced, followed by a surge of complicated emotions.

Tíereachán.

It all came back to me. The jerk had ordered Fisk to put me to sleep! And, now, because of our blood connection, Tíereachán had the gall to gatecrash my slumber. Not that this was unusual. Until a few weeks ago, before I'd rescued him from Azazel's millennia of torment, he'd visited me nightly for almost a month. In our joint dreamtime, I'd taken him places he couldn't have hoped to see in person.

With him back in my mind, I realized I missed sharing this unique connection with him.

And then I mentally shook myself.
He put you to sleep to keep you from helping Kieran! What kind of friend does something like that?

Wake up. Wake up
now
!
I needed to be aware of my physical body in order to sidestep. Besides, even if I could somehow sidestep while dreaming, I wouldn't leave Red behind. I had to be awake.

I tried to sense my body, lying on the back seat, and imagined feeling the rumble of the car as it motored down the interstate. Maybe I could will myself back to reality if I thought about it hard enough.

I've missed this too,
Tíereachán thought.

A jolt of pleasure sparked through me at his admission, but before I could even begin to scold myself over that particular brand of idiocy, his final word landed on me.

Did he say … '
too
?'

He thought I'd missed this? How the hell would he know? It's not as if I'd been following him around with puppy-dog eyes.
Cocky bastard.

Okay, yes. I'll admit we shared a connection and, yes, I found him attractive, but that didn't mean I wanted to act on it. Kieran and I were together. I'd never given Tíereachán
any
indication that I felt more than a platonic friendship toward him—attraction notwithstanding.
Hello!
I thought Hugh Jackman was a superior male specimen too, but I wouldn't throw away Kieran like last week's cold pizza in order to go out with him.

Yeah, but Hugh Jackman hasn't shared dreams with you,
my little voice supplied.
Nor is he immune to your clairvoyance.

And proving that my little voice is a complete bitch, it added,
Besides, Kieran betrayed you—more than once.

I told my mind to put a goddamned cork in it. This was Tíereachán's default setting, nothing more. The guy had chutzpah to spare. And he was trying to distract me from waking up. Well, it wouldn't work. I'd find a way to wake up and then I'd—

I'm sorry.
His silvery voice cut into my thoughts.
If I'd known how you felt, I wouldn't have forced myself to stay away. Without a world to keep us apart, I hadn't wanted to take unfair advantage."

Was he kidding? Unfair advantage? He knew how I felt?
Of all the arrogant, egotistical …

If this was his attempt to get me riled up, he'd thoroughly succeeded.

His chuckle rumbled through my mind.

Cúairtine, what are you afraid of?
His question hung in my thoughts, taunting me.

Afraid? As if!

Maybe if I continued to ignore him, he'd eventually go away.

Somehow, he managed to convey a sigh.
Please, indulge me. Likely, I'll not see these places but in your dreams. It's a simple enough pleasure that costs you nothing. Why not enjoy this time while we have it?

Incensed, I broke my stubborn silence to shout my thoughts at him,
Are you insane? You kidnapped me, and now you want us to enjoy our time together? What the hell is the matter with you?

In a swirl of blinding light, I shoved us into the most breathtaking landscape I could imagine from memory.
You want a favorite place. I'll give you a favorite, all right.

Oh, yes. High, high up. Overhanging Rock on Glacier Point—a precarious, natural platform shoehorned over a sheer three-thousand-foot drop to the floor of Yosemite Valley. I made sure to settle him with his heels pushed to the unforgiving rock's edge, the pristine view spreading out behind him, a tree-studded, glacier-carved granite wonder.

Blue eyes wide, blond hair blowing in the warm, pine-scented, afternoon breeze, he peeked down past his right shoulder.

I surrounded him within my telekinetic grasp and pushed ever so gently, not enough to cause misstep but to press my point. His arms flew out as he attempted to keep his balance.

Now that I had a voice, I shouted at him, "This is my life. But apparently, my dreams are now the only place I have any say. How could you do this to me? How could you take away my control? You, of all people! You're no better than Azazel. I should pitch you over the goddamned edge, remind you what it's like having zero control."

The nearby drop-off sent a tremor of unease through me, despite the fact that, here in my dream, it presented no physical danger to either of us. Even so, the thought of him plunging half a mile toward the inevitable
splat
at the bottom made my insides cringe.

"Control is precisely what I'm determined to give you," he replied, his wavering, outstretched arms the sole concession to his precarious position. "I seek to empower you, to give you the skills that will prevent anyone from taking advantage of your weaknesses. Yet, unlike Kieran, or Kim, or, even, Michael, I demand nothing in return. Who else in your life, besides Red, can say as much? That you freed me from Azazel's enslavement is a debt I can never hope to repay. I will not rest until you have the skill and knowledge to chart your own life. If it means you will despise me for my methods, then so be it."

God!
I wanted to grip his stubbornly set jaw and give it a hard shove. Instead, I issued a very unladylike shriek of frustration and stomped away. I vaulted over the stone safety wall and kept going until I'd pounded my way several hundred feet along the viewpoint's tourist-worn path, breathing hard.

Damn him! And damn Fisk!

If I could just wake up, I'd grab Red, sidestep us the hell out of the car, and then jet through that weird dimension all the way back home as fast as my body could stand. I'd never traveled long distances in the higher plane, but there was a first time for everything. I was pretty sure the djinn did it all the time. It was how they transported themselves from one place to another in a blink. Of course, unless they willed it, they didn't have flesh and bone bodies. My physical body, however, would limit how fast I could levitate myself. The higher dimension was devoid of physical obstacles, allowing me to travel in a straight line, but I could breathe there. Air meant friction. From my experience flying around the Seattle skyline, I knew my body, specifically my eyes and ears, could handle only so much buffeting.

Still … I could probably fly back home half as fast as Fisk had been driving. So, a few hours, then?

I'd never levitated myself for longer than twenty minutes at a stretch, mainly because I'd gotten too cold out in the elements to stay out any longer. In the higher plane, though, I wouldn't have to worry about the weather, but energy consumption was another matter. I'd never pushed myself far enough to know my physical limitations. Was it possible for me to run out of steam? Maybe, but if I did, I could afford to stop and rest. There was plenty of time to rescue Kieran and get away before Brassal showed up.

But what if Tíereachán was right? What if Kim alerted Brassal as soon as she noticed Kieran missing? Would the king demand that Kim open a gateway so he could send the Hunt after us? And, if Kieran knew of this risk … would he resist leaving?

Damn it!

He would. If he thought he was saving me from the king, he'd totally resist. He'd shroud himself to prevent me from using my magic on him. I could threaten to give myself up to Brassal if he didn't accompany me. That might work.

But if I had to blackmail Kieran to convince him to come with me … what did that say about our relationship? And, now … did I even want to continue our involvement, knowing part, if not all, of the reason he'd seduced me was because of my relation to his former mate?

I wiped my sweaty palms on my jean-clad thighs. Thinking about what he'd done made me feel … bad. Not quite dirty, but close enough to make me uncomfortable.

I stalked down a half dozen rough-hewn steps to a section of the rock wall that edged the lookout's rocky precipice. A cluster of low lying scrubby bushes and a lone intrepid pine tree had somehow found purchase on the broad granite plateau, green gems embedded in the dusty silver-gray stone. Half a mile below and stretching a good seven miles away from me, the high pile carpet of lush forest coated the valley floor, the iconic shape of Half Dome rising four thousand feet above the greenery like a stone giant's big toe.