Reluctant Adept: Book Three of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (48 page)

What would happen if King Faonaín refused to accede to this demand? Would he attempt to bury everyone in the room beneath a ton of rock? Or open up the floor before I had the chance to prevent it?

Frustrated by their impenetrable language, I found myself squeezing Tíer's hand anxiously, which came as something of a surprise because I didn't recall reaching for it in the first place. So, when the amhaín uttered something rather pointed in the midst of her demand, I might have discounted it, except, with our fingers intertwined, I felt him stiffen.

Uh oh.

In spite of her assurance that the 'soon to be crown prince' would be pleased by her demand, I sure as hell didn't feel anything remotely warm and fuzzy through our bond. In fact, whatever she'd demanded of the king, it had Tíereachán shuttering our connection faster than a dragon protecting its treasure, but not before I caught the stray thought that I absolutely wouldn't like what his mother had in mind.

No wonder she'd stopped speaking English.

When everyone turned to look at me, I assumed the worst. She'd told the king he had no choice but to bond with me. It had to be. What else would cause Tíer to clam up? It was the one demand I'd made abundantly clear I wouldn't go for. Even Kieran was looking at me strangely, as though he couldn't decide whether to protect me or resign himself to the inevitable.

No, no, no.

I would not bind my soul to a megalomaniacal mass murderer—even if doing so meant preventing a bloody civil war. If that made me a selfish bitch, I didn't care. I didn't!

Not happening.

I gritted my teeth, preparing for the onslaught. They could beg and plead and I would
not
cave, no matter what they said. My soul was my own. It wasn't up for negotiation, not for Azazel and not for the sidhe. When I bonded my soul with someone, it would be for love and wanting to spend the rest of my life with that person. Maybe this made me a hopeless romantic, but too effing bad. It was my damned life.

At this point, I'd squeezed Tíer's hand so strenuously, it was a miracle he hadn't screamed 'uncle.'

King Faonaín affixed Tíereachán with his piercing glare, his gaze flicking briefly to our joined hands.

Brassal said, "My king wishes to hear it from the crown prince's own lips. Is his mother correct in her assumptions? Would this please you?"

Tíereachán frowned, turning to examine me.

Even though he'd closed himself off, I raged at him,
How could you even consider such a thing? He's not even a
fraction
of the man you are, and yet you'd tell me to bond with him?
I glared at him, stiffening my jaw as I now tried to yank my hand out of his grasp.
I don't care what you say. I won't do it. I won't bond with him. I'll die first.

The bastard refused to release me. He replied, "It does, my lord."

The king regarded him skeptically, no doubt noting my furious expression, and then gave him a terse nod. As the king turned back to his sister, Brassal announced, "Very well. We are in accord. My Chancellor will draw up the writ. Scanlon, will make the official announcement. The crown prince and his intended will be introduced at the convocation. Does that suffice?"

The crown prince and his
intended
?

I stopped trying to yank my hand away.

"Indeed it does, sire," the amhaín replied, a sentiment which was promptly seconded by Caiside and Scanlon.

"My lord, we will discuss the finer points of living arrangements and duties after the convocation," Scanlon declared.

My mind reeled, and I was sure to need eye drops soon, my lids pinned as wide as they were.

Tíer had a fiancée? And soon they'd be discussing … living arrangements? Did that mean he'd be returning to live in the Otherworld?

A peculiar burn kindled in my chest and it took me more than a moment to realize it was the acute flare of jealousy.

What the—?

Before it could get away from me, I clamped down hard.

Stop being ridiculous
, I scolded myself.
It's not as if you were in the running.

"Thank you, my lord. As this concludes our business, I shall bid you farewell," the amhaín said, executing an elegant bow toward her brother. "Until the convocation."

Beside her, Wade also bowed, along with Fisk, Scanlon, and Caiside.

At the superior tip of his chin, signaling his dismissal, she pinched the fabric of her gown, gracefully holding the hem aloft to avoid tripping over it, and drifted to where Tíereachán and I stood. Wade, Fisk, and Caiside followed a short distance behind.

"My son," she said, reaching out to caress his cheek. "Perhaps we will have more time together at your next visit. With the destruction of Evgrenya's gateway, Earth is the safest place for you both for the time being. Go now. If I'm not mistaken,
Anóen
has loved ones to attend to." She beamed at me. "Dear girl, you are everything I could have hoped for."

She moved away, taking Wade's arm, but turned to add, "I will see you at the convocation. Wade will send for you two when the time comes." With that parting comment, she tossed something that resembled a glimmering lasso into the air. When the lariat fell to ensnare her, Wade, and Caiside, the three of them vanished.

Great
. The convocation. Just what I wanted to do with my free time: Receive hundreds of scathing looks from all the townsfolk while watching the new crown prince and his disgustingly gorgeous fiancée announce their betrothal. My insides almost reignited at the thought.
Gee, I can hardly wait.

It won't be that bad
, Tíereachán assured me.

I shot him a dirty look.
Oh, so you're talking to me again, huh? Thanks a lot for making me a nervous wreck. Jerk!

I succeeded in wresting my hand away from him and folded my arms around the stone tablet, pressing it to my chest.
You could have told me your mother was playing matchmaker for
you
and not me. But no. Instead, you let me think I was about to be promised to the king like you wanted! I can't believe you did that to me. I was freaking out.

I came close to asking him why the hell he'd done it.

And then I remembered …

He'd retreated because he knew I wouldn't like what his mother was about to announce. I'd heard that thought clearly just before he closed himself off from me. Somehow, he knew I'd be jealous and possibly hurt and he wanted to give me privacy.

I wanted to hide in a closet and die of embarrassment. For the first time since binding myself to him, I regretted doing it.

I threw up my shield and forced him from my mind, shutting him out, exactly as he'd done to me.

"Lire— "

Overriding him, I squared my shoulders and announced, "It's time to go home. I need to get my friends. Kieran, are you staying or going?"

He frowned, the action twisting the scars on his face in a startling fashion, but I kept my eyes pinned to his, not wanting to offend him. "For the time being, I must stay. But …" He peered at me. "If you ever have need of me, I'm here for you. Any time, without question."

In my desperation to bury my lingering embarrassment, I nearly steamrollered ahead without so much as a reply, but I stopped myself because Kieran deserved more than an inconsiderate brush off. "Thanks. I like knowing that. Truly. Take care of yourself, Kieran."

With a doleful smile, he nodded and walked away, heading to join his father, who stood in quiet discussion with Brassal and Kim. The king, I noticed, had disappeared, and I couldn't suppress my sigh of relief.

I caught Kim's eye and mouthed, "We're leaving," and made my fingers walk. I pointed at her. "You coming?"

She nodded and then excused herself from their group, first bowing to Scanlon and then smiling demurely at Brassal. But when she rounded behind her mate on her way toward us, her grin turned impish and she surreptitiously groped his ass, knowing her movement was outside of Scanlon's view.

I stifled my laugh. Now,
that
was the Kim I knew and liked.

She stopped in front of me. "Okay,
Anóen
. Let's blow this popsicle stand. Jackie's probably worn a path through the floor by now with all of her pacing."

I'd forgotten about her and Diedra. I hoped they hadn't been too worried.

"Clotilde, for Nathan's sake, please bear in mind that it isn't yet night," Alex said. "A room with curtained windows is necessary."

"Right. My bedroom, then. Pretty sure I left the shutters closed in there this morning." And, since they were all safe from my clairvoyance, the psi-free environment of my home wasn't at risk.

With the plagency of my bedroom firmly in my mind, I scooped up our traveling band and sidestepped us home.

But not before I wondered whether I'd remembered to pick up my dirty underwear.

At our arrival, Alex whisked Nathan off his feet before the comatose strigoi could hit the carpet.

I'd never thought of my bedroom as small, but filling it with six adults, four of who were tall and broad-shouldered, left us little room to rumba.

I tossed the stone tablet on my slipper chair and pointed at my bed. "Put him there."

Although my whitewashed shutters were snugly closed and the lights were off, it wasn't so dark that we couldn't see each other. Thankfully, I'd taken the time to pull up my bed's covers and plump up my decorative pillows earlier in the morning. And no discarded panties in sight.

After getting him settled, Alex removed Nathan's shoes, I think more as a concession to my lovely duvet cover than the unconscious strigoi's comfort, because when I covered Nathan with my faux cashmere blanket, snuggling it under his chin and patting it smooth, Alex shot me a sardonic look, shaking his head at the gesture.

Fisk snorted, but it was Tíer's dark expression and folded arms that gave me pause.

I shot the three of them a scowl, turned on my heel, and strode out the door to the top of the stairs. Kim had practically flown from my bedroom at our arrival, and I caught a glimpse of her pink cardigan as she raced out my front door.

I arrived across the hall a minute later, still yanking on my gloves, to find Jackie fiercely hugging Kim while Diedra looked on, an expression of profound relief on all of their faces.

When Jackie's gaze found mine, she reluctantly released Kim and pointed at Diedra. "Your friend's a fucking saint. Poor woman. I must have grilled her a dozen times about your guys' meeting. Somehow she managed to keep me from tearing up the walls and the goddamned furniture. And when she saw you show up and save the king— " Jackie huffed. "There was a part of me that wished the king hadn't killed that sorry sonnuva bitch, just so we could know what was going on."

I pressed my hand to my chest. At the time, it hadn't occurred to me that, until Lorcán's death, Diedra might have been watching the events in the king's chamber through her mate's eyes. For a time, she'd possessed a uniquely horrifying window into the Otherworld.

"Thank you. If you hadn't gone there— " Diedra shook her head. "I'm sorry I tried to stop you," she cried, bursting into tears. Trembling, she hugged herself, her sleek black hair sliding over her shoulders to obscure her face. "I'm so sorry, Lire. I knew the shot … wouldn't hit you. I knew your djinn … would stop it. I … I had to make it look good or he … he …"

"I know, hon," I said, drawing close but helpless to do much more than rub her back. "He's dead now. And Nathan told me he made sure your family was safe. He had no idea what Lorcán had done to you or your sister until it was too late. I think— " I sighed. "I should let him tell you, but I think … he didn't anticipate where it would all lead. And once he started down that road, he got in over his head. Big time. The Otherworld's a pretty compelling place. For the strigoi, there's no daytime. And, did you know everything there is psi-free?—the sidhe, their animals, everything. I'm not excusing him. I'm not. But … I guess I kinda get how Lorcán was able to sway him."

She sniffled and looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. "Jackie's wrong. You're the one who's the saint, not me, not even close. After what he's done, after what he helped do to your friends, you're still able to see his side of it. I'm not like you, Lire. I'm not sure I'll
ever
be able to do that," she spat before covering her face.

"He will be punished," Alex reaffirmed, his voice cutting through the apartment. "And he will make restitution. You and your family will want for nothing. Nathan's clutch is no more, but you have a job with me as my clucer if you wish it, Diedra."

Lowering her hands, she stared at him, shock rendering her features slack. "Clucer?" The word came out in a gush. "You would trust me with such a position?" She regarded him with rounded eyes. "Why?"

"Because you now understand the lengths the domn would go to defend what is his. And, perhaps, because a certain someone demonstrated to me the value of friendship."

At my surprised gaze, he glared at me. "But this should not go to your head."