Tethered 02 - Conjure (18 page)

Admer glared at me with his lips twisted into a patronizing smile. My skin tingled as my heart dropped to my stomach like a rock. How long had he been sneaking around in the woods? Long enough to see me and Theo together doing that spell?

“What is?” I asked hesitantly, not sure what he had meant.

“You being out here in the middle of the night in your pajamas.” His eyes flicked over my choice of clothing before coming back to meet my stare. “With the Van Rooyen boy.”

The air rushed from my lungs at his words. He’d seen Theo and me together, but had he seen what we’d been doing? “I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk. Theo just happened to be up here too.”

“That’s a lie.” Admer called me out straight away.

My heart hammered in my chest. “Why do you say that?” I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry, and watched as Admer’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Because I saw what the two of you were really doing.”

I couldn’t breathe. “What?” I questioned him, not wanting to give away anything in case he really didn’t know and was just trying to get me to spill the beans.

It was something I had learned from Vera growing up—always make someone tell you what they know first so you don’t give away any incriminating information, especially when you have something to hide. She was a pro when it came to that. She may have told random strangers her life story whenever she got the chance, but when she had something to hide she knew how to keep a lid on it.

Admer’s hand came up to cup his chin as though he were lost in thought and carefully choosing his next words. “I know you’re not messing around with him. I’ve seen you and Kace. That bond is strong…as it should be between the two of you. But I do wonder why you were here, performing Hoodoo spells, with the Van Rooyen boy.”

I swallowed hard, but didn’t speak. Damn you, Theo, for not giving me a ride home!

“Something must have happened. It was clear by his demeanor tonight he doesn’t have any feelings for you… So why was he working on a spell in your presence?” He regarded me in that same studying way he always seemed to for a long moment. “I couldn’t hear everything the two of you were saying from where I stood, but I did hear that you two were trying to break something.”

“I really should be getting home,” I said as I spun around and began to walk away.

Admer reached out and gripped my wrist gently. “No. Stay.”

I jerked my arm free. “I don’t think so.”

“Fine, go.” He grinned wickedly.

What was he, freaking bipolar? His smile unnerved me. I swallowed hard and began walking again.

“I’m sure the others would
love
to know that I spotted you in the woods at night, taking part in a spell with the Van Rooyen boy…” Admer muttered from behind me, and I froze.

I could feel my pulse in my fingertips now. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. Unless…you tell me what the two of you were doing.”

I ran each scenario through my mind before I spoke a word. Attempting to determine which held the worst outcome—telling Admer that Theo and I were tethered or having him tell everyone else I was meeting with Theo up here and doing magick with him, Hoodoo magick. Of course, neither sounded good, but if I had to choose—which in this case I did—I figured telling Admer the truth was the better of the two. After all, he may not even know what a tether is. This was my hope anyway.

“We were trying to break a tether,” I whispered, still holding his gaze.

His eyes grew wide. “A tether? You two are tethered together? Lovely!” The smile that crept onto his face threw me off; there was something menacing about it. “I’ve only ever heard of this in old craft books. How did it happen?”

“I don’t know,” I lied. Well, partly lied. I wasn’t about to tell him it had something to do with my biological mother.

“But, you two are attempting to break it?”

“We are.” A thought came to me then. If he’d read about tethers in old craft books, did he know how to break one? “Since you’ve read about them…do you know how to break them?”

Admer flashed me a soft smile. “There are a few ways to break one.”

A cool breeze from the ocean blew and I gathered my robe around myself tighter. “Like how?”

“Death of one of the two tethered. If that’s not an option for you, then stripping your souls clean of the magick surrounding the tether would work, but it comes with a price too. You’d strip yourself of your personal magick as well. Or you could let it run its course. It had to have been placed on the two of you for a reason. Once that reason is accomplished, then the tether will be gone.”

I dropped my gaze to the ground while I thought of everything he’d just said carefully. I didn’t care for any of those options, especially not number one, and I was positive Theo wouldn’t even consider number two.

“So everything we’ve been doing…all the crazy spells, aren’t going to work?” I asked after a moment.

“No,” he said. “But there is one that might.”

I glanced at him then. His eyes were wild with excitement. “What?”

“The initiation spell. If you go through with it, then no one has to die, no one has to be stripped of their magick, and you don’t have to wait for however long it may be for the tether’s purpose to run its course. After the initiation, the tether would be instantly broken with the Van Rooyen boy because your bond with the Elementals would be stronger…and more natural to you and your magick.”

What he was saying made sense. But then again, it wasn’t something I wanted to do, just like the other options. I bit my bottom lip, nearly drawing blood, while I pondered what I should do and thought over this new knowledge.

“You don’t have to decide right this instant…but, Addison, I’d say the final option seems best.”

Regardless of how right he was in saying I didn’t have to decide right now, I still felt pressured beyond belief. A sensation that suddenly made me angry.

“Why? Why should I even trust you?” I asked in a low voice, remembering all the things he’d withheld from me since I’d met him and how Kace felt about him.

“Easy…because I’m your father.” He disappeared into thin air right before my eyes as soon as the words left his lips.

I blinked rapidly, wondering what had just happened. Then, I remembered the glamour Theo always used and noticed the ripple in the scenery gradually moving farther away from me. I decided that must have been how he’d remained hidden earlier and how he’d disappeared just now.

A heavy feeling entered my stomach as a sudden thought penetrated my confusion—Admer was my father. Kace and I had been right.

Tying my robe around me tighter, I started toward the path that led to my house, not wanting to be alone in the dark woods any longer.

I slept until a stray patch of sunlight collided with my eyes and blinded me, forcing me to shift a little in my sleep. This slight movement was all it took to wake my mind completely. The sound of voices from downstairs floated to my ears, and I wondered who my mother was talking to. A tinkling laugh echoed through the hall and streamed into my bedroom—Callie was here.

Slipping out of bed, I grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and tugged them on. I found a cotton tank top and bra, and then changed quickly into them. Everyone seemed to be seeing an awful lot of me in my pajamas lately. Scooping up a hair tie from on my nightstand before I left the room, I started down the hall, twisting my hair into a messy bun high on top of my head.

“I plan on going to Craven in the fall. I’m already signed up and waiting to hear if there are enough dorms available,” I heard Callie say.

Great, nothing better than waking up to a college conversation first thing in the morning.

“Why don’t you stay with your mother? Craven isn’t that far from here, is it?” Mom asked. The ever so practical one.

“Because that defeats the whole college experience,” I chimed in as I descended the final steps and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

“Morning, sweetheart. I thought I was going to have to wake you to say my goodbye,” Mom said with a smile as she tore off a piece of some pastry I was sure Callie had brought with her.

“Morning,” I said. I crossed the kitchen on a mission for my tea and a cup.

“My mom wanted me to stop by and see how you were doing after the other night.” Callie’s eyes widened as she realized my mother knew nothing about the other night and what it had entailed. “She was worried you might have felt overwhelmed by meeting all your biological mother’s old friends like that.”

I flicked my eyes to my mom. She was sipping her coffee, staring at the tabletop and doing a really good job of acting as though the mention of my birth mother didn’t faze her.

“I’m fine, but that was sweet of her,” I said as I filled my cup with tap water. “She had you bring over some more breakfast from her shop, huh? I swear I’m going to get fat before I leave here from eating all of her goodies.”

“Ugh, you and me both,” Mom muttered, her mouth still full of whatever it was she was eating. “This is incredible.”

Callie chuckled nervously. I could sense she was still thrown off by how close she’d almost came to revealing the talk I’d had with everyone’s parents the other night. “Thanks, I’ll be sure and tell my mom you liked it.”