Oath Bound

by T. G. Ayer

  Could I channel this power into something else, send it away where it won’t be so destructive? The air above the settlement could be too dangerous in case I ended up causing a lightning storm. The Veil was out of the question because there was a possibility that I’d rip a hole in the fabric that kept each of the realms of the DarkWorld safe.

  The only place I could think of was inside myself.

  I could barely address what this meant in the first place, how it was even possible that I’d be filled with this kind of power when I wasn’t even a true supernatural. A walker too far down the genetic line to wield any of her fae ancestors elemental magic. Just a walker with a limited mage power to track and kill demons.

  That’s all I was. Just a walker.

  But now a walker with her mind churning with unfathomable power. And now a voice, a hard-icy voice filling my mind with cold, triumphant laughter. Terror spiraled through me now as one other possible option hit me.

  Maybe I did have fae power. Maybe that was how I’d seen through their glamor. And what if Grams had only been the first point of contact, that by seeking out his granddaughter, Ainwyllian, King of the Fae Ancients, had had a more sinister intention: to find her and bring her home, but also to seek out someone else in his family with power. Someone else he could use.

  And now it seemed he’d found that person in me.

  But I couldn’t think about it, couldn’t allow myself time to think it through. Simply because I had to survive whatever the hell was happening to me right now.

  With all my will power, I tried to focus, to still my mind, to push away all the thoughts skittering around inside my head, to block out the laughter scraping into my brain. At first I thought I’d failed, that all that effort which had only weakened me, had been for nothing.

  But then, slowly, my mind began to clear, and the voice faded just enough to reassure me that I’d succeeded, if only a small amount. Still, it meant I had a way to protect myself and the people around me. I could still sense Dad on the outskirts of my mind.

  Dear Ailuros, please make sure he’s far away enough to be safe in case something goes wrong.

  I had to forced myself to focus again, to still my mind and try again to push away the laughter, to coral the power filling my mind. My body contained the energy as well, letting off a heat I could feel on my breath. I had to work faster.

  Focus. Breathe. Push away the distractions, dampen my thoughts. Repeating this process over and over I at last achieved a silence inside my mind that gave me back control. Control enough to reengage my mind and hone in on the energies filling me.

  And finally, feeling a little lilt of triumph, I shoved the magical energy inside my mind in one swift push.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  And then blackness edged my vision, spasms running through my limbs. Numbness filled my body and I slumped to the ground.

  My cheek to the grass, I blinked to awareness. In the brief moment during which I’d looked at everything within my field of vision, I saw Ainwyllian raising his crystal wand to protect himself from a blasting of power that sent him skidding across the grass toward the trees, unable to hold back the tidal wave of energy.

  The last thing I saw was the shocked outrage in his eyes before he vanished leaving the wave of power unchecked to plunge into the forest and tear down at least half a dozen trees before the energy faded away leaving destruction in its wake.

  Dad’s voice rang louder now and I sensed him fall to his knees beside me. Though I wanted to response I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I lay there realizing I’d avoided telling him the truth only an hour ago which mean right now he had no idea what I was experiencing.

  I was having another stroke.

  30

  I must have remained unconscious for hours because when I finally opened my eyes my body felt like I’d been hit by a truck, my head throbbed with the worst slamming pain ever and I could have sworn I felt hung over.

  In addition, the morning rays were poking through the gaps in the drapes, confirming the new day had arrived.

  Movement within the room drew my attention and I tilted my head to see my father sitting on a chair at the foot of the bed, studying the screen of his laptop, his eyes dark from fatigue.

  I swallowed and cleared my parched throat. “Water,” I scratched out, following the word closely with, “Pain.”

  Dad blinked and then tossed the laptop on the bed, scooting up toward me with his chair. “Kai? How do you feel?”

  If I could have supplied and eye-roll, I would have. But instead I said, “Water. Pain.”

  Dad nodded and got to his feet. He hurried out of the room for a few moments, rushed back to my side, then rummaged in a small trolley that must have been rolled in while I was out.

  Soon he withdrew a needle and an ampule that went about his business, injecting a dose of something into the IV tube hanging beside me. Only then did I register the needle in my arm and the bag hanging on the metal stand.

  I sighed as whatever drug he’d administered took effect almost instantly, sending waves of pleasure through my body and erasing the pain as it went. “That’s nice,” I muttered, sighing again.

  “Don’t get used to it. We don’t have too much of that lying around.”

  “What is it? Not horse tranquilizer again?” I asked, for some reason wanting to fill the dead air with words. Any words.

  Probably because I could feel the tension radiating off Dad’s body.

  Boy am I going to be in trouble.

  I shifted in the bed, pushing myself a little higher on the pillows. Already I wanted to get up and get moving, but Mom chose that moment to enter the room, thermos mug and bottle of water in hand. She placed the thermos on the nightstand and opened the bottle of water before handing to me. “You okay to hold it yourself?”

  I nodded and took the bottle, then drank slowly. I tired quickly, which was a concern. Handing the bottle back to her I sighed and sank back onto the pillows again. Then I glance over at Dad’s face to find him furious.

  His pale skin was even paler, blue eyes flashing with anger. “Kai? What is going on? What happened?”

  I cleared my throat, glad to find Mom hadn’t moved. “I’m not sure. I went to the gazebo but Tara wasn’t there. Then the whole place exploded and for some crazy reason the power ended up inside me.”

  Mom spluttered but said nothing though her arms were now wrapped around her body. Dad shook his head, then took a sharp breath. “What happened then? You had all this energy inside you and then what happened? How did Ainwyllian go skating across the lawn?”

  I shrugged, then felt the agony in my skull. “I’m not all that sure. The energy was inside me. I’m not sure what he wanted to do, or what I was meant to do. There was so much happening. I was terrified for what this meant for Tara. You were nearby and what if he hurt you? And the amount of power he’d blasted me with…I was absolutely sure that if I didn’t send it out safely, I would have exploded and taken Tukats with me.” I took a breath and the room remained silent. The air still simmered with anger, but Dad had taken it down a notch. I swallowed and said, “I didn’t know what to do with it. It would damage the Veil or bring on an electrical storm. What else I wasn’t sure. So I figured I’d try to contain it somehow.”

  “Contain it?” Mom asked, leaning forward, honey eyes glistening.

  “Yeah, like try to push it down somewhere inside me rather than blast it away. I don’t think it worked, considering what happened to the trees. But—”

  Dad waved a hand. “The trees are the least of our concerned, Kai. If you tried to contain that energy but some of it escaped to send the fae king, an extremely powerful ancient, skidding across the lawn only to giving up and disappear while screaming in fury, then how much of this explosive power is still somewhere inside of your body?”

  I cleared my throat. “Probably a lot.”

  “Where is it?” Mom prodded. “Where did you store it? And how did you know to do this
?”

  I shook my head slowly. “I wish I knew. I just thought of what I wanted to do. My mind followed through. I guess I willed it to do what I wanted and it obeyed, though not totally.”

  Dad huffed. “Well, that’s probably a good thing. Ailuros knows you don’t need any more of that power inside you, wherever you are keeping it,” he said, waving a hand at my head as though he suspected I’d hidden it inside my brain.

  He could be right, though I wasn’t at all sure how this kind of stuff worked. “I think it’s in my head.”

  “And that caused you to have a stroke?” he asked, tone neutral.

  “Most likely the overload of energy caused that,” I replied, keeping my own voice calm.

  “And all this energy you have still inside you? Can that not keep causing you to suffer more strokes?”

  I sighed and sat up. “I can’t be sure. And guys, it’s a little worse than just this stroke.” Dad stiffened and Mom also sat up, frowning. “There’s something you both need to be aware of. I’m sure what it means is that I’m able to hold onto this energy somewhere inside me, but the stroke tells me there is some form of danger.”

  Dad shifted in place. “I’m still waiting on those MRI results. Just assumed it may have been low urgency which is why It was taking so long.”

  I shook my head. “That’s what I need to explain. I stole the results before they made it to you.”

  The room fell silent, this time holding an edge of feline danger. “You did what?”

  I contained the urge to sigh. “I stole the MRI results because I knew what you would see. I couldn’t let you know until I went to Drakys to bring Logan back. So I took the copy with me.”

  Dad simply stared at me for a long moment, probably unaware that his panther eyes had pushed to the surface. Then he took a slow breath. “Do you happen to have a copy for me to look at?” he asked, keeping his tone even. He would have had to maintain a huge amount of control over his anger to speak so calmly. Which made me feel even worse.

  “My backpack in my room.”

  Mom left the room before I could offer to fetch them.

  31

  She returned within moments, stack of papers in hand. She gave them to Dad and then came to the bedside, only this time she stood next to me, arms folded, fury in her gaze. But she kept silent.

  The rattling of papers filled the room for the next few tense moments and finally Dad spoke, “When were you going to tell me?”

  “When I got home earlier. I kept missing my opportunity with everything else that’s been going on. Partly I didn’t want you to ground me again, but there’s also been a crapload of drama that kept getting in the way.” Excuses, excuses.

  “So why tell me now? What makes you think I won’t ground you now?”

  “Because I know there is someone who can help treat me. And I’m taking him with me.”

  Dad nodded. “Logan?”

  “Yes. Sienna treated me in Drakys so I know the healing effect of the dragon fire works to make me feel healthier. I just don’t know if it’s healing the damaged brain cells.”

  Mom sniffed. “I’d put my money on failure in that regard, especially considering the stupidity of your actions.”

  I bit back a retort and took a slow breath. They both had every right to be angry with me. But I’d acted not out of selfishness, but rather to ensure we had Logan on board. Still, it didn’t make me any less reckless.

  I sighed and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I really am. I should have told you when I had the first episode. All I can say in my defense was I didn’t do it for myself.”

  “Well, you certainly didn’t do anything to help yourself,” Mom snapped. “What if this reckless behavior only ends up making your condition worse? What if you’ve gone and made this irreversible?”

  I met Mom’s eyes and found there wasn’t anything I could say to defend myself. She was right. And I’d know that was possible all along. It just never occurred to the that I should take my own health into consideration when making such important decisions.

  Dad cleared his throat. “Does Logan know?”

  I nodded. “I told him today. He’s just as angry as you’ll are.”

  “Well, let’s hope he’s not too mad to do the fire healing when you’re on the mission,” Mom muttered almost to herself. “If I were him I’d refuse and insist you stay behind.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Then he’ll have to leave me behind without any fire healing,” I replied though I had a feeling she was just talking.

  She sniffed again and then shook her head before looking over at Dad. They shared a long worried look before she turned to meet my eyes. “Dad’s sending me off tonight. Cassie’s coming over to take me to the safehouse. After this second attack we can’t be certain that Grams has enough protection.”

  I wanted to ask how much protection could a human mage tracker give against a fracking fae king bad guy, but I kept the question in my head. “You’ll have to tell Grams everything that happened. She needs to know how the magic behaved this time. Because this, what happened today, raised a few more questions.”

  Dad narrowed his eyes. “What questions?”

  “Well, like how was I able to do this in the first place? Grams said nobody in the family received fae powers other than her. But what happened today…that sure as Hel felt like some kind of power that I’ve never felt before.”

  “Do you think it could be more because you were infused with his power? He sent that energy straight into you, like he wanted to blow you up,” Dad said, his voice gruff now, probably recalling the events of the evening.

  I frowned. “I guess that’s possible. Maybe he transferred some of his power to me with the energy. He really did look shocked when his energy blast boomeranged on him.”

  Dad nodded, though his expression said his mind was already elsewhere, considering options and possibilities. “Okay, you stay in that bed. I’ll have Logan come back to administer some of his fire healing tonight, and then when you get up in the morning. If you are going to Mithras you will need all the help you can get.”

  Dad was turning to leave when I said, “Has anyone tried to contact Tara again?” I was more than worried now, considering the second attack at the house had taken place using the fae queen as bait.

  Turning on his heel, Dad looked at me. “I’ll try and track her down. Maybe Horner can give us a hand. Or perhaps Jess. I’ll let you know.”

  Then he was gone leaving me along with Mom, mentally crossing my fingers that Jacinta Carnarvon, the one titan I was on friendly terms with, would be able to track down Tara.

  The more I thought about Tara the more scared I became.

  “You have to keep it together, honey,” Mom said softly, taking hold of my hand.

  Startled at her words, I looked up and met her eyes. “I’m worried about Tara. Really worried.”

  “I know, but you can’t let it distract you. Focus on one thing at a time, okay?”

  I nodded then reached out to give her a hug. “I guess you’re going to go and bring Grams back huh?”

  Mom scowled. “How did you know?”

  I tilted my head. “Well, this whole thing seems to be pointing in the direction of the Ni’amh. And you and Grams are the ones with those secrets all stored away up here,” I said, tapping my forefinger against her temple. “I’m thinking there’s more info there that the pair of you need to share.”

  Mom snorted, then rolled her eyes. “Can’t keep anything away from you, can I?” She gave me another hug. “Hang in there until I get back. I promise we’ll tell you all everything as soon as we are back. Just stay alive, okay?”

  I smirked. “I promise,” I replied, lifting my hand to reveal my fingers crossed for good luck.

  Mom kissed my forehead and then hurried out of the room, leaving me to wallow in self-pity all by myself.

  32

  When Logan arrived a half hour later, he entered the room his face dark though he didn’t tell me off. Instead h
e came to my side and sat beside me. “How do you feel?”

  “Weird.”

  “That’s…interesting.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know what’s happening. I honestly think there’s something else happening here that I can’t figure out.”

  Logan studied my face, anger fading to be replied by worry. “What do you want to do? Can I do anything to help? Other than the fire-healing?”

  I thought for a few seconds. “Could Darcy have a nosy around inside there to see if everything checks out?”

  Logan smirked. “Not sure she would ever give that diagnosis, but I’ll get her. She’s downstairs, and just about to leave.”

  Before I nodded Logan was hurrying out of the room. He returned moments later with Darcy in tow. Her grey eyes were pale as she hurried to me. “How are you feeling? I heard what happened but we weren’t allowed to visit until your Dad gave us the okay.”

  I smiled. “I’m fine for now. But I need you to do your thing. Just check and tell me that everything’s not a puddle of mush inside there.”

  Darcy smirked and shook her head, then glanced over at Logan. “Have you done your thing yet?”

  Logan shook his head. “Probably best for you to do a pre- and post- assessment. That may give us a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”

  Darcy nodded and waved at me to settle back. I’d been through his enough to know the process so I sank against the pillows and relaxed, letting her poke around inside my head, hoping to hell all the details Grams told me remained tucked away out of the mindmelder’s sight.

  Moments later, she straightened and took a slow breath. “Okay. I’m not sure what’s happening but I can’t get in. If I wasn’t sure that you’d tell me if someone had gone in and messed around in there, I’d suspect you’d had some kind of ward erected around your mind.”

  I blinked, looked at Logan, then looked back at Darcy. “Could the magic power Ainwyllian sent into me have created that ward?”