Broken Bonds (Valerian's Cove Book 2)

by H. C. de Cossy

  “This is not your fault, Theo.” Brendan said. “No matter how you look at it. This is all about Clarice, and some insane idea inside her head. This has nothing to do with you. You are a good person-Marissa would not be Bonded to you if you were not. The Goddess is very fond of us Caseys for some reason, for which we are very grateful. Our Bonded are truly the best people for us, and we for them. We will get over this. You are not alone. We will handle this as a family. A healthy, strong family who have an entire community standing with them ready to help. It will be okay, son.”

  Theo looked at Brendan, anguish in his eyes. Brendan nodded at him, and after a moment, Theo nodded back.

  11

  Siofra MacNamara and her partner, Nathaniel Brooks walked up the driveway to the Casey house. Siofra touched her brother’s mind as they approached the home.

  Ciaran, we have arrived.

  Coming.

  Ciaran came around the side of the house to meet them. An arm around his sister’s waist, he started to lead them back towards the patio. Nathaniel stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

  “Exactly what is going on here, Ciaran? Why have these two been attacked? Why would anyone suppress a Bonded pair? You said that they were compelled-to what end? Do we know? To suppress the Bond, rather than kill off one member, suggests that they were needed alive. For what?”

  “We don’t know. We suspect that it had to do with Theodore’s inheritance from his grandparents, but it does seem rather extreme. And, other than compelling them to stay away from each other in various ways, nothing else seems to have been done. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

  “You would think, if the person behind all this wanted perfect control over Theodore, they would have just killed his Bonded altogether,” Siofra added.

  “That would most likely have killed Theo as well, though, and she seems to need him alive for something,” Ciaran said.

  “If the person responsible is patient enough to take the long view here then we need to be very careful,” Nathaniel stated. “There could be more here that we do not yet understand.”

  “That seems to be the way of this case,” Ciaran acknowledged.

  As they came around the corner of the house, Marissa and Theo rose to greet them. Ciaran introduced everyone, then they all sat down. Brendan and Celine emerged from the house, carrying trays containing lemonade and snacks for everyone. Malia had returned from taking the children to school and was sitting in a chair next to Marissa.

  “Rose has spoken to Mrs. Thorndike, Senior, and they will arrive around one this afternoon,” Celine said. Ciaran nodded.

  “Let us begin, then, so that Marissa and Theo have time to rest before Theo’s grandparents arrive,” he said. He looked at Theo and Marissa. “Are you ready?”

  Theo nodded. “What do you need us to do?”

  “Sit back and relax as much as you can. Open your minds to us. Breath, as if you were to go into a Healing trance. Just let go. Nathaniel and I will do the rest.”

  Theo and Marissa did as suggested. They leaned back and closed their eyes. Marissa clung tightly to Theo’s hand. Both being practiced Healers, it was only a matter of minutes before they were deep in trance. Ciaran and Nathaniel had watched as their patients relaxed. Nathaniel knelt before Theo. He looked at Ciaran, on his knees before Marissa.

  “Ready?”

  Ciaran nodded. Both Fae placed their hands on their subject’s head and closed their eyes. They grounded and centered, then asked for the Goddess’ blessing on their work. Then each Mage entered their subject’s mind. Mind Mages could look into a person’s mind, read their aura, and if they were strong enough and skilled enough, learn everything there was to know about them. Every Being’s energy was unique and presented in distinct ways. Each Being’s thoughts were made of perceptions developed throughout their lives, unique to them. Thoughts were energy, and these energies presented to Mind Mages as colors and images.

  Ciaran took a moment to become familiar with the energetic signature that was distinctly Marissa. Her energy was green and gold, with threads of blue woven in. It was bright and clear, showing the strengths of her Gifts. There was a white luminescent energy that spun and danced through the whole that was Marissa. That was her spirit, the direct connection to her Soul. Mental Gifts, such as Empathy and Telepathy, often showed as colors as well. In Marissa, her Empathy was an extra clear Kelly-green energy interwoven the Gifts and spirit energy that made Marissa uniquely herself.

  Mental Gifts were not common in Witches anymore. Mind Magic itself was a mental Gift. Among the Fae, such as Ciaran and Nathaniel, the Gift was uncommon but still strong. Much stronger than among Witches. As Ciaran searched through Marissa’s energy, he began to wonder if perhaps her Empathy was what had kept both herself and Theo alive. It was so strong, it had amplified the Bond. It made it impossible for one to live if the other died. That answered the question of why Marissa was still alive. That, and the children. Ciaran was certain that if Clarice’s plans had failed with Theo, she would have moved onto the twins. But since Marissa herself had not known about the children until after Clarice had first moved on Theo, the reason for her continued state of being seemed to be the strength of the Bond, amplified by Marissa’s Empathic Gift.

  This did raise the question, though, of whether there was just one rogue Mind Mage involved. To suppress such a strong Bond would take an immense amount of power. Or perhaps the use of a strong magical artifact. They had not considered that before. In general, one human Mind Mage should not have had the power to carry this on for as long as they had. Another possibility was that a Fae Mind Mage was involved, but what would be in it for them? Human wealth would not be enough, especially for a long game like this. Unless Clarice herself was part Fae? What did they really know about her past, if anything at all?

  These thoughts flashed through Ciaran’s mind as he continued to examine Marissa at the core of her Being. He found the golden Light that was Marissa’s Bond to Theo. Its energy was muted, almost grey looking. The greyness was wearing off, parts of the ribbon shining brightly. As Ciaran watched more grey faded and more light shone through. The Bond was healing itself, now that the suppression had been lifted.

  Ciaran continued to look through Marissa’s energy. He found several energetic ‘hooks’ set in her, tied to angry red threads, deep blue threads of sadness, and sickly yellow confusion. Those were easily removed. As each ‘hook’ was removed, Marissa’s energy shone more brightly. Finally, Ciaran removed his hands from Marissa’s temples and sat back on his heels. Moments later, Nathaniel did the same.

  Ciaran glanced at his brother-in-law. “I found hooks in her energy, encouraging anger, sadness and confusion.”

  “I found hooks in Theo as well, for forgetting, confusion, and complacency. Something to encourage him to remain calm and open to suggestion if pulled upon,” Nathaniel replied.

  “It would have been easy to manipulate those hooks whenever the suppression was reset,” Ciaran stated. Nathaniel nodded.

  “I have done what I can for this first round,” Ciaran looked at Brendan and Celine, sitting behind him. “Marissa and Theo should rest. Tomorrow we will try again. Nathaniel and I will switch, ensuring that we catch everything that is there to be caught. This is enough for today. Also, I would very much like to talk to Theo’s grandparents when they arrive, and examine their energy as well if they will allow me to do so.”

  “Perhaps,” Siofra said, “We should wait until tomorrow to work on Theo’s grandparents and the children. Or spread it out over several more days. Theo is meeting his grandparents for the first time as an adult, yes? That will be an intense emotional experience for everyone. Add to that what has just been done, and Marissa and Theo will need time to recover before anything else is done, I think.”

  “I agree,” Marissa said. Siofra nodded to her.

  “I have a potion to help you sleep while your mind heals,” Siofra told Marissa. “Rest is the best thing for you right now.” She held out h
er hand to Marissa, who rose, pulling Theo with her. Siofra led them into the kitchen, then handed them both small vials of an olive green sludge-like liquid.

  “Yuck. Bottoms up!” Theo said, downing his in one shot. Marissa followed suit. Her face scrunched up. She stuck out her tongue.

  “Why do those things always taste so bad?” She asked, rhetorically. Hugging Siofra, Marissa pulled Theo towards the stairs.

  Theo turned as he reached the first step. “Please make sure that we wake up when my grandparents get here?” Siofra nodded.

  “Those were only small doses. You should sleep for about five hours. We will check on you when they arrive.”

  Theo smiled at her before following Marissa up the stairs.

  Out on the patio, Ciaran and Nathaniel were helping themselves to more lemonade and chocolate croissants. Using Gifts took energy. That was one reason why there were so few overweight supernaturals. Their magic ate up energy faster than their bodies did. It was always good to replenish as soon as possible. Most supernaturals were always ready to eat.

  Siofra joined Nathaniel on the loveseat. He handed her a glass of lemonade. “I think they will be ok,” she said. “I have a positive feeling about this.”

  “After you have had your snacks, Ms. Brooke, I would be honored to show you our gardens and greenhouses,” Brendan suggested. Siofra smiled brightly.

  “I would enjoy that greatly,” she replied. She took a sip and stood, handing Nathaniel the glass. Brendan stood too and led her away.

  Celine gathered up the glasses and plates. Nathaniel took them from her hands.

  “Please, allow me,” he told her. Celine smiled at the chivalrous Fae. Ciaran helped Nathaniel carry the trays into the kitchen.

  “Would you like to see the gardens as well, or would you prefer to rest for a while?” Celine asked.

  “If you don’t mind, I think we will walk into town,” Ciaran informed her. Nathaniel glanced at him.

  “Of course.”

  “We will be back before Theo’s grandparents are scheduled to arrive,” Ciaran said.

  Celine smiled. The two Fae males bowed to her, then headed out the front door.

  “Why are we walking into town?” Nathaniel asked.

  “It occurred to me, as I was examining Marissa, that there are three possibilities here that we have not considered,” Ciaran informed him. “Marissa is a powerful Empath, as well as a Healer, and has Gifts in Air and Water as well. One lowly human Mind Mage should not have been able to suppress the Bond for so long, nor compel them the way they were. Either there is more than one Mind Mage involved, there is a magical artifact that boosts Mind Mage Gifts involved, or there is a Fae Mind Mage involved.”

  “Then this is not about Theo’s inheritance,” Nathaniel mused.

  “Unless Theo’s inheritance is about more than just money,” Ciaran told him. The men stared at each other.

  “Shit,” Nathaniel muttered.

  “Exactly.”

  12

  By one o’clock, Rose, Rachel and Declan Murphy, Malia, Celine and Brendan, Siofra, Nathaniel and Ciaran were all gathered in the sitting room of the Casey home, awaiting the arrival of the Thorndikes. Expecting a car, they were startled when an elegant older couple materialized directly before the front steps. Celine and Brendan glanced at each other in surprise. Nathaniel and Ciaran glanced at each other sharply.

  Mr. Thorndike tugged down his gray suit jacket and glanced quickly at his wife. She smoothed the front of her lavender skirt, patted her French twist, then re-hooked her arm through his. They started forward up the steps. Brendan and Celine met them at the top.

  “Welcome to our home,” Celine said.

  “We appreciate you inviting us,” Mr. Thorndike replied.

  “I am Celine Benoit Casey. This is my husband, Brendan.”

  “I am Lucille Robillard Thorndike. This is my husband, John.”

  “I believe the Benoits and the Robillards are cousins,” Celine said.

  “I believe that you may be right,” Lucille replied. Celine looked at her for another moment, then stood aside.

  “Please, come in.”

  Celine showed the Thorndikes into the sitting room. Rose rushed over to them.

  “Oh, Mrs. Senior. I am so glad you came!”

  “Of course. We only wish we had come sooner.”

  “No one realized what was happening sooner, from all accounts,” Brendan put in. Mrs. Thorndike bent her head.

  “Where is Teddy?” Mr. Thorndike asked.

  “He and Marissa should wake soon,” Siofra said. “I gave them something to help them rest after the first Healing session this morning.”

  “This is Siofra MacNamara, her partner Nathaniel Brooke and her brother Ciaran MacNamara,” Brendan said. “Ciaran and Nathaniel are both powerful Mind Mages, and Siofra a powerful Healer. They are working to undo the damage done to Marissa and Theo, and to make sure that Clarice can never get her hooks into them ever again.”

  Mr. Thorndike bowed to the three Fae. They inclined their heads to him.

  “Please, sit down,” Celine invited the other couple. The Thorndikes appeared to be around the same age as her parents, the Benoits.

  The Thorndikes sat next to each other on the sofa. Rose moved to stand behind them.

  Mr. Thorndike cleared his throat.

  “I imagine there is some confusion as to why we sent Teddy away. I promise you, it was not done lightly.” He glanced at his wife before continuing.

  “Hugh was our only child. If this were just about money, we would have done anything to keep Theodore with us. We adored him. However, there were other considerations at stake. Lucille and I are Cosantóirí, Guardians. We protect magical artifacts. Our home is built over a vault. I cannot tell you what is in there, but we must protect it at all costs.”

  The Caseys and the Fae stared at each other in shock. Cosantóirí were a myth, as were the artifacts they supposedly guarded. Mrs. Thorndike smiled at their reactions.

  “I assure you, we are very real. When Hugh first brought Clarice home, we thought her nothing more than a spoiled, stuck up little girl interested only in Hugh’s family money. It surprised us that he was dating her, as she was unlike his usual choices in companions. In fact, there had only been two other girls Hugh had been interested in. We had thought that he would marry Ciara, the young lady he was dating before Clarice, actually.” Mrs. Thorndike, Lucille, paused to inhale deeply.

  “Hugh brought Clarice home to meet us his senior year at University. He was studying magical law. Clarice was studying communications, developing new tools to communicate magically over a distance, learning how to charm objects as communication portals. Clarice was quite a stunningly beautiful young woman. Hugh seemed dazed, astonished that this young woman of good breeding and unmatched beauty would be interested in him. We asked him what had happened between himself and Ciara. He brushed it off, saying that it hadn’t worked out.” Lucille paused again, and John Thorndike took over.

  “It soon became apparent that Clarice considered herself a princess. Hugh bent over backwards to give her whatever she wanted. They had a Yule wedding the year they graduated and moved into the family home in Chicago. Shortly afterwards, Clarice became pregnant with Teddy. When she was about mid-way through her pregnancy, we started noticing changes in Hugh’s health. He became even more reclusive-he was always stuck in books-and rarely left his library. Hugh died when Teddy was only a few months old.”

  Lucille took up the story again.

  “Rose had come to us with her concerns, and we had been watching Clarice. We could never prove anything, but we suspected that she was an unregistered Mind Mage. We began to suspect that there was more to her presence in our lives than a love of the family money.”

  “Then Rose told us she had caught Clarice compelling Teddy to sleep so she wouldn’t be bothered. Clarice had started spending time in Hugh’s library, looking for something. We think she was looking for information on how to enter the vau
lt. Hugh must have died without telling her. Clarice somehow knew who and what we really were. Suddenly her urge to marry Hugh and have a child with him became much more sinister. As Teddy’s mother, she had some security-she could stay in the house and keep searching. She would also be able to mold Teddy to her will, especially if she truly was a Mind Mage. Then, as the mother of the sole heir, if anything were to happen to John and I, Clarice would have the run of the house and all our affairs as Theodore’s mother and guardian until he came of age. If she were already compelling her own child, regardless of the effect it might have on his growing mind, I shudder to think what would have happened if she were allowed to raise him herself.” Lucille paused again, took another deep breath, her chest expanding.

  John continued. “We asked Rose to help us spirit Teddy away and find him a safe home. Lucille had been having migraines, and we were worried that Clarice was trying to get into her head. As Guardians, we have extremely strong mental shielding, so she should not have been able to. But the headaches were getting worse, and we couldn’t afford to take any chances. We were also terrified of what Clarice would do with Teddy if she found the vault, and he was no longer useful to her. Plus, of course, anyone who would compel an infant doesn’t deserve to be a parent to begin with. He is our grandson. We wanted only to protect him.”

  “We waited for several months after Teddy disappeared, then changed our wills so that Clarice would never get control of our assets. We put them all in an irrevocable trust, with the trustees chosen from among our lawyers and other Guardians whom we knew were completely honorable and trustworthy. We gave Clarice a small allowance and bought her her own house outside of the city. We made it quite clear that she was unwelcome in our home. Clarice’s uncle was on the Witches’s Council, so we were careful not to be too harsh with her-being a Guardian is often a balancing act. We kept an eye on her over the years, to make sure she wouldn’t go after Teddy. She looked for him for a while, but our Rose here has very potent protection magic, and she had put up so many wards around Teddy that we couldn’t find him ourselves. Which is as it should be. If we knew, then it was possible that Clarice could have gotten the information out of us if she tried hard enough. No one is completely unbreakable.”