Affection fluttered through me from him; he loved his grandmother. That was apparent. There was nothing sweeter than a man who loved his grandmother. I caught myself staring at his lips again, and inched a little closer to the car door separating us, wishing we could have a repeat of the kiss in the kitchen. Heat spread across my face once I noticed Theo’s pupils dilate. He was having as hard of a time as I was with resisting our urges.
I leaned back against my seat and away from Theo. “You’d better put your glamour back up. Callie will be back in a minute, and I don’t want her to see me talking to you.”
His full lips drew into a thin line. He placed one dark arm against the top of my door and leaned in closer to me. “Lapse in judgment.”
After pulling something from his pocket, he disappeared an instant later, turning into the rippling thing he’d been before with the help of another glamour. My insides burned with sadness at not being able to see him physically any longer. I focused on the sensation surging beneath my skin from his nearness, and the misery mellowed. Some.
“What’s in the bags?” Theo asked.
It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the oversized bags crowding Callie’s backseat, the ones our dresses were in. Shifting my gaze away from where he stood, I forced myself to look straight ahead.
“Our dresses for the initiation,” I said.
“Even after what I told you, you’re still going to go through with it?” Theo asked. His voice sounded broken and full of the desperation I could clearly feel stemming from him.
I was glad I couldn’t see his face, because if I had been able to, I was positive I would have done something stupid—like pulled him close to me and pressed my lips against his just to erase the desperation from his eyes, from his body.
“I am,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
The rippling wave of red paint on the car beside me disappeared then…as did the warmth swirling beneath my skin. The emotions of desperation and sadness stayed though, because they were just as much mine as they were his.
I showed Callie my work room—as Theo had once called it—in the attic once we got back to my place. She said she needed just a few things in order to be able to do the spell she’d bought.
“What will it do to her?” I asked, trying to ease the awkward tension that had filled the small room.
“It’s just a simple spell to make her not want to interfere with something of importance about to happen to me. In this case, that’s the initiation. I need a piece of white paper and a red pen so I can write that word down and give the spell direction,” she said as she glanced around the room, searching for the things she’d asked for.
Her face had taken on an ashen tone. This was not something she wanted to do at all. Instantly, I felt bad for her.
“I think I have some paper in the kitchen and a red marker in my room. Will that work?” I asked, figuring I’d try to help her through this as best I could.
Callie nodded, but didn’t look at me. She was busy concentrating on gathering the other ingredients and rereading the small scrap of paper Twila had given her. I jogged down the narrow stairs from the attic and headed into my room first to see if I could find my red marker. Binks was stretched out on my bed. His head lifted when I entered the room, and he gave me a sleepy-eyed glare, as though I’d disturbed his nap, and then he lay back down to sleep.
I found the marker on my dresser and headed down to the first floor for a piece of paper, before making my way back up to the attic, where Callie was waiting. She’d gathered all the ingredients and had already begun to fill the copper pot with them. I watched as she wrote the word “Initiation” in bold capital letters across the scrap of paper I’d handed her, and then folded it neatly. She tossed the paper into the pot, and then popped the cork on a bottle of water that had been set to the side. As she drowned the paper along with the ingredients, she blew in the pot, and a swirling white smoke floated to the ceiling.
Whatever she’d done had worked. At least I assumed it had.
“There, she won’t be able to interfere tonight now,” Callie whispered, dropping her chin to her chest. Her hair had come free from behind her ear again. I wondered if it was on purpose this time, because it seemed as though she were hiding her face from me behind it.
She lifted up a ladle and a tiny glass bottle. I watched her fill the bottle to the rim without losing a single drop.
“Hello?” Kace’s voice called from downstairs. “Where are you two at?”
“Up here,” I yelled from the top of the attic stairs, grateful for the distraction.
I wondered if Kace would agree with what Callie had just done. If he didn’t, I hoped he wouldn’t beat her up about her decision to do the spell, because she looked like she was beating herself up enough. The sound of Kace bounding up the narrow stairs to the attic met my ears, and in no time, he had me firmly in his arms.
“Hey, sexy.” He smiled as he nearly knocked me over. “What are you guys doing up here?”
“Hi,” I said, kissing him chastely on the lips. I waited a minute for Callie to tell Kace what we’d been doing. When she didn’t, I told him myself. “Completing a spell Callie bought from Twila Van Rooyen to use on her mom. It’s supposed to keep her from interfering with the initiation tonight.”
I swallowed hard while I waited for his reaction, wondering if he was going to fly off the handle at the thought of Callie using Hoodoo on her own mother.
“Definitely wasn’t what I thought I’d find when I came up the stairs,” he said, his voice sounding playful and not at all shocked like I’d imagined. “I think it’s probably a good idea actually.”
Callie started past us toward the stairs, her head still down. “I’m gonna get something to drink.”
We stepped aside, letting her pass. I waited until she was out of earshot before I spoke.
“I’m not gonna lie, I can’t believe Callie would put a spell on her own mother,” I muttered.
Kace grinned. “Well, she does have a good reason. I mean, her mom tried to get you to leave before the initiation. She more than likely would have attempted to interfere with us tonight in some way. Callie was just thinking ahead.”
A sudden coldness slithered through me in place of the normal warmth I felt when Kace touched me. I couldn’t believe he was agreeing so easily with what she had just done. Was the initiation all they cared about?
Kace must have seen my shocked expression for what it was, because he softened his features some.
“All I’m saying is, who knows what Susan would have done tonight in your mother’s honor to sabotage the initiation. This way at least we know there’s no need to be on our toes about anything, and we can all enjoy the night and the rite like we should be able to,” he said, his hands coming up to cup the sides of my face.
I took in a deep breath and forced myself to relax. He was right. Callie had actually just done me an incredible favor without even realizing it. By placing that spell on her mother, she’d indirectly made it possible to go through with the initiation without any hitches. Which meant, after midnight tonight, I would no longer be tethered to Theo. I’d also be free from guilt and then some. I should be thanking her, not talking bad about her behind her back and being judgmental.
“You’re right,” I said. Then I remembered what other things Callie and I had done today, like shopping and a certain dress I’d bought. “Did you manage to get your robe thingy for tonight yet?”
Kace slipped his hands down the sides of my neck and let them rest against the tops of my shoulders. “I did, the question is…did you?” His icy eyes flashed, and his lips twisted at the corners.
I pursed my lips together and attempted to stifle a grin. “Sure did.”
“Can I see it?”
“Nope, not until later, but let me just say, I look smoking hot in red.”
His eyes darkened. “I have no doubt.”
Kace’s lips brushed against mine, this time in the form
of a real kiss. I locked my fingers behind his neck. With all of the stress from telling everyone my decision, picking out a dress, and dealing with everything that had suddenly become amped up the last few days between Theo and me, this kiss was a welcomed and wanted escape. Until I began comparing it to another. That was when the guilt hit me full force again, and I had to pull away from Kace.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I whispered.
My stomach rolled and my heart raced as that loaded statement spilled from my mouth. The time to come clean was finally upon me. Kace deserved to know.
“What?” he asked in a hushed whisper, his eyes never seeming to leave my mouth.
“A lot of somethings actually, and I’m not sure where to start,” I admitted, sucking in a deep breath as Kace leaned toward me and brushed his warm lips against the sensitive area along my throat.
His hand slipped beneath my shirt and met with the bare skin of my lower back. “Start from the beginning.”
Kace tangled his other hand in my hair and gently pulled my head back farther, exposing my throat for easier access. His lips kissed along the side of my neck lightly as his tongue darted out every other kiss to lick a little. I couldn’t think straight. The words I wanted to say jumbled together in my mind, and what came out was nothing like what I’d intended. At least not right away.
“I’m tethered to Theo,” I managed to choke out in a small, breathy voice.
Kace drew back a little and paused in his slow kisses, licking, and overall sexiness. Damn, I couldn’t have picked a more inappropriate time to confess such a thing. Why had my guilty conscience chosen that moment to explode into a million pieces and reveal all of the secrets I’d been harboring?
“Tethered? You’re tethered to Theo?” Kace repeated, his eyebrows drawn together in utter confusion.
One of his hands was tangled in my hair while the other pressed against the small of my back, sending tiny sparks of my magick dancing along the surface of my skin from the contact. My head was still tipped back slightly, and my lips were swollen and parted, eagerly waiting for me to fix the mess I’d created so Kace’s lips would be warming them again.
“Yes,” I breathed.
Kace unraveled himself from me and took a small step back. His icy eyes swirled with conflicting emotions, both of which I could clearly label—hurt and anger. He ran his hands over his face, and then met my stare once more.
“Theo Van Rooyen?” he asked.
I nodded, unable to trust my voice. It might crack because of what I was feeling. There was so much more to say besides just admitting the tether. I needed to tell him about the kiss too, but also about my reasons for agreeing to the initiation. He needed to know that he was my main reason for agreeing. How I wanted to see where this thing between us would go once Theo was out of my mind for good.
Jesus. How had I let myself get this deep in shit?
“How did it happen?” he asked. His hands fell limply at his sides. “Does being tethered to him mean what I think it does…that you’re tied to him in some way or connected or something?”
“It happened the night the Boo Hag attacked me,” I said, unsure how to answer the last question.
Being tethered to Theo meant being connected to him in many ways, and I wasn’t sure Kace was ready to hear that yet, or that he truly wanted to.
“Wait a minute, does that mean you’re part Hoodoo Conjurer now?”
I shook my head. “No.”
At least that was an easy answer.
“Since the Boo Hag? That was practically forever ago, Addison,” he muttered. His jaw tensed, and I noticed how his teeth gritted together.
I kept waiting for him to yell at me, but he never did. Instead, he began pacing.
“I know,” I said, dropping my gaze to the hardwood floor beneath my feet. “I thought we would have broken it by now or reversed it or something. Nothing we’ve done has worked though. It’s only made it stronger.”
Kace walked across the attic and sat down on the puke-colored love seat in the corner. I followed him and tucked my leg beneath me as I sat down beside him. Taking in a deep breath, I gathered the last few things I wanted to say and held my breath before releasing them.
“It’s made the tether so strong between the two of us that there’s some type of physical attraction that came from nowhere…and we ended up kissing.” I threw my hands up to stop him in case he was about to fly off the handle on me like I’d been expecting and pressed forward. “But it was only once, and I’ve felt absolutely horrible ever since it happened. It’s been eating me alive actually.”
My stomach twisted, and I swore I was about to lose everything I’d eaten today any second from that revelation alone. I remained still, staring directly at him, waiting for some sort of horrible reaction to rip across his face and words I deserved to hear spew from his mouth any second, but none of that came.
Nothing did.
Instead, a subdued look softened his hard features. No words passed between his lips for the longest time. I blinked, unsure if I should say something more or simply remain quiet. Was he a time bomb waiting to go off? Should I quietly leave the room and give him a moment to let it all soak in?
“Okay,” he finally said, just when I didn’t think I could handle the deafening silence between us any longer.
My chest tightened, and a tingling sensation spread throughout. Was he serious? I blinked rapidly at him and cocked my head to the side. I didn’t want to press my luck and have things spiral out of control the way I’d imagined a million times, but that was not a normal response to something of this magnitude.
At least it wouldn’t be for me, had the shoe been on the other foot.
“Okay?” I repeated. “Is that all you have to say about it?”
Kace placed his elbows against his knees and propped his head up with his hands. “Yeah…okay.” He shrugged, still not meeting my eyes. “It’s not going to happen again, is it?”
“Well, no. It hasn’t and it won’t. That’s actually why I agreed to go through with the initiation in the first place, to break the tether between us. That and because I wanted to be with you without Theo clogging up my mind,” I added the last part quickly.
I should have left the last part out, but I wanted to get everything in the open. Especially if this was how he was going to handle it.
“Then okay…let’s move on,” he said with a little nod and a sharp inhale. “I’m glad you told me, but it’s not something I feel I should dwell on. I’m sure you’ve beat yourself up enough about it and I don’t need to add to it.”
To say I was shocked by his words was an understatement. He was too mellow; it was as if he was in some sort of trance. Either that or he was the type who bottled up his feelings, and then released them on a coffee table once he was alone, smashing it to pieces.
“I’m not sure what being tethered really means, or how that works between the two of you, but if becoming initiated will break it and set things back to normal again, then that’s what we need to focus on,” he said.
Thank God he wasn’t asking me for answers. I didn’t feel like it was my place to tell Theo’s mixed-breed secret regarding how he had saved me and caused the tether to shift into place.
“Let’s head downstairs,” Kace said. He stood and walked toward the door without glancing back at me once. Maybe he wasn’t so mellow about the situation after all.
I remained where I sat on the love seat for a few more breaths, wondering what the hell had just happened. I should be feeling relief from finally revealing my secrets to Kace, but instead, all I felt was utter confusion.
When I finally gathered myself up and made it downstairs, Callie and Kace were standing in my kitchen with Adam.
“Liquor anyone?” Adam called, holding up a bottle of some clear-looking liquor he’d just pulled from inside a brown paper bag. “Let’s make up some drinks before everyone else gets here.”
“Everyone else?” I asked. I riffled throu
gh the stash of wine and shot glasses my grandmother had hidden away in the cabinet above the fridge, searching for four tumblers we could use.
Who else was supposed to be coming to my house tonight? I swear, if Adam was throwing some sort of Fourth of July party at my house, I was going to be pissed. I set the glasses on the counter and reached into the freezer for some ice.
“I forgot to tell you,” Callie said, as she stepped beside me to help fill each glass with ice. “Everyone’s parents are coming over tonight for a Fourth of July barbecue. It’s something we do every year, but this year is even more special because of the initiation.”
I cast a quick glance at her, noticing her sad demeanor still intact. Her posture was slouched, and she didn’t look anywhere besides at her hands as they carefully filled the tumblers with ice. I caught sight of them trembling and felt sympathy sweep through me. What she had done was eating her up.
“It’s also to celebrate you agreeing to go through with the initiation,” Kace added.
“Oh, okay,” I said. I stacked the ice cube trays up and slid them back into the freezer. “When will everyone be here?”
My mind ran through mental images of my house. I wondered if there was anything that needed to be tidied up before they arrived. Even if there had been something that jumped out at me right away, it wouldn’t have mattered, because the doorbell rang.
“And they’re here,” Adam said. He finished pouring the mixed drinks. “Rum and Coke, everyone. Don’t let the ’rents know what you’re drinking; we’re supposed to refrain from alcohol and shit until after the initiation for purification reasons,” he said pointedly to me.
“So, then why are we drinking?” I asked.
If that was the case, then I didn’t want alcohol in my system. I needed the initiation to work; I needed the tether gone.
“Because one drink won’t hurt us…or two…they’re going to ‘cleanse’ us before we begin the rite anyway,” Adam said with an eye roll and an expression on his face that led me to believe he thought the rule was stupid. “Bottoms up.”
Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) Page 6