Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3)

by Snyder, Jennifer

  If this was my last meal, then I was going to savor every freaking bite.

  I’d nearly finished my mashed potatoes and gravy when footsteps quickly descending the stairs caught my attention. Gripping the fork in a tight fist, I waited for whoever it was to come barreling through the door, positive it couldn’t be midnight already, could it? The metal door creaked open and in walked the last person I’d expected to see—Kace.

  His eyebrows were drawn together in a look of pure concentration. I watched him as he quickly closed the door and turned to look directly at me. His hand came up to smooth his wrinkled forehead.

  “You need to get out of here,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry for my part in all of this. You have to understand where I was coming from. He’d promised me magick and power, and I was foolish enough to believe he could give me those things without any consequences.”

  My knuckles had turned white; I’d been holding the fork in my fist so tightly. I relaxed some and let my hand fall to my lap, but never let the fork go. I took in Kace’s frantic behavior and wondered what type of game the two of them were playing with me now.

  Adrenaline burned through my veins, making my body tingle and my mind sharpen. If Kace was the only one here and Admer wasn’t waiting outside the door somewhere, then I might be able to free myself. The old plan I’d attempted to use during my last escape flooded my mind. I needed to get him talking—to distract him a little more—and then I could make my move.

  “And what, now you’re going to help me get out of here?” I asked. I gripped my fork tighter, realizing this time I had a physical weapon as well as my fire.

  Death by fork, it might be doable.

  Kace ran a hand through his hair and paced the room in front of me. “Look, I know your trust in me is at minus zero right now, but you really don’t have any other option, do you?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, not really.”

  Didn’t mean I’d willingly give it to him though.

  “Admer finally confided in me what he’s planning to do with you—his reason for keeping you here. He has some ancient Hoodoo book unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s some serious dark magick stuff.”

  Shifting legs, I set the plate of food on the floor beside the untouched goblet of wine in front of me, no longer hungry.

  “Dark magick?” I asked.

  “He’s going to use some type of a harvesting spell on you. He’s been gathering ingredients for it for about a week now. I’ve watched him, but had no clue what he was planning to do until this morning when he finally told me.” He paused in his pacing and let out a long, rigid breath. “We can’t let him go through with this spell, Addison. You have to help me figure out a way to stop him.”

  I laughed. I wasn’t sure why I found this conversation funny. Maybe it was because Kace had been the one to help put me here in the first place, and now here he was practically begging for my help to free myself and stop my captor.

  Yeah, that was probably it.

  “Why are you laughing?” he asked. His voice was harsh, as though he were scolding a child for laughing at something inappropriate. “This isn’t funny! He’s going to kill you during this harvesting spell!”

  My laughter ceased then.

  I’d known all along what the potential outcome of this whole ordeal could be for me, but to hear someone actually say the words aloud was crippling. My breath burst from my lungs in a pace far too fast for someone sitting still. A chill ran along my spine as I replayed those two words over in my mind—kill you.

  “I need to get you out of here somehow. I can’t—I can’t let him do that to you,” Kace uttered in a frantic voice. He resumed his pacing, and I dropped my eyes to the dirt floor. “He never mentioned anything about killing you. I swear, if he had, then I wouldn’t have helped him. All he said was that he needed a little of your blood and some of your magick for something.”

  Silence crafted a void between us while I continued to take in the severity of the situation, and Kace continued to pace.

  “Where is he now?” I asked, breaking the quiet between us, unsure of how I was able to find my voice and speak at all.

  “In the attic,” Kace said, pausing in his pacing to look at me. “Going over everything and making sure he’s left nothing out.”

  I stood, my knees trembling beneath my weight. “Help me escape now, then. Let’s go.”

  If there was ever a time, now was it. Kace held out his hands to stop me and shook his head. My heart dropped to my toes, and I tightened my grip on the fork I still held.

  His true colors were about to come shining through. He’d been playing with me all along, and I’d fallen for it again. Damn it.

  “No, you can’t leave,” he muttered. “He’s got all of these wards, glamours, and spells attached to the house from that book of his. He put them in place after your first attempt to escape. He’d know the second you set foot outside of that door.”

  He pointed to the rusted metal door, and I relaxed the tense muscles of my neck, realizing he wasn’t toying with me after all.

  At least I hoped he wasn’t.

  “No root magick against another, it won’t work on me because I’m part Conjurer now,” I said, feeling pleased about that for the first time.

  “Do you really want to take that chance without any backup? Admer is wicked powerful now thanks to that book,” he said. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  He had a point. Backup would be awesome.

  “What about you? Are you able to leave?” I asked in a rush of words.

  “I can, but I’d need a damn good reason,” he said.

  I thought for a moment. Idea after idea swam through my mind, until I focused on one that sounded reasonable to me.

  “Tell Admer you got a call from work and have to go in, that you’ve been spending too much time away lately or something. Then you can go get Adam and Callie so they can help us.”

  He shook his head. “They won’t be able to help. The house is spelled with that dark magick Hoodoo crap so they can’t get in. Admer and I are the only ones able to pass through. Wouldn’t matter anyway, because he spelled them with something from that book of his. They think you’ve gone home to visit with Vera before she goes off to college.”

  “Shit,” I muttered. “Are you kidding me?”

  He’d thought of fucking everything! My hands went to my back pockets, and I began to pace the room, same as Kace had been.

  Cell phone! Where was mine?

  “What about my phone, do you have it?” I asked. “Or could I use yours? I can call Theo; Kyra and he will come help.”

  The mention of Kyra brought Kace’s eyes to mine, and I knew then he was uncomfortable with the mention of her for whatever reason.

  “What?” I asked.

  Kace raised a hand to rub at the back of his neck. His gaze darted around the small room, and I swore his cheeks had taken on a reddish color.

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said. “Kyra and I, well…we’ve been sort of—”

  They’d been dating. The realization zapped me like an electric shock straight to the heart. I knew the color had probably drained from my face at his revelation, but I still managed somehow to straighten my posture and look him in the face.

  “Y’all are together now,” I said in a voice so firm, it didn’t even sound like mine. “So what? You didn’t actually think after this whole thing I’d still want to be with you, did you?”

  Kace met my stare. His features softened, and he crammed his hands into the front pockets of his shorts. “Well, I mean…I don’t know. I guess not.”

  “Cell phone,” I reminded him and held out my hand.

  Kace fished around in his right front pocket, trying to gain a grip on his phone.

  “They won’t be able to find the place. I’ll have to show them,” Kace said. He handed me his phone.

  “Why not?” I asked, staring at the buttons.

  “Becau
se there’s a strange glamour on the house… No Locator spell will work to find it or you. Even if they did, they wouldn’t see anything here besides a piece of wooded property that continues on for acres,” he said. “Damn it. They wouldn’t be able to get inside because of the other freaking spell anyway. Jesus.”

  I smiled at Kace. “No root magick against another…remember? They’ll be fine.”

  I realized then that I didn’t have a number for Theo or Kyra, so I asked for the only other number I could think of that would get me in contact with them.

  “What’s the number for Fisherman’s Brew?”

  When I called Fisherman’s Brew, I expected to hear Twila’s voice answer, but instead it had been Theo. His rich voice sent shivers along my spine and caressed my magick through the phone—a feat I hadn’t known to be possible. Then again, I’d never talked with him over the phone before. Needless to say, a warm and pleasant feeling surged through me at the sound of his voice.

  “Where have you been?” Theo demanded. I felt like a child who’d worried a parent for far too long about their whereabouts and was now being scolded because of it. “I know you haven’t been off visiting your airhead friend; that lover boy of yours has been lying.”

  “He has,” I said, cringing at the way Theo had called Kace my lover boy. It was so far from the truth now.

  Theo let out a noise that could only be described as a growl on the other end of the phone, and I imagined how serious his face must look and how tight I was sure his large hand was as it gripped the receiver. A slight sense of satisfaction rippled through me at his unexpected response. I’d mistakenly thought he would have been happy I was gone. Apparently, I’d been wrong, because he seemed pissed instead.

  “What has he done? I haven’t been able to find you,” he grumbled. I envisioned him gritting his teeth together, and a fist being clenched and unclenched as it rested in his lap. “No Locator spell would work. Everything I tried basically told me you’d disappeared off the face of the Earth.”

  He’d been trying to find me? Warmth slid through my body and pooled in my belly from this knowledge. It made the corners of my lips twist into the hint of a smile.

  “Admer has an ancient Hoodoo black magick book that he’s been using spells out of. Even if the Locator spell had managed to pick up where I am, it wouldn’t have mattered, because all you would have seen was acres of overgrown woods apparently,” I said, forcing the tiny smile away.

  Now was not the time, especially with Kace in the room and Admer still in the house. My happiness regarding Theo’s reaction would have to wait.

  “Really,” Theo said. It was a rhetorical statement, which gave me the impression he was rather amused by the whole scenario.

  This could be a good thing, right? When one Conjurer is amused by a wannabe Conjurer, that should be a good sign. At least I hoped.

  “It’s Hoodoo of some sort, at least that’s what Kace says, so you shouldn’t have a problem walking through it,” I said, pacing the dirt-covered floor again.

  “Even if it wasn’t, I’d find a way,” Theo uttered in such a low tone it sent goose bumps along my body.

  The raw determination in his voice was startling. Did he really care what happened to me? The way he spoke sure made it seem that way. I crammed a lid on everything swirling through my mind, deciding I would dive into that pool of emotions and wonders at a later, more convenient time.

  “Kace will meet you somewhere and show you how to get here,” I said. “Will Kyra be willing to help?”

  “Of course. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but her and your little lover boy have been seeing an awful lot of each other in your absence.”

  My stomach dropped to my toes. I was too mentally and physically exhausted for this continuous roller coaster of emotional B.S. I was feeling from one minute to the next.

  “I am, and I don’t want to get into details about it right now,” I said. I was trying to keep my composure and didn’t want to lose it. Not now. There were more pressing issues than my love life to deal with. “I’m sort of pressed for time, in case you forgot.”

  I heard what I thought was a chuckle on the other end of the phone. Had I made him laugh? Had I made Theo Van Rooyen laugh? No way.

  “Tell him to meet me at Fisherman’s Brew,” Theo said. “I’ll be watching for him.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  I waited for a minute, which felt like twenty, because I wasn’t sure if this was the moment where I was supposed to just hang up or if there was something more to say. How were you supposed to end a conversation like this—‘thank you for coming to rescue me; please don’t die in the process?’

  I had no freaking clue.

  “Just hold on a little longer.” Theo sighed into the phone. “I’ll be there for you soon.”

  A loud beeping pierced my ear and caused me to jump slightly. He’d hung up before I’d had a chance to say anything. Maybe that was a good thing, because thanks or okay just didn’t seem to cut it. Not in this situation.

  “What did he have to say?” Kace asked. I handed him his phone back. “Was he pissed?”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I cocked my head to the side. “Really? You’re worried about if he was pissed at you?”

  Kace slipped his phone back into his front pocket and smirked at me. “Not really, no. I’m sure he was.”

  I walked across the tiny room to sit on the cot, for what I prayed would be the final time, and picked up my plate of food. All I could do now was wait for Theo to get here—which meant I had time to eat.

  “He said to meet him at Fisherman’s Brew; he and Kyra will be there, and you can show them how to get here,” I said as I stabbed at a small piece of turkey.

  “All right.” He walked to the metal door and carefully pulled it open. “When I come back, I’ll have them with me, and we’ll get you out of here.”

  I nodded, because I had a mouthful of food. Kace turned to look at me before he slid through the door.

  “I promise,” he said.

  “I know,” I said after swallowing.

  I wasn’t about to say thank you to him either, but only because I couldn’t thank the person who’d helped to put me where I was in the first place.

  After the door closed behind him, I sunk into the cot and leaned against the grimy wall behind me for support. I felt more awake than I had in a long time. My mind buzzed with adrenaline, excitement, and fear for what was to come next.

  Finishing off what was supposed to be my last meal, I scooped up the goblet of wine. This had been a celebratory meal of sorts, only it wasn’t the type Admer had intended. Instead, I was celebrating my escape.

  My face was pressed against something spongy, flexible in a way, and slightly sharp. A tingling, numb sensation pulsated in the weirdest of ways through my left elbow. At least I thought it was my elbow; maybe it was the entire arm. My eyes were heavy—too heavy. They felt like they had been sewn shut. When I was finally able to open them, the small room with its one lightbulb felt harsh and overly bright, something I knew it wasn’t. It had always been dim.

  What the hell was wrong with me?

  Continuing to lie on the filthy cot and allowing my eyes to adjust to the suddenly unbearable light, I thought back to what had happened—that was when I remembered the meal and the wine. Obviously, Admer had spiked one of them with something.

  I’d been drugged.

  I moved to sit up, only nothing happened. Something was wrong. I couldn’t even lift a finger. My heart kicked into overdrive and crazed thoughts penetrated my mind, one right after the other. Noises from behind me—a scuffling of shoes across the dirt floor—captured my attention, and I froze in any ill-fated attempts at movement.

  “It’s only temporary. Don’t worry,” Admer said from behind me. “I needed something that would render you cooperative.”

  What the hell was going on? Where were Theo and Kyra? Had Kace effing betrayed me again? I scolded myself mentally for foolishly believin
g in him a second time. What was that saying people always referred to in situations like this? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It went something like that; my mind just wasn’t working smoothly at the moment.

  Shame on me. That much I was positive about.

  “It’s nearly midnight,” Admer said.

  He was closer to me now. His voice seemed to come from directly above me, sending shivers along my spine and making the fine hairs all over my body stand on end. I attempted to sit up once more, but realized in an instant that no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t work. My body was like lead. The only thing I could move were my eyeballs…a lot of good that did me.

  Admer’s hands slid between my body and the cot, where my knees bent and my shoulders pressed against the grimy thing. With a few small movements, I was in his arms, and he was carrying me across the room. My head lulled back, making the ceiling and the back wall of the room become the only things I could see.

  He didn’t breathe hard; he didn’t even seem to struggle with my weight as he made his way to the door. I felt myself being shifted around slightly as he kicked the door open farther. That was when I spotted a crumpled frame near the edge of my cot, slouched against the back wall. His head was down, chin resting against his chest, but even then—without seeing his face directly—I knew who it was…Kace.

  Had he even made it to get Theo and Kyra?

  I couldn’t speak, even as I was carried out of the house I’d been held captive in and placed into the backseat of a dark-colored vehicle. I couldn’t even move. My mind was erratic, and my heart was about to explode.

  I was going to die. I’d never been surer of anything in my entire life.

  Whatever Admer had planned from that damn book of black magick was about to take place, and there was nothing I could do about it, because I couldn’t freaking move a muscle. Literally.

  The ride to wherever I was being taken was long and bumpy, that was all I knew. The way I had been placed in the backseat allowed me to stare through the moon roof of the vehicle as we drove along. This didn’t help me in figuring out where we were headed though, because all I could see were the treetops and stars as they rushed by.