Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3)

by Snyder, Jennifer

  Admer never spoke. Instead, he cranked up his radio, blaring some old-school song I’d never heard before. There were a few moments when I could hear him singing along clearly, and then it would die down to a murmur of words. I hated people who did that—sung the part they knew super loud, and then mumbled the rest, only getting the syllabus right, but not the words.

  If you don’t know the lyrics, don’t attempt to sing.

  While Admer continued to butcher whatever song it was on the radio as he drove, I tried to wiggle a finger, a pinky toe, anything, but didn’t have much success. It wasn’t until we rounded a sharp corner and started to climb what felt like a super-steep hill that I thought I felt something move. Maybe it was wishful thinking or the way the vehicle was flopping me around like a fish, I couldn’t be sure, but nonetheless, it made hope blossom in my chest and my heart pound with optimism.

  I tried again, this time focusing on my fingers. Closing my eyes, I all but pushed with my mind to make them move. People often say that things are simply mind over matter. Well, I was about to put that theory to the biggest test yet.

  Move fingers, move!

  I repeated this mantra in my head. Then, I felt something. Springing my eyes open at the sensation, I watched in awe as my fingers on my left hand twitched ever so slightly beside my head. I held my breath and watched the movement grow, the sight of it infused my movement even more.

  Focusing on my toes, I willed them to move. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel the same odd sensation of minor movement take place. This caused my heart to pound rapidly in my chest. I wasn’t sure when I would gain control back over my body, but some movement was better than none.

  Admer’s vehicle came to a rolling stop, and he cut the engine.

  “We’re here,” he said. I didn’t have to look at him to know there was a smile on his face. It was heard in his voice.

  The sound of his door opening and closing caught my attention. Next came my door, and then the feel of Admer’s hands and arms as they scooped me up once again to carry me somewhere. I didn’t fight him or try to move. I knew struggling wouldn’t do me any good. I needed more time. That way I could overcome this paralyzing drug he’d given me.

  Right away, I noticed we were in the woods. Tree frogs and bugs sounded from all around, but it was one sound in particular that captured my attention and had my mind spinning with questions.

  The ocean.

  Waves crashed into one another from somewhere in the distance. As soon as we stepped into a clearing, I knew exactly where we were. If I could move my head, I’d be able to see the makeshift bar, the fire pit placed strategically at the edge of the cliff, and the scorched spot where the Boo Hag had burned upon touching me.

  It was ironic how the majority of the craziness that had plagued me for the last few months had started right here, at this spot, and now it was also where everything would end.

  A warm breeze with a hint of salt wafted to my nose and caressed across my exposed skin. It made me think of Theo. I wondered where he was and if Kace had made it to him at all. If so, I prayed he was all right. The image of Kace’s body slumped against the wall and his bruised face overtook my mind.

  How could I worry about Theo and Kyra, when Kace was the one I’d seen battered?

  “Not long now,” Admer said.

  He laid me down on something cool and hard. As he walked away, I smoothed my fingers over the surface beneath me, and instantly figured out what I was lying on—a rock. I moved my head to the right just a tad and downturned my eyes. I was higher than the ground.

  Oh dear God, I was on a sacrificial stone of some sort.

  I attempted to move my legs. If I could run, then I could escape through the woods and to my house. Callie would be there, maybe even Adam. I could tell them everything that was going on and use one of their phones to call 9-1-1 or something. Maybe they even knew the number to Theo’s house.

  But I couldn’t move more than a millimeter. Frustrated, angry, pissed—none of those words even covered what I felt.

  Wetness trickled from my eyes and slid across my cheek. It rolled over my lips and dripped away. I turned my head back into the position it had been in and felt even more tears roll from my eyes as I did so. They slipped into my ears, clogging them with their warm wetness.

  “Have you figured everything out yet?” Admer asked.

  His voice cut through the sound of the waves and night noises like a knife, piercing directly into my heart and jump-starting it. I didn’t attempt to speak. Instead, I closed my eyes and began projecting the same thought to different parts of my body: Move!

  “Oh, right, you can’t talk, can you?” Admer chuckled as though it were the funniest thing he’d heard in a while. “I’ll go ahead and fill you in, then. I’m sure Kace mentioned to you his roll. How he put the Call to Me spell on you just before you left; that’s what made you decide to come back to Soul Harbor without your adoptive parents in the first place. I think the spell may have had a bit more bite than what Kace thought though. It made the two of you as close as could be and heightened everything between you.”

  I heard him rummaging through something, a bag maybe, but I didn’t open my eyes or turn my head in his direction.

  “Makes you wonder if any of the feelings the two of you shared would have been there without it, doesn’t it?” he asked. There was a spiteful tone to his words. It was almost as though he was getting a rise out of thinking he was getting under my skin. “Oh well, I guess none of that really matters at this point, now does it?”

  I attempted to continue to block out all of his banter while I struggled with waking up my limbs. The breath in my lungs slowly dispersed when I was suddenly able to raise my left hand. It just barely hovered off the stone I was lying on. My eyes opened, and I forced away the triumphant smile that desperately wanted to show itself.

  Now I needed to focus on my feet. They were what I needed most in order to get the hell out of here.

  “Time is of the essence,” Admer said.

  I raised my eyes to him when he spoke, worried that he would catch me lifting my hands. He started toward me and away from the ingredients for the spell he was planning to perform. There was a sick sense of elation sharpening his features. Pausing in any attempts to make myself mobile again, I stared at him as he continued toward me. He didn’t hold anything in his hands, at least nothing I could see.

  “I just need a drop or two of your blood. Blood is a key ingredient with this spell, as with many others,” he said. He gripped my cold hand in his warm, clammy one. The tiny prick of a needle piercing my skin startled me. “Oh, and I almost forgot…before I begin the spell, there’s one more thing I need to add into the mix.”

  He wiped the tip of my index finger off with a cotton ball and met my stare.

  “Why are you doing this?” I croaked out.

  Admer’s eyes flashed at the sound of my weak voice. I hadn’t intended to speak, but the words had found their way out nonetheless.

  “Funny thing about that book I found. It gave me a new appreciation for my natural-born element,” he said. Placing a finger to his lips, he smiled down at me. “Did you know that the element of Water has natural abilities to absorb when it’s awakened through the use of black magick?”

  I swallowed hard and pressed the palms of my hands against the cool stone beneath me.

  “It’s true—think of the way water can absorb heat,” Admer continued as though he needed to prove his point further. “With the black magick found in that old book, I’ve learned how to tap into that absorbing power without the use of an initiated group.”

  My mind froze. There was no way he should be able to do that. It shouldn’t be possible, unless he were a mixed breed—or, apparently, tethered to a Conjuror like me long enough to become one.

  “Only problem is, it has to be done during a Dark Moon,” he continued. At this point, I had to wonder if he enjoyed the sound of his own voice or if he was simply dripping with antici
pation for what was about to happen. “Granted, there is a Dark Moon once every month, but I’m a greedy person when it comes to magick…and I don’t like to wait.”

  “What are you planning to do? Suck the magick out of me?” I asked. My voice was small and cracked numerous times as I attempted to speak.

  “Precisely.” Admer’s eyes brightened. “Water is a nice element to have, don’t get me wrong, but combined with the others, I could be invincible. Harnessing all four elements was something I’d only ever read about in fiction novels and witnessed on TV…until I found that book. Turns out it’s not something that’s so farfetched after all.”

  “If that’s so, then why hasn’t anyone else ever attempted it before?” I asked, knowing I should at least try to hold a conversation with him. Maybe it would give me enough time to figure out how in the hell I was going to get out of here, as well as more time to allow my mobility to creep back.

  He glanced down at the cotton ball in his hand. Then as if determining he hadn’t gotten enough blood, he returned to wiping the tip of my pierced index finger with it.

  “Good question.” He smiled at me the way a proud father would when their child had done something worthy. It was an unsettling thing to see, considering. “The answer is simple—people are lazy. If they can’t Google it and get an instant answer, then they don’t bother with it. Reading book after book to learn the old-fashioned way about something has been deemed a thing of the past and a waste of time by today’s society.”

  He was right. People were lazy in that way.

  “I see your point,” I said.

  He let go of my hand, and it fell limply to my side.

  “Before I begin, there’s one thing I’d like to tell you,” he said. He paused as though he were waiting for me to say something.

  “What?” I muttered when he didn’t continue.

  Fear rippled through me. I had no idea what was about to happen or what he was about to say. Locking eyes with him, I wiggled my toes. They moved without much thought this time. Maybe I was back in business. There was only one way to find out.

  “You are a savior.” The words came from him in such a mocking way they made my scalp prickle.

  “A savior?” I asked.

  “Yes. You saved two lives tonight by becoming initiated and increasing the tether between the Van Rooyen boy and yourself.”

  I didn’t understand. “How?”

  “I had planned on harvesting all four of your group’s magick after you were initiated, but since you became tethered to that boy…my plan changed. The power of an actual blood-born Conjurer is much more valuable in my eyes than that of all four elements,” he said.

  “And how do you figure that?” I asked.

  My strategy was to keep him talking for as long as I could, because the second he started toward the makeshift bar, I was going to make a run for it. I just needed a little more time to gather my bearings.

  “Let’s just say that upon reading this ancient book, I’ve come to realize I enjoy life on the darker side a little more than I had originally thought.” He flashed me a wicked smile. “And with the power of a Conjurer added to your element of fire, I’d become unstoppable. And quite literally actually.”

  I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? Instead, I continued to focus all of my thoughts on gaining control of my body back.

  “Whatever it is you’re thinking, hold that thought and let me get something that will clear everything up nicely for you.” He turned back to the ingredients he’d spread about, and I took that moment to see if my legs would move higher than my hand had before.

  I was able to lift my leg up and bend it at the knee with minimum resistance. Suppressing a squeal, I enjoyed the rejuvenating sense of adrenaline as it surged through my body. Escape was possible. Admer moved away from the bar, capturing my attention. I’d thought he was coming back to me and I’d wasted my chance, but then he did something I wasn’t expecting—he shifted to the right and headed to the gravel road and away from me.

  Had my luck suddenly become so great that he would leave me here, thinking I was still stationary?

  Sitting up slowly, I watched as he continued toward where he’d parked his vehicle. There was a large dark shape beside it I hadn’t noticed until now. It took me a second to make out what my eyes were seeing—Kace’s car.

  Why had Kace’s car been parked out here? What the hell was going on now?

  Torn between wondering if I should make a run for it and being utterly confused as to why his car would be here, when I’d clearly seen him left in the tiny room I’d been confined to for so many days, I remained frozen on the large slab of rock, staring.

  The trunk popped open, and the low rumble of Admer’s voice met with my ears as though he were talking to himself. Intense warmth flooded me, and I knew exactly what was going on—Theo was in the trunk.

  My eyes remained glued to the area where Admer stood. I knew it was Theo in there; it was the only explanation for the warmth I felt splashing through my insides. Chewing on my bottom lip, I realized there was no way I could make a run for it now. Not until I found out if Theo was all right.

  I had to form a new plan, one that included getting both of us out of here.

  I prayed Kyra wasn’t in there too. As long as it was just me and Theo I had to worry about, things seemed like they might be bearable, but adding a third person made everything seem nearly impossible.

  Thankfully, Theo was the only person Admer pulled out of the trunk.

  Shifting into the position I’d been in before, I gazed up at the star-filled sky above me. A slight breeze blew across my exposed skin, and I prayed it was Theo’s doing, but from the grunts and moans sounding through the night as Admer lugged him closer toward me, I was positive it wasn’t.

  Shit. What was I going to do now?

  Once Admer’s head came into my peripheral vision, I shifted my eyes to follow him. Theo was at his side, hobbling along on a clearly broken leg. Blood near his shin had soaked through the tattered blue jeans he wore. My gaze traveled up the length of him, searching for any other visible wounds he may have. His right shoulder appeared to be wet with something. It glistened in the moonlight, and I was positive it was more blood. There was also a trickle running down his cheek. Our eyes locked, and a more intense heat slid through me. It became trapped in my throat, and tears swelled in my eyes. It took everything I had not to let them flow freely.

  Don’t cry. We’ll be all right.

  Theo’s voice whispered through my head. A certain sense of calm slithered through me at the sound of it, but doubt and worry of how we would make it through this in order to be all right killed the calm instantly.

  I don’t know how, Theo. I was drugged with something and I’m just now gaining back control over my body. And your leg is clearly freaking broken.

  I sounded frantic, even in mind talk. Jesus, I was going to lose it any minute now. I could feel my body begin to tremble.

  I said we’ll be all right. Trust me. I won’t even have to move a finger. Just listen to me and do what I say, when I say.

  Swallowing hard, I cringed inside as I heard Theo moan in pain as Admer shoved him roughly on a second rock slab to my right I hadn’t noticed before.

  Trust me, all right?

  Theo’s voice boomed through my mind, penetrating my internal crying.

  I do, I answered back as I heard him being strapped into place.

  “I really should have prepared for this a little better,” Admer said. “Initially, I was going to have four rocks here, but that seemed like an awful lot of work, so I downgraded to none. Then things changed again and I wound up getting two, but what I really needed was more of the paralyzing serum,” Admer muttered to himself as he continued to strap Theo in place. “Next time, I guess.”

  Next time? When would there be a next time?

  When I say so, I want you to light yourself on fire exactly like you did at my house. Got it? Theo said, interrupting my tho
ughts. His voice was softer, calmer somehow, as though he were focusing on something with everything in him.

  Okay, I answered back, hoping my nervous emotions didn’t distract him from whatever it was he was focusing on completely.

  I called to my magick, praying it would answer. In my mind, I remembered what Kyra had told me…how to draw out a wisp of magick here and there, little by little. I envisioned what I’d seen that day—the red, orange, and yellow ribbons.

  Admer’s voice continued talking in the background. I could hear him, but I struggled to tune him out as best I could. This made him sound far away and distorted in a sense. I was glad, because there was no way I would be able to focus on him and attempt to gain control over my magick at the same time.

  Exhaustion had numbed my mind once I finally caught a grip on the first wisp. Theo moaned and I lost it. Shifting my head in his direction, I noticed Admer was now dabbing something near Theo’s wound on his leg.

  “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I didn’t even have to prick your finger.” Admer’s lips twisted into a sinister smile. “Now, we can begin.”

  Admer started toward the makeshift bar without a single glance my way. I watched his back as his hands moved rapidly around the table, combining ingredients into a large bowl placed in front of him.

  Gray clouds moved in front of the moon, taking away what little light I could see by. This didn’t seem to bother Admer in his movements; instead, it made him chuckle.

  “Your tricks won’t work on me, Hoodoo boy,” Admer said. He glanced at Theo from over his shoulder. “Clouds and the slight amount of wind you’re creating won’t stop what I have planned, and I know you don’t have the energy for much more.”

  I flicked my eyes to Theo. He was unmoving and his eyes were closed. Was he moving the clouds to cover the moon’s light or was he unconscious?