Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3)

by Snyder, Jennifer

  The chilled fingers of panic crept along my spine. If he was unconscious, how was I going to get both of us out of here? There was no way I could carry him, same as there was no way that I would leave without him.

  Now. Theo’s firm voice pounded through my mind, startling me so badly I jumped. It was like thunder as it vibrated through my skull.

  Closing my eyes, I attempted to focus all my thoughts on lulling out a few ribbons of my magick. Nothing came willingly. I was too frazzled. This was when it should happen, at the drop of a dime, but for whatever reason it didn’t.

  Noises of movement distracted me, and I opened my eyes. Admer was sauntering toward me. He carried the large bowl I’d seen him mix everything in. The clouds parted, shedding light on him as he walked. I noticed his lips were moving rapidly, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  Now, Addison, now! Theo’s voice pounded through my head once again. This time it was panicked sounding, which caused me to freeze up even more.

  I can’t. My mental voice was merely a whisper in comparison to the level his had been in my head. It was true though, I couldn’t focus enough to grasp a ribbon of magick.

  He can’t touch you with that stuff. Do it, damn it! Now!

  My eyes darted from Admer to the bowl in his hands, and then to Theo. This was it. Whatever was in that bowl was about to end everything. It was about to end me, all because I couldn’t gather up enough of my magick in time to stop it. Maybe this was how it was supposed to end. Maybe the Spirits had gotten it all wrong.

  I need you to focus. Draw your magick and catch on fire, Addison, now! I’ll ignite it with wind, and then I need you to direct it to him. He won’t be able to smother it out and will become engulfed. It’s our only shot at slowing him down long enough to get away.

  I could tell from the tone of his words Theo was losing patience with me. He had everything all figured out, and here I was about to blow it all because I was being a baby.

  Closing my eyes, I focused on the colorful ribbons again. Admer was close now, but I refused to let him break my concentration.

  Warmth from a red ribbon exploded from my chest. My eyes snapped open in time to see it fluttering in the air above me; it was beautiful. A large hand smashed it back down into the center of my upper body and pressed hard against my skin.

  Admer had made it to me, and the time to catch fire was now or never.

  Something burned through my chest, and I focused everything I had on that spot. I wanted my flames to engulf me the way they had at Theo’s that day.

  Instead, only a tiny patch of sparks shot up into the night air from where Admer’s hand rested against the seat of my magick. A crushing sensation slammed through me, taking my breath away. I looked at Admer, and a twisted smile came to his face.

  “I already told you, whatever you toss my way, I can counteract.” He grinned, before pressing harder on my chest, while muttering something in a language I couldn’t understand. He wiped some of the goop he’d created across my forehead with his other hand.

  I realized two things instantly then: One, I had failed to save not only myself, but in saving Theo as well. And two, I had never known the true meaning of the word pain until that moment.

  My teeth clenched together as the sensation of my chest exploding in excruciating fire sliced through me. Each tiny bit of air my lungs pulled in flamed the fire within me more. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. It was as if my voice box had been muted somehow. My back arched, and tears streamed down my face. Admer muttered a few more words in a deeper, darker tone, and the sensation began to spread.

  Theo’s voice attempted to enter my mind numerous times, either that or else he was yelling to me out loud, I couldn’t be sure, and whatever he was trying to say didn’t matter, because I couldn’t hear him over my own screams that only seemed to ring clearly through my head. Admer laughed and chanted a few words. The feeling of being pulled apart rocketed through me, and the pain intensified. He was doing what he’d said he would.

  He was harvesting my magick from me.

  His hand on my chest twisted as though he were getting a better grip on the seat of my magick. The pain was so severe I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or pass out first. Admer pulled his hand away just enough for me to see the pretty ribbons of my magick as they wrapped around his hand.

  “Your mother was all I ever wanted. Even knowing that, I was never enough for her,” Admer whispered. He leaned down in my face, his eyes boring directly into mine. “She took everything from me—my heart, my daughter, and most of all, my magick. I had to endure paying a fucking Conjurer for my spells and magick because of her. I was glad when I ended her life, same as I’ll be glad when I end yours. I’ll have what I’ve always wanted—power, actual power. To me, that’s all that matters.”

  A sudden numbness crept through my mind as he spoke. I wasn’t sure where it came from or why I felt it, but it was there. It calmed the flames, which scorched away at my insides as my magick continued to detach from me and wind its way up Admer’s arm. The edges of my vision feathered and darkened. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I witnessed beautiful starbursts behind my eyelids.

  If this was what it felt like to die, I wondered why we all feared it.

  One warm ribbon of magick caressed against my insides, unwilling to let go. I felt my lips twist into a smile as I mentally caught hold of it and wound it through my fingers. A small flash of light brightened the darkness behind my closed eyelids. I opened my eyes to see what had happened.

  Admer cursed and then smiled even more sinisterly down at me.

  “I thought I told you that your little tricks don’t work on me?” he said in a sharp tone.

  Movement caught my attention, and I flicked my eyes to it. Theo stood directly behind him, his face contorted in fury.

  “No, but mine do,” Theo growled, and I noticed him raise a hand for Admer’s throat.

  Everything that happened next was a blur. I couldn’t be sure what was real or what was a byproduct of my current crazed mind frame, but I was positive no one in my situation would have been able to make sense of it better than I had in the moment either.

  Theo never touched Admer, but even so, Admer released his hand from my chest. My magick sucked back into me in the blink of an eye while Admer reached up to clasp his throat.

  It was then that I remembered Theo’s talent—how he could control a person’s breath.

  Pushing myself up on my elbows, I watched as Theo forced out every ounce of air from within Admer’s lungs by a few gentle, gliding movements of his hands. In the slight amount of moonlight available, I could still see Admer’s features darken, shifting from a strange shade of red, to a more purple color, until finally turning a shade of blue. He grew limp, his arms dangling at his sides, before Theo finally released him.

  I knew without asking that Admer was dead. There was no more life in the glossy shine of his eyes.

  I had never witnessed someone die before. It was never something I had ever wanted to witness. But I had. Just now. And for whatever reason, the standard things people say they feel first in a situation like this—panic, shock, sadness, confusion—didn’t touch me.

  All I felt was relief.

  “Tethered together their souls shall see,

  An’ it harm none, so mote it be.”

  The words flowed on the gentle ocean breeze around us, and I knew exactly what had happened once they were spoken. Glancing around, I waited for the white light to form a sphere around Theo and me like last time, but it never did. All I saw was a single white butterfly fluttering as fast as its gorgeous wings would take it over our heads and toward the moon.

  The tether was broken, and Admer was dead. That much I was sure of.

  With my leg propped up on the stool beside me, I rubbed my sore thigh muscle. Every square inch of me hurt, and I was positive I wasn’t the only one in pain from today. I glanced around the inside of Fisherman’s Brew, taking in the
newly decorated interior. It was strange to think of Twila not being the one to do the greeting here anymore when a customer walked in. Even though I’d only been here a few times, I was sure to the locals she had become some sort of a staple for the place.

  Nearly two weeks had gone by since the night on the cliff, and now Soul Harbor felt like I’d hoped it would when I first came—peaceful, tranquil, and like home.

  “Here,” Theo said. He placed the glass of sweet tea I’d asked for in front of me.

  Gripping the glass, I pulled it closer to me without saying thank you.

  “What? Aren’t you even going to say thank you?” he scoffed. “After all, it isn’t all that easy to carry things with crunches, let alone a full glass of sweet tea.”

  I shifted to look at him. There was a cut along his right cheek that I was positive would leave a scar, and he was on crutches, just like I’d predicted he would be, but other than that, Theo had come away from the cliff fairly unharmed. And so had I, thanks to him.

  “When you learn to smile as you serve someone, then you’ll get a thank you,” I said, a slight teasing edge to my words. “Until then, not gonna happen.”

  His full lips twisted into a grin. One that I could clearly see he didn’t want to have on his face, but couldn’t keep away.

  He shook his head at me. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”

  I reached out, gripping a fistful of his gray tank top, and pulled him a little closer.

  “Oh, I can think of a few things,” I said in as sexy a tone as I could muster.

  His caramel-colored eyes flashed at my words, and any sense of embarrassment I might have had from saying something so rash melted away. “Is that so?”

  “No, none of that hanky-panky stuff in my restaurant. Ya hear me?” Twila said as she rounded the corner from the kitchen. She waved the black permanent marker she held between her fingers at us. “I mean it. I might not be workin’ here as much anymore, but that don’t mean you two can do all that.” She gestured to us and our closeness with distaste.

  Theo threw his hands up in surrender, and I dropped mine to my lap, my face flushing through a few shades of red.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said as Twila bypassed him and headed back into the kitchen, his grin growing.

  I loved to see him smile.

  The door to Fisherman’s Brew opened and in walked Adam, Callie, Kace, and Kyra. My eyes flickered to Kace and Kyra’s entwined fingers, and I smiled. Honestly, I was happy for them. Whatever it was that had been between Kace and I hadn’t been real. It had been magick. To know both of us were now feeling something real for a change, even if it was for someone else, was more than okay; it was perfectly fine by me.

  “Hey, guys,” Adam said. He flopped down on the stool beside me and pulled Callie into his lap. “What’s up? You need some help packing?”

  Kyra laughed. It was throaty and sexy all at the same time, exactly what I’d expected to hear from her. “Yeah right, you actually believe Gran will let you touch any of her Hoodoo stuff? She won’t even let me touch anything until it’s all boxed up.”

  “Oh,” Adam said, his lips making a perfect O shape. His eyebrows drew all the way up to his hairline. “Geez.”

  “That’s right,” Twila said as she came from the kitchen, a large box in her hands. “I don’t need none of you children’s mojo messin’ up mine. Ya don’t touch nothin’ until it’s in a box.”

  “Here, let me help you,” Kace said. He dropped Kyra’s hand and moved to take the box from her.

  She handed it over to him without much of a fuss, and then headed back to the kitchen for more.

  “Why is she moving her stuff into the bookstore again?” Callie asked me in a hushed whisper.

  “Because, I asked her to take over the store for me until I could get some sort of business management degree or whatever it is I’ll need to know what the heck I’m doing,” I said.

  “And what does that have to do with her Hoodoo stuff?” Callie asked.

  “It ain’t none of your business what I wanna do with my Hoodoo there,” Twila answered for me as she stepped back out of the kitchen. She held a wooden spoon in her hand and was shaking it at Callie as she spoke.

  Callie’s face turned a crimson color. “I’m sorry. I guess I just don’t understand why you need to continue with it all… I mean, with Kyra taking Addison’s place in the group, there really isn’t a need. Is there?”

  My mouth slacked. Had Callie really just said that? And to Twila of all people?

  “Maybe I like doin’ my mojo and gettin’ my Hoodoo on,” Twila said with more attitude than I ever thought would come out of her. “So what if I’m doin’ it in the back of that bookstore? As long as I don’t burn the place down, I don’t see why I can’t. Besides, your people weren’t the only ones I cooked stuff up for. There’s lots a people in this town with problems they see fit to pay and make go away.”

  Unable to help myself, I broke out in a fit of laughter. It must have been contagious, because soon I wasn’t the only one.

  As much as I had feared Twila and the entire family of Van Rooyens before, now I couldn’t imagine my life without them. Even Kyra. She’d turned out to be a good friend, and I was happy she and Kace had found each other. She’d been the one to find him the night the tether was broken—the night my nut job for a biological father was killed—and since then, they’d been inseparable. Curious, I’d asked her one night how she’d known where to find him; she’d looked up to the sky with a smile and muttered two words—the Spirits.

  Theo came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. Even though he knew I didn’t have feelings for Kace anymore, he still came off as being territorial with me when Kace was in the room. I acted as though it bothered me and like he needed to chill out, but truth be told, I actually enjoyed that trait of Theo’s. There was something in the way he always strived to protect me, to let everyone know I was his, that tugged at the stings of my heart.

  “After we get all of this moving crap done, are you coming back to my place or staying at yours?” Theo asked. His lips brushed against my ear as he spoke.

  Shivers of warmth slid through me, and this time they weren’t from my magick.

  “If you let me heal your leg so we can have some fun,” I whispered in a husky tone.

  Apparently, once you become part Conjurer, it never goes away. I was stuck with Theo’s Hoodoo magick inside of me, something I was fine with.

  “Oh, I like the sound of that,” Theo growled. His tongue darted out and flicked at my earlobe. “I might just have to let you try.”

  “Really?” I asked. I pulled away from him enough to look in his eyes. “You were always so resistant before.”

  “Maybe I just don’t want to wait around anymore for this to heal on its own,” he said as he squeezed me tighter. “After all, weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want to do anything with me until I was all healed up for fear of hurting me?”

  I trailed my index finger along the tattoos of his bicep. “That I did.”

  His warm lips brushed along the side of my neck. “Then heal away, because I can’t hold out any longer.”

  Someone clearing her throat from behind us made me jump. “I thought I told you two there wouldn’t be any of that hanky panky in here.”

  “Sorry, Gran,” Theo said. “I think we were just leaving.”

  “We were?” I asked, turning to glance at Theo over my shoulder.

  “Oh yes, we were.” He grinned like a fool, and I felt my entire body pulsate with desire.

  Theo held out a hand to me. Slipping my hand in his, we exited the doors of Fisherman’s Brew.

  “See ya later, Avery,” Adam shouted after us.

  “Bye,” I replied, focusing on the feel of Theo’s hand in mine.

  His thumb caressed the top of my hand, and he flashed me a smile that made me blush. This man was hotter than hell and he was all mine.

  I’d come to Soul Harbor not only to decide
what I wanted to do with a house I’d randomly inherited, but also to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Turned out, life figured out what it wanted to do with me when I wasn’t looking. Although I’d only been in Soul Harbor for the length of one summer, I’d already managed to learn a valuable lesson: Sometimes the things in life that seem to confine us most are often the ones that save us.

  The End

  I can’t express how thankful I am to be living this dream of mine. As always I’d like to thank my family for their endless supply of support—my mom, sister, husband, and kids. I love you guys!

  A special thank you to H. Danielle Crabtree for taking on another editing project of mine; I am amazed by your talent and knack for editing. Stephanie Parent for agreeing to proofread for me with expert eyes and speedy precision; Julie of J. T. Formatting for making this novel look as gorgeous as the others; and to Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon A Time Covers for creating the stunning cover of this novel.

  Thanks to Alyssa Rose Ivy for the reassurance I needed while writing this novel as well as our talks of powers and magick. Theo would not have had the awesome power to take someone’s breath if it hadn’t been for you!

  And, as always, I thank you readers, from the bottom of my heart!

  Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends most of her time writing new adult and young adult fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is a tea lover with an obsession for Post-it notes and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows.

  Find out more about her latest novel

  by visiting her blog:

  http://jennifersnydersblog.blogspot.com

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