Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three)

by Stacey Kennedy

  Gretchen looked between me and Alexander with wide eyes. “Why do you think that?”

  “Didn’t you see the way he looked at her?” I pointed at Alexander and shook my head. “I mean to say, him.”

  “While Dane is a talented medium,” Alexander said, striding forward to sit on the edge of the bed. “And I suspect he feels something is different about Caley, I doubt he’d piece together that I have joined her.”

  I approached Alexander, but to Gretchen asked, “You think so?” She pondered, then finally shrugged. “I’m not sure how he could. I agree, he’s talented, but not so talented that he can sense a single person’s energy.” Her head tilted, gaze became probing. “I imagine he senses something feels odd about her, which could be anything, such as her mood.”

  For the oddest reason, I didn’t agree with them. That look in Dane’s eyes was all too knowing, but I wouldn’t argue it out with them. I only hoped they were right since I did not want Dane or anyone in this house to know what we were doing. “So, we’re still good to go?”

  Alexander nodded. “I wouldn’t see why not.”

  “Good.” I joined him on the bed and pulled up my legs to sit cross-legged in front of him on the hard mattress. “No pissing around here, let’s get right to it. I need you out of that body A.S.A.P. or Caley will kill me.” At his nod and soft smile, that didn’t belong to Caley, I added. “You have no idea who did this to you?”

  He shook his head. “The night I died I had been out by the swamp taking a moment. I enjoy spending time there. I didn’t see the person who attacked me.”

  I couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to spend time at the stinky swamp, but who I was to disagree with him. I stayed silent as Gretchen asked, “But you suspect someone did a spell to trap you into the Netherworld?”

  “I felt it while dying,” Alexander’s gaze intensified in a way I’d never seen from Caley’s, so insightful. “Almost as if my soul was being forced away, but I intercepted in enough time to fight back, which is why the spell failed. I attached my energy to the magnetic fields and the power contained within them held more strength than the spell, but left me weakened, as you’ve seen.”

  I couldn’t picture either of those spells in action. I knew magnetic fields held power, but I didn’t know they held that much power. Plus, attaching oneself to a magnetic field…yeah, I couldn’t grasp it. “Okay, weird.” I gave my head a good hard shake. “But you didn’t hear anyone speak or anything like that?”

  “I heard nothing.” His lips pressed into a firm line as he shifted on the bed. “No sounds at all.”

  Gretchen, who stood in the center of the room, approached the bed. “Another spell perhaps?”

  I scrunched up my nose. Had anything ever sounded so bizarre? “A spell to stay quiet? There is such a thing?”

  “It’s possible,” Alexander agreed with a nod. “I never heard anyone approaching me and in truth, didn’t hear a single sound when I was dying. It seemed as if my ability to hear had been stolen.”

  While witchcraft was somewhat cool and saved my ass, it was also entirely peculiar. Perhaps even as frightening as Caley had suggested. Having that much power, in the wrong hands, was definitely something to fear.

  From what I’d seen so far, I started to believe the Lux should be burned. Leaving that thought behind, since that wasn’t my decision to make, I continued, “Moving on, then.” I zeroed in on Alexander, getting right to heart of questions. “How do you know me?”

  He turned on the bed, looking away from Gretchen and focusing entirely on me. “You have to understand we are a very tight community. When Max went looking to see if anyone could help you, I got wind of it. After a little digging, and from what Max said, I recognized your talent. I wanted you to come here so I could see for myself.”

  Good and all, but… “Why?”

  He smiled gently, so unlike Caley. “Because you’re one of us.”

  While I wanted to remind him that no I was not, I pressed on to get the answers I needed. “That’s the only reason?”

  “It’s one of them.” He sighed, clasping his hands in his lap so properly, and so absurd coming from Caley. “The other was to warn you.”

  Yes, wasn’t that the other something holding damn strong on my mind. I glimpsed at Gretchen and she leaned forward with interest. I was there, too. “Warn me of what, exactly?”

  “Your talents are impressive.” He glanced down at his hands and smiled slightly, probably because he felt so strange being in a woman’s body. “With that comes many things that, if you haven’t learned, could leave you in very dangerous situations.”

  I snorted. “Been there. Done that. And am still knee-deep in it.”

  “Yes and you see, I worried for you.” His head lifted and his expression looked torn. “I was concerned you didn’t have the protection you needed to keep yourself safe.”

  Running a hand over my face, I grumbled, “You know, things were never dangerous before. Until I met Kipp, I just saw ghosts and helped…sometimes.”

  At the silence greeting me, I lowered my hand and Alexander gave me a measured look. “And that’s exactly why it wasn’t dangerous.”

  I searched his eyes, but failed to understand. “Meaning?”

  Gretchen knelt down on the hardwood floor in front of us by the bed. “Because you never opened yourself up to it before.” She smiled sweetly at Alexander, which he returned, then her gaze caught mine. “The more you allowed yourself to become mystically bound, the more dangerous it became.”

  Alexander inclined his head in agreement. “I feared you’d suffer if I didn’t intervene. I wanted to make sure you knew how to protect yourself and the dangers that await you if you didn’t.”

  Dane had said something very similar to me. That I had been too open with ghosts and that left me vulnerable. Even the right to tell a ghost to leave me alone wasn’t something I realized before Dane had suggested it. In truth, those were lessons I needed when I faced off with the demon. What would have happened if I had to deal with a demon and don’t know how to do that?

  I didn’t even want to consider it.

  Locked in Alexander’s tender gaze, I couldn’t help where my thoughts took me. “Why do you care so much?” At his raised brows, I didn’t need his answer. “Right, because I’m one of you.”

  His chin dipped. “It was only and always to help you. To ensure you had the right tools to protect yourself.”

  “Well, thanks. That’s incredibly nice of you,” I had to admit, considering the other members of the Animus I’d met were complete jackasses, except Amelia.

  Now I understood why Gretchen held such focus to help Alexander; he was a good man who didn’t deserve this. Massaging my neck, I felt more than exhausted. I wanted to help Alexander, but I needed to save Kipp, too. With my personal agenda back on my mind, I gave up with massaging the knots out of my muscles. “Okay, can you tell me what you know of Nettie?”

  “I know of her,” he answered, now gazing over Caley’s legs in her skinny jeans as if he couldn’t quite understand them. “That she has similar gifts to you. I know that she’s travelled into the Netherworld.” He finally lifted his gaze to me. “But that is all I know.”

  Dammit! Why couldn’t he know all about her? Every little detail that would answer every question I had. Why couldn’t life be that easy? “Wayde won’t let me see her diary more than to show me a single passage. Did you read it?”

  “I read the diary,” he stated. “However, it was a long time ago and I’m afraid my memory isn’t the same as it used to be. I cannot give you every little detail of what she wrote, but from what I read, I do know she eventually died.”

  “Yes, we already know that.” But how was knowing she lived a long life and died going to help me any? “I need to get my hands on her diary again and see if I’m missing anything. There was something in there he didn’t want me to see.”

  “I agree,” Gretchen said. “He’s hiding it for a reason.”

&nb
sp; Seeing that was getting me nowhere either, I pushed thoughts of Nettie aside and got right to the rest of it. “Do you know if there is a spell in the Lux that will put a ghost back into his comatose body?”

  Alexander stared at me hard. “There are thousands of spells in that book. I imagine there would be.”

  Finally, some good news. Now to hope it continued. “Do you know where the Lux is?”

  He sighed, rubbing his hand over his jaw in such a masculine move that looked ridiculous on Caley. “Sorry to say, I don’t. When a Grand Master dies, the Lux is always moved. I’m unsure of where Wayde would have put it.” His head tilted, eyes became curious. “He won’t offer it to you?”

  “Oh, he will.” I retorted. “But only if I help solve your death.”

  “Hmm…” Alexander looked down at his lap, examining Caley’s pink painted fingernails. “I don’t approve of how he’s exploiting you to gain your help. For that, I will do what I can to help you.” His chin lifted. “If you promise to find a way for me to cross over. As it stands, I doubt you will find the one who did this and I cannot stay in this condition. If I unbind myself from the magnetic fields, I will always wander in the Netherworld.”

  I glanced at Gretchen and my shoulders slumped. “I’m taking a wild guess the spell to do such a thing is in the Lux?”

  “I’m assuming so,” she grumbled in agreement.

  Terrific. Also, not a surprise. Of course, anything I needed to help either of the ghosts who needed saved would be in a book not available to me. To Alexander I asked, “No offence, but don’t you know these spells by heart? I mean, all Gretchen has done is speak so highly of you.”

  Alexander smiled, leaning off the bed and cupping Gretchen’s shoulder. Odd to say the least, since Caley would rather butcher Gretchen, but the tenderness in her eyes showed me she only saw Alexander now. “It’s not a spell I’ve ever needed.” He finally looked back at me. “There are close to a thousand spells in the Lux. It’s impossible to remember them all, except the ones most needed.”

  While that frustrated me some, I totally understood. I had trouble remembering the few spells I needed to deal with the demon. To remember all of them--totally impossible. But what frustrated me more, I now had two reasons to find that damn book. Not only did I need it to save Kipp, but it would also fix Alexander’s situation. “Do you have any bright ideas on how I find it?”

  Alexander’s eyes softened further. “I can help by searching for it at the house, since I know what it looks like. But that means I need to borrow your friend for a little while longer.”

  I winced in absolute horror. “For how long?”

  “Until I find the book.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next morning when I opened my eyes, I had the biggest headache that could possibly be contained in my head before it exploded. I groaned into my pillow, hoping the sun hadn’t risen and I could spend another few hours asleep.

  Forcing to keep my eyes shut to fulfill that wish, I desperately tried to ignore the deep throb in my head. Sleeping at the house hadn’t been my idea, since I would’ve preferred staying at the hotel with Zach and the others. But Gretchen had said we needed to keep up the portrayal we were searching for Alexander, which meant we had to stay put.

  I exhaled roughly through my nose, welcoming my now more manageable headache, but suddenly had the sense someone was staring at me. I peeked open an eye and Gretchen’s back was to me, the sounds of her deep breaths indicating she remained asleep.

  Okay, maybe I was wrong.

  More than happy, I shut my eyes again, internally smiling, I could go back to sleep. But the damn sensation crawling over my skin wouldn’t leave me alone, nagging at me to wake the hell up. On a grunt, I rolled over and the second I did, Caley smiled down at me.

  “Err…Caley?” I croaked, opening both eyes and leaning up on my elbow. She shook her head and continued with a smile that just didn’t belong to her, holding no sass. “Okay, this is weird.” At the same time, I realized that I didn’t have the same goose bumpy sensation, which seemed odd considering who was in her body. “Alexander, then?”

  “Good morning, Tess.” His smile beamed. “Did you sleep well?”

  I nearly rolled my eyes since Caley sounded ridiculous asking such a question. Normally, my best friend would’ve smacked my leg and told me to get my ass moving. But as I looked at Alexander, I did like that I couldn’t sense normal ghost stuff from him, because it meant Dane wouldn’t have either. “At the moment, I’m hoping it’s not really morning and I can go back to sleep.”

  “Sorry, it’s eight o’clock.” Alexander took a seat on the side of the bed next to me as I sat up, straightening out my cotton pajamas, ensuring everything was where it should be. When I glanced at him again, he added, “Rise and shine.”

  Another thing that so wasn’t Caley; her mood hadn’t ever been pleasant first thing in the morning. I rubbed the side of my temple as the throb remained, but wasn’t unbearable, as Gretchen stirred beside me. I looked over at her just as she turned to face me and I chuckled at her unruly hair. “Morning.”

  “Good morning.” She examined Alexander a moment before a warm smile spread across her face. “I see you’re still in there.” She laughed softly. “You’re not glaring at me.”

  Another reason my suspicions of Dane were simply that, suspicions. Even Gretchen couldn’t tell Caley was any different except to know she wouldn’t be offering her a friendly smile first thing in the morning. And she was right—Gretchen wasn’t Caley’s favorite person at the moment.

  “All is well,” Alexander stated.

  No, it really wasn’t. All of this was seriously messed up. Not only did my guilt return in a flash seeing Caley in this condition. But I might also have been slightly annoyed I didn’t see Kipp last night in my dream.

  Gretchen had given me the sternest of all lectures before I went to sleep to avoid the Netherworld and while I agreed with her, part of me didn’t want to listen. But the stronger and more sensible part realized the danger. Until I got Nettie’s diary and found out the implications of going into the Netherworld, I couldn’t take chances. All of my efforts and current hell was to get Kipp alive again. It’d mean nothing if I were dead once we achieved it.

  My desire to see him as a living-breathing man held more strength than my desire to touch him again…for now. And it surprised me that traveling to the Netherworld wasn’t as easy as Wayde suggested.

  Motivation held the key. Since part of me was hesitant, the veil never opened. From what I figured out from last night, I needed a damn good reason to be welcomed into the mystical world and I had to believe without a doubt I wanted to go there.

  Made sense, I supposed—my first experience in the Netherworld had been caused from my longing for Kipp, my outright need to be together, and my soul deep craving to touch him.

  My second trip, I had simply been so desperate to see him again. I wondered, without the motivation of Kipp urging me on, if I could travel there at all. Could I feel that driven about a ghostly stranger? Truth was, I didn’t think so, and somehow, I felt perfectly okay with that.

  Deep down, I didn’t want to go into the Netherworld if I didn’t have to. I had never lied—I wanted a normal life…well, as normal as I could possibly obtain.

  Only problem?

  Life kept making things backasswards.

  Pushing the blankets off, I sat up, rubbing my hands over my face to wake up. My head thumped like a drummer was having a heyday in my skull, indicating I moved too quickly. “Ugh. My head is killing me.”

  When my headache once again became tolerable, I noticed the dead silence around me and lowered my hands. Alexander was giving me a curious look. “When did the headaches start?”

  I didn’t want to answer because it only firmed up a big negative for my ghostly travels, but his expectant expression demanded an answer so I grumbled, “After I went into the Netherworld.”

  “Might be one of the aftereffects,” he murm
ured, staring at me a little longer before he gave a firm nod. “We need to keep an eye on that.”

  Gretchen sat up, leaning a little forward in the bed to look at me. “Do you notice anything else other than the headaches?”

  I glanced at the bedspread and swirled my finger over the fancy detailing. A hard truth stared me in the face. “To be honest, this might be emotional rather than any leftovers from there. I’ve kind of been through a lot.”

  “You have,” she agreed, dragging my attention back to her. “But we can’t overlook it either. You need to let us know if they get worse or if anything else changes.”

  “Okay.” While I truly hoped it had nothing to do with the Netherworld and was, in fact, caused from stress, I knew we couldn’t ignore the truth either. My headaches were worsening. “Let’s say it is from the Netherworld, why would it be getting worse since I haven’t been back there?”

  Alexander shrugged, gazing at me intently and shifting on the bed, facing me more fully. “I don’t know.”

  “Which is why we need to keep an eye on it,” Gretchen stated, fixing her messy hair with a brush of her hand. “Exactly why you shouldn’t go back there until we have a clear understanding of how this might further affect you.”

  “True.” I gave my face another quick rub, ignoring the hard thumps in the front of my skull, then looked at Alexander. “So, how did it go last night? Did you find the Lux?”

  Darkness spread over his face. “Sadly, I didn’t.” At the slow slide of disappointment over me, he added, “While everyone slept, I searched this house from top to bottom.”

  “And nothing?” Frustration clipped my voice. “No sign of it at all?”

  He sighed, stood from the bed, and paced in front of it. “I’m sure it’s no longer in this house.”

  I mulled that over, aggravated to my very bones that it couldn’t be as simple as him stumbling upon the damn book. When being irritated got me nowhere but pissed off, I asked, “Where did you keep the Lux?”

  He stopped his pacing, turning back to me. “In my bedroom.”