by M.C. Moore
Chapter 18…
After Meckenzie cast the spell on Taggart, Isabel kicked her out of the gym. The spell had worked, which had pleased Isabel, but not warning Taggart that it was coming had gotten Meckenzie in hot water. Isabel was frustrated enough that she sent her away without teaching Meckenzie the reversal spell. So now she was getting ready for her date.
Meckenzie decided a long shower and some female primping was in order. She did her nails, which hadn’t had any attention in weeks. They sparkled now with a light pink polish that had hints of glitter in it. She took extra care in applying lotion to her whole body. Meckenzie had determined that if she were going to get anything out of this date, it would be that she looked and felt good.
Taking extra special care with hair, Meckenzie curled it into large ringlets. It fell like golden waves around her face, causing her blue eyes to stand out even more. Meckenzie had picked out a summer dress, even though it was spring, and had paired it with a sweater to guard against the cool nights of the city.
When Meckenzie was finished getting ready it was almost seven. So she slipped her phone, some lip gloss, and the can of pepper spray her father had gotten for her, into a clutch purse that matched her dress and headed downstairs. Kellan hadn’t made an appearance all afternoon, so Meckenzie was surprised to see her sitting at the bar in the kitchen.
“You look nice.” Kellan seemed surprised that Meckenzie would go to this much trouble for her date.
“Well thank you. What are your plans for the evening?”
“Taggart and I have decided to stalk you. He activated the GPS locator on your iPhone so that we can be close, but not so close as to get caught.”
“Jeff will be with us, do you really think that is necessary?”
“Taggart thinks so, even if you did use a little magic on him this afternoon.” Kellan laughingly replied.
“You should have seen him. He was completely lost. I don’t think I have ever seen Taggart so confused in his life. Isabel was way ticked off.” Even Meckenzie couldn’t help but laugh at her brother’s state this afternoon.
Meckenzie heard her father talking as he was descending the stairs. To her surprise, Jeff was getting a last minute debriefing from him. Jeff had a look of patience on his face as their father instructed him not to let Meckenzie out of his sight. Knowing what she knew about Jeff, she was pretty sure that he had done this before and she suspected he was pretty good at it.
When Jeff looked up and saw Meckenzie, he stopped dead in his tracks. It took him a moment to regain his composure, and no one seemed to notice he had even stopped except Meckenzie. She melted when he smiled at her. As tempting as it was, Meckenzie tried not to read his mind. She was pretty sure that all her work primping had paid off. Even though Jeff wasn’t her date, she sure enjoyed his reaction.
Her father was not as appreciative of all her hard work getting ready. He immediately shook his head.
“Aren’t you going to get cold in that dress?” He had attempted to take the logical route to get her to cover up, but it wasn’t going to work. Meckenzie felt too good about herself to go changing into something more reasonable.
“I’ve got a sweater. Plus we are going to a restaurant, it’s not like we are going to be dinning outside.”
“You don’t know that, he may have picked a place with a patio.” Her father’s objections were not going to work.
“Dad, I’ll be fine. Do I look nice?” Meckenzie did a quick spin around so that the full effect of the outfit was visible. When she returned to face her father and Jeff, she noticed a unfamiliar look flash across Jeff’s face.
“You look wonderful darling.” Her father realized he was not going to win this battle and leaned in to kiss Meckenzie’s forehead.
Just as he was pulling away, the doorbell rang. Kellan volunteered to get the door and her father followed closely behind. Meckenzie and Jeff were left alone in the kitchen for a moment. He looked as if he wanted to say something. The emotions were flying across his face and didn’t take Meckenzie’s mind reading ability to realize that he didn’t want her to go out with Ty tonight.
“Are you sure about doing this? You can back out you know. We can try other means to find out who this guy is.”
“It’ll be fine. It’s just one date and I don’t really like him so if something goes wrong, we can just get out of there.”
Jeff smiled. “You really look amazing. I wonder how great you would look if you really liked the guy?”
Meckenzie blushed, she couldn’t help it. She knew that Isabel had said that she should put Jeff out of her mind, but with him so close by, it was nearly impossible.
“We should go.” Jeff reached out and touched her arm. Meckenzie felt a million tiny fires ignite all over her body. It was the most magical and wonderful feeling she had ever experienced. She let Jeff lead her to the front door where Ty was getting twenty questions from her father about their plans for the evening.
“Dad,” Meckenzie interjected, “I think we should go.”
Ty was looking rather dashing in a suit jacket and t-shirt combo that was very city chic. He had gotten a haircut so that his jet black hair was now falling haphazardly around his face.
“You look amazing tonight.” Ty said as he took Meckenzie’s hand. “Shall we go?”
“Sure. This is Jeff, my bodyguard. He’ll be with us this evening.”
Ty didn’t even acknowledge Jeff’s existence; he simply pulled Meckenzie out the door. Ty laced his fingers into hers, which sent electricity through Meckenzie’s body, but it was nothing like the wonderful feeling she had received from Jeff’s touch in the kitchen. It was like her body was trying to tell her in every way possible to get away from this guy.
Meckenzie distracted herself from the unpleasantness she felt in Ty’s presence with pleasantries. “So where are we going tonight?”
Ty smiled at Meckenzie, “I thought we could go to this Thai restaurant that is a couple of blocks over. I hope you like Thai food.”
Meckenzie had remembered telling him that Thai food was one of her favorties, she thought she was going to be sick. Ty really revolted her. She couldn’t imagine having dinner with him, but here she was, going to dinner. Meckenzie knew she needed to say something to keep the date moving.
“I’d love to have Thai food with Ty.” She said in her wittiest voice. “So tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family.”
“Well, I have a brother and a sister. I told you about my parents when I met your dad. There really isn’t much more to tell.”
“Do your brother and sister go to school with us?” Meckenzie tried to sneak a peek at Jeff who was following closely behind them.
“No, they are both out of school.”
“So they are older than you?” Getting information out of Ty was difficult; he seemed reluctant to answer questions with any personal detail.
“Yeah. So tell me about you. Are your parents still together? I would love to meet your mom.” Ty smiled innocently at Meckenzie.
“My parents are separated.” Meckenzie was trying to think of way to explain her mom’s absence. “She is in France. I think we are going there to visit her this summer.”
Meckenzie thought that was a good cover story. She had been to Paris when she was fifteen. It was a trip her father had planned, taking them all away for two weeks in the summer. It had been a great trip and Meckenzie had fallen in love with Paris.
“France is beautiful. I love Paris, especially in the evenings with all the lights and people. So how long have they been separated?”
Meckenzie knew that this piece of information was public knowledge. There had to have been some record of it. She knew the school had records stating that their mother was not allowed to pick them up anymore. Meckenzie remembered her father going down to the school and talking to the head master.
“They have been separated for eight years.”
“Do you get to see her much?” Ty seemed generally concerned.
“Not as often as I’d like. So let’s talk about something a little lighter. What do you like to do in your free time?”
“I like to read. I read a lot actually and I listen to music.”
“Do you play sports?”
“No. I’m not the athletic type. I have done some fencing, but I’m only adequate at it. What about you?”
“I don’t play competitive sports at all. I like to run. I read too, but not as much as I should. I love music. I like to try and see live music whenever I get the chance. It’s nice when they have concerts in the park; I can usually go up to the roof and hear the music.”
Meckenzie thought she may have made a mistake telling him there was roof access. She knew that if Ty was truly trying to get in the house, he would have figured it out on his own. She didn’t need to make his job any easier though.
Meckenzie was relieved when they finally had reached their destination. Jeff took position outside the door of the restaurant as Meckenzie and Ty stepped inside. Ty spoke to the hostess while Meckenzie ran through possible topics of conversation that would get Ty to open up. Meckenzie thought that it might be important to let Jeff know that she could communicate with him if she needed to, so she sent him a telepathic message.
Jeff, it’s Meckenzie, I know this is probably pretty freaky. I just wanted you to know that I can communicate with you through my mind. If I need you, I’ll let you know.
Jeff responded, seeming to take all of Meckenzie’s freakiness in stride. Thank you for letting me know. This guy is freaky. I’m pretty sure he is Fae.
Meckenzie thought about that for a moment, Isabel had said the same thing. Meckenzie knew what she had to do. At some point tonight, she was going to have to try and read Ty’s mind. She hoped that he didn’t have some kind of powers. If Ty did, he might be able to detect her probing. It would almost be worth it to just tell him she thought he was a fairy. Then at least Meckenzie could gage his reaction. If Ty did harbor all the hatred Meckenzie had felt in her vision when he had kissed her, she was sure that it would show in his face when she surprised him with the knowledge that she knew what he was. Meckenzie’s logic got the better of her and she decided against doing a big reveal over dinner.
The hostess showed them to their seat and gave them menus. Meckenzie took a quick look at the menu, but she knew she would more than likely have Pad Thai. It was her favorite Thai dish.
“What sounds good?” Ty asked. “Should we start with some chicken satay?”
“Oh that sounds good. I think I’ll have the Pad Thai. What about you?”
“I think I’ll have the Kang Dang.”
“That is so good. I love curry too. I often get the yellow curry.”
The waitress came by and took their orders. While Ty was distracted with the waitress, Meckenzie thought she might try and sneak a peek at his thoughts. As soon as she thought about doing it, Ty turned to her and asked her what she would like to drink. The smile on his face was scary. It could have been her imagination but Meckenzie felt like he knew she was prodding at the edge of his thoughts trying to find a way in.
“I’ll just have water.” Meckenzie knew she was going to have to get into Ty’s mind at some point; maybe just push past her trepidations and dive in. It was a pointless date if she didn’t find something out. Ty might realize Meckenzie was in there, but she knew he probably wouldn’t cause a scene in the restaurant. Then again if Ty really could feel her in there, then Meckenzie wanted an escape route. She took a moment to scope out the restaurant. Meckenziee located the bathroom so if she needed a break, she could always excuse herself. There was probably an exit through the kitchen. Jeff was by the front door, so that was the safest way to flee. Meckenzie realized that nothing had actually happened; she could just be making herself crazy, but better safe than sorry.
Meckenzie decided to let Jeff know that she might try to read Ty’s thoughts. Jeff, I’m going to try and read Ty’s mind. She waited for the telepathic response from Jeff, but she got no response. Jeff are you there? Jeff? Meckenzie began to panic, she couldn’t see Jeff by the front door and she wasn’t able to reach him mentally.
“You have the weirdest look on your face. What are you thinking about?” Ty was staring at her with that devilish grin of his. Meckenzie had gotten so caught up in her escape route and trying to communicate with Jeff that she had forgotten to put on her happy face.
“I was just thinking about the paper we have to write for our humanities class. I was reading the book I’ve chosen earlier and something just popped into my head about it. Sorry, I do that sometimes. Get lost in my own thoughts.”
Meckenzie decided to just go for it. She cleared her mind and looked directly at Ty. She pushed her mind out to his and tried to push herself in. There was a feeling of dense fog surrounding his thoughts. Nothing was visible, just the feeling that something was there.
Ty had begun talking, but Meckenzie was still pushing at the edge of his brain trying to find her way in. She was tugging, pushing and trying to slash her way into his mind. The harder she worked to see, the foggier the thoughts became. Then like a sock to the stomach she clearly got one word. “NO”.
Meckenzie inhaled deeply and felt light headed. Ty had begun laughing, she had missed everything he had said, so she laughed too.
“You really think you can just push your way into my mind?” Ty said. “I can feel you in there, and I have had years building up a defense to people trying to read my mind. I guess the cat’s out of the bag though. I was really hoping this was going to be an easy little seduction game. I’d get you to fall in love with me, and then I’d sweep you off without so much as a single ounce of blood being shed.”
Meckenzie’s mind was still reeling from the attempt to read Ty’s thoughts. She couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying. Ty knew she was in his mind, Meckenzie shook her head in denial. He had pushed her out so forcefully that it had caused sort of a mental whiplash to occur. Meckenzie felt confused and light headed.
“Oh, it’ll take a few minutes for your mind to right itself. Especially since your powers are so new and you haven’t gotten used to using them. So I’ll just talk for awhile. You and your siblings were a little bit harder to find that we had hoped. We have been looking for you for twenty years. Of course I haven’t been looking for you personally, but my family has. As soon as your mother ran off all that time ago, we suspected that she was going off to have the Trefoil. We needed to stop her, or destroy you, whichever was easier. Now I have you here, within my grasp. What shall I do with you?”
Meckenzie’s eyes widened in the shock of what might possibly happen next; she shook her head again in denial. Ty stopped for a moment, contemplating his next move. Meckenzie had her first clear thought since she started trying to read his mind. She needed to tell Jeff. Meckenzie cleared her thoughts again and reached out to Jeff.
He knows who we are. I tried to read Ty’s mind and he felt me in there. He is trying to figure out how to get me out of here without you knowing. What do we do? Meckenzie waited for a reply. Jeff still didn’t respond. She turned to the door again, trying to see if he was there and she was just not getting through. Jeff was nowhere to be seen, he was gone.
“Oh, your body guard is distracted right now and I sent someone after your snooping brother and sister. So they aren’t coming for you either. Meckenzie you should just get up and come with me.”
Ty started to stand up from his chair, so Meckenzie did the only thing that she could think of to do. She drew in a deep breath and looked right into his eyes.
“Mearhball sáraigh.” Meckenzie said it quickly and quietly. If it didn’t work, she didn’t want him to know that she had said it.
Ty sat back down in his chair and looked befuddled. He looked around the restaurant trying to
figure out where he was. It had worked! Ty was completely confused, so Meckenzie took that moment to reach into his mind. She needed more information; this dangerous situation couldn’t be for nothing.
Ty’s mind was open now, but it was very confusing. This might not have been the best idea Meckenzie had. She waded through his confused thoughts, past the useless questioning that had been brought on by the confusion spell, until Meckenzie finally found something that was useful. Ty thought about his brother and sister. So he really did have a brother and sister, and they were here in New York City too. Meckenzie remembered for a moment Ty standing outside the park with a girl and a boy about his age. They had the same dark hair. That had to be them.
Finding pertinent information was harder than Meckenzie thought it would be. She didn’t know what she was looking for. Meckenzie stumbled around in his brain for another minute then decided she needed to get out of here before Ty recovered. She contemplated saying the spell again to give her some extra time, but that it might only reverse the spell. Meckenzie still hadn’t learned the reversal spell, since Isabel had sent her away earlier without teaching it to her.
“Okay Ty, I’m going to go now. You stay here and enjoy your dinner. I’d like to say I had a nice time, but we both know that would be a lie.” Meckenzie stood up and made her way to the door, as she came out onto the street, she didn’t know what to do. Jeff was gone. Ty had said that he had sent someone after Kellan and Taggart. Meckenzie fished out her phone and tried calling Taggart’s phone. He didn’t answer, so she called the house.
Meckenzie started walking towards home as the house phone rang in her ear. Walking past the alley next to the Thai restaurant, something caught her eye. Jeff lay partially behind a dumpster about halfway down the alley not moving.
“Hello.” Isabel said as she answered the house phone.
“Isabel, everything is going wrong. I need you to come to the Thai restaurant three blocks west of the house, I’m in the alley. Jeff’s hurt.” Meckenzie had bent down to inspect Jeff’s injuries. Meckenzie checked his pulse, he was still alive. He seemed to be fine, no blood, or signs of a fight. He just seemed to be asleep.
“Where is your date?” Isabel asked.
“Sitting confused inside the restaurant. Ty knows who we are. He said they have been looking for us for twenty years. He has a brother and sister, I think he sent them after Taggart and Kellan.”
“You mean coming to the house to get Taggart and Kellan?” Isabel asked.
“No. They followed me out on my date. They are somewhere close by. I don’t know where though. And Taggart isn’t answering his phone.”
“Your brother and sister snuck out of the house to follow you on your date? I ought to just go back home if you guys aren’t going to protect yourselves.” Isabel raised her voice.
“Focus Isabel. Come to me, then we will find Taggart and Kellan.” Meckenzie hung up the phone. She crouched down behind the dumpster and slipped Jeff’s head into her lap.
“Come on Jeff. Wake up. What did they do to you? I need you to wake up. Taggart and Kellan are in trouble and I don’t know when Ty is going to come out of his confused state. I need you to help me here.” Meckenzie felt like crying. Everything had gone so terribly wrong. Jeff was hurt. God only knows where Taggart and Kellan were? Possibly being drug off by Ty’s malicious siblings.
Meckenzie decided to reach out to Taggart and Kellan mentally. She had done it in the house before, and they had said they were going to be close by. So it was completely possible that they were in mental distance to receive a telepathic message from her.
As she sat there running her fingers through Jeff’s hair, she reached out to Taggart and Kellan.
I don’t know if you can hear me. They know who we are. They have sent someone after you. Jeff is hurt in the alley beside the Thai restaurant and Isabel is on her way here. Let me know where you are so we can come find you.
Meckenzie didn’t expect any response; she was feeling very alone and very scared in the alley. Meckenzie felt like a failure, she had tried to play spy and now everyone was in trouble or hurt.
Meckenzie Taggart’s voice came flooding into her brain like a welcome ray of sunlight. They found us as we were leaving the house. They herded us into the park. One of them is a firestarter, she burned Kellan. The other is some kind of earth mover. They separated us. I don’t know where Kellan is. Taggart sounded desperate.
Can you make your way out of the park? Meckenzie asked.
And leave Kellan. I can’t leave her, I need to find her. This is all my fault. It was my idea to follow you. We just wanted to protect you and now Kellan is hurt and missing.
Taggart you have to stop blaming yourself. Go look for Kellan, but stay safe. I can’t lose you two.
Isabel came running down the alley and found Meckenzie holding Jeff’s head in her lap and stroking his hair.
“Okay, it looks like a sleeping spell. This should be easy to remove.”
Isabel started working her magic and within seconds Jeff started waking up. Meckenzie realized she was still holding his head in her lap. She knew that this was way more intimate than they should be, so she tried to help him sit up.
“What happened?” Jeff was still a little groggy from his magical nap, but he was awake enough to realize he had his head in Meckenzie’s lap and would like to stay there for a little while.
“Someone cast a sleeping spell on you. Do you remember who?” Isabel reached out her hand to help Jeff to his feet. He stumbled for a moment, and then righted himself. Jeff took a look around; he seemed to be confused as to where he was.
“I don’t remember anything. I mean I remember coming to the restaurant and I remember standing outside the door. Then, there is nothing.”
“We don’t have time to get to the bottom of this. We need to get to the park where Taggart and Kellan are. I talked to Taggart telepathically and Kellan has been burned by a fire starter. They got separated. There is an earthmover, I don’t know what Taggart means by that, but he said it and then said that he and Kellan had gotten separated. He is looking for her now. We have to go help.” Meckenzie was frantic to go find Kellan. She didn’t want to be standing in this alley anymore. “Plus I don’t know when the confusion spell I cast on Ty is going to wear off.”
“You cast the spell?” Isabel seemed surprised. “What happened?”
“I tell everyone later, lets’ go find Kellan and Taggart.” With that Meckenzie headed off toward the park, hoping that Isabel and Jeff were going to follow.