Bound In Blue: Book One Of The Sword Of Elements (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

I sat cross-legged on my bed at the mansion with a magazine, but
10 Ways To Add Sparkle To Your Holiday Wardrobe
couldn’t hold my attention. Giving up, I tossed it across the room at the dresser, but it missed and slid down the front to join the sweater, boots, three t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, and several textbooks on the floor. I was spending less and less time in my own home, but my two rooms were starting to look the same.

Peter had run out of excuses to give his parents and usually left before dinner. Missing him, I lay back and concentrated on the connection between us—a thread the color of new grass. As we both trained, our bond strengthened, and I was able to sense him without being near him. I’d also learned how to block that awareness. I never again wanted to catch even a hint of what he was feeling when he was making out with Miko. After that first horrifying experience, Taliesin taught me how to create a mental barrier to give us both some privacy. It was like imagining a pane of glass reflecting the bond away.

I tossed onto my side restlessly as I was reminded of my disappointing interview with the bard.

“Yes, I am aware that Melusine is still with us,” was his calm reply.

“What do you mean you’re ‘aware’ of it?” Miko squeaked. “Why haven’t you done anything about it?”

Taliesin sighed and glanced at the fridge behind us; we’d cornered him in the kitchen on his way to get a snack. “What would you have me do? Take away Daley’s only comfort in grief? Should I be that cruel?”

“You’ve been cruel before.”

Taliesin nodded. “Yes. But Melusine has not yet posed a threat to any of us. You remember how Daley’s sadness threatened to overwhelm him after death. You also know of how I first found Daley, but I will tell the tale again briefly for Rhiannon’s benefit.” He sat down at the kitchen table and gestured for us to join him. “Six years ago I went to consult with the Seer of New York.” He glanced at me and I remembered that the Seer of New York was Morgause, my mom’s and Morgan’s sister. It felt strange to think that I had another aunt out there, although an adopted one.

“She told me to seek out the Hudson River Psychiatric Center and that my journey to knowledge would begin there. Since the Seer is rarely so specific—or coherent—I immediately went in search of the place. It was very strange. Part of the facility was still in use, but the rest was abandoned and filled with ghosts. I could not see them, but I could hear them answer when I asked why the Seer had sent me to them. Their whispers led me to Daley who was starved and half-crazed. He had been sent to the facility for observation, but in his confused state had run away to join the spirits. They are like lightning, after all, being insubstantial and yet powerful. I do not know how long he was alone with them. If Daley remembers, he does not say.”

The magic in the bard’s voice transported me. I could see barred windows, rotting wood, and Daley huddled in a corner in the dark.

Taliesin continued, “Daley’s stepfather drank and his mother did nothing to protect the boy from the man’s rage. One night, Daley fought back. It was also the night of a great storm. Without meaning to, he tapped into the power that is his birthright and struck his stepfather down with lightning. When the house caught fire, Daley’s mother refused to leave her husband’s side. Daley tried to save her, but they were separated by flame.” The bard sighed. “I took him in as my son, but it wasn’t until we found Tynan that he began to heal. Daley’s great need is for a family to replace the one he lost. He was going to ask Melusine to marry him.”

“What?” Miko gasped.

“When she died, I was afraid we might lose him to the shadows again. Rowan began to sense that the girl’s spirit was still with us, but it seemed to help Daley and allow him to function. We hoped he would eventually let go and shed the ghost on his own.” The bard’s smile was grim. “I know we cannot let the situation carry on indefinitely. The more a spirit loses touch with its own identity, the more it believes that we, the living, are its enemy. But let us wait and see, for Daley’s sake.”

I tossed again and punched the pillow as I tried to get comfortable. Taliesin wanted us to stay out of it, but he couldn’t see the web of Melusine’s possessive desire.

She’s not going anywhere.

I gave up and got out of bed; maybe a quick run would clear my head.  Easing into the hallway, I closed the door carefully behind me.

“Where are you going?”

Startled pink starbursts blinded me, but I heard Tynan laugh softly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

As my eyes cleared, I forced myself to smile. “It’s OK. I couldn’t sleep so I was heading down to the gym.”

“I was going to go for a walk. Why don’t you come with me?” I couldn’t think of a way to say no so I followed him downstairs to the doors that opened onto the back terrace.

There was frost in the corners of the glass. “Maybe I should grab a jacket.”

“You won’t need one.” Opening one of the doors and stepping out, Tynan motioned for me to join him. My reluctance must have shown on my face as I came out. “Don’t worry. Look at what I can do.” He made a motion with his hand and the chilly air around us swirled, picking up dried leaves.

Coughing at the dust of the leaves as they disintegrated, I was about to tell Tynan to stop when I realized the air was now dry and warm. I looked at him in surprise. “That’s amazing.”

He ducked his head but I could see the white of his teeth as he smiled. “What color is it?”

Warm air flowed over my skin and I closed my eyes briefly. “Auburn with orange sparks. But how?”

“I’m agitating the atoms around us to create heat. At least, I think I am. I’ve never understood where science and magic meet.” He kicked at the remains of the leaves as they fell to the ground; the warm wind was gone. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be able to do it again tomorrow.”

A hint of warmth stayed with me as I followed him out into the yard. “It must be frustrating.”

“If I knew who my real parents were, maybe I could make sense of it.”

“You honestly don’t remember anything from before Taliesin found you?”

Tynan shoved his hands in his pockets. “My first real memory is waking up in a bed at the ranch. Daley was watching over me.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that you and Daley were both found in New York?”

He shrugged. “Not really. New York’s a magnet for anything paranormal. All the great cities of the world are. There’s lots of Paths in them too. If I somehow got lost on one, I could have come from anywhere in the world.” His fists clenched. “How can I find my destiny when I don’t know who I am?”

I turned away and looked up at the moon—it was almost full and it filled the sky with cold light. “I don’t believe in destiny. Knowing who your parents are might not give you any more answers than you already have.”

Tynan came up behind me and put his arms around me. I wasn’t short, but my head still came under his chin and I felt enveloped, trapped. “Finding out Cernunnos is your father is a good thing, Rhi.” His breath was warm on my hair.

“Really? He sounds pretty scary to me. Even his own sisters are afraid of him.”

“It’s better to know who you are than to be left guessing like me.” I tried to ignore a flash of irritation.

Tynan just can’t let go of his own deal.

The hard pounding of his heart against my back reminded me of the day Mom hid me from my father. She’d hidden me from the world. My birth mother had abandoned me to her. They never asked me what I wanted. Tynan wanted to make decisions for me too—wanted to make me feel something I didn’t feel.

I untangled myself from his arms as gently as I could and tried to change the mood. “Ty, I need to talk to you about Daley.”

The air around me ignited with a boom and I was hurled to the ground. Hot pain prickled across my arms and the smell of burning hair filled my nostrils. “What the hell!” I screamed, but Tynan was shouting back and his voice was unnaturally amplified.

“Daley! Always Daley! Don’t you know he can’t see you with her around? He can’t see anyone anymore. She will never let him go!” The house lights were turning on and it was only a matter of seconds before everyone found us.

“Can you see her?” I demanded. “Can you see Melusine?”

Tynan seemed to sink into himself. “She haunts me.”

Daley and Taliesin ran out. Ignoring me, the two of them half dragged, half carried Tynan into the house.

Rowan rushed to my side and hissed through his teeth when he saw my arms. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.”

Taking my hands, he helped me to my feet as he examined me. “It’s just your forearms and they’re scorched, not burned. I have something that will fix them.” He looked at me with gentle eyes. “Please forgive him. He has these episodes sometimes, but he won’t remember anything in the morning. He likes you so much, and that’s the problem; it reminds him of Melusine.” Rowan spat on the ground as if her name tasted vile. “It wasn’t enough she bewitched Daley, she had to toy with the boy too. Ty’s broken and Melusine dug her pretty little teeth into that break whenever she could. She even tried to come after me once, but Bo holds all my heart.”

Leading me into the house and down to the kitchen, Rowan retrieved an amber-colored glass jar from the fridge. The ointment in it smelled like wet grass. “Starweed for burns,” he explained as rubbed it into my skin, “but I’ve increased its potency.” When I ran my hands over my tingling forearms, they were smooth and hairless, but the pain was gone.

Once I assured the druid that his medicine had worked, I gathered my things and went home. I wasn’t mad at Tynan anymore. Knowing his history, I couldn’t be surprised he wasn’t stable. At least I had the answer to one of his problems.

The bitch has to go.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

At school the next day, I marched straight up to the one person who could help me—Lacey McInnis.

In less than three months, Lacey had tumbled from the top of the food chain all the way to the bottom. The other Bumblebees had been tolerant of the new Lacey for a while, but once she quit cheerleading, they moved on. With her stringy hair and sloppy clothes, the rumor started that she was hooked on meth.

I knew what she was really hooked on.

I leaned against the locker next to hers. “So, how’s the witch training going?”

Lacey lifted an eyebrow that hadn’t seen a tweezer for a while. “What are you talking about?” As she pushed a strand of dirty hair out of her face, I was shocked to see the growing length of black tattoos creeping up the underside of her arm.

“C’mon, a moron could have figured it out. You keep having all these super-secret study sessions with Cailleach, and you’ve gone all Courtney Love all of a sudden. The answer is obvious to anyone who even guesses that magic exists.”

Sighing, she closed her locker and leaned against it. “What do you want?”

“I need your help.”

Lacey looked at me like I was crazy. “You need my help? You’re the flavor of the month everyone’s all excited about and
you
need
my
help? Do you know how hard it’s been for me to achieve anything in magic? How much blood I’ve spilled from my own veins? I’ve basically given up sleeping and eating. Even with all that, I wouldn’t be anywhere without Cailleach helping me. And do you know what’s funny about that? Do you? Cailleach came here for you! When she found out you were already training with Taliesin, she decided to find a new apprentice. I said yes.” The last was defiant.

“Good for you.”

She stared at me for a second before responding. “What?”

“I said, ‘good for you’. Why should you be the one left in the dark?”

Lacey’s eyes went dead. Maybe she believed me. Maybe she was just too tired to fight. “What do you want?”

“Let’s get out of here.” I was skipping again, but my new birth certificate was my get out of jail free card.  Lacey closed her locker with a bang. I thought she was going to say no, but then she nodded and began walking for the exit. I had to hurry to keep up with her.

We drove in my car to a donut shop a couple of blocks away and I bought us both blueberry muffins which we took to a table in the corner. After a slow start, Lacey devoured hers. I pushed mine over and she started pulling it apart and popping pieces in her mouth. Her wrists looked fragile with the dark knots and swirls of the tattoos enclosing them.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Not sure,” she mumbled between bites.

“Aren’t your parents getting worried?”

“Cailleach put a whammy on them so they only see what they want to see. So,” she said, brushing the crumbs away and changing the subject, “why do you need my help?”

“It’s something I think I need a witch for.” Either that or a priest. “It’s kind of an exorcism,” I added.

That caught her interest. “Cool. Demon?”

“Ghost, but a magic one.”

“Still cool. Way above my pay grade though. We would need Cailleach’s help.”

I told her the whole story. I even threw in the detail about Melusine coming on to Rowan to make sure I sealed the deal.

Lacey shook her head. “Wow. She sounds like a real piece of work. But if she’s not hurting anyone, why don’t you do what Taliesin says and let her fade away?”

“He can’t see her. I can, and believe me, she’s not letting go of Daley without a fight.”

“But what makes you think she’s so dangerous? She couldn’t even stop herself from getting shot.”

A thread of mauve unease wormed across my vision and I hesitated. When I didn’t reply, Lacey fidgeted and I knew I was losing her. Hoping I was doing the right thing, I said, “Melusine was the direct descendant of the original Melusine. She could turn into a dragon.”

Lacey leaned forward, her face filled with excitement. “So she could turn into a big old ghost-dragon any second?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to wait around and find out.” And I wanted Daley and Tynan out of Melusine’s scaly little paws.

“Sounds interesting.” She laughed brightly and was the Lacey I’d known almost all my life again. “Who am I kidding? It sounds awesome! I’m in. But I know what Cailleach’s going to ask—what’s in it for her?”

“She’s interested in me, right? Well, I’m interested in me too. If she still wants to, I’ll train with her. I’m not making a lot of progress right now. Maybe she can help me find some answers.” I was betting dangling that bait would be enough to snag Cailleach.

Lacey started to leave. “Where are you going?” I asked.

She turned and lifted an eyebrow at me. “I’m going to contact her.” I looked at her phone sitting on the table and she laughed again. “Haven’t they taught you anything? I need water and a basin. I use a scrying bowl when I want to talk magic with Cailleach. That way, no one else can listen in.”

I could feel my cheeks go warm. “Of course,” I murmured to cover my ignorance, but by the look on Lacey’s face, she wasn’t fooled.

After a few minutes, the girl returned and the fleeting energy some food had put into her was gone. Slumping down in her seat, she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Cailleach has agreed to help, but she’s naming the time and place as a condition.”

“OK, when?”

“All Hallows Eve—Halloween. Are you going to the dance?”

“What dance?”

Lacey rolled her eyes. “The
Halloween
dance.” The “Stupid” afterwards was implied.

“I don’t know. Why?” Eastdale always held its dance the Friday before Halloween. It had been one of Peter’s and Lacey’s first dates.

Lacey’s face clouded and I wondered if she was remembering the same thing. “I’ll give you the rest of your instructions then.”

“Why?”

“Because Cailleach says so, that’s why. A spell like this is delicate and takes planning. She’ll let you know what she wants you to do when she’s ready.”

As we left, I could tell Lacey was pleased to be back on top of our personal little food chain. I blinked away angry red specks—the dance was just a few days away and I could endure it until then. When I dropped her off beside her own car, she drove away without saying good-bye.

When I went back to the mansion, Rowan met me at the door and told me Tynan had no memory of attacking me and the ability he’d shown was gone too. Still, I was glad he was out target shooting with Peter and Daley in the makeshift range at the side of the property. I’d been surprised when Peter told me he was learning to shoot. Guns were useless against advanced magic beings, but apparently they worked just fine on a lot of lower monsters and most of the Protectors were packing.

I found Miko in her room and told her about my plan to get Lacey’s help. To my relief, the fairy was all for it. We both decided to leave Peter out of it. He was spending a lot of time with Daley and my best friend didn’t exactly have a poker face.

I felt bad about it, but not as bad as I should have.

The one wrinkle was Melusine. Each day I spent at the mansion, I became more attuned to Daley’s power. I was beginning to be as aware of him as I was of Peter—as if we had our own bright bond. But I could feel Melusine through it too. I could see her all the time now, hovering around him, whispering in his ear. When I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, she was still there, shimmering in aquamarine. Once I tried to touch the color of her power. As it passed through my fingers, my hand brushed Daley’s shoulder and we both jumped as electricity arced between us. Daley stared at me with dark, unreadable eyes. I looked at Melusine.

The day before the dance, Melusine turned and looked back.

We were all in the kitchen. Yelping in surprise, I bumped into Peter and he dropped the plate he was loading up with Rowan’s brownies. Melusine pressed herself against Daley and stared at me, her eyes filled with meaning. He seemed oblivious.

For the rest of the night, she made sure I saw Daley was hers by pawing and kissing him whenever I was around. Then she confirmed my suspicion she wasn’t confined to the vicinity of the necklace—or my awareness of Daley’s power—when she appeared in the air above me as I lay half-asleep in bed. Screaming, I tumbled to the floor in a tangle of blankets and pillows.

Tynan’s room was next to mine and he rushed in. “I heard you scream. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.” I sent the same message down the green bond that vibrated with Peter’s concern.

Floating in air and wrapping her white legs around Tynan’s waist, the ghost flicked a silver tongue into his ear. Tynan’s cheeks flamed and he excused himself.

I couldn’t wait for Halloween.

When I shuffled down to the kitchen for breakfast the next morning, I was surprised to find Peter sitting with his elbows on the table, running his thumbnail between his teeth. He looked up when I came in and laid his palms flat against the surface, but he didn’t smile.

“I want to know what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t mess with me, Rhi. I can feel it in here.” He tapped his chest. “You’re hiding something and I want in.”

I sat down. “I didn’t want to drag you into it.”

“This thing between us—this bond—it doesn’t give us a choice, does it. I go where you go.”

I sighed and nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re right.” I told him everything about Melusine and the plan to get rid of her, including Lacey learning magic from Cailleach.

“Don’t you think you should have told me all this days ago?”

I felt a twinge of guilt as the bond between us pulled and strained. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Peter slammed his fists down on the table and I gasped at the violence of it. I’d never, ever seen Peter lose control.

Is there a Protector version of ‘roid rage?

He flattened his hands against the table again, but they were shaking. “You and me for always, remember? No matter what, I have your back and you have mine. Right?”

A sudden chill crept up my spine. “Even if I’m wrong?” I asked softly.

“Even if you’re wrong,” he replied without hesitation. “The way I see it, you pick a side and stick with it. Maybe sometimes we’ll be right and maybe sometimes we’ll be wrong, but if we stick with each other, it’ll even out in the end. If this is your plan, then I’m with you.”

“What about Taliesin and Rowan?”

Peter smiled and the man filled with coiled aggression who’d assaulted the furniture a moment ago was gone. “I’ve known those guys for like, what, five minutes? What do you think?” I leaned over to give him a fierce hug.

“You and me,” he said when I released him.

“You and me.” I agreed, but in my heart I knew I was capable of choosing something else.

I pushed the thought away. “Do you want to go to the dance tonight?”

“The Halloween dance? Are you joking? Why?”

“Lacey wants me to meet her there so she can give me the rest of Cailleach’s instructions.”

“Why doesn’t she come by and give them to you? Or text you?”

Peter was right. Meeting Lacey at the dance seemed unnecessary, but I didn’t want to risk putting her off by being difficult about it. “I don’t know, but let’s just go with it, OK?”

“Fine. But you know you have to dress up, right?”

I stared at him as he smirked at me.

Kill me now.