Reluctant Adept: Book Three of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (30 page)

"So, as far as you know, no human has touched it?"

"I rarely remove it from my neck," he said with a wry smile, as though the thought of a human touching it amused him.

I sat back in my chair and studied him. "Dude, I'll be honest. You showing up, out of the blue, offering me this deal—a deal that looks too good to be true …" I narrowed my eyes. "It makes me think it probably
is
."

"You're the one who contacted the domn with those photos. I'd hardly call his response to send us here 'out of the blue.' Although, discovering your adept abilities was unexpected, I'll give you that."

No doubt. Still …

"Then why can't I shake the feeling that I'm missing something?"

When all I received in response was his raised eyebrows, I rolled my eyes and then turned to the others. "Anything important I should know about the
ríutcloch
? Have any of you ever used one?"

Kim and Kieran, both looking pissed off, shook their heads.

Eyes closed, Wade raised his hand in the universal 'gimme a sec' gesture that stopped the conversation. After thirty-seconds, while I tried not to fidget, he opened his eyes to consider me. "The amhaín has never used one, but several of her liaisons do. Invoking the
ríutcloch
will permanently imprint it to you. It establishes a connection, a conduit, to the
ríutcloch's
owner—whoever
originally
primed it with his or her own blood. The two of you will be able to communicate through this conduit. Unlike the bond you share with Tíereachán, the conduit is transient but more … substantive. You can think of it as a singular gateway for lack of a better description. As long as the
ríutcloch
stays in close proximity to your body and your mind remains open to it, the connection will hold."

"What happens if it closes?" I asked. "How do I get it back again?"

His gaze briefly shifted away while he considered it. "My lady believes it takes an investment of will, similar to the way you'd open a mental connection to her son."

I frowned at a sudden, unpleasant thought. "What if Caiside is dead?"

"Nothing can forge a connection beyond the void."

Wade's response didn't precisely answer my question, but I took it to mean nothing untoward would happen.

"Any other pearls of wisdom?" I looked from Wade to the others.

"Lire …" Kieran began, but when he took in my expression, which wasn't all that accommodating, he forced out a sigh. "Just … consider your actions carefully. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

"I don't plan to." I think Fisk snorted, but I managed to turn back to Alex without flicking anyone on the ear.

"Okay," I said, pressing my gloved hands flat on the table as if I needed to draw strength from the wood. "I'll use the
ríutcloch
and see whether I can do something to help Caiside if he needs it—but only if you swear that the domn will spare no effort or expense to save my friends if something goes wrong. If I'm … you know … not here to do something about it myself." I glared at him. "Because I can't imagine this is going to be as easy as you're making it seem."

He studied me for a moment before steepling his fingers together. "Agreed."

"Oh, and I might not have mentioned … there's a deadline. We need to neutralize Lorcán and his strigoi groupies by dawn on Wednesday or they'll start murdering my friends. Promise me, if I can't— "

"Clotilde," he said, growing impatient, "I promise you, if you're somehow prevented from coming to their aid as a result of trying to rescue Caiside, the domn will personally do everything in his power to help your friends."

"Help them
return to their former lives
," I clarified. 'Help your friends' was a little too wishy-washy for my taste. He could 'help' by whisking them off to his Iceland compound.

"Yes," he bit out.

"And if I succeed, he'll do the same," I said, "That still stands."

"Of course," he snapped, his fangs lengthening.

Hoo-boy
. I'd pushed him close to his limit. But instead of alarming me, the fearsome display had me wanting to stick my tongue out at him. I was so sick of people trying to intimidate and push me around.

Fortunately, though, I showed some restraint.

I turned his promise over in my mind, searching for loopholes, until I decided it was as airtight an assurance as I was going to get. If he went back on his word, both the amhaín and the king would know about it. With their heightened sense of honor, I was pretty sure they wouldn't look kindly on any splitting of hairs, especially if this barely thought out, ill-considered plan got me maimed, imprisoned, or killed.

Of course, I had no intention of getting reckless. I'd invoke the beacon, get the lay of the land, and then decide what to do next. If things looked too dicey to attempt a solo-rescue, we'd come up with another way to find and release Caiside.

And then I'll be right back to square one, won't I?

Alex frowned, his black gaze fixed on my hands as I removed my gloves, probably at the prominent blue tattoo just above each of my thumb knuckles, a gift from the Department of Paranormal Affairs and their now-defunct ID program.

"May I?" I asked, extending my open hand to him.

He pinned me with an indecipherable look but finally dropped the pendant into my waiting palm.

As soon as the talisman hit my skin, its magic jolted me ramrod straight.

Even if I hadn't known that the amulet was a summoning beacon, I would have figured it out as soon as I touched it. The tremor of magic emanating from the jewel crashed over me, drawing out my immediate shiver, as its resonance fluttered along my skin and through my core, captivating me with its unknown yet tantalizingly familiar tune. I rolled it around in my head, savored its plagency like the taste of chocolate, until I was sure I'd recognize it, even without the pendant as a reminder.

Instinctively, I knew this was Caiside's unique resonance.

Too bad I didn't have the first clue about this adept stuff. Because, if I did, I could use Caiside's resonance to find and rescue him without having to use this
ríutcloch
at all. But faced with the mind-boggling expanse of this universe, not to mention parallel universes, blindly trying to find his tune would be like trying to find a needle in a ginormous—

Whoa … wait a darn minute.

It's not as if I hadn't done something like that before. I'd faced this same circumstance when Paimon had trapped me in the Between. Except then, it was my own resonance that I'd needed to find in order to return to my Earth-bound body.

Why hadn't I thought of it sooner? The Between was my ticket. Actually, Caiside's resonance was the ticket. The Between was the train terminal—the ever-present, infinite, mother of all terminals. It was there—in that vast inter-dimensional nexus between worlds where every life force's string converged—where I would find Caiside's resonance. Once I found it, I'd follow his string, his unique essence, all the way to his physical body. And the cool thing was: If I could do it for Caiside, then I could do it for
anyone.
Well … anyone whose resonance I bothered to memorize.

Before I got too excited, I scolded myself.

You're making a lot of assumptions, bonehead. You know what they say about assuming anything, right?

Okay, true. The theory might be complete pie in the sky. But now that I'd thought of it, I had to at least check it out.

I turned to Tíereachán. "Remember how we were talking about plagency, earlier?" When he nodded speculatively, I bit my lip and said, "I think I might have figured out how to do it with people."

"Interesting." He gave me a sly wink. "You going to give it a try?"

I smiled. He was acting so relaxed when I knew for a fact his emotions were anything but. I could feel his doubt and growing concern through our connection, even with my shield firmly in place, but he was playing it cool, supporting me when I needed it most. I could have hugged him for that.

"Maybe," I replied. "I don't plan on going anywhere yet. Lemme … feel around, see if it's possible, first."

To be honest, I wasn't enthusiastic about participating in yet another blood ritual. If I could find and rescue Caiside without tying myself to another person, I was all for giving that a go.

I turned to Alex. "I'm going to try this real fast. If it doesn't work, then I'll use the
ríutcloch
."

He didn't say anything, just studied me with a grave expression and then nodded his assent.

I looped the necklace over my head and dropped the pendant inside the collar of my shirt. The chain was long enough that the stone hung low, between my breasts. Ready as I'd ever be, I put my hands in my lap, so I didn't have to worry about accidentally touching anything, and closed my eyes. I refused to let myself think about how I didn't have the first clue what I was doing. I thought of that singular place, the Between. I remembered how it felt, played its unique tune in my mind, and then, when I couldn't delay any longer, forced my telekinesis into that barren, resonant world beyond.

I don't know why I was so surprised when it worked. But I was, and it took me a moment of stunned inaction, astonished by the overwhelming sensation of the Between blaring at me through my magical conduit, before the true significance of the move sank in.

I'd sidestepped my magic to a destination based solely on a
feeling
. Interestingly, it wasn't all that different from how I sidestepped into the higher dimension.

This discovery was so revelatory, I had to think about it, follow the chain of reasoning a dozen times, until I was left with one amazing truth …

If I could sidestep my magic directly to the Between, I could, without a doubt, follow with my body. And if I could do that, then I could sidestep to other locations—like my bedroom. Or the telepath's headquarters. Or my office.

Or any freaking place I'd visited and could recall its plagency.

And if I could do that, it meant—

I gasped, jolting to my feet, and staggered away from the table. My heart beat a fierce tempo in my ears, almost blocking out the collective eruption of voices around me, calling my name, asking me if I was okay. Tíereachán appeared at my elbow. His fierce blue eyes bored into my own.

"Lire, what is it? Is it Caiside?" he asked, alarm lining his face and penetrating our mostly closed connection.

"No. I haven't checked yet. I'm sorry, it's not that. Well, it is sort of that. I …" I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to catch my breath. "You were right. I didn't want to believe you … or Kieran … or anyone."

I swallowed, shaking my head. "Tíer, I … I'm what you thought. I'm … a … a world walker." I frowned. "I mean … I could be. I think. I have to know the plagency of the place before I can sidestep there, so the
world
thing … I don't know about that part, exactly, but here, on Earth, I think … I could do it. I could take you places … places I know … places I've been."

I stopped shaking my head when I realized I'd been doing it the entire time I'd been babbling. Whether it was because I didn't want this to be true, couldn't believe it to be true, or didn't know it to be true, I hadn't the foggiest idea.

Tíereachán, however, didn't have any such doubts. "Show me."

"Show you? You mean … right now?" Eyes wide, I looked past his shoulder to find everyone's focus affixed to our discussion.

"Of course," he replied blithely, as though there weren't a half-dozen other people in the room, including the domn, all of who were waiting for me to find Caiside. "It won't take long. After all, I can hardly say, 'I told you so,' until you prove it."

I gaped at him, probably doing a credible imitation of a startled walrus.

And then … he winked at me!

It was the wink that snapped me out of it. Well, that and the pride and confidence wafting from him, effectively soothing my fears.

As he stared at me, broadcasting nothing but absolute faith in my abilities, I knew where to go. Holding the desired memory in my mind, I reached for that favored place, the one I most wanted to share with him.

"Stop pushing her," Kieran ordered. "If she doesn't— "

When the answering song resonated down my conduit, matching the one in my head, I wrapped Tíereachán and myself within my TK and sidestepped our bodies along its path.

The room disappeared before I heard Kieran finish his admonishment.

After a disconcerting blur and nauseating lurch, I stood beside a wide-eyed Tíereachán, atop the familiar mountain overlooking Yosemite Valley that I remembered so well from my childhood. The cold, pine-scented breeze was the first thing I noticed, followed by the shocked gasps and startled shrieks from several nearby hikers.

Ignoring them, along with my goosebumps, I grabbed Tíer's hand and dragged him down the dirt path to the nearest railing. Excitedly, I pointed to Half Dome and the luscious valley below, both of which were shadowed by an overcast but no less magnificent sky.

"I can do it. I can really do it!" I stared at him, seeing my own excitement mirrored back in his expression. "All these years and I didn't realize that when I visit a place, my memory of it isn't strictly what I can see, but also what I
feel
." I squeezed his hand, mainly to stop myself from jumping up and down like an ecstatic five-year-old. "Ever since you guys started telling me I was 'the one,' I resisted it because I couldn't understand how I could have this gift and not know. What I didn't realize was that all my life I've been aware of the plagency of places, I just didn't know they were significant."

"Does this mean you plan to listen to me, now?"

"I listen to you," I said. "I might not agree with you, but I always listen."

He snorted and then leaned forward to peer into my eyes. "Told you so," he said, grinning broadly. He released my hand and turned to consider the view. After a few moments of companionable silence, while I tried not to shiver at every biting gust of wind, he sighed. "Thank you for this. I never dreamed I'd stand in this valley again."