Deceiver's Bond: Book Two of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (18 page)

Maeve hadn’t moved. She stood in the center of Jerome and Peter’s living room, right hand extended toward Vince, who stared at her with a rapturous gaze. And he was just seconds away from walking within her reach.

What the hell?
I glanced around me. Daniel and Michael were both on their knees, heads slackened by sleep. Kieran had ventured a step or two in my direction and he stared at me, hard. After a moment, his eyebrows went up, like I’d done something to surprise him.

Holy shit.
A demon’s silver tongue had nothing on these two.

That’s when it hit me. The voice in my head had been Paimon’s. Apparently, I had drifted into something so closely resembling sleep that the demon had been able to talk to me. Yell at me, more like.

And for good reason.

Vince was in deep shit. I still didn’t know what Maeve had in mind, but I wasn’t about to allow her to get close enough to him to find out.

Where in the hell were the djinn? Why had they allowed Maeve to ply her magic? Did their lack of involvement mean she offered us no harm?

Come on, Lire. Wake up and smell the darn magic. If her motives are so pure, why subjugate us?

I cast my thoughts toward Maya and Tanu, calling for their help.

Nothing. Our psychic conduit felt dead, probably cut off by whatever incantation Daniel had invoked with that egg-like object.

Well, shit.

Just lil’ ol’ me and two scary-ass sidhe stuck inside a magic circle not completely of this world. This was bad, bad juju.

Even as fear, cold and cutting, turned my blood cold, my magic seethed hot inside my core. Its reassuring pressure emboldened me to do the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed Vince with my telekinesis and yanked him back toward me.

Maeve’s singing abruptly stopped and her angry gaze snapped to my face. Still on my knees, I knifed upright and interposed myself between her and Vince.

“Keep your hands off him,” I snapped and fumbled behind me to grip whatever part of Vince’s body I could get my hand on. I tugged at his sleeve while keeping my attention trained on the two sidhe. “Vince. Damn it. Snap out of it.”

He made a small, irritated groan, as if he didn’t want to wake up, even though his eyes were open wide when I glanced over my shoulder at him.

Maeve lowered her arm, standing tall, and glared at me. “I do not wish to harm you, but if you continue this foolishness, I will have little choice.”

“I don’t consider saving my boyfriend from the likes of you
foolishness
. You won’t touch him. Back the fuck off, the both of you, or you’ll be the ones hurting. I promise you.”

Apparently, my colorful threat didn’t carry much weight. Her head bobbed back with an inaudible snort. “I think not,” she replied and then cast a meaningful glance at her henchman.

Kieran stepped closer, but his shadow moved faster. It elongated and washed over me, an inky tidal bore that plunged me into utter blackness and instantly smothered all external sensation. The void pressed against my eyes and ears so completely, it almost felt like a tangible entity, soft and cloying. I gasped for air, half-expecting to find none. When I realized I no longer clutched Vince, I spun around, swiping at the nothingness around me, unable to hear, not even the sound of my own breathing.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
He sent me somewhere.

The word ‘oubliette’ popped into my head.

Dungeon.

I felt light headed and realized I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Okay. Just calm down. Passing out isn’t going to help Vince. Calm down, breathe normally, and think.

But the darkness and unbending silence stifled any rational thought. Panic once again rose in my chest. Reflexively, I covered my face with my hands. In spite of the suffocating darkness, I could still feel. I rubbed my gloved fingers across my forehead and the reassuring sensation helped me focus.

What had Kieran done to me? Where the hell was I?

Teleportation was a tall order. I wasn’t even sure if the building’s djinn could do such a thing. Although, now that I considered it, Maya and Tanu had shifted Michael and me to that strange place—one I could only describe as another dimension.

Is that what Kieran had done? Shifted me into some dark dimension? If so, how the heck was I going to get back?

I clawed at my temples, forcing down the rising panic. What about the magic circle? Most were constructed not only to restrict outside interference but also to confine any magic used within its boundaries. Nothing could get in but, at the same time, nothing could get out. Most likely.

So, unless Kieran was a supremely powerful being … I was probably still standing inside Jerome and Peter’s living room.

Idiot!

I extended my telekinetic web while I kicked myself for being a panicked lemming and not thinking of my magic sooner. I felt the living room and its contents.

Vince stood in front of that bitch of an elf. Her hand caressed his cheek. I clenched my fists, anger rising hot and bitter in my throat. Kieran had moved closer to where I stood, continuing to strangle me with his shadow, which I’d suffered long enough. I thrust my power at the back of his knees with a decisive blow and ended up flat on my back, the inside of my knees throbbing, and the wind knocked clean out of me.

When I could breathe again, I tried to piece together what had happened.

Somehow, what I attempted to do to Kieran had been directed back at me. My insides tried to shrivel up when I considered what would have happened if I’d let loose with my pyrokinesis.
Crap.
Now what? I was getting tired of being the poor cousin.

If I couldn’t direct my power at him, maybe I could direct it at me, instead.

I levitated myself head first through the air, aiming for Kieran’s stomach. On impact, I was rewarded with the sound of his pained grunt along with the
whoosh
of his sudden and forced exhale. White-hot pain shot down my neck to the junction at my shoulder. It disappeared as quickly as it came, but not before it shredded my concentration. My magic faltered.

Gravity won out, and we both went down, hitting the floor in a jumble of limbs with me on top. His oppressive shadow fell away. Squinting, I blinked back delicious daylight. Kieran jerked to the side, managing to free his right hand, and grabbed me before I had the sense to use my TK to escape. His cool fingers clamped around my bicep, sending me into a panicked rampage. God knew what he could do to me with direct skin contact.

He sucked in a shocked breath and brutally squeezed my arm. “You are tainted.”

“Fuck you!” I shouted.

I fought him with everything I had, using my power to keep his other arm pinned under my body and squirming to keep him from flipping me over to my back, knowing that if I didn’t stay on top, he’d easily subdue me. His shadow once again engulfed me, but this time, I didn’t freak out. If anything, I fought him harder. Finally, close to exhaustion, I drove my elbow into his neck. It was a lucky blow, glancing off his collarbone, but it stunned him long enough to disrupt his magic and his grasp. I flew to my feet, free of his hold.

Without thinking, I launched myself toward Vince, intending to pull him away from the blonde’s clutches.

Maeve uttered something to Kieran, her expression frantic. In a blur of preternatural movement, an imposing shadow appeared in front of me. I plowed into it and found myself caught inside Kieran’s embrace.

“Bastard!” I shrieked at him, any semblance of poise forgotten.

Instead of struggling to get away, I grappled with him and hurled us through the air. I’d had more than enough of this shit. Time to bash his effing brains out.

Unfortunately, the magic circle fell short of the family room’s concrete wall. We hit the invisible barrier and bounced back into the room. I twisted myself to direct Kieran’s body at the floor. I landed on top of him, too surprised by our deflection to slow my own speed. The muscles of his chest only partially cushioned my head. My hipbone struck something hard, his belt buckle, perhaps, and I cried out. It took precious seconds before I had the capacity to pull myself up from his limp body. I stumbled away, gasping and rubbing my head, trying to rally myself for the remaining fight.

Maeve, her hands curved so that it almost looked like she had claws, screamed something indecipherable and crouched, ready to pounce.

Maybe my impact with Kieran had driven some sense into me. I finally did something smart.

I snatched the egg-like object from the area rug, levitating it toward me. The talisman hit the center of my palm with a satisfying
smack
. It felt surprisingly light for its size and vibrated pleasantly against my hand. Even through the fabric of my glove, I could feel it fluttering in perfect synchronization with the surrounding air. I spent a scant second wondering whether it might be hollow before raising my arm to smash it to pieces on the hardwood floor.

Maeve cried out, her face a contorted mask of rage and frustration, and raced to grab Vince’s relaxed arm. Before I could throw the egg downward, she uttered three alien words and promptly blinked out of the room, taking Vince with her.

At the same instant, the magic circle shattered with a subsonic
pop
, leaving me stunned and confused, my arm still raised, with just two unconscious telepaths and semiconscious sidhe for company.

I careened into the living room.

“No!” My shout echoed through the apartment. I tossed the talisman aside, hardly registering the resulting sound of breaking glass. “Vince!”

I spun around, searching the area despite knowing they were gone. The air, bereft of sidhe magic, felt empty and thin. Its absence weighed on me, like the memory of a broken tooth.

Daniel stirred from his position on the floor, just to my right. Fury, hot and heady, washed over me and heated my body more effectively than a bonfire. I grabbed him by the shoulders and jerked him upright, using my power to get him to his feet since I wasn’t strong enough to lift him unaided.

“Where is he?” I shouted. “What have you done?” I shook him hard, making his head snap backward.

His partially closed eyes widened in alarm. “Lire,” he gasped. “What … what happened?”

I growled and shoved him away from me, causing him to stumble backwards and fall on his ass.

“You.” I gritted my teeth, struggling to contain my wrath now that it had been loosed. Magic, potent and intoxicating, churned in my core. I stalked close enough to tower over him and jabbed a finger down at his face. “You stupid fuck,” I snarled. “She took Vince. And it’s your goddamned fault. Where did they go? Where did she take him?”

He stared at me with a clueless expression that I wanted to slap clean off his face.

Distantly, I knew I teetered on the edge of no return. If I didn’t ease down, my magic would get away from me and I’d hurt someone.

Kieran’s scathing voice came from behind me. “If there is any fault to be had, it is yours alone.”

I didn’t remember moving, or even thinking. One minute, I was trying to calm down and, the next, my entire body seethed orange flame. I straddled the loathsome sidhe’s hips and pressed his wrists into the floor above his head, just moments away from allowing my fire to wholly manifest and consume his body. He stared up at me, his dark eyes defiant and unflinching.

My building’s djinn floated on either side of us.

When did they get here?

The one on my right spoke. I thought it was Maya. “The Lire required aid from the djinn, but fae magic prevented it. Does the Lire desire our service now?”

To my left, Tanu added, “The sidhe is not of the Lire’s world. He is not under the protection of the djinn. The Lire may kill him as she chooses, if this is what she truly desires.”

Kieran’s lips curled into a snarl of disgust. “Do it. I would sooner die than fulfill my duty, a prisoner to this forsaken world.”

I tightened my grip around his thick wrists, looming over him. Enticingly hot, my magic coasted over my skin, undulating and teasing me with its seductive power. It would be so easy to let go. God help me, I wanted to! I remembered the exultation of release, the unrivaled pleasure of its fiery potential flowing over me, through me. The sickeningly sweet smell of burning flesh. But these weren’t my memories. They were Patty’s. I had touched her remains weeks ago, in pursuit of the Circle Murderer, and received her pyrokinesis in the bargain.

It seemed, as long as I possessed her ‘gift,’ I’d never escape her evil influence.

Kieran flinched and his eyebrows drew together as he examined my face. A drop of water coursed down his cheek, leaving behind a single glistening path of moisture.

What the—?

I wiped at my cheeks, surprised to find them wet with tears. Appalled, I flew backward, banking my fire, and turned mid-air to land ten feet away, halfway into the living room. I clamped my mouth shut, but a muffled whimper came out through my nose. To my left, Michael watched me in shocked silence. Daniel sat on the edge of the divan, a few feet from Michael, his head buried in his hands.