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TEAGAN TRUDGED DOWN the dirt road a sodden mess. The suck of wet material as it clung to her skin and released made a dreadful noise, one she couldn’t wait to be rid of. After weighing her options, she’d decided the inn was still her best bet until she could figure out this Guardian/Secret Society thing. Somewhere in the dim light of the fading day the reeling, cricket-like churr of the grasshopper warbler drew her attention and had her wondering just how far away the whisper of that secretive little bird really was. There were plenty of places for it to hide in the thorny hedgerow, but the further she got from the sound of the first churr, the closer the bird seemed. An uncanny talent.
“You’re making the right choice.”
“Shut it, Auntie. If I wanted your advice, I’d ask for it. You know, like before when I did, and you had nothing to offer?” Teagan wasn’t really caring that the voice she’d heard all these long years was actually that of a lost Fae princess, who also happened to be her aunt, who also was only trying to save her own hide. “You’ve done me no favors.”
“Teagan, we need to discuss your plans.” Her aunt’s voice was firm, spoken like a true princess in control. Only she wasn’t in control of anything, was she?
What a mess she’d gotten them both into.
Now that their powers had been unbound, every so often, a new gift would surface, the magic frightening and delightful at the same time. Teagan had gone through all the stages. First, disbelief. Then, straight out denial. Then, anger. Pretty much that was where she was now.
Angry.
No one, not her mother, her aunt, her father, or the Fae queen had asked her what she wanted. No one had given her an option. All those years ago, that visit from the women in white, had that been the Fae queen? Her own grandmother?
“Yes.”
“Shut it. I wasn’t asking you.” Teagan stopped trudging and swung around as if to confront someone, momentarily forgetting the voice was only in her head. Seeing the non-corporeal form of her aunt had really done a number on her. “On second thought, why don’t you tell me what did happen that night.”
She waited.
When Aoife didn’t speak, she continued her homeward journey.
“That night, I realized that I needed to bind our powers to keep you safe. Without our powers, no one could track you, not even my mother. I’d been betrayed by one of my mother’s trusted guards. She wouldn’t hear me, wouldn’t listen.”
“So, when you bound your own powers, you bound mine too. You left me defenseless. Then my father signed the blood contract and basically gave me to Colin?”
“He did it to protect you.”
“Right, that’s why he left me too? A load of crap, I think. He didn’t want to deal with the mess he created, so he got someone else to cover for him and split.” She kicked a rock, and it skipped down the road, disturbing the creepy warbler that seemed to be following her.
A chill passed over her, and Teagan slowed from her mad trot to a more cautious pace.
“What is it?” Aoife asked.
“I don’t know, but I sense something.”
“We’re coming up to the inn, you should hurry. Get off the road.”
The worry in Aoife’s voice made Teagan look over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. Not seeing any shadows only did a small measure to tame her rapidly beating heart. The blue light flashing in a strobe-like manner, as she rounded the corner and the inn came into view, was the second warning sign. She didn’t need more than that and dashed behind the closest building across the street. She needed to be out of the open, like Aoife said.
From her hiding spot, she couldn’t see the front of the house, but she could see the end of the drive, and knew that would be where the little gate to Maggy’s beautiful garden was. Three garda stood at the gate seemingly in deep conversation with Ms. Maggy and the girl that was in the sunroom room earlier with all the men. What was going on? Where they turning her in, or looking for her?
“Trust them,” Aoife said.
“Shh.”
Teagan’s attention was drawn to the opening door of one of the guard’s cars, and one very pointed, shiny-black shoe that stepped out from it. She swallowed hard; she’d know that shoe anywhere, and yet, her mind could not fathom why her psychiatrist would follow her to another country.
“It’s weird, right?” she whispered to Aoife, glad for once the voice was there, and she wasn’t alone.
“It’s weird.” Aoife confirmed.
“Should I stick around and see what he’s doing here?”
“Are you crazy?” Came Aoife’s shocked reply, along with an immediate apology. “I’m sorry. I used that term too freely.”
Teagan nodded. Yeah, it was a soft spot for her, but she didn’t have time to think of that now.
“If I stick behind these buildings, I should be able to pass through the shadows right by them without them even knowing I’m here.” She spoke to herself as much as she spoke to Aoife. She didn’t need to tell her aunt her plans; she already knew them. One advantage to living inside her brain she guessed.
Just then, Dr. Cam turned in her direction, his gaze seemingly searching the ever-darkening night. She pulled back, worried that he might have seen her. Her feet started moving before she told them to, in the opposite direction. She walked in silence for a few moments, hugging the shadows, then a thought struck her.
“What is he? Is he Fae?” she whispered to Aoife, as if someone might be following her and she didn’t want them to overhear her.
“I don’t know Teagan. He’s not one of us; he’s something different. I can feel magic in him, but he dampers it. It’s as if he knows I’m here.”
“Aoife?” Still a whisper.
“Yes?”
“You know when he has me in the hypnotic sessions, what happens?”
The voice that answered her was a quiver. “It’s best you don’t know some things, my dear. Leave those memories to me.”
“You block memories from me?” She was heated again.
“This is not the time for this conversation. Look there, a pub. You need to get off the street. Plus, you’re still damp from earlier.”
Her reasoning was sound, so Teagan ducked into the little pub. The dimly lit room was warmer than she expected, and she was grateful for it. With her anger, she hadn’t realized how cold she’d been while wet and exposed out in the open.
“What’ll I do for ya?” the portly, partially-bald man behind the bar asked without looking up when she entered.
“Guinness.”
He looked up from wiping the counter and the side of his face turned up in a welcoming grin. He moved to the tap. After a few minutes, he returned to her with a rather large glass of the dark, frothy liquid. When he thumped it down on the counter, a small portion of it sloshed over the side, and he immediately pulled the off-white towel from behind him and wiped the spillover.
“We call it Gat around these parts.”
Teagan nodded her thanks at him and brought the pint to her lips, taking a heavy sip. The barkeeper whistled low and long.
“Careful now, look to the horizon or you’ll find yourself drowning in that head.” He laughed at her as he walked back to what he was doing. “Care for some curry cheese chips, lass?”
“No, thank you. This will do.” With another light chuckle, he went back to his work, and she continued to drink the warm liquid.
––––––––
THE FIRM SHAKING OF her arm, made Teagan come awake, and she jumped in alarm.
“Sorry, love. Not meaning to put the fright in you, but it’s closing time. Do you have somewhere to go?”
Teagan eyed the man warily. “I did.” Her words came out all wrong. Heavy on her tongue. Slurred.
“I can call the guards for you?”
“No.” She jumped from the stool, tripping as she did so and fumbling to right her seat before it hit the ground. “I mean, no thanks. I have a place.”
“See you don’t fall in a shuck somewhere; it’s full on dark out there.”
“I’ve got it from here, Harry. Thank you.” The husky voice sounded so close to her ear that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. Teagan froze. A thickly muscled arm reached around her and placed something on the counter. Hush money? She wasn’t sure. Her mind wasn’t clear.
“Aoife?” she called softly. She’d gotten herself into a jam, and now would be a good time to channel some of her auntie’s powers. Too bad it didn’t work like that. At least, it never had in the last 48-hours.
God, the smell of him. She continued to hold her breath so as not to inhale his intoxicating scent.
“Hello, Teagan.”
She turned.
“Am I dreaming?” she asked the man who haunted her dreams.
“Not this time, love,” Colin said.
“Love? That’s reaching a bit, isn’t it?”
Suddenly her thoughts cleared, and she took a step back. The blood contract, did that mean he owned her now? She refused to be owned. “You were in Chicago.” It wasn’t a question; it was an acquisition.
He nodded, confirming her fears. He’d seen her, sensed her, and yet, he’d still left her there to deal with everything on her own. How long had he known? How long had he known she was there and needed his help? How had he known she had no one but him? Her hands flew up of their own accord and began to beat upon his chest. Hard. Unrelenting. She released years of anguish onto him. Anguish at him, anguish at her father, anguish at not understanding why her life had changed. Why her father had left her with a step-mom who hadn’t wanted her.
“He just left me.”
Just as rapidly as her spurt of anger had flared to life, it was over, and she fell forward into his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t cry. She never cried. Crying was for weak girls who needed protecting.
“I was alone,” she hiccupped through her tears and was vaguely aware of the bartender, probably the owner, watching her sordid display, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Lord, you’re fairly ossified. How many pints of Gat did she have Harry?” Colin said.
“Only three, but she wouldn’t eat.”
“Come on,” Colin said to her.
She tried to shove off him, angry again. “No. I don’t need you and your hocus pocus. I made it this far on my own. Go away and protect someone else.”
She’d managed to get away from him but not far, and he grabbed her arm in an almost painful grip.
“Let’s not make a scene and take this outside shall we.”
“Fine,” she huffed, and shoved her shoulder back, causing him to release his hold on her.
Once they were out in the street she took off at a run, although she did it blindly. She had no idea where she was going or where Dr. Cam was. It was reckless. Stupid. But she didn’t care. The loud peal of a church bell sounded once. One a.m.? She beelined for the noise, hoping the doors to the church were open, but she didn’t make it that far. His grip stopped her dead in her tracks, as both of his arms wrapped around hers and locked her in tight.
The buzzing.
She was on fire, like a steam engine ready to blow.
Stretched so thin, she was a veil at its breaking point. A bubble before it popped.
And break, she did.
Her powers exploded around her in a blinding white light, and suddenly the fullness of Colin’s arms around her disappeared. He was gone, but she couldn’t move. She remained rooted to the spot, as if the very demons that haunted her finally had a hold of her. The heaviness of her body made her wonder how she was holding it up at all. She was able to turn her head and look behind her to where Colin was splayed out on the ground some six feet away. She’d laugh if she could — he didn’t look so tough now — but the noise eluded her as well. Then, he moved to get up, dusting off his khakis as he stood, and he disappeared. She shook her head in confusion. He’d just been there. What the what?
She didn’t have time to finish her thought as he abruptly reappeared in front of her, and his strong arms wrapped back around her, more tightly this time.
“Do that again, and we’ll have problems, you hear?” His voice was deeper now, almost a his. He meant business with that threat. He leaned in to whisper. “This might hurt; brace yourself.”