Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) (17 page)

Gretchen looked between me and Alexander with
wide eyes. “Why do you think that?”

“Didn’t you see the way he looked at her?” I
pointed at Alexander and shook my head. “I mean to say, him.”

“While Dane is a talented medium,” Alexander
said, striding forward to sit on the edge of the bed. “And I
suspect he feels something is different about Caley, I doubt he’d
piece together that I have joined her.”

I approached Alexander, but to Gretchen
asked, “You think so?” She pondered, then finally shrugged. “I’m
not sure how he could. I agree, he’s talented, but not so talented
that he can sense a single person’s energy.” Her head tilted, gaze
became probing. “I imagine he senses something feels odd about her,
which could be anything, such as her mood.”

For the oddest reason, I didn’t agree with
them. That look in Dane’s eyes was all too knowing, but I wouldn’t
argue it out with them. I only hoped they were right since I did
not
want Dane or anyone in this house to know what we were
doing. “So, we’re still good to go?”

Alexander nodded. “I wouldn’t see why
not.”

“Good.” I joined him on the bed and pulled up
my legs to sit cross-legged in front of him on the hard mattress.
“No pissing around here, let’s get right to it. I need you out of
that body A.S.A.P. or Caley will kill me.” At his nod and soft
smile, that didn’t belong to Caley, I added. “You have no idea who
did this to you?”

He shook his head. “The night I died I had
been out by the swamp taking a moment. I enjoy spending time there.
I didn’t see the person who attacked me.”

I couldn’t understand why anyone would choose
to spend time at the stinky swamp, but who I was to disagree with
him. I stayed silent as Gretchen asked, “But you suspect someone
did a spell to trap you into the Netherworld?”

“I felt it while dying,” Alexander’s gaze
intensified in a way I’d never seen from Caley’s, so insightful.
“Almost as if my soul was being forced away, but I intercepted in
enough time to fight back, which is why the spell failed. I
attached my energy to the magnetic fields and the power contained
within them held more strength than the spell, but left me
weakened, as you’ve seen.”

I couldn’t picture either of those spells in
action. I knew magnetic fields held power, but I didn’t know they
held that much power. Plus, attaching oneself to a magnetic
field…yeah, I couldn’t grasp it. “Okay, weird.” I gave my head a
good hard shake. “But you didn’t hear anyone speak or anything like
that?”

“I heard nothing.” His lips pressed into a
firm line as he shifted on the bed. “No sounds at all.”

Gretchen, who stood in the center of the
room, approached the bed. “Another spell perhaps?”

I scrunched up my nose. Had anything ever
sounded so bizarre? “A spell to stay quiet? There is such a
thing?”

“It’s possible,” Alexander agreed with a nod.
“I never heard anyone approaching me and in truth, didn’t hear a
single sound when I was dying. It seemed as if my ability to hear
had been stolen.”

While witchcraft was somewhat cool and saved
my ass, it was also entirely peculiar. Perhaps even as frightening
as Caley had suggested. Having that much power, in the wrong hands,
was definitely something to fear.

From what I’d seen so far, I started to
believe the Lux should be burned. Leaving that thought behind,
since that wasn’t my decision to make, I continued, “Moving on,
then.” I zeroed in on Alexander, getting right to heart of
questions. “How do you know me?”

He turned on the bed, looking away from
Gretchen and focusing entirely on me. “You have to understand we
are a very tight community. When Max went looking to see if anyone
could help you, I got wind of it. After a little digging, and from
what Max said, I recognized your talent. I wanted you to come here
so I could see for myself.”

Good and all, but… “Why?”

He smiled gently, so unlike Caley. “Because
you’re one of us.”

While I wanted to remind him that no I was
not
, I pressed on to get the answers I needed. “That’s the
only reason?”

“It’s one of them.” He sighed, clasping his
hands in his lap so properly, and so absurd coming from Caley. “The
other was to warn you.”

Yes, wasn’t that the other
something
holding damn strong on my mind. I glimpsed at Gretchen and she
leaned forward with interest. I was there, too. “Warn me of what,
exactly?”

“Your talents are impressive.” He glanced
down at his hands and smiled slightly, probably because he felt so
strange being in a woman’s body. “With that comes many things that,
if you haven’t learned, could leave you in very dangerous
situations.”

I snorted. “Been there. Done that. And am
still knee-deep in it.”

“Yes and you see, I worried for you.” His
head lifted and his expression looked torn. “I was concerned you
didn’t have the protection you needed to keep yourself safe.”

Running a hand over my face, I grumbled, “You
know, things were never dangerous before. Until I met Kipp, I just
saw ghosts and helped…sometimes.”

At the silence greeting me, I lowered my hand
and Alexander gave me a measured look. “And that’s exactly why it
wasn’t dangerous.”

I searched his eyes, but failed to
understand. “Meaning?”

Gretchen knelt down on the hardwood floor in
front of us by the bed. “Because you never opened yourself up to it
before.” She smiled sweetly at Alexander, which he returned, then
her gaze caught mine. “The more you allowed yourself to become
mystically bound, the more dangerous it became.”

Alexander inclined his head in agreement. “I
feared you’d suffer if I didn’t intervene. I wanted to make sure
you knew how to protect yourself and the dangers that await you if
you didn’t.”

Dane had said something very similar to me.
That I had been too open with ghosts and that left me vulnerable.
Even the right to tell a ghost to leave me alone wasn’t something I
realized before Dane had suggested it. In truth, those were lessons
I needed when I faced off with the demon. What would have happened
if I had to deal with a demon and don’t know how to do that?

I didn’t even want to consider it.

Locked in Alexander’s tender gaze, I couldn’t
help where my thoughts took me. “Why do you care so much?” At his
raised brows, I didn’t need his answer. “Right, because I’m one of
you.”

His chin dipped. “It was only and always to
help you. To ensure you had the right tools to protect
yourself.”

“Well, thanks. That’s incredibly nice of
you,” I had to admit, considering the other members of the Animus
I’d met were complete jackasses, except Amelia.

Now I understood why Gretchen held such focus
to help Alexander; he was a good man who didn’t deserve this.
Massaging my neck, I felt more than exhausted. I wanted to help
Alexander, but I needed to save Kipp, too. With my personal agenda
back on my mind, I gave up with massaging the knots out of my
muscles. “Okay, can you tell me what you know of Nettie?”

“I know of her,” he answered, now gazing over
Caley’s legs in her skinny jeans as if he couldn’t quite understand
them. “That she has similar gifts to you. I know that she’s
travelled into the Netherworld.” He finally lifted his gaze to me.
“But that is all I know.”

Dammit!
Why couldn’t he know all about
her? Every little detail that would answer every question I had.
Why couldn’t life be that easy? “Wayde won’t let me see her diary
more than to show me a single passage. Did you read it?”

“I read the diary,” he stated. “However, it
was a long time ago and I’m afraid my memory isn’t the same as it
used to be. I cannot give you every little detail of what she
wrote, but from what I read, I do know she eventually died.”

“Yes, we already know that.” But how was
knowing she lived a long life and died going to help me any? “I
need to get my hands on her diary again and see if I’m missing
anything. There was something in there he didn’t want me to
see.”

“I agree,” Gretchen said. “He’s hiding it for
a reason.”

Seeing that was getting me nowhere either, I
pushed thoughts of Nettie aside and got right to the rest of it.
“Do you know if there is a spell in the Lux that will put a ghost
back into his comatose body?”

Alexander stared at me hard. “There are
thousands of spells in that book. I imagine there would be.”

Finally, some good news. Now to hope it
continued. “Do you know where the Lux is?”

He sighed, rubbing his hand over his jaw in
such a masculine move that looked ridiculous on Caley. “Sorry to
say, I don’t. When a Grand Master dies, the Lux is always moved.
I’m unsure of where Wayde would have put it.” His head tilted, eyes
became curious. “He won’t offer it to you?”

“Oh, he will.” I retorted. “But only if I
help solve your death.”

“Hmm…” Alexander looked down at his lap,
examining Caley’s pink painted fingernails. “I don’t approve of how
he’s exploiting you to gain your help. For that, I will do what I
can to help you.” His chin lifted. “If you promise to find a way
for me to cross over. As it stands, I doubt you will find the one
who did this and I cannot stay in this condition. If I unbind
myself from the magnetic fields, I will always wander in the
Netherworld.”

I glanced at Gretchen and my shoulders
slumped. “I’m taking a wild guess the spell to do such a thing is
in the Lux?”

“I’m assuming so,” she grumbled in
agreement.

Terrific. Also, not a surprise. Of course,
anything I needed to help either of the ghosts who needed saved
would be in a book not available to me. To Alexander I asked, “No
offence, but don’t you know these spells by heart? I mean, all
Gretchen has done is speak so highly of you.”

Alexander smiled, leaning off the bed and
cupping Gretchen’s shoulder. Odd to say the least, since Caley
would rather butcher Gretchen, but the tenderness in her eyes
showed me she only saw Alexander now. “It’s not a spell I’ve ever
needed.” He finally looked back at me. “There are close to a
thousand spells in the Lux. It’s impossible to remember them all,
except the ones most needed.”

While that frustrated me some, I totally
understood. I had trouble remembering the few spells I needed to
deal with the demon. To remember all of them--totally impossible.
But what frustrated me more, I now had two reasons to find that
damn book. Not only did I need it to save Kipp, but it would also
fix Alexander’s situation. “Do you have any bright ideas on how I
find it?”

Alexander’s eyes softened further. “I can
help by searching for it at the house, since I know what it looks
like. But that means I need to borrow your friend for a little
while longer.”

I winced in absolute horror. “For how
long?”

“Until I find the book.”

The next morning when I opened my eyes, I had the
biggest headache that could possibly be contained in my head before
it exploded. I groaned into my pillow, hoping the sun hadn’t risen
and I could spend another few hours asleep.

Forcing to keep my eyes shut to fulfill that
wish, I desperately tried to ignore the deep throb in my head.
Sleeping at the house hadn’t been my idea, since I would’ve
preferred staying at the hotel with Zach and the others. But
Gretchen had said we needed to keep up the portrayal we were
searching for Alexander, which meant we had to stay put.

I exhaled roughly through my nose, welcoming
my now more manageable headache, but suddenly had the sense someone
was staring at me. I peeked open an eye and Gretchen’s back was to
me, the sounds of her deep breaths indicating she remained
asleep.

Okay, maybe I was wrong.

More than happy, I shut my eyes again,
internally smiling, I could go back to sleep. But the damn
sensation crawling over my skin wouldn’t leave me alone, nagging at
me to wake the hell up. On a grunt, I rolled over and the second I
did, Caley smiled down at me.

“Err…Caley?” I croaked, opening both eyes and
leaning up on my elbow. She shook her head and continued with a
smile that just didn’t belong to her, holding no sass. “Okay, this
is weird.” At the same time, I realized that I didn’t have the same
goose bumpy sensation, which seemed odd considering who was in her
body. “Alexander, then?”

“Good morning, Tess.” His smile beamed. “Did
you sleep well?”

I nearly rolled my eyes since Caley sounded
ridiculous asking such a question. Normally, my best friend
would’ve smacked my leg and told me to get my ass moving. But as I
looked at Alexander, I did like that I couldn’t sense normal ghost
stuff from him, because it meant Dane wouldn’t have either. “At the
moment, I’m hoping it’s not really morning and I can go back to
sleep.”

“Sorry, it’s eight o’clock.” Alexander took a
seat on the side of the bed next to me as I sat up, straightening
out my cotton pajamas, ensuring everything was where it should be.
When I glanced at him again, he added, “Rise and shine.”

Another thing that so
wasn’t
Caley;
her mood hadn’t ever been pleasant first thing in the morning. I
rubbed the side of my temple as the throb remained, but wasn’t
unbearable, as Gretchen stirred beside me. I looked over at her
just as she turned to face me and I chuckled at her unruly hair.
“Morning.”

“Good morning.” She examined Alexander a
moment before a warm smile spread across her face. “I see you’re
still in there.” She laughed softly. “You’re not glaring at
me.”

Another reason my suspicions of Dane were
simply that,
suspicions
. Even Gretchen couldn’t tell Caley
was any different except to know she wouldn’t be offering her a
friendly smile first thing in the morning. And she was
right—Gretchen wasn’t Caley’s favorite person at the moment.