Tethered 01 - Catalyst (19 page)

Kace grinned. “Any time I can get to work magick with you, I’m down for.”

The innuendo in his words was not lost on me, but I didn’t have time to think like that right now. I had to figure out a way to protect myself before whoever it was that wanted me gone decided to strike again.

I was cautious of where I stepped when I started up the stairs that led to my front door, searching for any dirt that could possibly be another Hotfoot spell. Kace was in front of me, acting as my self-appointed bodyguard. I let us into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. Now that I knew what was in my trash can, I wanted it out of the house. Immediately.

“What are you doing?” Kace asked as he watched me struggle with getting the bag out of the can without touching anything besides the drawstrings. It wasn’t working so well.

“Trying to get this crap out of my house,” I said through gritted teeth as I pulled hard and only managed to stretch the drawstrings out, but not release the bag from the can.

He chuckled and came over to help. “Here, let me.” He reached out and gripped the sides of the can as I continued to pull with all my might. “You know you can touch the bag now. The spell already worked on someone; it has no power anymore.”

“I don’t care. I’m still not touching it just in case you’re wrong,” I said as I quickly tied the strings into a bow and headed for the back door.

“One thing you’ll soon come to realize about me, I’m never wrong.”

I brushed my hands off on my shorts and slammed the back door shut once more. “Whatever. Let’s go see what we can find in that book.”

I headed upstairs with Kace right on my heels.

“Go upstairs with you, sure.” He grinned.

God, he was such a damn horn dog. Problem was…I liked it.

I turned the knob on the red door and stepped inside. Binks ran up the narrow stairs, nearly tripping Kace so he could get into the room behind me. I glanced at him in a whole new light now. It was odd that he was like some sponge for magick. I went straight to the book and began flipping through its pages without knowing what I was looking for.

“What type of spell do you think I’ll need?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound as normal as possible when my words felt anything but.

“I don’t know,” Kace said, flopping on the puke-colored loveseat up against the far wall.

I stopped and glared at him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re supposed to be helping me figure this crap out because you know more than me.”

“I’ve never actually had to use a protection spell for anything, though.” He shrugged while messing with the tassels on one of the throw pillows.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I said as I resumed my frantic search for a spell to help me. One caught my eye:
A Spell for Protection
. “I think I found one.” I skimmed the spell, searching for the ingredients.

Black candles to line a circle with.

There were plenty of black candles on the shelf. I went over and grabbed an armful as Kace stood and glanced over the spell I’d found.

“This one is so basic. I hope it will be enough,” he said, already sounding pessimistic about the whole thing.

I ignored his comment and went back to the book to figure out what I needed to do next.

Create a circle, and then line the candles around you within. Clear your mind before lighting them to sweep away negative energy within yourself. Light the candles while thinking of your intentions: protection, safety, comfort.

I created a circle with the chalk like I had done before and set out the candles around me like the book had said, feeling as though I had a ticking time bomb fastened to my chest. Before I set the final candles into place and closed the chalk circle all the way, I called for Binks. He came directly to me and curled up in my lap. I wasn’t sure whether or not he needed to be enclosed within the circle in order for his magick to work, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I looked to Kace next.

“Are you going to help, or are you just going to stand there and watch?” I asked him.

He flashed me a wicked grin. “I already told you, any time I get to work magick with you I’m down for. I was just marveling at how easily you’re taking all of this. I mean you just drew a circle.”

He moved to sit beside me on the cold hardwood floor, and I didn’t say anything. His presence mixed with mine in the circle I was creating and made the area seem too small and suffocating as I closed us inside with both chalk and candles.

I sat Indian style and Kace did the same. His knees brushed against mine in the confined space I’d created, and I felt tendrils of warmth swim to the surface of my skin there. For the first time, I wondered what he felt when we touched. Did he feel warmth like me, or was it something else entirely that sparked to life inside of him?

Kace sat the book on the floor beside us, and I glanced at him, allowing my eyes to rake over every inch of him. He’d worn a faded, baby blue, cotton T-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts that were well broken in, just like the shirt.

“Are you ready to attempt this?” Kace asked, a smirk playing in his words.

“Yeah.” I looked up to find him smiling knowingly at me, as though he’d borne witness to the way my eyes had been taking him in and he liked it. My cheeks warmed under his stare, and I shifted my attention to the book.

“Okay, now it says to clear your mind of negativity,” I said, struggling to do just that.

“All right, not a problem,” Kace said.

I watched as he closed his eyes, their thick lashes fanned out against his cheeks. Why did guys always have lashes girls dreamed of having? All the mascara in the world could never make my lashes look as long and dark as his did right now.

I took in a breath and closed my eyes to clear my thoughts of anything negative—something that wasn’t going to be too hard, because I really wasn’t thinking anything negative at the moment anyway. Kace shifted his weight, causing his knee to brush against mine a little more. Nope, all thoughts were good at the moment.

I opened my eyes after a few minutes and found Kace staring directly at me. He flashed me a crooked smile and I grinned back.

“Now, I light the candles while thinking of my intentions. Protection, safety, comfort. I guess you should think those things too,” I said, my voice sounding a bit husky and unsure. Kace’s eyes flashed and he looked boyishly pleased to have the effect he did on me.

I shifted my gaze to the candles and began lighting them, while repeating the same three words in my mind: Protection, safety, comfort.

Kace picked up the book and glanced at its pages. “Envision the fires creating a flaming, bright sphere of protection around you. One that cannot be penetrated. Envision this sphere growing until it encases the house in a bubble,” he said, reading from the book.

I closed my eyes again, this time envisioning what Kace had told me to. Binks purred loudly from in my lap, and I wondered if what we were doing was actually working. I opened my eyes after a few minutes and met Kace’s stare dead-on.

“How do we know if it worked?” I asked.

“What did you feel last time, anything?”

I thought for a moment before answering, remembering the sudden flare of heat that had overcome me. “I don’t know. There was a clap of thunder and then a storm came afterward, but I’m not sure it was from doing magick. It was probably just a coincidence.”

“But did you feel anything?” Kace asked again.

I shook my head. “Not much. There was some sort of heat I felt. It was different than what I feel when we touch though, so I’m not sure it was anything.”

“Hmm…I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best. Maybe he doesn’t have any more magick left in him,” he said, looking at a sleeping Binks in my lap.

“Maybe.” I glanced down at him.

Disappointment crept through me. I had expected some sort of sign that the spell we’d done had worked, like maybe for the candles to blow out on their own or something of equal creepiness like the last time. This time, though, there’d been nothing.

“So, should we order in or go out?” Kace asked after we’d cleaned everything up and headed downstairs.

“Umm, whatever you want to do, I guess,” I said, not realizing he’d been planning on staying after.

“Oh, God, you’re one of
those
people.” He scoffed in a tone I didn’t much care for.

I turned to face him. Scowling, I blew a strand of hair that had fallen from my bun out of my face and crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His oddly colored eyes flashed with amusement. “One of those people who never really know how to give someone an actual answer when they’re asked to make even the simplest of decisions. You’re a deflector.” He pointed at me and grinned.

He’d said it like he’d had me pegged from the beginning or something and was just now getting to see that he’d been right all along.

“Whatever, I’m not one of those people. And what’s a deflector, anyway?” I asked, bemused.

“A person who deflects the question back on you, the questioner.”

“Order in,” I said, sounding more firm than I’d been going for. I was not a deflector. I hated people like that; no way was I going to be labeled as one of them. “That’s my answer. We’ll stay and order in. What do you feel like eating?” I asked, heading toward the kitchen where I’d seen a phone book at some point.

“I don’t know. Whatever you feel like.”

I spun around and glared at him. “Nu-uh, you are not going to do that to me. Especially not after
that
.” I motioned toward the staircase where we’d just been. “I don’t even know what there is around here for takeout.”

He grinned and crammed his hands into the front pockets of his shorts. “Doesn’t feel too good, does it?”

“You’re such an ass.” I smiled and shook my head. “And you called
me
a deflector.”

“Takes one to know one.” He licked his bottom lip and his grin deepened, igniting the dimple I was beginning to love. “Seriously though, Collette’s delivers and if I tell them it’s me they’re delivering to, they’ll allow me to order a bottle of wine.” He raised a challenging eyebrow at me. “What do you think, want to have a drink or two with me?”