The Binding (11 page)

“Yes. But if things do go as bad ly as you say, I won’t be able to hold it up for long.”

“Don’t worry, b rother. I don’t intend to make this last long.”

The clouds appear in front of us. Someone powerful, indeed, is working behind the guise of Lucas. Eve n the Black Prince doesn’t have this kind of power. To be able to call forth a Demlok and then send the Ange by way of air is not a simple feat. Only my father has such power, but obviously, another exists somewhere ―
s omewhere close to Lucas Michaels.

I tense the minute I see Harlu come through first, and I know that it takes every ounce of strength that Tolan possesses not to attack. I believe the only reason why he hasn’t done so is because of Julia. I send a silent thank you for that piece of luck. Without her here , Tolan would have dropped the calling and went straight for Harlu’s heart.

“Fien, where are they?” demands Harlu softly of the Sidhe next to him. Fien is Harlu’s right -
hand man, and is just as deadly. The other Sidhe near Fien is Janlu. All three have no weapons on them, at least none showing. With the exception of Lily and Julia, none of us are fooled.

“I don’t know, Harlu. Maybe the Black Prince sent us to the wrong place?” replie s Fien as he walks away from Harlu, looking behind him toward the highway.

Janlu also looks toward the highway and ask s , “Can they see us?”

“I could
n’t care less.” Harlu answers as he shakes his wrist and lets the Bells of Sheni fall out . It dangles from his wrist by a small braided rope made of l aurel bark.

“Damn.”
I curse.

“What is it Tharin?”
ask s Tolan, alert and ready to pounce.

“Harlu has control of the Demlok. He has the Bells of Sheni.”

“Damn,”
he curses .

“Fien, Lucas couldn’t send us a…” Harlu doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he becomes alert and is looking directly to w here the others are standing . What ’
s going on? Then I feel it…Lily.

She’s
focusing on Harlu , probably trying to hear what he’s saying . In doing so she ’s broken a barrier from the sand casing. She might as well be pushing down on a car horn without letting up. I reach out to her.
She’s scared and terrified beyond reasons that I can’t understand. I would have expected more from her. As for Julia, she’s scared as well, but she holds her fear in check , and I don’t sense the same level of terror that I’m getting from Lily. Something else is happening to Lily that I don’t have the time to figure out at the moment.

“Stay calm.”
I say, trying to ease her fear, calming her down. How she’s able to respond back is a little startling, but she does have talents that she, or I, aren’t aware of yet. I have to see what else she’s able to do, that is if I can get us all out of this alive. I smile as she sends me a mental picture of her sticking out her tongue. Again , she sen ds it without realizing what she’s doing. She doesn’t even recognize how easy it was for her to do. My response to her gesture embarrasses her, but mostly , it shocks her out of her fear momentarily . She seems calm, a little confused, but she’s n o t as terrified anymore. At the same time, I find myself liking the idea of teaching Lily how to kiss. I breathe deeply . No w is not the time to get distracted.

I sense the Demlok coming closer, stopping just before the sand shield. I still can’t see it, but I feel it s nearness as Tolan does. I stand ready and feel Tolan preparing to pull the wall of illusion up to keep us from being seen by the cars passing by . Then without w arning, the Demlok gives a high—
pitch ed scream! I send a mental thought to everyone, including Julia , to stay calm, be still and be silent. The Demlok screams again, but the sand shield holds. My cousin may not have the strength Tolan and I have, but Phoris is of our blood and his will is strong enough to keep the shield in place .

I sense the Demlok’s frustration and disappointment. I feel it back away as Harlu steps forward.

“This place is a wasteland and a waste of our time , ” he says quietly. He calls back to Fien, “I think Lucas is sending us on a wild goose chase, what do you think Fien?”

“I think you should cut his throat and get it over with,” answers Fien menacingly .

Harlu turns laughing as he walks over to Fien . Pu tting a hand on Fien’s shoulder he say s , “Now Fien , is that any way to speak of your future king? Besides, haven’t you notice d that he isn’t himself lately?” Harlu laughs at Fien’s confuse d reaction. “Lucas is already dead, Fien. Falsad has now taken over his mind and his body completely . Besides, I’ll have to take the throne from its rightful heir to be king .
” He steps away facing us again, “The right to the throne belongs to his sister.”

I feel Tolan stiffen in shock at Harlu’s declaration.
I’m as stunned as he is. Lucas is dead. Harlu is cousin to Lucas and Lily, and third in line to the throne of the Willow Clan . N
ow he is second heir to the throne.
I’ve heard rumors in the past that Harlu is actually the son of John Michaels and Senestra, but there was no eviden ce of Senestra having a third child. If Harlu is John Michaels’ son, then John would have slept with another Sidhe woman , which would make Harlu half human, like Lily. In our bloodline, most cousins could pass as actual siblings, take Mellis and Alorn. They may be first cousins, but their features are close to identical that most , upon first meeting , mistake them for twins , m uch to Alorn’s dismay. However, the trait is common of Sidhe, not humans. No, Harlu is Sidhe and must be a cousin since everyone knows the Queen gave birth to one child before she was killed . A sister to Lucas .

“Not a word to Lily.”
I send the silent command to Tolan. He gives a slight nod.

Janlu, looking a little une as y, asks, “What of the Demlok?”

“As long as I have the Bells of Sheni, it will do as I command.” He turns his head slightly to Fien , “Call him.”

Fien turns toward the direction from where they came and does as he’s told. He pulls a sphere from within his coat and it floats out before him. Like the message ball from Kalis, he speaks into it after an image appears.
It’s Lucas or Falsad.
I’m thankful that Lily is not able to hear or see her brother. Fien’s body is blocking her view .
I hear the false Lucas speak softly, but I can still hear the tension in his voice. Fien closes the sphere and it disappears. Within seconds, a light mist covers them. Once they are completely encased in the cloud, it slowly rises and then disappears the same way it came. I look upward and watch the the cloud move at high speed away from us. As for the Demlok, I reach out and I can’t sense it anywhere near us.

I feel the tension release from Tolan and the SUVs reappear. I watch as the sand that surrounds us slowly sprinkle s back to the desert floor , and I hear Alorn and Mellis catch Phoris as he staggers after releasing the shield . I can feel Lily staring at my back and know that she has many questions ―
questions that I may not be able to answer and questions that I won’t answer.

*

The sound of the black void is terrifying and I think I’m going to be sick. Both Julia and I have our hands over our ears trying to keep the screaming from exploding not just our eardrums but our brains as well. If it weren’t for Tharin’s calm voice in my head I would have been screaming myself.

After it screams a second time , I sense the hatred and frustration coming from it and watc h as the black nothingness move s away from us. It slithers back and forth along the highway , and to my surprise , the cars continue to drive by as if they can’t see it. How is that possible?

The leader steps forward saying something that the sand shield blocks from my hearing. The one behind him responds, making him laugh. When he breaks into laughter, he seems warm and friendly, but the way Tharin and Tolan are staring at him tells me otherwise. Afraid that I’ll be the one to give us away, I keep quiet and still as Tharin instructs. After a few more minutes of conversation between them, one of the other elves turns back to the highway, but I can’t see what he’s doing. I know he’s doing something or talking to someone ―
that’s evident by the way the other two stand close by as if listening. Within seconds a cloud covers them and then they…just float away and disappear.

The black nothingness remains for a second longer, looking after the departing cloud. I can see by the way it trembles and the way its eyes slant that it’s filled with rage and hate. Slowly, it turns back to me and even though it ha s no lips, I swear it’s smiling; wicked and evil, but nonetheless a smile. I now know it can see me ―
my heart is about to stop .
Why it didn’t give us away confuses me. Then in a puff of black smoke, it disappears.

Within seconds Alorn and Mellis are at Phoris ’ side. The big Sidhe looks a little drained, but is able to stand without assistance.
Tolan is at Julia’s side as soon as the shield comes down . She awkwardly stands close to me watching him look her over.

“Are you al
l right?” he asks as he reaches up to move a stray hair from her face. Julia is so use d to having any hand raise d at her mean a strike will follow that she unintentionally flinches from him.
Tolan lets his hand drop, his face unreadable. He turns and walks over to Mellis, and they talk quietly among themselves . I feel Julia sag disappointedly next to me. I want to comfort my friend, but I find all my attention is focused on the e lf standing apart from the rest of us.

Tharin stands facing the hig hway not moving. I wonder what is going through his head.
Is he disappointed that he was fo rced to hide instead of fight ? How did he talk to me in my head?
How is it that the leader acted as if he knew where we were standing if we were covered by the sand?
Why did he have my face?
W
hy am I so afraid of him?

*

The rest of the ride is mostly silent .
I’m in the front passenger seat while Tharin drives and Julia is quietly sitting in the backseat, alone.

A
fter the incident with the Ange, Tharin spoke with Tolan and the others while Julia and I stood nearby. We watched as the brothers’
debate their n ext move. At first , Tolan argued with Tharin , but he became quiet when Tharin t urned toward Julia. Tolan walked away without looking at Julia , heading toward the first SUV with Mellis. Phoris and Alorn went to the last SUV and Tharin strode over to us, indicating that we would ride with him. Julia stood for a moment looking after Tolan, then quickly walked past us and climbed quickly in to the back seat.
She’s been quiet ever since.

We
have been driving for several hours before we finally reach the outskirts of Primm. Julia leans forward as we both try to look at al l the casinos at once. She taps my shoulder pointing out the roller coaster ride. According to Tharin, situated about forty-five minutes out of Las Vegas , Primm is just a taste of what ’s to come. Tharin’s plan is to drive th rough without stopping, but it has been a long drive and both Julia and I are in bad need of a restroom.
Without hesitation , Tharin agrees and I watch in amazement as Mellis slows down to pull off on the first exit.

“Can everyone in Velesi read minds?” I finally ask.

Tharin glances over at me before answering, “No.”

We a
re quiet again. I can feel Julia’s focus shift to us instead of what was going on outside her window.

“Oh. So, only the royal family can?” I ask again.

“No.”
He repeats.

“Oh. So only you can read minds?”

Tharin follows Mellis off the exit . He steers into a large gas station area pulling up behind him at the pumps in front of the Primadonna Hotel and Casino.
He turns off the engine before turning to look at me.

“No, Lily, I
can’t read minds. No one can.” I feel as if he’s waiting for me to answer my own question, the same way he did during our panswa conversation. Again I feel unsure, so I keep quiet.

Tharin sighs disappointed ly replying, “No , Lily, we don’t read minds.”

He opens his door and is about to step out when Julia asks, “Then how did you get in to my head back there? When the loud screaming started, I thought I was going to start screaming, too.
T
hen I heard you in my head telling me to stay calm.”

Tharin looks back at Julia through the rearview mirror. He gives her a crooked smile before answering, “Because we’
re able to communicate telepathically, Julia .
”
B
efore getting out he looks at me again saying, “
But we don’t read minds.”

I realize then that he wanted that question to come from me. He wanted me to think things through and figure out why and how they happen ed . I feel like a coward because it was what I wanted to ask. It’s just that when he looks at me like that I feel like the person he wants to see would be a person who would disappoint him .
I’m also confused as to w hy that should matter to me anyway .