Page 61 of Tethered Fates

On his knees, his head snaps back, his body seizing. The single line of blood dripping from his nose rises to hang suspended, as if it were a piece of crimson string and an invisible person pinched the end to hold it up.

Luc and I curse at the same time as the string begins to spin as if that invisible person were winding it around their finger, the bundle growing bigger and bigger. Mickey’s body violently shakes, foam fills his mouth, and his eyes roll back into his head.

“I won’t be fucked with,” Emma bites out as Mickey collapses—dead. “Not anymore.”

We get ready to fight the pissed-off mage, but when the blood splashes to the ground in a puddle to soak into the cracks of the floorboards, I cock my head to the side and say, “I was expecting more of a magic trick.”

Emma grins just as a rotted hand bursts through the floorboards to wrap festering fingers around my ankle.

“Abracadabra,” Emma singsongs as more hands break through the floor.

“You just had to open your big mouth, didn’t you, Sen?” Luc complains.

The stink of rot wasn’t coming from Emma, but from the corpses crawling out from beneath the floorboards.

Chapter Twenty-One - Teagan

Kai wanted me to sleep in his bedroom with him. But I’ve already spent too much time on a mattress he and Vidar fuck on.

So he put me in a guest room, hovering until I pretended to fall asleep.

“I will protect you, little bro…” he whispers. A wobbling pressure builds in my throat until he sighs, then murmurs, “Sleep well,” and leaves with a soft click of the door.

My eyes blink open, and I think about chasing after Kai to say…I have no idea. The thought flakes away like dried paint as it leaves.

I try to sleep, but only manage a few fitful hours before I’m wide awake and staring down at my arm. At the place Summer sliced into, creating our painful bond, I slowly run my thumbnail up and down my skin, until a red mark grows in its place.

When I stop, the irritated scratch fades all too soon. Like it never even happened.

Blowing out a breath, I sit up, switch on the bedside lamp, and swing my feet around to hop out of bed before I can question the incessant itch driving me forward.

I look down at my phone. It’s late. No one will be up but…I hit call.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

I’m about to hang up when, “Hello, Teagan.”

I drop back down onto the mattress with a sigh. “Hey, Mum.”

Neither of us says anything, but I hear the rustle of sheets.

“I’m sorry I woke you up,” I whisper.

With her, she’s direct, no bullshitting, so when she says, “I’m not,” in her raspy voice, I know she’s telling me the truth.

We stay silent together, her even breathing slow and steady. Soon I’m matching the same pace. The restless itch is still there, but not so loud.

“I’m with Kai.”

“Is he with you right now?”

“Nah.”

She hums. “Sounds like maybe you need someone with you.”