Page 67

I didn’t answer him.

“Fine. I think it’s a waste of time, but I’ll do that if you insist. The military wasn’t able to find my parents and they’ve had my DNA since I was a teenager. Why would some civilian organization be able to locate him?”

I didn’t bother to explain that guardians might have been involved both times. Instead, I held up my fists, closing one and then the other.

“So let it be.”

Jack jerked from the spell settling into place and rubbed his arms. “That tingled.”

“Command two is that ya tell me about the cocktail of drugs yer military group used to subdue the guardian you captured and keep him from remembering himself. Ya won’t be released until I have the full list of all ingredients and the directions about how to administer the drugs effectively.”

“When you say guardians, are you talking about those birdmen I keep seeing?” Jack asked.

“Soon ya will remember all ya ever knew about them. All I care about is learning how ya captured, subdued, and kept Rasmus unaware of what he was.”

Jack gripped the cage bars. “How can I tell you if I don’t have any clue?”

“When the binding spell is done, I’ll restore yer memories. Do you trust me or not, Jack?”

He banged his head against the cell bars. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything I know about subduing a guardian when I remember the information.”

Magick snapped tight on the energy cord now connecting us for two commands. I prayed Jack would resolve both tasks quickly. Being attached like this to his energy felt terrible and I was ashamed for not finding another way. But I had to find the answers quickly.

Bound now by my magick yer agreement is with me.

When both commands are fulfilled, than ya’ll be set free,

As I bind ya to my will, Jack Derringer, so let it be.

This timemy body jerked too as the bands of magick snapped tight one final time between Jack and me. But the pain wasn’t over for him yet. Both of us were going to hate this next part, even if it was for different reasons.

“Come closer to me,” I ordered. “I needed to touch yer ear.”

Jack walked to the bars with no hesitation. “Which side,” he asked, bending his head so I could reach him.

“This is going to smart a bit, but ya’re going to feel much better when it’s done smarting.”

I touched the spot behind his ear where the compulsion lay. Power shot out of it and Jack jumped away from me. He barely stayed upright as he grabbed his ear and swore.

“Damn it, Aran. What did you do?” He paced around holding his ear and rubbing his head. “You gave me the headache from hell.”

I sighed that the release had happened so quickly. “The pain was necessary. What’s the last thing ya remember, Jack?”

He held his ear as he paced. Then he grabbed his head and winced in pain. “You and your rogue freaks invaded our lab. You and I yelled at each other, and then I blacked out. Now I’m here in this cage and you’re extorting information from me.”

“Let me fill in the gaps in yer story. Ya turned yerself into a giant monster and tried to kill me. I stopped ya from doing that and then made sure ya wouldn’t try again. Some of yer military helped us take ya down like I warned ya they would.”

“That’s ridiculous. I would never try to kill you. Why would you lie to me about that? I still love you, Aran. And for your information, the experiment didn’t work.”

I turned to Conn. He shrugged at the news, which meant he was equally surprised by it. “It seems that Rasmus Version 2 did more than just heal Jack. He did what he did to the others, even though he told me he wouldn’t.”

I turned back to Jack. “Do ya remember the agreement we made in the binding?”

“Yes, and I still can’t believe you want me to register myself in a DNA database to look for my birth father. Finding him doesn’t matter to me the way it once did.”

I lifted my shoulders and let them fall. “I realize that task sounds too minor to include in a binding, but I have my reasons. It’s the other one I need to discuss before I free ya. I need to know the answer this afternoon.”

“Why do you need to know how to capture a guardian when you spent so much time setting Rasmus free.”