Page 8

CHAPTER 7

“I ’m not positive, but I think it happened when he took off Bloodstone’s necklace,” Taryn told them. “We were downstairs, discussing its origins. He lifted it from his pocket, and when I tried to touch it, I got electrocuted.”

“Holy fuck,” Creed swore. “Is that what happened to him, too?”

“I don’t think so. When Damian and Jordan woke me, I spotted the amulet across the room, like Fintan had thrown it away,” she said.

Narissa watched her narrowly, then glanced at Fintan before nodding. “It seems like the sort of impulsive gesture he’d do. Don’t stress it, sugar.”

Her voice was heavily accented, as if she’d lived in the Deep South for her entire life, making the endearment sound like “shoog-ah.” Hers was the type of slow-rolling speech that transformed guys into insta-gentlemen, who opened doors, tipped their imaginary hats, and believed she was a helpless “little lady,” needing their manly assistance.

But they’d be wrong.

No more powerful female existed except a goddess or an Aether. Taryn had learned that, when in full form, Siren magic rivaled a Guardian’s. As the perfect mimics, they adapted to fit in—speech included—wherever they settled. Narissa was no different.

“A chameleon-like safety measure,” Brenna had once told Taryn. “It has kept my kind safe for hundreds of years. Most aren’t aware they do it, and the accent adaptation comes naturally.”

Taryn had assumed it was a pitch-perfect thing. Talented singers possessed a discerning ear, but many ordinary humans couldn’t carry a tune in a plastic shopping bag.

“He’s still as salty as ever,” Brenna said after double-checking Fintan’s pulse and ducking his flailing arm. “Where’s the necklace now?”

They all gave her the standard Are you loony? look, but then sought the answer from Taryn.

“I wasn’t about to touch it again, so I assume it’s still on the floor. Damian seemed to forget about it before he left.” She shrugged. “I?—”

Her brain felt as if some sadist was digging around with a hot poker, and she screamed as she dropped to her knees.

“Shit!” Creed sat and drew her close, stroking her temple and rocking her like a small child. “Concentrate on my voice, sweetheart. Can you do that?”

Taryn whimpered, unable to stem the excruciating onslaught.

“Focus and do as I tell you, okay?” He gave her a light squeeze when she nodded. “Excellent. Now, you’re about to become a virtual bricklayer. In your mind’s eye, picture an endless stack of masonry bricks. Got it?”

“Yes,” she whispered through her agony. “But what about Fintan? I can’t leave him alone in there.”

“You don’t have a choice, sugar. You’re likely to go full-on bonkers if you don’t.” Narissa squatted beside them. Humming in a low, sultry voice, she stroked Taryn’s cheek repeatedly. The Siren’s divine-smelling perfume was citrusy, layered with subtle notes of vanilla and gardenia. It rose like an invisible mist, blending with the haunting melody and wrapping around Taryn to soothe her worry.

“I know my cousin, and he wouldn’t want you to suffer,” Narissa assured her.

“But—”

“No buts,” Brenna said before adding her voice to Narissa’s song.

Creed gave her another light squeeze. “Taryn, in front of the bricks is a bucket of mortar and a trough. As quickly as you can, begin building a wall as tall as you can imagine.” He positioned her hands as if she were doing the physical act. “Slap, smooth, block. Slap, smooth, block. Slap, smooth, block.”

He continued the hypnotic rhythm with gestures and verbal guidance.

Under Creed’s instruction, Taryn built the wall between her and Fintan, but her already fractured heart was cracking, and no amount of mortar would seal it back up. When the wall was as high as it could go, and Fintan’s voice was the faintest echo, she pulled away.

“I’m okay.” She straightened and gave them a tight smile. “I think I’ve got control. I just wasn’t expecting his pain…”

“I wish I could say I understand, but my telepathy experiences are limited to the Aether’s group rings.” Creed helped her to stand and handed her off to Narissa. “To clarify for anyone not in the loop, these two were bonded last week and now share one brain,” Creed said with a commiserating look for Taryn. “Sorry about your bad luck, sweetheart.”

She sputtered a laugh as she brushed her hair from her face. “Yeah, so far, it hasn’t been a picnic. Not with Fintan and not with his fuckwit ancestors who apparently love to torture him.” To Narissa, she said, “I’m fine now. Thank you.”

“You should prop up your feet and let me conjure you a mojito. I’ve got a feeling you need one after all that.”

Narissa tried to guide her to a chair, but Taryn drew back.

“No, thanks. I appreciate your kindness, but I can’t leave him like that,” she said with a grateful smile and a worried glance at Fintan. “It was awful, and his screams…” She shuddered. “I don’t hear them as loud anymore, but I don’t think I’ll forget the agonizing sound anytime soon. If this is normal, I can’t understand how he hasn’t tried to sever their hold.”

“I don’t believe it is.” Narissa cast a worried look at Creed, then clasped Taryn’s hand. “Show me this necklace, please.”

“It’s in the sunroom. I’m afraid if I try to lead you there, I might get lost,” she confessed.

“No problem, sugar. Brenna and I know this monstrosity of a house well enough.” Narissa and Brenna shared a smile. “Maybe not as well as our caretaker there”—she gestured to Fintan—“but well enough to get you where you need to go.”

“I don’t understand.”

Brenna flicked Fintan’s foot as if he were a pesky little brother. “He keeps any hidden passageways secret, and it’s highly annoying.”

“Why am I not surprised there are hidden passageways?” Creed muttered. For a lingering moment, he and Narissa locked gazes and smiled, but then he glared and presented his back to her.

Taryn sent her a questioning look, to which the other woman grimaced and said nothing. Clearly, these two had history, and she’d love to know what it was. But the timing was terrible. She needed to learn more about Bloodstone and why his enchanted necklace could electrocute people.

* * *

“It was right there!” Taryn cried.

The others looked at her like she’d lost her freaking mind, and she didn’t blame them one bit. After the fuss she’d raised, it would be natural for anyone to believe she was deranged.

“No one else can enter the house, sugar. Not without alerting us and shaking our teeth loose. I’ve only experienced it once, quite a few years back now, when an enemy of Mama’s entered the place.” Her sultry eyes flared wide, and she grinned. “The ground shook, and the place lit up brighter than a Macy’s Fourth of July celebration in New York.”

“But what about Creed? He came out of nowhere,” Taryn pointed out.

His dark brows shot skyward. “You think I took the damned thing?”

“No! Oh my god, no. I… Look, all I’m saying is that you entered the house, and no one knew you were here. That must mean the early warning system is off, right? How did you lower the wards?”

“Well, I can’t be considered an enemy of anyone residing here.” His eyes were troubled as he watched her, and he sent an inquiring glance at Narissa. “But she has a point. Fintan always greeted me at the door. Today is the first time I entered and roamed about alone.”

“Oh, dear.” Brenna wrung her hands until Eoin curled an arm around her waist. “Fintan gets irritated when strangers wander about. Not that anyone can find this place without an invitation, or that strangers arrive on our doorstep. Who would want to? I mean?—”

Eoin kissed her, effectively stopping her nervous babble. He drew away with a grin. “Better?”

“Much,” Brenna sighed, beaming at him like he hung the stars. “Thanks.”

“It was entirely my pleasure.” After gracing her with a sizzling look hot enough to cook steak, he faced the others. “We need to figure out who can enter the house without setting off the wards, yeah?”

Brenna hustled to a nearby table and returned with a pencil and one of Eoin’s sketchpads. His brows shot up, and she laughed. “To make a list,” she said.

Taryn bit the inside of her cheek to stem her laughter. Her friend’s secretarial instincts were strong. She had spent years in servitude to her horrid Aunt Odessa as an administrative assistant and general flunky.

“It’s ingrained at this point,” Brenna said with a shrug as if she guessed why Taryn found her list-making behavior amusing.

“Aye, but did ya need to use my sketchbook?” Eoin retrieved a notepad and traded her for his precious drawings.

“Sorry.” She put the lead tip to paper. “Okay. Who’s first?”

Creed rattled off the Sentinels under Damian’s command. “Don’t forget to add the Aether and his kid to the list.”

“Got it. Who else?” Brenna asked.

“Clearly me,” Taryn said as she attempted to recall who’d been present whenever she visited. “Oh! Your family, right, Eoin?”

He nodded briskly, reading over Brenna’s shoulder as she jotted more names. “Add Ronan and me da, love.”

“Like I could ever forget Ronan,” she said with an eye roll.

“Don’t be lustin’ after me brother-in-law, woman. You won’t like the consequences if Dubheasa finds out. She’s a might jealous, she is.”

“More than you?” Taryn taunted with a teasing grin.

“She’s got those Guardian powers now, so I’m not intendin’ to test her.” The twinkle in his emerald eyes belied his serious tone.

“I’ll take my chances,” Brenna replied dryly. “Who else?”

Taryn hated to bring it up, mainly because she didn’t care to know—or so she told herself—but it had to be asked. “What about any steady girlfriend of Fintan’s? Is he likely to allow his, um, lovers to…” Her embarrassment set her face ablaze, but thankfully, they ignored her discomfort to focus on the question.

“If he had hook-ups, I’ve never known about them. He’s insanely private.” Narissa shrugged. “But even if he were entertaining lovers, he wouldn’t allow them full access to the place.”

Feeling somewhat relieved to learn he wasn’t going steady with anyone, Taryn nodded and stepped away from the group. What did it matter whether he had a revolving door of lovers or not? He didn’t want her as one. Not in any significant way. And the damnable part of it was their ridiculous mental connection.

“What about Aunt Odessa?” Brenna asked in a worried voice. “Do you think she can access the house?”

“There’s only one way to find out, honey,” Narissa stated. Her grimness prodded Taryn to turn around. Their gazes locked. “You don’t know her, but the rest of us do. She’s not a particularly nice person. In fact, she’s downright meaner than a rattlesnake and ten times as lethal.”

Stomach churning with dread, Taryn asked, “Do you think she did something to Fintan?”

“I wouldn’t put it past the hateful heifer, but I can’t see how she’d get the best of him when she’s never been able to before.”

“Would it help if I went with you to see her?” Taryn would rather stay with Fintan, but she didn’t understand how she’d do him any good at this point.

“No. Absolutely not.” Narissa focused on Creed. “I intend to leave Brenna and Eoin here to protect Fintan should he need it. Will you guard the property?”

After a visible internal struggle, he agreed, and her shoulders sagged in what Taryn assumed was relief.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Go home, sugar. There’s nothing more you can do here, and your place is probably the safest for you.”

Rejected again. Why did she feel like crying at being dismissed from Fintan’s life again? Why did she care after twenty-odd years?

Before she could leave, Creed clasped her hand and squeezed. “She’ll stay. Right now, she may be the only one able to reach inside your cousin’s mind if needed.”

The tsunami of gratitude she felt for his understanding nearly took her out at the knees, and she tightened her grip.

Narissa dropped her gaze to their joined hands. Any of the woman’s deeper emotions were masked, leaving Taryn to wonder what she thought of Creed’s protectiveness. “Sure, sugar. Whatever you say.”

The sharp tap-tap-tap of her retreating heels on the marbled floor echoed in the still room. Weirdly, they all released a collective breath.

“I don’t think she was too happy,” Brenna said in a low voice as if fearful Narissa might overhear from wherever she’d stalked off to.

“She’ll get over it,” Creed said coolly. “She always does.” He softened when he looked down at Brenna’s lovely face. “Will you and Eoin be so kind as to watch over Fintan? He’s one of the few friends I have left.”

After they teleported away, Taryn locked gazes with Creed. “And then there were two.”

A corner of his firm mouth kicked up. “We need to talk.”

“About?”

He withdrew Bloodstone’s necklace from his pocket. “This.”