Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) Read online

  A cold horror washed over my skin because this sounded so accurate, it seriously scared me now. If Alexander had been killed for some reason that had to do with my gifts, did that mean…

  I wanted you and Kipp to stay away because I thought it safer for the both of you.

  Remembering Dane’s statement made my heart race and my stomach clench. I shut my eyes trying to avoid all of this. “Oh, God, I feel sick.”

  “You’re safe now.” An icy swipe of air brushed up my arm and Kipp murmured, “Everyone here will ensure nothing happens to you.”

  I shivered at not only his touch, but at the reality now upon me. When I opened my eyes to Kipp, he stared at me with a troubled gaze, not terrified as I felt, but fighting to somehow protect me in this mess.

  “I thought by making you hate me,” Dane continued, dragging my gaze to him, “and if you remember, I did my best to make certain you thought everyone here felt as I did, you would never show up at the Animus. I hoped that your anger would hold when Gretchen told you to find answers, you needed to come to the Animus.”

  While that made sense, kind of in the holy-crap-are-you-kidding-me kind of way, one thing still didn’t add up. “But if you believed that, why did you send Kipp away? If you thought there’d be no danger in it all and I wouldn’t come here?”

  A long pause followed as Dane gazed at me knowingly, but Gretchen broke the silence by answering on a gasp, “Because, what if he’s right—what if someone killed Alexander to ensure you didn’t come here?” Her voice trembled and she stared at me with a worried gaze. “You’re now surrounded by people who are very skilled with magic and could put Kipp in danger. What if they could use your desire to help him against you?”

  I glanced at Kipp, and his tight expression matched my current mood. “Yes, I’m right there with you.” Seriously, when would I hit the light at the end of the tunnel, instead of living in the tunnel that didn’t end!

  With frustration lacing through my veins, I turned to Dane. “But why, once you knew I was here and might be in danger, did you send a note, be so cryptic, and not just tell me?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Would you have believed me if I told you?”

  “No,” I responded without pause, since I wouldn’t have believed anything that came out of his mouth, but there was still a problem to all this. “You could have told Amelia and got her to tell to me.” Not that I would’ve totally believed her either, but if Gretchen had, then maybe I would have.

  Dane’s eyelids lowered, raw pain seeped into his expression as he looked at Alexander. “Amelia cannot take on anything else. She’s not holding up well. Yes, she knows of my suspicions, but I’m trying to keep her out of it. I don’t want to involve her any more than I already have.”

  “Poor, darling,” Alexander whispered.

  Dane inclined his head in agreement, then said to me, “I left the note for you because that night I sensed magic used in the house. Magic that wasn’t there before.” To Alexander, he said, “Much like when you would put protection on the house, as if a spell surrounded the home or someone in it.”

  “What spell?” I gasped.

  “One to control me,” Kipp stated.

  My head whipped to him so fast it hurt my neck, and I was off the bed, standing in front of him in a split second. “What do you mean, control you?”

  He looked down at his hands, studying them with a frown before lifting his gaze. “I have a feeling someone is responsible for why I’m standing here now, when I didn’t want to be.”

  My eyes widened in full understanding, now comprehending Dane’s worry. If a spell existed to force someone, like Alexander, into the Netherworld, of course, a spell existed to pull a ghost out. “Someone forced you to come back?”

  “I suspect so,” Kipp replied.

  “But why would someone do that?” I spotted Dane near the doorway of the bathroom as he turned to pace in the other direction. “I’m already here, so what would be the motivation? If they wanted something from me, as in—use Kipp against me somehow—they could’ve already done so. Why control Kipp now? It makes no sense.”

  Silence greeted me, since it appeared everyone was fresh out of answers. Frustration etched into Dane’s features and I assumed he had wondered the same question. The irritating part in this all—we still had no damn answers, only more questions.

  After a long pause, I couldn’t stand the silence any longer and focused on what truly mattered. To Dane, I asked, “If someone has used a spell on Kipp, does that mean he’s in serious danger?”

  Dane strode toward the spot Kipp stood in. “My first instinct is to say yes, but he’s here and not trapped somewhere. No one has confronted you and demanded anything, so I suspect he’s safe.”

  “Maybe they still plan to do that,” I grumbled, knowing there had to be a good reason someone brought Kipp back. “Well, can’t he just go into the Netherworld? Sure, they can call him back again, but can’t we find a spell to keep him safe somehow?”

  “Not fucking likely, Tess.”

  I startled at Kipp’s low angry voice and when I looked at him, I discovered a harsh scowl on his face. “What? That makes sense. We have to beat the person to the punch, so to speak. They might want to use you against me, but it doesn’t mean I’ll allow it.”

  He leaned down into my face, his frosty presence chilled my skin, and he stared at me dead-on. “If you think I’m going to leave you now, after hearing that someone has put a spell on me to somehow exploit you,” his eyes blazed, “think again.”

  Part of me was ready to spit out a huge argument to get him to agree, but the other part knew better. He’d never leave me now. So, I changed tactics to find a way to keep him safe and asked Alexander, “Are you safer in Caley’s body?”

  “Safer?” he repeated.

  I nodded, totally confirmed this was a viable solution to our problem, even if I had no idea if Kipp would agree. “Yes, can anyone spellbind you if you are in a real body?”

  “Ah, I see where you are going with his.” Alexander’s eyelids lowered in disappointment. “Sadly, I’m not any safer from magic in Caley’s body. Even if Kipp found a body to enter, a spell could still affect him. Besides, it appears that the spell is to call him forth—”

  I didn’t need him to finish. “Meaning, if Kipp entered a body, the person could simply call him out.”

  At Alexander’s nod, Kipp cursed, low and frustrated. “Right now, I’m safe. Don’t focus on me. I don’t feel any different at all. We’ll come to that concern if it happens—we need to keep moving forward, Tess.”

  Yes, we did, and I prayed moving forward would be a means to an end—a happy ending for Kipp and I. Pushing thoughts away of things I couldn’t control, I focused on the things I could and asked Dane, “Well, you seem to know more about this than we do, so do you have a suspect?”

  Anger lit a fire in his gaze and his eyes narrowed, as he once again, took a seat at the end of the bed. “No suspects. No motive. Nothing.” His jaw clenched before he relaxed his features. “But like I said, it has to be someone who was close to Alexander—someone who knew about you. That’d be the only explanation for the magic used against Kipp now.”

  Yes, that did seem right. But I let Dane finish before I got too ahead of myself. “I’ve wracked my mind thinking over everyone who came to the Animus in the weeks prior to Alexander’s death, but no one stands out as a viable suspect who would have any motive to kill him.”

  He was right—everyone I had met wanted me to solve Alexander’s death. The person who killed him wouldn’t want that. I pondered all I heard and where did knowing all this get us? No-fucking-where—that’s where. “All right. First of all…” I looked at Gretchen. “We are so not staying in this house anymore. Max will have no problem with us staying at the hotel with them.”

  She gave a firm nod. “Agreed.”

  I turned to Dane. “We’ll have to come up with a good explanation to Amelia for why I’m leaving. I’m guessing you don’t wan
t to tell her all this, right?”

  “She’s been through enough,” was his reply.

  I understood his reasoning, because I suspected he wanted to protect her. The guilt and sadness ever so present in his features that he couldn’t help Alexander now made me well aware why he kept it from his wife. Perhaps he simply waited until he had a solid plan to save her father so he could soften the blow that her father’s murder wouldn’t be solved.

  “Fair enough.” Then I glanced to the love of my life. “You’re here and safe for now. That makes me happy.” He winked and I shook my head at him. “Gretchen can look into this spell on you and see if we can find a way to break it.”

  At Gretchen’s nod of agreement, I continued, “I have no clue why anyone would want you back now since I’m already here and helping. There have been no threats at all. But you seem fine at the moment and I seriously can’t take on anything else. Until something bad happens, we can’t make assumptions that it’s to exploit me or is a danger to you. Maybe…” I tried to think up another reasonable explanation. “No, I’ve got nothing. Who in the heck knows why you’re back now.”

  “Well said, beautiful.” He grinned in his seductive way, making my belly flutter. “You always did look damn sexy taking control of an investigation.”

  That hadn’t been the first time Kipp had told me that. He was a cop after all, and loved a good mystery. But as my cheeks warmed, I gave him a long look. “Now is not the time for that kind of talk.”

  His smoldering eyes disagreed.

  With all the insanity behind us, which only made things more complicated, I turned to Alexander. “Before all this crazy shit happened, you were saying you found something else last night.”

  “Yes, I did.” A slow smile spread across his face. “I’ve discovered Nettie’s diary.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  To my annoyance, but Kipp’s firm demand, we had waited around all day until nightfall to look for the diary. He thought it safer, considering in the cover of darkness it would be less likely anyone would see us go into the shed, which was where Alexander said the diary was located. I thought it a stupid idea since the daylight always seemed like a smarter choice to me, but even after an hour of telling him such, I begrudgingly agreed to his demands.

  I’d been irritated at him for a quarter of an hour. That was, until a hot shower turned my entire day around.

  The warm water pouring out like rain from the showerhead ran over my neck and back. My head was bowed to the slate rock floor and I pressed my hands against the shower wall, inhaling the coconut-scented shampoo Amelia had given me. But even with the water easing the tension out of my shoulders, the goose bumps trailing over my body couldn’t be ignored. “You know, some would say watching someone else shower makes you a pervert.”

  Kipp chuckled, his icy body pressing against my warm back. “I would say I’d rather be perverted than starved of such a beautiful view.”

  He trailed a finger over my shoulder and down along my spine, causing me to shiver. My eyes fluttered closed as his finger swiped ice over my skin and the hot water soothed away the bite.

  When his entire hand caressed over my back, it didn’t bring a firm touch, but an intense coldness causing me to catch my breath. The blood in my veins turned to liquid fire and pooled low in my belly.

  Then Kipp’s touch vanished.

  “Turn around,” he murmured.

  I did as he asked, and Kipp stood in his naked glory while the steam from the shower made him appear more ghostly than he ever had looked before. The lines of his muscles along his shoulders, chest, and abdomen were cut so precisely I craved to feel them as I had in the Netherworld. Touch and tease him. Lick and taste him. Caress and stroke him.

  A tickle of frost hit the plumpest part of my lip and when I glanced up, Kipp smirked. “You’ve only had it,” he gestured to his erection, “once, and look at that hunger in your eyes.”

  My body felt ravenous, throbbing and aching for him. My voice was a soft whisper of need. “You know I want you.”

  “Ah, I do.” His smile grew a little wicked. “Lower your hand, Tess. If I’m going to be a pervert, might as well make it memorable.”

  With a slow heat starting at my head and washing all throughout my body, I placed my hand between my thighs, as Kipp took his erection in his hands. Then my simple shower became scalding hot for reasons that had nothing to do with the water, but was more about the heat we built between us.

  By lunchtime, I had wondered if that was the last time I’d ever have ghost sex with Kipp. Would Nettie’s diary hold the answers I needed for not only myself, but for Kipp, too? Would this all end by tonight?

  I hoped so.

  Later that day, I had called Zach to let him know that Kipp was back. After a million questions and my answer of, ‘I don’t know’, Zach finally let me off the phone. Gretchen hadn’t found a spell to break the hold on Kipp, but she and Alexander were still looking.

  At dinnertime, Amelia cooked us Lasagna, and after I helped her clean up, I had spent the remainder of the evening with Kipp. It had almost seemed as if we were normal—simply enjoying an evening together. But I didn’t let myself get caught up with that thought. It merely reminded me how much I wanted to do exactly that with Kipp—be a normal couple.

  Little moments to remind me why I had to keep fighting and face down scary shit were a good thing. Especially seeing that now the night had settled in around me and thus came the reality I had to go out in it. We journeyed through the yard behind Alexander, and I was only too glad we hadn’t run into Wayde or Amelia when we exited the house, since right now I doubted I could come up with a good lie. But I wasn’t sure why I was worried anyway; Wayde had been absent all day, doing god-knows-what, which I discovered I didn’t care find out and was even happier he stayed out of my way.

  Kipp had suggested only I carry a flashlight—a tiny one that hardly produced any light at all—to keep our presence in the barn hidden. Sadly, Kipp also told me to keep it off as we strode through the yard.

  The dark night created all sorts of horrible shadows around me. There was nothing to fear, that much I did believe. But why did my heart race? Probably because there were horrible looking shadows around me, no breeze in the air, and the moon was hidden behind clouds, creating a pitch-black night.

  The silence was eerie.

  Alexander led us to the shed off to the right side of the house and after he opened the large wooden door, it creaked—one of those spooky creaks you always hear in scary movies right before someone dies—lovely!

  Controlling the unease hammering my heart, I entered the barn behind Kipp. I flicked on my sad excuse for a flashlight and the barn looked about as old as the house, but not nearly as cared for. It showed its old age and was all withered. Between the boards of the wooden plank walls were wide cracks—cracks that someone could currently be looking through—and I scanned the gardening tools hanging up on the far wall, tools that could slice off my head.

  I groaned, lowering my flashlight to avoid looking at any of that. If I kept looking around at all the scary stuff, it’d only create images of things that could kill me. The high levels of anxiety making me dizzy meant avoid that subject at all costs.

  Alexander strode toward the back of the barn and I used my flashlight to guide his way. He stopped in next to a workbench with screwdrivers, hammer, and saws on top. There, he opened a drawer, and reached in. “Yes, it’s still here.”

  When he turned back to me, he held Nettie’s diary, and I scrunched my nose, totally stunned. “Seriously? It doesn’t have any magical protection around it? And the drawer’s not even locked?”

  Kipp nodded agreement. “You’re right—it seems too easy.” Dane sighed, clearly missing Kipp’s statement. “It is surprising that Wayde wouldn’t go to more extreme measures to hide the diary, but perhaps he doesn’t care any longer if you do find it.”

  I turned to Dane and angled my flashlight at his chest to see his face. Weird feelings
whipped around me inside me to hear his advice. Not long ago, I would’ve punched him if he said anything.

  He shrugged. “What could her diary really tell you? He might have used it as a way to hang something over your head. Make you believe that you needed it, when really you don’t. Besides, you bound the promise to help him—even if you find something in the diary, you still have to help.”

  “That does make sense.” Kipp blew out a long frustrated breath. “Which, by the way, you will never make such a promise to anyone again.”

  I rolled my eyes at him, as if I had a choice at that time, and he continued with a frown, “But maybe Wayde used it as leverage to make it appear like you needed to see the diary, when in actuality, you’d seen all you needed to already.”

  While all that made sense; it actually didn’t. “I honestly can’t see him being that careless with it.” I shook my head at Kipp. “He wouldn’t’ have left it here like this; I have no doubt about it.”

  Kipp’s eyes softened, and he leaned in toward me. “Tess, does it honestly matter? The diary is there. Go read it.”

  Yes, why in the hell was I arguing with them?

  I rushed toward Alexander, grabbed the book out of his hands, and slammed it down on the workbench. I raised my flashlight, cringing when my beam of light landed on a huge, hairy spider in front of me, whose eyeballs glowed under the light. “Lord, let something be in here that can actually help me.”

  “What are you doing?”

  At the low smooth voice, I gasped and spun around. Kipp instantly took a protective stance in front of me. Amusing to say the least, because he always did seem to forget he was a ghost and couldn’t actually protect me. It didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the effort. Love always does make people—or ghosts—do crazy things.