Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2) (18 page)

I slowly came around, my head swimming. I felt as though I had been in a zero gravity airplane. My limbs felt weird, heavy. I had never felt like that after astral projection. Usually I felt relaxed, now I just felt…disconnected.

“Teagan, wake up.” I heard Noah’s voice above me and I realized my head was in his lap.

“I’m awake.” I said as my eyes fluttered open. They felt grainy, like I’d gotten too much sleep. Or not enough. I looked around, but no one was where they were supposed to be. Damien and Gareth were on the floor, next to Anna. Her hands were on either side of Harley’s head…

“What the fuck just happened?” I practically flew off the couch, fighting off Noah’s hands as they tried to hold me in place. I noticed then that the coffee table had been pushed out of the way and Harley was laying in its place, eyes closed. Damien was holding her hands, his head bent over them. I looked at Anna, her own eyes closed in concentration.

“Teagan calm down. Anna is working to get her back.” Noah tried to soothe me, but I dropped to my knees next to Anna, and immediately closed my eyes, willing myself to travel. Anna was untried. She had no idea what she was doing, but if I could help her…

“Noah, come over here.” I broke concentration to shoot him a look. “I need you. We all do.”

Noah knelt on the other side of Anna and almost immediately dropped into a trance.

I closed my eyes again and concentrated. It was the most difficult thing that I ever had to do. My brain wouldn’t shut off. I couldn’t clear my mind enough to go anywhere but where I was kneeling. What had happened? I remembered Harley pushing power at me, then all was black. She must’ve gotten trapped there at Padraigan’s…

I intensified my efforts, focusing on Harley’s face, but all I could sense was blackness. I could find no trace of Harley at all. I tried harder, reaching farther than I ever tried to feel her presence, tried to envision the room I had last seen her. But there was nothing there. A sound broke through my concentration and I realized Anna was crying.

“Why are you crying? This isn’t over. We can get her back.” I opened my eyes and looked at Anna, who raised her eyes to mine, their beautiful light jade glistening with tears.

“Anna, Anna, we can’t give up.” I babbled as I grabbed her hand. “We can get her back, you, me, and Noah. We’ll find her.”

“Teagan, she’s not there. I can’t find her.” Noah’s words went through me. If he couldn’t find her, how could Anna and I do it? It couldn’t be true.

“Noah, you can’t tell me that. Try again. Try harder!” I yelled, pushing him and Anna out of the way and cradling Harley’s head on my thighs. Noah reached out and grabbed my arms but I fought him off.

“No! No, I will not leave her. She came for me. She wouldn’t leave me, so I’m not leaving her. I will get her back.” I growled viciously.

“Teagan, he has her. I don’t know how, but he does.” Noah spoke softly, and his own pain broke through the red haze of hurt and anger that was clouding my brain. I looked at him, and his own eyes were wet with unshed tears.

I slumped, all the strength going out of me. My hands fell from the sides of Harley’s head and my head dropped forward.

“Wait, what are you doing? Don’t give up on her!” A new voice spoke, one we didn’t hear very often. It had a gravely, growling undertone, as if a wolf were speaking. I lifter my head to see Damien passing his bright green gaze over all of us. Damien said so little that I didn’t know if we were hearing his regular speaking voice or if the wolf was gaining control of the man in his anger and fear.

“Damien, they did all they could. We have to figure out what the next step is.” Gareth tried to soothe, but Damien was having none of it.

“Bullshit, get her back! Keep trying!” Damien growled, a snarl pulling back his lips. He wasn’t in wolf mode yet, but he was heading there.

“Damien, we have to figure that part out. It’s not like we can just go grab her spirit back. I’ve never come across this before. I need to research what to do.” Noah spoke up, holding his hand out, palm down, as if he could calm Damien down with a gesture.

I knew how Damien felt, I could feel his emotions pouring over me. My own emotions reflected his; anger, hurt, helplessness. My best friend was laid out on the floor like she was dead. We knew she wasn’t, she was still breathing, and her eyelids fluttered back and forth, as if she were in a dream, but she was lost all the same.

Anna cried, heartbreaking sounds that had Gareth moving over to her and gathering her into his arms. Damien kept his gaze on Noah and I, as if the brilliant green could galvanize us into action, make us bring her back. How could we tell him that Harley was lost in the darkness and we had no way to get to her?

I sat in the kitchen, waiting for my shift to watch over Harley. Gareth was currently up there with her, and Damien was running through the forest, taking out his frustrations on speed. He had silently picked her up after Noah finished speaking and carried her upstairs. We had all followed him, dejection trailing after us like a black cloud. We had all watched as he had laid her carefully down on the bed in the guest room, as he had brushed her hair off her forehead where it had fallen over her eyes.

“I need to see her eyes. I need to know she’s still with us.” He had whispered.

“We all understand Damien. We’ll take turns sitting with her. I’ll sit first.” Gareth said as he reached out a hand and placed it on Damien’s shoulder. Damien seemed to shudder slightly from the touch, and it became obvious he was trying very hard not to cry. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore so I had left and came down to the kitchen, where now I sat, alone with my thoughts.

What had gone wrong? How had Padraigan taken Harley? Where was her consciousness? So many questions, and no answers to be found. Noah had left, went to his family’s house to seek answers. I couldn’t bear to bring myself to go with him. I felt like a failure, like I had abandoned Harley to Padraigan, even though the logical part of me knew I was just being down on myself. If a powerful sorcerer like Noah didn’t have the answers, I sure as shit wouldn’t know how to bring her back.

I heard a noise behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Anna standing there, looking as bad as I felt.

“Teagan, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop her, Noah tried…” she trailed off, not sure what to say next.

“Anna, it’s ok. Well, the situation is all fucked up, but you did nothing wrong. Noah will find the answer. I know he will. We’ll get her back.” I patted the seat next to me. “Come sit down.”

She moved like a wraith to the chair and sat down. We sat in miserable silence together for a moment, both lost to our thoughts.

“How did it happen?” Anna asked, proving her thoughts were mirroring my own.

“I don’t know. It…he captured me in his gaze, that’s why I couldn’t come back. Why Harley came in after me. I don’t how long I was back before I opened my eyes, so I don’t how long he had her. I don’t even know how he knew I was there. I just can’t figure this out at all. And it’s driving me crazy.”

“Do you remember anything from being there?” She asked, staring down at her hands. It seemed neither of us could settle our gazes in one place. I thought about what she asked. I could remember most of it, but there was something that hadn’t connected yet and I worried at it like a tongue at a loose tooth.

“I remember Harley, remember her pushing power at me. I remember he had two people chained up that he was obviously feeding off of. I remember…shite!” I jumped off my chair so fast I knocked it over. It startled Anna into standing up.

“What? What do you remember?” Anna grabbed my hand, giving it a little shake.

“He’s preparing to come after us again. Something having to do with Gemma. I need everyone together. Can you get Damien?” I said as I was already walking out of the room. I heard her dash out the sliders in the kitchen but I was already headed up the stair to where Gareth watched over our friend. I reached out to Noah, and got his confirmation that he was headed back.

“Gareth, what are we missing in Padraigan’s history?” I asked as I came into the room, my voice immediately dropping to a whisper.

Gareth turned from where he had been staring out the window, his light eyes landing on me.

“I don’t understand the question.” He replied, puzzled.

“Okay, so somehow, in a way which we can’t figure out yet, he’s trapped Harley’s consciousness. We know he was a sorcerer before he was turned, that he’s very old, he’s got a hard on for you, and that in general, he’s the biggest asshole to walk the planet. What are we missing?”

“That’s all I know, but Teagan, he’s going to have more knowledge than any of us combined. He’s been around millennia. Even Noah’s family isn’t as old as Padraigan. Our only hope is that they can find a way to pull her consciousness out of his grasp.” He moved to stand in front of me, and gently grasp my chin in his hand, drawing my gaze up to his. I almost flinched away, remembering how Padraigan had caught me in his vampire’s gaze, but this was Gareth. He wouldn’t hurt me.

“We WILL find a way. None of us here are going to stop until Harley is back with us.” He smiled down at me and I nodded.

“Well, I remembered all of it, the whole visitation. I’m waiting though for everyone to be here.” I held up my hand when he started to cut me off.

I looked to where Harley lay on the bed, where my eyes had been avoiding looking. She looked so peaceful except for her eyelids, which constantly moved back and forth. Her breathing was even, but other than the rise and fall of her chest and the eyelid movement, she was still as death.

“Is Noah on his way back?” Gareth asked, bringing my attention back to him.

“Yeah. He didn’t get very far in his research, so he’ll go back after we’re done here. Anna went to bring Damien back in, if she can find him. He might be four counties away by now though.”

We both heard doors opening downstairs and waited while people rushed up the stairs. Noah was first in the door, followed by Anna and Damien.

“What’s going on?”

It seemed as though everyone asked all at once, so I waited until the questions stopped. Four pairs of eyes looked at me expectantly, like I had the answers to every question ever asked.

“It seems that Padraigan is sending Gemma back after us. I didn’t get to hear what the play was going to be because all hell broke loose before he got further into his plans. He killed Charles. He had two people chained up that it looked like he was feeding off of. He’s completely healed too, from Damien’s bite.”

Damien snarled at that, his face very wolf-like. It was a little creepy.

“I don’t give a damn about Charles, but can something be done about the others?” Anna asked, concern showing in her eyes.

“Probably not. We have no idea where he is.” I replied, understanding Anna’s concern but feeling helpless to give her the answer she was looking for.

“That’s not necessarily true.” Damien growled.

We all turned to where he stood by the door, leaning up against the jam. The wolf was gone, but he was definitely not a man you wanted to mess with.

“You know where he lives?” Noah asked incredulously. I was a little surprised too, that he hadn’t said anything about it before.

“I’ve always known. I did work for the man, albeit briefly. No one ever asked.” Damien pushed away from the door and came to stand next to Harley. He looked down at her and tenderly ran a finger lightly down her arm. I wondered briefly if Harley knew he was in love with her. I wondered if
he
knew he was in love with her.

“So let’s go. What are we waiting for?” Anna demanded, already heading for the door. Gareth reached out and grasped her arm before she could leave.

“Let’s think about this, shall we? We can’t go running willy nilly out the door and just barge in. You said that he’s planning something with Gemma?” Gareth asked.

“Yes, that’s what he said.”

Gareth nodded thoughtfully before he responded.

“Tell me word for word what you heard.”