Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) (19 page)

He leaned down, coming closer to my face, and
the frostiness of him washed over my flesh, making me shiver and
stealing the heat he’d put there. “Now you want me to go back?”

How ridiculous was that statement? All I’d
wanted was for him to come back to me and now I was telling him to
go away. But an ugly truth hung over my head. “You said it’s safer
to stay away. And by the way, what in the hell did you mean by
that?”

Before Kipp could answer, and without any
warning, my bedroom door slammed open. Dane rushed in, looking
ready to kill. His dark eyes were intent and a serious scowl marred
his face. “I told you to not come back.”

I gasped and Gretchen let out a little scream
at Dane’s sudden appearance. He stormed toward the bed, settling in
next to Alexander, and his eyes narrowed into slits. Hot rage
filled me. Perhaps because with Kipp in the room, my protective
instincts rose and I bit off, “You sure as hell didn’t tell me
that!”

Dane crossed his arms over his chest,
widening his stance, as if he was ready to unleash the Devil I knew
lived inside of him. “I told Kipp that.” He glared at the spot
where Kipp stood since apparently, he took notice of where I’d been
looking. “I warned him back in Memphis not to come anywhere near
you. It’s not safe. And you didn’t listen.”

While I had it in me to beat on his chest
since it seemed he implied he’d
ordered
Kipp away, I knew
my Kipp
and he’d never allow such an order. I had seriously
been thinking Dane had done some crazy-ass spell, but right now, I
was entirely lost in this conversation. “Wait. What? ”

“You think I’ve been out to get you, but
you’re wrong.” Dane blew out a loud breath, uncrossing his arms.
“I’ve been trying to help you.”

The bedroom somersaulted around me and I stared at
Dane, searching for any deception in his gaze. What he said had
been the most absurd thing I had ever heard in my life, considering
he’d been the bane of my existence. “You’re helping me?”

He gave a firm nod, the flickers of rage
dimming in his eyes as his posture became lax. “I left the note for
you the other night.” He shook his head in frustration. “A warning
that you paid no attention to.”

No, this made no sense at all. Dane was my
archenemy, the villain, the
Devil
. All he’d done had been to
ruin my life, not improve it. I glared at him and snapped, “I don’t
believe you.”

“Believe it or not, it’s the truth.” Dropping
onto the bed near Alexander, he gave him a seriously hard look
before he turned to me. “Before we get into that—care to explain
why Alexander is in Caley’s body?”

I looked at Gretchen at that statement and
nearly snorted at myself for not trusting my instincts. “See, told
you he knew.”

Her eyes widened. “How?”

I really couldn’t blame her for looking a bit
lost. In the last seconds, shocked wasn’t an accurate description
of my current emotional state for all the shit that went down in
what,
minutes
?

Dane stared at Alexander for a minute longer
before he shrugged at Gretchen. “Because when I sensed him at the
swamp, I did a spell to tap into his energy, which is how I knew
he’d entered Caley. And I’d done the same spell with Kipp in
Memphis and that’s how I knew he returned now.” He gave me a hard
look. “Tell me why?”

“Simple—someone cast a spell that weakened
him. Caley let him possess her so we could talk to him and figure
this mess out.” Dane appeared relatively stunned Caley had allowed
such a thing, and I still hadn’t fully accepted it either. But I
wouldn’t let him dodge the subject any more than he had. “Now, you
tell me what in the hell you’re talking about. Explain why you’ve
been trying to help me, in the most fucked up way ever, I might
add.”

He sighed, yet gave Alexander’s shoulder a
squeeze and sadness filled his eyes. When he looked at me again, I
didn’t even recognize him—softness rested in his features. Not the
Dane I had known. “What you thought and believed wasn’t true. I
didn’t come to trick you to solve Alexander’s murder. I came to
force you to stay away.”

My mouth dropped open, but he continued, “The
kiss at the airport was to create the hatred you have for me and to
give me time to solve Alexander’s murder before you arrived.”

I picked up my mouth off the floor. “You were
an ass to me on purpose?” At his nod, I gawked at him. “You’re not
really an asshole?”

His mouth curved. “I try not to be on most
occasions.” The twinkle in his eyes vanished as he glanced at every
face in the room, even to the spot where Kipp stood. “When you went
looking for Kipp after he vanished, I found him at your condo after
I’d picked your lock.”

My eyes went huge at the horror he’d actually
done that. First thing I would do when I got home was put in a
better deadbolt. But I kept that thought to myself as Dane went on,
“I didn’t know if he heard me or agreed when I told him he needed
to go away, but clearly he did, since he left.”

Turning my head to the side, I glimpsed at
Kipp and he nodded, crossing his arms. “He’s telling the
truth.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around this, but now
realized what Kipp had meant—
Dane was the one.
Dane had been
the reason Kipp had left. Clearly, though, not for the reasons I
suspected. I might have questioned this more. That was, if Kipp
hadn’t confirmed it. I trusted Kipp wholeheartedly.

Turning to Dane, I stared at him as he rested
on the edge of the bed, closer to me than he had been in some time.
“Why would you do that?”

“Because the day after Alexander took notice
of you, he was murdered.” He stood from the bed and now paced the
room as Alexander had done—maybe he learned the move from his
father-in-law. “The more I’ve thought over this, the more I believe
it has something to do with you. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Pity reached Alexander’s face. Pity for me.
Oh God, this couldn’t be true. “Are you suggesting someone killed
him because of
me
?”

“Impossible,” Gretchen interjected. “Why
would anyone kill him because of Tess? No one had even met
her.”

Normally, Dane would’ve offered a scowl and a
snide remark at someone doubting him, but only gentleness reached
his features. “Why someone didn’t want you to come to White Castle
is beyond me, but I figure it has something to do with your
gifts.”

“Why?” Was that seriously the only thing that
could come from my mouth? Apparently so, since I would’ve repeated
the same line if he didn’t answer me.

Luckily, he did. “Truth is, I suspect whoever
didn’t want you here thought Alexander’s death would be the end of
it. But I took matters into my own hands.”

Once again, he resumed his pacing, looking at
the floor. “When I came to you at first, it was under total
secrecy. I wanted you and Kipp to stay away because I thought it
was safer for the both of you.”

He lifted his head and looked at Alexander.
“While these are only suspicions, I truly don’t know why someone
killed you.” There, in his eyes, was a world of love and pain when
he closed in on Alexander. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to stop
them.”

Alexander cupped Dane’s shoulder. “What’s
done is done.” He smiled, dropping his hand and taking a step back
to come closer toward me. “The plan is to make this right.”

“Okay, wait,” I blurted, unable to hold back.
The world did flip-flops around me. Kipp’s expression was stony,
telling me none of this was new to him, only confirming Dane had
told him this story already.

Focusing back on Dane, I rubbed my temples.
“I’m so confused.” I doubted the throb in my head was from my trip
to the Netherworld, but from this crazy shit I couldn’t process.
“If you knew I was in danger and that this might be about
me
, which by the way is so unbelievable, why wouldn’t you
tell me to stay away?”

“Because when I first came to Memphis, it was
all suspicions.” He took a step toward me, giving me a knowing
look. “What would I say, ‘My father-in-law has been murdered and it
might have something to do with your gifts, but I don’t know that
for sure yet or have any proof.’”

I understood his point—I would have thought
he was insane and told Max to make him go home. I remained silent,
taking all this insanity in, as he continued, “But it concerned me
enough to ensure you didn’t come anywhere near here.” He ran his
hands over his face, then he frowned. “Which apparently, also
didn’t work.”

While some of his motivation made sense,
another part didn’t. “Why didn’t you avoid Memphis? If you didn’t
want me to know about you and come here, and if I had never met
you, things would’ve been fine.”

“Our community is small,” Alexander
interjected, “and Max was quite eager to get your help. I suspect
whoever is behind this would have found you anyway because Max
would’ve continued asking for help.”

Dane agreed, and with a nod, turned toward
me. “At first, my intention was to simply give you the help that
Alexander planned to offer you and I would have left without a
single worry, but then the demon incident happened.” His eyes
darkened, clearly at the memory of that evil. “I had no choice but
to introduce you to Gretchen since she held the magic to banish the
demon. But I knew by that introduction, she would bring you to the
Animus to help save Kipp.”

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.