Tethered 02 - Conjure by Jennifer Snyder Read Free Book Online Page A

chance yet to tell you I thought I remembered some Hoodoo spells had time limits.”
    I pressed my fingers to my temples even harder. “I didn’t. It was just a wild guess. I’ll be fine, please just go.”
    He released a loud puff of air and stepped away from me.
    “Keep your phone with you at all times, then. I’ll call you later and check on you. Please answer. If you don’t, I’ll be on your doorstep,” he said coldly just before he left the kitchen to go tell the others it was time to go.
    I didn’t reply. I didn’t even move to show them out or say goodnight. Instead, I remained where I stood, allowing the counter to hold me up. Binks came into the kitchen from wherever he’d been hiding while everyone was here and headed straight for me. He brushed against my leg, purring loudly, letting me know it was time for his dinner. My legs wobbled as I walked to the pantry for a scoop of his food. Kace’s muffled voice from in the living room, where he was explaining to Adam and Callie that I wanted to be alone tonight, flowed to my ears.
    “See you later, Avery,” Adam called as I heard the front door open.
    “Bye,” I replied as I walked over to Binks’s bowl with a scoop of food in hand.
    Callie stood in the entryway of the kitchen. “I’m sorry this is all so much for you. I get it, I do, and I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice as she fiddled with her fingers.
    “It’s not your fault. It’s just a lot to take in all at once and I really need some time to myself,” I said, hating the fact I was telling her to leave, that I was telling any of them to leave, especially Kace. I just needed a moment.
    She nodded and smiled. “I understand. Let me know if you need anything though and please keep your phone with you like Kace asked.”
    “I will,” I promised, knowing they all had nothing to worry about.
    Nothing would be coming for me tonight, regardless if Kace was right and it was Admer, or not. It didn’t matter, not anymore.
    Callie turned and walked out of the kitchen toward the front door. I stood at Binks’s bowl for a moment, waiting to see if Kace would come back in and at least say goodbye. When he didn’t, I put the measuring cup I’d been using as a scooper back in the bag of Meow Mix and closed the pantry door.
    The familiar sensation of warmth I always seemed to feel when Kace touched me sparked to life beneath my skin, and I knew it could only mean one thing… Theo was near.
     

 

    I glanced around the kitchen, wondering where he could be and if he was using one of his glamours, as he’d called it, to be invisible. The whites of Theo’s eyes and that of his ribbed tank top caught my attention from outside the back door in the kitchen. A yelp escaped me as I noticed him standing there, staring at me through the tiny rectangular windows.
    “Jesus!” I said. I made my way over to open the door. “You have got to stop doing that to me!”
    “Doing what?” His voice rumbled out of him and reverberated deep within me. A slight smirk twisted his full lips while he stepped into my kitchen.
    “Appearing from out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of me like that every time!” I snapped, pleased with how stern my voice had come out, considering the effect his had just had on me.
    “My nearness to you shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, there is a telltale warning that flames beneath your skin to let you know I’m close by, is there not?” he asked in a smooth, Southern tone with just a hint of smart-ass mixed in.
    “True.” I met his stare dead-on. “But still.”
    My eyes traveled from his face down the length of his torso, until finally stopping at his hands. He carried a large black cloth bag in one and a few vials in his other. There were Ziploc bags tucked beneath his arms as well.
    “What are you doing here, and what’s all that stuff?” I asked, still eyeing it all.
    Didn’t look like I was going to be getting that moment of peace I’d wanted any time