Unbound Desires in Seattle
Page 3
His question stunned me. Elsie looked up at me, her eyes searching mine in concern.
She spoke. “We know enough.”
“They aren’t what you think,” he said. “I wasn’t here to terrorize all these people. When I became unbound….” He paused, darting his glance away. “It was during the night. My girlfriend of three years was there, and I had similar pain to what you had just moments ago. Then the fae part of me woke. Nicole ran away, terrified of me, and wouldn’t let me explain. She found comfort in my friend’s arms, but I came to learn they’d been secretly screwing behind my back for most of our relationship.”
Elsie placed her hand on his knee and patted him gently.
“Anyway, that was a couple months ago. I found out there were going to be here, and I wanted revenge. I was going to ask her to marry me and she was gone without even blinking an eye.” He stared out into the forest and the trees swayed in response. “As much as it pains me to say, I was hurt.”
“Of course you were,” Elsie agreed. “It’s horrible she did that to you. I’m so sorry, Daniel.”
He shifted his hands uncomfortably. “Now these unbound hunters are going to take me in and probably kill me. I’m so stupid.”
“They don’t kill,” I responded.
He raised a brow. “Yeah, they do.”
Taking a seat beside Elsie, I said, “Tell us what you know. They aren’t supposed to be harmful.”
“They are. They lie. I’ve ran into many unbound since this started, and each time one gets captured, they don’t come back. They go in for unbound rehab and they die.”
“How are you sure?” Elsie questioned.
He glanced around uncertainly. “Are they here?”
We both shook our heads no.
He leaned in and whispered. “I know someone on the inside. They faked their rehabilitation or whatever, saying they wanted all unbounds who didn’t follow the rules gone. He’s helped a couple escape, but most are tortured and murdered.”
Elsie gasped and my mouth fell open. “What!” we both exclaimed.
Before I could think about it, I released his hands. “Go. Run. We’ll tell them something,” I said urgently.
“Contact me,” he directed to Elsie as he rose to his feet. “With the wind.”
“What?”
“You know, send a message with the wind,” he said impatiently. “You’re an air fae, right?”
She nodded numbly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His eyes surveyed the area once more and he quickly explained. “You can send your voice with the wind. I’m going over there,” he pointed to the cluster of trees. “All you have to do is stir the wind and tell it you have a message. Make sure you think of me when you do it or it won’t get to the right place.”
He sprinted away and yelped once he was far enough away. Elsie spun her hand in a circle, the air around us picking up into a nice wind. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she mumbled. “Daniel…run,” she said, blowing the words across her hand. The wind passed us by so quickly we both stumbled. The leaves bent and limbs snapped in response and we heard the crunch as he did as her message said.
“Where is he?” the man demanded. He was full sorcerer, his yellow and grey aura pulsating as he stared us down.
“He got away. Kyle came into some sorcery powers, and the unbound took the opportunity to run,” Elsie explained. She was growing anxious with telling the story to multiple people.
“And you couldn’t find him?” he asked.
“I was in pain, sir,” I responded. “She was assisting me.” My magic swirled within me, desperate to get out.
He glared at us, then punched a number on his phone and walked away.
“Can we go?” I called after him, and he waved us away.
Grabbing Elsie’s hand, I pulled her away and hissed in her ear. “Let’s go back to the room and talk.”
She nodded, keeping one eye on the men we worked for. We hurried away, through the thinning crowd, and raced back to the hotel as quickly as we could. We kept away from the streets, shielding ourselves from curious eyes, and used our superhuman speed to arrive at our destination quickly.
Once we made it up to the room, we locked the door and went to the farthest corner, speaking in our lowest voices. “What do we do?”
“Do you believe Daniel?” she asked. Her big brown eyes searched mine for an answer.
I nodded once.
“Do we stop working for these people?” she quizzed.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “We know a “maybe” truth. I think we need to investigate. Get in contact with Daniel’s friend. Find out what’s really going on and stop it. It’s not right for them all to die if it isn’t warranted.”
“Yeah,” she said, mulling it over. “I’ll send a message to Daniel when we get back to Tennessee. I don’t think we should stay in their provided lodging anymore, though.”
“My mom won’t care if we stay with her ,” I told her. “Until we figure out what we’re doing.”
“I say we go on more adventures. Get to know these unbound instead of hunting them so fiercely.”
Pondering her words, I grinned as they settled. “Maybe get them to be more eyes on the inside?”
The corner of her mouth raised and she nodded. “Yep.”
Cracking the lock on the window, I opened it. “Tell Daniel the plan. See if he’ll meet us at the next place.”
She leaned out, swirling and calling the air to her. Murmuring her message, she sent it with a gust, off to find Daniel. My phone rang as she worked, and I answered quickly. “Yeah?”
“Whitehead,” D said from the line. “Disappointed in you today, but we’re going to give you a chance to make it up. You and Gilmore will get your orders soon. The unbound of the world are getting more and more out of control. I hope we can count on you to not screw it up this time,” he barked before disconnecting the call.
Turning it off, I slipped it back in my pocket. I wasn’t convinced they weren’t tracking our every movement. Elsie slipped back inside, closing the window and securing it.
“We’re definitely going to have more of these…adventures,” Elsie concluded, nodding at my pocket.
“Seems that way,” I agreed. “Wonder where to next?” I asked as her phone beeped. Grabbing our bags, I began throwing everything in them. I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible
Looking down, she read her text message, then looked at me with a brow raised. “Ireland,” she said. “They want us to go to Ireland.”
Zipping the bag, I nodded. “Then Ireland it is. Contact Daniel.”
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More books from Felicia Tatum:
The White Aura Series
Scarred Hearts Series
Intoxicating Passion Series
Dark Sorceress Trilogy
Unbound Adventures Series