Soul Bond: Part 2

Here's episode two!  I'm unaccountably nervous.

I've been over this six ways from Sunday and I'm not sure what to say about it.  Except...if there's confusion, there's meant to be a bit.  And hopefully, if there is, it'll be cleared up in the next episode.  That's the problem with posting things serial style.  But stick with me, okay?  And course, I'm always open to constructive criticism, as long as it's the helpful kind.  Feel free to leave a comment or send an email if you've got that kind.

If you missed the first episode, click the label!

Enjoy!

2

            It wasn’t uncommon for Liam to find himself with time on his hands.  Home renovations often slacked off during the coldest winter months and December through February were the slowest months.  Liam would go days or even a week without having to go to a job site.  He consoled himself by knowing the other nine months of the year often kept him busy enough to make him want to scream.  But it had been 9 days and Liam was growing increasingly restless.

            When the phone rang and Jason’s name popped up on the caller ID, Liam was grateful for the distraction.

            “Hey, kid!  What’s up?”

            “You need to come to the house.  Some guy showed up and Morgan sent him and there’s something going on and Kelly’s worried but he won’t say why and—“

            “Whoa!  Slow down, kid,” Liam interrupted with a chuckle.  “I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

            Jason’s frustrated sigh made Liam smile.  He waited patiently for Jason to take a deep breath and get his thoughts in order.

            “A guy showed up at Beans,” Jason started again, much more slowly this time.  “He said Morgan sent him to Kelly.  We don’t know what’s going on yet but we’re taking him back to the house and Kelly wants you there.”

            Liam’s heart gave a thump.  Jezebel appeared out of nowhere, slithering fast in his direction, in reaction to the worry he felt.  This situation had not good written all over it.

            “I’m on my way.”

            Liam grabbed Jezebel with one hand on his way out the door.  She wasn’t a fan of being manhandled that way and gave an angry hiss as she wrapped herself around his forearm.  He braced himself, ready for the extra tight squeeze of her coils in reprimand, knowing he deserved it.  He breathed a sigh of relief when she released the pressure.

            It was a twenty minute drive and Liam cursed every red light and stop sign he came to.  Finally, he got to Kelly’s house.  But when he saw the sheriff’s squad car and the landscaping truck already parked out front, his heart jumped into his throat.  If Jesse and Daniel were here it was more serious than he thought.  Jez was worried now, too.  He trotted toward the house and let himself in, following the voices to the kitchen.

            Liam paused in the doorway.  A small man he had never met sat close to Mary and was clutching a very odd looking duck tightly.  His hair was strawberry blonde and long enough to cover his ears and forehead.  His eyes were a startling and clear blue and they blinked at Liam, telegraphing the man’s discomfort.  Liam would have been uncomfortable too, being the center of attention like that.  Especially with Jesse standing behind him; he was leaning casually against the counter but Liam could see the tension in his body.  Daniel was seated and looking much more relaxed, but then again, he always was.  And Kelly had Jason seated in his lap.  Lack of chairs had nothing to do with it; Kelly wanted Jason close.  Liam knew, with the way they turned to him expectantly, that they had been waiting for his arrival before they sorted out whatever was going on.

            But first things first.

            “Kid?  Seriously, what the hell is on your head?”

            Jason’s scowl was absolutely adorable.  “It’s a hat, jackass.  It’s cold.  People wear hats when it’s cold.”

            Liam squinted.  “Are you sure it’s a hat?”

            “Fuck you.”

            “Okay, sure.  If Kelly doesn’t mind,” Liam said with a shrug.

            “Since when are you gay?” Mary broke in, mock indignantly.

            “Enough,” Kelly’s voice was low and firm.  Immediately, everyone settled.  Liam had to hide his smirk.  He knew this really wasn’t the time to be joking around but the room he had walked into was in serious need of tension reduction.  He felt better now that everyone was a bit more relaxed.

            “All right, Jared.  Why don’t you tell us exactly what’s going on and why Morgan sent you and we’ll see if we can help.”

            The stranger took a deep breath and nodded, his eyes tearing up a little.  Jared.  Liam rolled the name around in his mind.  The name suited the adorable man.  Liam tried to give him an encouraging smile. 

            “I, um…there’s a…hole in my memory,” Jared finally said haltingly, his voice soft.  He sucked in another breath.  “Just months of…I remember getting up and getting ready and going to work.  I remember coming home and the evenings.  But there’s nothing about work.  For the last eight months, I can remember nothing about work.”

            “That doesn’t seem so bad.”  The words were out of Liam’s mouth before he could check them.  He winced and shot Kelly and apologetic look before he mimed button his lips and turned his attention back to Jared. 

            Jared gave him a grateful, if shaky, smile.  When Kelly encouraged him to go on, Jared nodded and continued, “It was about two weeks ago, a little more, when I realized it.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember a single thing.  I got freaked out and called Morgan.

            “She showed up at my place a couple of hours later.  I still don’t know how she got there that fast.  She told me to pack anything I couldn’t leave behind and come here.  She said Kelly would make me safe.”

            That was an odd way to phrase it.  Liam took a step closer to Jason and Kelly.  Jezebel’s unease filtered into his brain.  There was something about the situation that she didn’t like.  Liam had to agree.

            “What am I missing?” Liam asked the room at large, keeping his voice soft.

            “Jared’s from Caribou,” Kelly answered just as softly.

            Well crap.  That put an interesting and probably dangerous twist on things.  Liam looked at Jared again, really studying him.  He just didn’t seem like the type.  He was far too sweet and innocent looking.

            “Want to tell the rest of us what that means?” Jason asked, just a hint of petulance sneaking through.

            Liam ignored him, his attention focused on Jared.  “Did you work for them?”

            To his credit, Jared didn’t even pretend he didn’t know what Liam was talking about.  He nodded, his eyes focused on the duck in his lap and his voice was very quiet when he said, “I was the administrative aide to the Direction of Investigations for the Northeast region.”

            And with that pronouncement, Liam just wanted to hug the little guy.  Wrap him up in his 6’5” height and muscle born from hard work and just keep him safe.  Because there was no way this next part was going to be good.  No way at all.

            “Investigations? Of what?” Jason asked, confused.

            “Reports of misuse of magic, mostly,” Mary was quick to answer.  “The Northeast region’s home office of the Tribunal is in Caribou.  The investigations office looks into accusations of practitioners misusing magic.  Their primary focus is to determine if a practitioner has gone dark.  Jared, honey, do you want something to drink?”

            Mary said this all very quickly like it was no big deal.  But they all knew it was.  What she didn’t say was that the Caribou office was known for their rather unorthodox and maybe even morally ambiguous way with dealing with things.  They usually came way too close to the line for Liam’s comfort.

  Jared shook his head in answer to her question and squeezed the duck so hard he made it quack.  Liam couldn’t stop the smirk but he kept his head focused.  There was something bad brewing here and it was up to them to get to the bottom of it.  At least, that’s what Morgan thought.  Sometimes he wanted to strangle that wench.

            “So the question is,” Daniel said in that quiet way of his, “why is the magic breaking down?  Is Jared strong enough to overcome the spell or is it the practitioner who cast it not that good?  Or did they intend for it to break down all along?”

            “That’s more than one question,” Jason grumbled. 

            Jesse shook his head.  “That’s not the right question anyway.  What we need to know is why Morgan sent Jared here.  Was it to keep him safe from others?  Or to keep others safe from him?”

            And that, right there, was the real concern.  That was why Jesse, who acted as the coven’s unofficial peace keeper since he was a deputy with the Sheriff’s office, was here.  Liam tensed at the thought of Jared, as scared and lost as he obviously was, locked up. But if he was a threat there was no other option. 

            “It’s not Jared’s fault,” Mary broke in.  “He really has no idea what happened to him.  If the threat is against him, he’s got no idea why.  And if he’s the threat, he has absolutely no clue he’s dangerous.  Seriously, guys, I detect no deceit coming from him at all.  Not a hint. And you know I would be able to tell.”

            “Jared, I’m sorry,” Jason said loudly and pointedly.  “It’s very rude of all these people to be talking about you like you’re not sitting right here.  I apologize on their behalf.”

            Jared turned a pretty shade of red.  “It’s all right,” he whispered.

            Liam silently agreed with Jason.  It had been rude.  But he also understood where everyone else was coming from.  And now that he had the whole picture he could see what was going on.

            Jared’s lack of memory was worrisome enough on its own.  But the fact that he knew he couldn’t remember was even more troubling for the reasons that Daniel pointed out.  And obviously, Morgan, the old bat, was worried about it too or she would never have sent Jared all this way.  And there was only one way that, short of locking him in a cell, Liam could think of to keep Jared safe and make sure he wasn’t a danger to others.  At least until they could get to the bottom of the issue.

            “You see it, too?” Kelly’s voice broke into Liam’s ruminations.  He turned toward Kelly to find the man looking directly at him. 

            Liam nodded, blew out a breath, and scrubbed a hand over his face.  “There’s only one thing I can think of.  But it seems sort of like an extreme measure.”

            “I agree,” Kelly said, blowing out a breath.  “But it’s what she’s aiming for.  She knew you and I would come to this conclusion.”

            “Eight months ago is when she sent Cora to you for elimination.  What the hell is her agenda?” Liam muttered.

            “I don’t know.”  Kelly shrugged.  “But I’m not sure it’s important right now.  In this moment, we have to figure out the best way to help Jared while keeping everyone else safe.”

            Liam thought about it for a moment and found he agreed.  “Fuck, man.  I don’t envy you this decision.”

            “Its okay, Jared,” Jason said, not bothering to mask his annoyance.  “They do this; talk to each other like other people aren’t even in the room.  They aren’t trying to be rude.”

            Liam couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped.  “Tell us how you really feel, kid.”

            “You know I don’t have any idea what’s going on.  And if you wanted to keep me, and everyone else, in the dark, you could at least have the decency and the common courtesy to leave the room instead of ignoring us.  It’s rude and it makes me feel worthless.”

            Kelly reached out and pulled Jason into a tight embrace, ignoring the smaller man’s attempt to get free.  “You’re right, sweetheart.  But we aren’t trying to keep anything from anyone.  We were just working it out, you know?”

            Jason nodded.  “Fine.  Now that you’re done being rude and ignoring poor Jared who’s obviously scared out of his mind—sorry, Jared, but it’s true—how about you share with the rest of the class?”

            Liam jumped in to deliver the announcement, if only to spare Kelly having to explain things to Jason.  That would inevitably get his best friend in trouble with his spitfire of a lover.   “The quickest, most effective way for us to accomplish our goals of making Jared safe, and to find out what’s going on, is for Jared to enter into a soul bond.”

            The room went instantly and completely quiet.  Even Jesse’s ferret stopped his incessant chattering and climbed up to perch on top of Jesse’s head.  Jason was confused but everyone else in the room knew how serious that was.  It was a bit extreme, yes, but Liam spoke the truth.  It was the best way to deal with this situation.

            Jesse summed it up with a quietly uttered, “Fuck.”

 

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