Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 32

The closer we traveled to my new home, the twitchier I became, like there were tiny needles pricking every inch of my body without drawing so much as a drop of blood. I couldn't sit still or take a deep breath. Hell, I couldn't have formed a coherent thought, I was so choked by emotion. The tension built to a crescendo as we passed the 'Welcome to Wickenton' sign, and something within me snapped. The tingling I felt became a cool, fluid energy coursing throughout my body. It was unnatural, but for reasons I hadn't understood until that moment, it didn't feel at all wrong.

It was magic.

Wickenton, the location of the High Council headquarters and my new home, was the largest magical community in modern times. Close to eighty percent of its population was comprised of practitioners. It was natural that the magic within me would react to that which surrounded me. It had responded to my mom when I was unbound.

Onyx barked from her carrier, which my father had insisted we use. I didn't know if she felt the magic or just picked up on my nerves. She must feel so alone without Opal, who I had had cremated with my mother so they could be together forever. We could remember them together or, since she was a dog, I'd remember them for both of us. Aiden had told me that someone had claimed Zachariah, which had left me disappointed only because I knew my mother would have wanted him to be close.

I looked up and saw the monstrous house that was to be my new home. The three-story building looked more like a house out of an old-time horror movie done in black and white with the gloom-and-doom of a storm brewing in the distance. We drove up a long, cobbled stone driveway that circled around a gurgling fountain in the lush green front yard. Everything was immaculate, which wasn't my taste—subtlety was classier. A little dirt and a few items out of place—just a little—created a homey touch so you didn't feel like you were visiting a museum every time you stepped through the front door.

Once we stopped, I stood outside of the car and stared at the winding white porch that wrapped itself around the base of the house. It was hidden behind four huge pillars, and under any other circumstance, I may have enjoyed the porch swings that swayed with the breeze at each end. It all looked so plain and void of character, it reminded me of the props we'd used last year in theatre production. Were they real or just for show?

Unsettled and unsure, I hadn't been prepared for the father I'd never met to show up and say that he was my new legal guardian. Aiden said that until I was eighteen, there wasn't anything I could do unless I had sound reasons as to why Devland was unfit to parent me. How about not being around for the past seventeen years? Was that a good reason?

I couldn't understand how the courts would think sending me off to live with a man that I'd never met was better than letting the people I'd known and loved my whole life become my legal guardians. My mother had trusted them; she'd run away from her marriage with Devland—for my protection. That had to mean something but, seeing as though I didn't know what she'd been protecting me from, I couldn't make it a valid point.

"Is this house just for one person, Mr. Dwyer?" I gaped, finally speaking as he rounded the vehicle. "It's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Perks of the job." He shrugged.

"The Council gave you a house when you became their leader?"

"No," he said. "This has been in my family for generations. You come from a long line of lawyers, such as I used to be before the duties of the Council took up most of my time. I'm still a partner and retain my license, but I don't take many cases anymore."

"All that for one question." I bent at my knees to haul the lightest suitcase over my shoulder.

Onyx looked at Devland before hopping down from the car and rushing to my side, casting I-don't-trust-you glares at him, followed by stay-away-from-my-master growls. I wasn't the only one who didn't trust him then, even if the other wasn't human. Onyx had been trained to sense all kind of danger, so she was more perceptive than I was. What did her hostility signify about Devland? Transference from my own feelings? We were, after all, bonded by blood.