Read Online The Binding by L. Filloon - Free Book Online

believe how nonchalant he is about it! “But, shouldn’t it have cut through me? ”
    “Hmm…yeah, pretty much, but my armor protected you from its blade. And once he was able to, Tolan helped heal your body .”
    I listen quietly, and then ask, “Your armor stopped it? Do you mean your coat?”
    “Yes. It’s imbued with my energy.”
    “Your energy?” This time I yank my hand away. He’s now at the bottom of the sta irs and I’m two steps up, so we a re eye to eye for the first time.
    “What does that mean, Tharin? Your energy ? Does that mean that a part of you has been spent, used up? Are you hurt because of it? Tell me, what does it mean?”
    He puts his hands on my shoulders and I stiffen, “Yes, my energy, Lily. No, I’m not ‘ spent ’ or ‘used up’ from it because the energy has been infused in the coat for years now. Once the energy is separated from the will that created it long enough, it becomes one with the object of infusion . The stronger the will, the more powerful the energy.”
    I think about that for a moment. I recall the spinning glick when it cut through the door of the convenien ce store, how it went through the far wall and then hurled back at us. I look at the coat on Tharin, then back at him. Is he that powerful that the energy he put on his coat from years ago could keep the glick from cutting me in two? I shake my head in disbelief. Tharin laughs at that and grabs my hand again continuing to the front of the room.
    I almost trip over some debris on the floor, noticing our surroundings for the first time. When I awoke upstairs, I thought we were in a warehouse or office, but I now realize that we a re in an abandon ed house.
    “ How did Tolan heal me?”
    “My brother is a healer, like our mother,” he answers without elaborating further.
    “ So, all of the people from Velesi can do this? I mean , with the energy? ” I continue to ask as I watch where I step.
    “No, just the royal family, and even then, not all of them have it. Our lin e age goes back for centuries to my ancestor, the greatest Sidhe k ing in our history, Kalinest. He and his queen conquered and united the Thirteen Clans. Only a few presently have the gifts of our ancestors. Like I said, it’s primarily the royal families from each c lan that has the ability to manipulate the energies around us . But all of our people have the gift of communicating with Mother Earth , t o be able to hear her words, feel her power and know her heart.”
    “Know her heart?” I ask, but Tharin was through talking.
    He leads me through the empty house and by the time we come to the back door th at leads out to the garage, the p answa is now the size of a boulder marble. Before opening the door, the balled light blinks out and drops into his hand, now looking like a small copper pellet. Tharin shoves it into his coat as he walks out into the closed garage. There, the three guys I saw earlier in the back alley are loading an SUV and talking quietly among themselves. I look around for Julia, but she’s no where in sight, nor is Tolan. One of the men, the one who winked at me, looks up and walks over to us. He hands something to Tharin, who takes the item and stares at it for a moment. He tenses and I notice that before he put s the item into his coat, he lets my hand go.
    The stranger in front of me waves his hand saying, “Hi, I’m Mellis.”
    He has similar features to Tharin and Tolan , but he’s not as well— built or as tall as Tharin . Still, he looks compact and fit. Although he has a coat like Tharin’s, his is of a dark brown color, like the others with him, not the dark green of Tharin’s. Tharin’s coat is so dark it almost looks black until you are close enough to see that it’s not . I look down at my own new coat and find that it’s the same color as Tharin’s.
    “I’m Lily,” I answer, responding to his welcome smile with a shy one of my own. I’m n ot sure why I suddenly feel shy. I move a little