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

Chapter 33

How perfect was it that I now had a bathroom fit for a princess like Nancy? I know it wasn't a contest, but it was nice to know I'd come out a winner. Atop of the bathtub's faucets, a smaller version of the sitting rooms television was mounted for my soaking pleasure.

Devland, obviously, was determined to make me happy. I should take advantage and make a list of things I wanted. But no, that was immoral—damn my mother for teaching me ethics.

"Are you ready for the final showpiece?" Devland asked, his deep voice scratching through my thoughts. "I know that you're going to love it."

"Open sesame." I smiled to take away from the sarcasm and spread my arms. What else could I say? No, but thank you? Yeah, that would go over well.

The final room was a dressing room. Wall-to-wall closets that hung garments in order: pants to shirts, tank tops to t-shirts to long-sleeved, white to black. Underneath the hanging clothes were racks stacked upon one another with shoes fit for every occasion. One whole table was devoted to accessories, and a vanity table with an attached mirror was the only break in its construction. It was insane and must have cost Devland a fortune. Really. It was a closet fit for a queen, and I was but a princess.

"So? How do you like your suite? Didn't your father do a wonderful job?" Miss Rose asked.

"It's great," I admitted. I wished it wasn't. "I can't believe you did all of this."

"I wanted to," Devland said. "I hope you will find joy in it all. If I missed anything you need, just let me know. We'll let you rest for a while before supper, okay?"

"Great. I think that I'm going to see if that bed in there is as soft as it is pretty."

They left laughing, and he looked so proud of himself, like he'd been assuaged of the seventeen years he'd missed by giving me seventeen years' worth of presents. It was going to be a long transition, but at least I was about to do it in style.

I could tolerate it without getting used to it.

With a sigh, I made my way back to the bedroom. How did anyone get used to so much luxury? The ache in my chest at the remembrance of my true home brought tears to my eyes. Devland had said that I would adjust to life in Wickenton, but I doubted it. He had driven a hard bargain the morning after the circle had been held for my mother, making sure it was one I couldn't refuse.

"How did you find me?"

"The Council sensed the magic being used. Once I arrived in Briarville, it wasn't hard to find you," he told me. "All I had to do was look at the obituaries."

"I don't even know you. Why would I ever come live with you?"

"It's your only feasible option until you are eighteen. You can't touch the money in trust for you from your mother until you are of legal age. How will you survive?" he asked, though I knew that the Aldenburg's would've put me up until my birthday, money or no money.

When I told him to go ahead and announce me a ward of the state, he changed tactics, using things I cherished as an incentive to leave. "You don't want to lose your mother's house, do you? All of these things that remind you of her? Her shop?"

"What are you talking about? The house is safe and far from getting lost." I wasn't a lawyer and didn't know the logistics behind owning property of my own. I just knew that the house I'd grown up in was mine. He'd need my signature to sell it, and I'd never give it to him.

"Since nobody was chosen, I am your guardian now. Even if there had been someone appointed, we are related, and they aren't. All that you own, including this house, is in my trust until you turn of age. I can put the house upon the market."

"You can't sell my mother's house!" I screamed and pounded my fist on the table. "It is in trust, which means that you can't sell it or change it without my consent."

"I can and I will. Trust me, Noreena, I can make the sale legal by petitioning it to the courts for college tuition or other expenses. You'd really chance that?"

I hated the man.

How could a father give his child such an ultimatum?

Running to my room, I phoned Aiden and he advised me that Devland could do it. I had money set away Devland didn't know of for an allowance until I received the bulk of my inheritance, which was more than I had ever imagined. After crying, I went back to the kitchen, devoid of emotion, and asked Devland what he wanted to stop the house from being sold.

"It's simple. Pack your things and come to Dwyer Manor. Finish up your senior year at Grimas High School. When you turn eighteen, the money and house are yours."

My choices?

Either I was willing to lose the last connection I would have to my mother—something that couldn't ever be duplicated—or suffer just under a year away from my friends to gain my freedom.

The idea of living here still filled me with anger, but for the first time, I thought that the next few months may be manageable. If I focused on the end goal, I would be back in Briarville in no time.

It's not like I couldn't keep in contact with my friends from Briarville. I picked up my phone to call Nancy, sure that she and Julian were waiting to see how things had gone and that I'd made it here safe.

"Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please try again. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try your call again."

I hung up when the beeping began to screech in my ear. I tried again in case I had dialed the wrong person, but it was the same thing. After the tearful goodbye from Julian and Nancy, I was jonesing to talk with at least one of them. Nancy hadn't said goodbye because she said it sounded too final, so I'd left with a 'talk to you later' and multiple hugs.

Was my phone restricted now? I'd never had blocks on it before. Was this a ploy on Devland's part? Was he trying to keep me from my home? He had better think again if he thought that I would forget them by not talking to them. I'd find a way around it and then, the minute I turned eighteen, I was out of here.