Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) by Jennifer Snyder Page A

the pros and
cons of becoming initiated. So far, the list was short, on both sides.
     
    Pros:
    No
more tether.
    I
would be able to tap into my magick.
    I
could leave whenever I wanted.
     
    Cons:
    I’d
be stuck in Soul Harbor if I wanted to continue using my magick.
    I’d
let people down that I cared about if I left after.
     
    I swallowed hard and pasted a smile on my face when I
noticed Callie staring at me from across the kitchen.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Yeah.” I nodded.
    “The McNeelys should be back any minute.”
    “That’s fine. I’m in no rush,” I muttered.
    And I wasn’t.
     

     
     

     
     
    Soul Harbor didn’t have much of a selection when it came to
clothing stores. We’d stopped at the select few and scoped them out without any
luck, before deciding to head to a few of the shops closer to Craven College.
It was at a little hippy-looking shop where we finally found what we were
looking for.
    The place was called Down to Earth Apparel, and as we
stepped inside, the strong scent of incense met my nose as whimsical music
filled my ears. A woman in her late forties with ringlets of brown hair falling
to her waist and absolutely no makeup on greeted us. She was wearing a flowing
beige tunic and a gypsy-looking skirt that brushed just above her ankles.
Callie told her what we were looking for—solid-colored, flowing dresses or
robes—and the woman pointed us in the right direction without even a moment’s
thought.
    “What about this one?” Callie asked, as she held out a baby
blue dress that hit just above her knees. “Too short?”
    “Eh.” I contemplated its length, unsure of what would be
considered appropriate for something like this. “Shouldn’t it be something that
at least falls below the knees? I don’t know, I mean, this seems like it would
be rendered as a formal event.”
    “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Callie said. She put the dress
back on the rack and began her search again.
    I shifted my eyes around, looking for another rack of
dresses to flip through. A long, fluid dress hanging on the wall behind Callie
caught my attention. It was bright red and made of a rippling fabric that
looked as though it would be breathable while at the same time remaining
opaque, unlike some of the others I’d seen.
    “What about something like this?” I asked as I walked toward
it.
    “Oh, that’s perfect!” Callie squealed from behind me. “I
wonder if they have it in blue too.”
    I reached for the dress and got it down. Holding it up
against myself, I scurried to find a mirror while taking note of how gorgeous
the dress actually was. It was lightweight and came to the tops of my feet. The
color was a vibrant red, which represented my element. It was perfect.
    “Oh, look at this color,” Callie whispered in a soft tone.
    Glancing over my shoulder at her, I found her holding up an
exact replica of my dress. The only difference was hers was a pale shade of
blue. The color of the dress against Callie’s dark skin was going to be
stunning.
    “We have to get these,” she said. Her lips twisted into a
whimsical smile, and her eyes widened.
    I nodded my agreement, and then looked at the price tag for
the first time—$22.50. They were ideal for what we needed them for, would look
stunning on both of us, and were within my price range.
    Maybe I was meant to become initiated after all.
    After buying our dresses and stopping to get something to
eat and a milkshake at the nearest fast-food place, we headed back to Soul
Harbor. I was supposed to meet Kace at my house in under an hour. Who knew it
would have taken a little over four hours to find a freaking dress for
something?
    “I need to make one stop before we head back to your place,”
Callie said. She turned down a street I knew, but I still couldn’t figure out
where we were going.
    When we passed Putman’s Diner and cut into the parking lot
of Fisherman’s Brew, my stomach dropped to my toes.
    “What do you have to get