Icarus; The Kindred (A Paranormal Romance) (15 page)

"I
thought you'd left me here," Liv says sleepily.

"No. You feeling well enough to do this? If I need to go get Quinn, I will."

Liv shakes her head. "Let's just go. We can talk about how many places hurt on my body later. I've been hit places I didn't think you could aim for."

A little part of me wants to laugh, but now isn't really the time. Or the place. "I know the feeling."

I remember, from my donor's past, of course, watching
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
with my father. Somewhere in that movie is a scene where they have to go through a tunnel of snakes and horrific insects. I can't begin to tell you how much this place reminds me of that scene.

Liv, being the more girly of the two of us, squeals quietly.

"Sorry. We don't have far to go. At least we aren't crawling." I move to reposition Liv at my side.

"I think I can walk on my own," she says.

I let go only to catch her before she falls. "Maybe not so much."

She giggles. "Oh. Just like old times." Then a sob catches in her throat and before she can cry out, she laughs again. "Except I was usually the sober one. You always said carrying me around was a pain in the ass."

"It is," I tease.

"Jacelynd never gave up," Liv says, suddenly serious. "He rarely slept. He never smiled or laughed. He would never have considered going on with his life without you. He spent every waking moment trying to find you."

"I know," I say reluctantly, "and I've been a jerk to him since the day he found me."

She shook her head as she stumbled over a stone, then grabbed me harder to steady her unsure footing. "He doesn't think that. None of us does. He's trying not to overwhelm you. You don't remember what he's like and he doesn't want to come on too strong."

I laugh to myself. If this is him in moderation, I can't wait to see him full-throttle. "Really?"

"Yeah, but Christ, you should have seen him the morning he found you and Blake were missing. I think he forgot himself for a moment."

"He didn't take it too well?" Not that I thought he would have.

She inhales. "No. I thought he was going to kill Blake when he got his hands on him." She paused. "Blake is still among the living, right?"

"Yes. Alive and well." For now, anyway.

"Voices," Liv says.

I stop but hear nothing. "What?"

"Voices. Listen."

"No Liv, you're hearing our echoes. Truth serum will mess with your perception for a while. You'll feel better once we get something on … " I pause, because now I hear them, too. "Shit."

"Where are they coming from?"

I listen carefully, but they sound more like they are coming from beside us. I press my ear against the cold damp wall and whisper, "On the other side of this wall." Then I realize whose voice I'm hearing and my stomach drops. Trinity is here.

"What's going on?" Liv asks.

I put my arm back under her shoulder. "We can't stay here," I say sharply.

"Jessi, you're scaring me."

"You'll have real reason to be scared if we don't move." I fear for Jace and it isn't a light feeling of concern—it's awful and nearly enough to make me disobey his wishes. I couldn't make out much more than the displeasure in Trinity's voice. I certainly couldn't understand what he was saying. But, whatever it was, it wasn't to our benefit.

"Liv, I can't promise you there won't be assassins outside of these doors. I need you to get away, run to the wood line the best you can. I can take care of myself, and the boys' help would be greatly appreciated if things don't go my way."

Liv nods as we come to the metal door that will lead us out of Callmadus. I close my eyes and grimace, debating my next move. I decide I have to tell Jace.

Trinity is here.

I press open the door and breathe a sigh of relief to find us alone on the other side.

Trinity laughs,
Sweet to try and warn him. Won't do any good, though. He already knows where I am. Hmm. He's rather quiet at the moment. Could have something to do with his inability to pull himself up off the floor.

My chest seizes with fear, but my gut is telling me that Trinity is just trying to get to me. He can't be telling the truth.

I have more faith in him than that. Pity the same can't be said for you.

I look around and though the coast looks clear, I don't trust it to stay that way for long. "We have to run. Don't stop. Don't look back. Do you hear me?"

She nods, and before either of us has chance to second-guess our choice, we run full-tilt across the open field. It's larger than it appeared from the doorway.

Liv makes it across, though barely, before her energy gives. She grasps an oak, her breath coming quick and uneven. I am about to say something about how easy that was, a laugh poised on the tip of my tongue, when I feel it—the Earth as it is pulled from beneath me in an unbelievably painful fall. Something's not right. I reach out to touch the ground when a solid kick makes contact with my ribs. I'm not one for screaming usually, but this hurts like a bitch.

I roll over, fully expecting to see one of the guards, or maybe even Trinity having finally lost his cool, but the face that smiles down at me leaves me breathless. Okay, well, that might be the collapsed lung.

She laughs, "You've always thought you were stronger than you really are. Not so powerful now, are you? Not quite the Covenant Assassin you're supposed to be."

"Iris," I rasp. "Right now isn't exactly the best time for a family reunion."

She has me pinned down pretty well. Actually, I'm kind of impressed. Then again, she is related to me. And I am made of awesome.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" she hisses.

I would say something glib now, but damn if ribs aren't terribly important things to have intact. "Iris, please." I can't breathe all that well right now. I'm completely powerless. I can't so much as conjure a mental fart, let alone a witty comeback. This is as deep as shit can get for me.

She smiles sweetly before taking the dagger she has clenched in her fist, which I have somehow overlooked, and swiftly stakes my hand to the ground. "Since you asked so nicely."

I scream again, but this time it's internal, too. Trinity responds, but I can hardly understand him through the blinding pain.

Do you seriously think I'm going to buy that? It did sound frighteningly real. Kudos on the theatrics.

I move my head enough to see that Liv has managed to get away.

"I've lived my whole fucking life in your shadow." Iris leans over me, hate radiating from her. "Does that hurt? I'm sorry." She twists the knife, and relishes my response. "Sucks to feel how a mortal feels, doesn't it? Every little scrape and cut. You know," she rips the knife out of my hand and plunges it into the side of my chest, "had you not been so stubborn, had you just taken Trinity's blood back at the estate, you wouldn't be feeling this way. You wouldn't be weak enough to kill. You just
have
to do everything the hard way."

I have no shame. I am crying now, though the actual execution of the act sounds more like choking because of the blood that's rising in my throat.

Trinity! Please don't do this, don't let her...
I can't say anymore, because I am screaming and crying both in my head and struggling to do so audibly. I push against her but it's pointless.

Iris causally takes her phone from her pocket with the hand that isn't covered in my blood and dials a number. "She'll take your blood now. We're in the east yard."

A long pause ensues and my sight threatens to give.

Jace. Run. Please. Don't come. He planned …
My thoughts are fractured, my body not making the full connection with what is going on. I should have listened to him.
I'm sorry, love. So sorry.

Iris has a nasty scowl on her face. "She was nearly off property, Trinity. You'll thank me for this later."

"What the hell have you done!?" Trinity roars. It's odd to hear him in person after having just heard his thoughts. If I weren't in the throes of dying, I might enjoy the look of pure terror on Iris' face. She lets the phone fall to her lap.

"Go!" Trinity screams.

Iris scrambles to her feet and runs back toward Callmadus.

Trinity's hands are warm as he cups my face. His expression makes me sick. He seems fearful, as if he hadn't the slightest idea this was coming.

"Why?" I force the question and it erupts as barely a whisper. I don't care how pathetic I sound. As dark and underhanded as Trinity is, I never thought him capable of this. Not when it came to me.

"You have to take my blood, Jess." He brings his wrist to his mouth, but I turn away from him with the last little bit of strength I can muster, crying out in the process because this is so different than merely suspecting him guilty of burning me. There was always some part of me that believed he was innocent, that wanted to trust him. This time, he is here in the flesh and the betrayal hurts nearly as badly as my physical injuries.

"Listen to me," he pleads. "I took so many precautions to keep you from getting hurt. The guns were all unloaded, the other guards were sent away. Everyone was under explicit instructions. You were not to be harmed!"

"Get away from her!"

I cry even harder as I hear Jacelynd. This is it. It's over. Checkmate. Trinity's won. I led my husband to his death. A death that will cost him more than his immortal life, it will cost him his immortal soul. All because I wouldn't listen.

Clouds, dark and turbulent, swiftly fall like a blanket over the field and the breeze picks up. Energy floats on the air, thick and unnerving.

Trinity rises, yelling over the howl of the sudden wind, "She still needs my blood, Jacelynd. She will die if she doesn't draw from me."

Jacelynd nears us and I see the faint glimmer of emerald fire flickering in his eyes. When he speaks, his fangs are bared to their fullest. "Have you no mercy? Even for one you claim to love? What you've done to her is unforgiveable and yet still, she has shown you more kindness than you will ever deserve."

"I was not the cause of this," Trinity yells.

"But you are! You set the trap. You allowed Iris to get this close to her. You Tithed Jessica to you, knowing full well what it would mean."

Trinity glances frantically between Jace and me. "She is
dying
, Jacelynd!"

"You hold her life in your hands, Tristan."

"No!" Trinity barks, "Tell her to take from me!"

Jacelynd remains silent.

Trinity kneels to cradle me in his arms. "No, not like this! I will not lose you!"

I am too weak to fight his hold, but I refuse his wrist a second time.

"Damn it, Jessica, drink!" Trinity cries, agony obvious in his tone. "I will let you go—both of you. Please, look at me." He steers my gaze to him and whispers as though he doesn't want Jace to hear him. "The night we went riding and got caught in the storm—before all of this." There is desperation in his voice, his eyes those of a lost little boy, frightened and alone.

"Jessica,
I do love you
. I promised you that night I would show you how much I love you one day, and today I will make good on that promise. I swear to you, drink from me and I will let both of you go. No more games. Or lies. I will fight Jacelynd on my own terms when the time comes. And it will come soon enough, but please,
please
, if you love him like you once told me you did—if you will not do this for me, then do it for him."

"How can … I … believe you?"

Trinity leans down and gently sweeps his lips over mine. He is trembling and his kiss is soft and sincere. As he does this, he frees the blade from my chest, leaving me nearly unconscious from the shock, and opens his jugular. He pulls back enough to let the blood pour into my mouth.

I keep my eyes squeezed shut, because I don't want to look at Jacelynd. Trinity's blood tastes warm and sweet, his hold too intimate. I cry hard as I let his blood fuel me, letting go of everything that has been threatening to fall apart around me. I am too exhausted to carry on, to bear this.

When I finally feel the majority of the pain dissolve, I pull away but can't make my limbs move. Trinity must know this because he rises and places me in Jacelynd's arms.

"Go," Trinity says quietly. "Take the Hummer. No one will follow you tonight." He sounds more drained than I have ever heard him and when I brave a glance, I am stunned to see his face wet with tears.

Jace walks a few feet before he turns around suddenly. "Are you leaving here?"

Trinity doesn't answer immediately. "I'm going home."

"Probably a good idea not to go back into Callmadus."

Trinity wants to be mad, I can tell, but he's too shaken. "Explosives?"

"Consider it Damian's way of finishing what Iris started. He's never liked going anywhere alone. The afterlife is no exception."

Trinity doesn't say anything as Jace turns from him. He just stares at us as we cross the edge of the forest.

I
just want everything to go away—the pain, the confusion and the hole that grows deeper in the core my being. I can't stop crying, couldn't even if I wanted to. Having my world turned upside down, discovering that my life as I know it is a lie—that I have a son and a husband,
that
all made me weepy. Speaking with my son made me vulnerable, but this … this has no name. I am truly broken. And so very,
very
tired.