Trinity Blue (5 page)

Yeah, like that was a plan. She was a mortal woman. She would live and die. He had no business dreaming about a life with her, buying her gifts. But he’d done it already. So he led her into the hallway and gestured at the box.

She inhaled sharply then held her breath. Finally, she made a sound that could only be construed as a snort. He wasn’t sure how to take that.

“You bought me a motion-detector home alarm system?”

Was that excitement in her tone? He couldn’t be sure.
“With infra-red sensors.”

“It’s—” She looked from the box to him and back again, the corners of her mouth twitching. “Why?”

Because the
hybrids
he’d taken down were only scouts. Something more powerful was out there.
A killer.
He needed something to help protect her when he wasn’t here. He needed to do everything he could to ensure Jen was safe, that the killer stalking the shadows could not harm her.

Not her. Not Jen.
His Jen.

He couldn’t tell her any of that, so he told her a different truth, instead.
“Because you aren’t the type of person to rely on anyone else to keep you safe.
So I figured I’d just help you with the tools to take care of yourself.”

The little twitch at the corner of her mouth turned into a full-blown smile. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s perfect.”

Mindful of the crutches, he took her in his arms, buried his face in her neck and breathed in the scents of her hair and her skin. “Yeah,” he said. “Perfect.”

Jen woke to afternoon sunlight eking through the crack between her curtains and jagged pain seeping through her limbs. After lunch, Daemon had made love to her for hours, sweet and slow, taking his time, exploring every inch of her. But she was alone now, and pain was tearing her in two. She breathed through the agony that swelled and ebbed. Bright shards spun through her, twisting her into a tight knot, doubling her over.

She had no idea how long she lay there, but when she came to herself, it was dark. Night had come. All around her, the air shimmered. Sparking filaments of light danced off her skin. Inside her, power uncoiled, stretched, and laughed in delight. Her time had come. The sorcerer magic that should have blossomed at puberty had burgeoned at last.

Years ago, she would have welcomed it. Now, she felt bittersweet joy. She was not forbidden from taking a mortal lover, but she would be foolish to love him. There would always be secrets between them. Always
be
lies. And in the end, she would have no choice but to leave him.

The very thought made her feel like a band was tightening around her chest.

She wanted to see him. Touch him. Enjoy every stolen moment.

Reaching down, she freed the Velcro straps of her splint and pulled it from her leg. A benefit of full sorcerer magic—the pain in her knee was gone. She was healed.

She rolled from the bed and half skipped to the bathroom for a quick shower, then dressed and crossed to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she noticed that Daemon’s car was gone. A flicker of disappointment touched her. She made her way downstairs and found a note in the kitchen.

Went to town to pick up dinner.
Didn’t want to disturb you.
Back soon.

~D

Smiling, she set the note back on the table, then froze, her head jerking up, her every sense on high alert. Tension coiled through her. The sensation was no longer a dim and distant threat. There was something out there, practically in her front yard.
Something dark.
She could feel the power, the oily slide of demon magic tainting the air, making the
continuum
shiver and twitch.

She knew now what had killed the woman and left her remains in the woods. Not a human. No. The killer was far more dangerous than any human could be. Calling her newly awakened power, she eased out the back door into the night. Not that she meant to confront it. Her magic was too new to her. She didn’t dare take on such a creature alone.

No, she meant only to protect her property, to set wards and spells.
To watch for Daemon’s car on the road, to protect him and keep him safe from the monsters in the night.

o0o

Daemon knew she was gone before he finished searching the house. The
continuum
undulated with dark magic, polluted by the aura of a powerful demon. Jen was out there somewhere. Her car was in the drive, which meant she was on foot.
Alone.
Unprotected.

And he might be too late.

The trinity twisted and writhed, feeling his fear, feeding on it and straining to get out.

“Go,” he snarled, and the trinity oozed free, rising into the moonless night, wraiths in the shadows, leading him to the one he sought.
Jen.
He ran flat out for the woods, knowing she was there.
In the woods.
With a demon.

He needed to get to her, protect her. He couldn’t lose her, not Jen.

The air felt wrong.
Tasted
wrong
.
There was a demon out there, and something else.
A sorcerer?
Perhaps.

Trees flew past in a blur. Daemon tore full tilt toward the thick miasma of dark magic that oozed through the forest, foreign and vile. Then he saw Jen and his heart twisted. She was backed up against a tree, her face pale,
her
eyes wide. He took in every part of her at a glance. She appeared unharmed, but her splint was off and her crutches nowhere to be seen.

Not ten feet from her was a demon, gray cracked hide stretched over its meaty frame, blackened lips peeled back from row upon row of jagged yellow teeth.

“Run,” she cried, her eyes locked on him, her features etched with fear. He saw her lips move, but he couldn’t hear the word past the roaring in his ears. She was trapped by a nightmare, but her one thought was for him.

Everything inside Daemon rebelled. He would lose her. Either way, he would lose her. She would die at the hands of this monstrous, foul beast, or Daemon would summon the trinity and save her and she would see him then for exactly what he was.

I despise you
.
A condemnation from centuries past.
He couldn’t bear to hear those words from Jen’s lips. But the alternative was worse. She would die.

The beast stepped toward her. She drew herself up and closed her eyes, as though she could not bear to see the promise of her death in its obsidian gaze.

Daemon surged forward and snarled. “Come to me.” His voice echoed through the trees, and the trinity came, swirling around him, through him, searing him to the bone and
ramping
his power to its highest level.

Jen’s gaze shot to him, and for an instant everything around them ceased to be. She saw him for all he was and all he could never be. Not human. Not mortal.

I’m sorry, Jen.

She held his gaze and drew a deep breath, casting her arms wide. Her body jerked then froze. Glittering, sharp-edged filaments of light swelled around her, swaying and weaving until they reached the demon, curling about its limbs as it lunged for her, claws bared. She jerked away with a cry as one curled talon raked her skin and a thick line of blood welled on her arm.

Daemon leaped, rage coursing through him. The demon turned, one massive arm hammering him across the chest, sending him flying back through the air. The breath rushed out of him as he slammed against the trunk of a tree and slid to the ground.

The pain was sharp and cold, and he drew on it, let it feed his rage.

Bounding to his feet he pulled power from his core, feeding the trinity and allowing their darkness to feed him. He wheeled toward Jen. She was consumed by light now, filaments of energy forming a writhing nimbus around her.

The sorcerer vibe he’d felt earlier. She was the source. How could he have missed that all these weeks?
A question for later.

He sent the trinity to their task, his light and theirs spilling through hers in a tumult of energy until the demon began to crackle and fizz, and finally burned away in a curl of smoke.

Her eyes met his, fever bright. Then she slumped against the tree as though their victory had drained her.

“Jen!”
He leaped forward and caught her against him, holding her tight, desperate to feel the warmth of her skin, to know she lived and breathed still.
Only when he felt her arms come around his waist did he dare to breathe again.
“You’re a sorcerer,” he said, wonder in every word.

“With delayed maturity.
I only came into my power tonight.” She gave a rueful laugh and tilted her head back to look up at him. “What—” A thousand questions raced across her features then disappeared as she shook her head.

He knew what she wanted to ask, and he dreaded her questions because he had no answers. She was a sorcerer, but what was he? He had no idea.

“I don’t know what I am,” he rasped. “I’ve never encountered another like me. I call them the trinity because they are three. They are part of me.” He clenched his fist. There were no right words to explain, but he gave her the truth as best he could. She deserved that. “They feed on death and destruction.” He kept them bottled as long as he could, but eventually he was forced to set them free. The best he could do was
funnel
their killing frenzy toward an appropriate target.

He held her gaze and waited for her condemnation. Seconds bled into minutes and still she only stared at him, her expression giving no hint of her thoughts. He wanted to tell her he loved her. He wanted to say a million things. But all he could manage was, “Go ahead. Ask your questions.” And with each answer, she would know him for the monster he was.

She swallowed. “I have only one.” Then she smiled, and in her eyes he saw acceptance and… love. She dragged his head down until their lips touched, and whispered, “What did you bring for dinner?”

-The End-

o0o

Body of Sin

Available August 23, 2011

Paranormal reads available now:

Sins of the Flesh

Sins of the Soul

Sins of the Heart

Sin’s Daughter

Demon’s Hunger

Demon’s Kiss

Kiss of the Vampire in the anthology Nature of the Beast

Historical Suspense:

Seduced by a Stranger

His Wicked Sins

Dark Prince

His Dark Kiss

Dark Desires

o0o