Trinity - Defying Destiny (9 page)

Chapter Sixteen

I pulled away from his kiss with too much reluctance. I pulled my hand from behind him touching his face. His piercing blue- green eyes were bright and I knew mine would be freaky as hell. I could feel every organ, bone and muscle vibrate with excitement and lust. Now was not the time, we were in a changing room for God’s sake. Someday, if all went to plan, we would have more time than this.

“Your back,” I said a little breathless. I knew it was a stupid statement, but my brain could not form much at that moment.

“I told you I would be. Why are you not at the compound?” he asked as a slight frown formed between his eyes.

I dropped my hand and turned away from his gaze.

“I didn’t want to be cooped up there anymore with nothing to think about except you and Chelsi. I know, I know,” I said and raised a hand in my defence before he could reply. “It was necessary, it meant nothing. I get that. I just didn’t want to sit around and think about it any longer. Besides, I have many other things on my mind and they are mostly back at ‘Mutual’. So I just wanted some space, some normal,” I told him looking back.

He gave me his sexy smirk, letting me know he was not mad, more amused.

“Garth called and told me you guys talked,” he admitted.

I rolled my eyes, “Of course he did.”

“Don’t begrudge him Trinity. I know more than you, one day you will know too, but you have to set your hate and anger aside to see it,” he empathized with such a serious look on his face.

I sighed, “I know, and I am trying. He is trying. But it is still hard to come to terms with everything. You have had time. I haven’t,” I pointed out.

A knock came at the door. “They are here, we have to go,” came Chelsi’s voice.

I mentally ground my teeth.

“Listen, I have to go. You do too. I can’t explain now, but I promise I will,” Jason said quickly in a hushed voice.

I gave a nod and went to walk out. He grabbed me around the waist to stop me.

“No, you can’t come with me. You can’t go back to ‘Mutual’ either. Just wait a few moments until we have left the store, then go with Steven back home,” he said with authority.

I frowned with a questioning look.

“Lachlan will explain. He will meet you at the servo we stopped at yesterday,” he said bending down slightly and kissing my lips with a hard crash of desperation.

I locked my eyes to his and for the first time I saw fear.

He walked out leaving me standing there dumbfounded. Chelsi was beside him and then they were holding hands. He looked back at me with a pleading look for forgiveness. All good feelings had just gone. I knew he had to do that for a reason, but what a head game.

I looked over to the dressing room next to me where Sky was standing at the doorway watching the same thing.

“What the hell?” Sky said with a confused look.

I shrugged. I knew she heard everything.

I squared my shoulders and started walking to the counter. Steven walked up, but said nothing. He grabbed my arm and turned me back to the dressing room before the woman at the counter could turn around to serve me.

“Calm yourself Trinity,” he said sternly.

I couldn’t recall a time he ever sounded so serious. I knew what he meant, though, my eyes were freaky to the monsters and I could only imagine what a human would think.

I sucked in lots of deep breaths and exhaled them slowly. I pushed my last image of Jason out of my mind and thought of the ocean. The waves crashing. The sand between my toes and the fresh salt air slapping my face.

I looked to Steven, “Better?”

“Yeah, that was fast,” he pointed out.

I shrugged, walking calmly back to the register and placing the clothes I had picked out on the counter. Sky came up beside me. I grabbed the clothes she had and stuck them on to the pile. Steven reached over to the glasses stand that sat on the counter, grabbed a pair and stuck them on top.

“I think you need these,” he smirked.

The woman ran it all through the register. I handed her my card and paid, got our bags and walked out the store. I pulled the tag and sticker of the glasses and put them on. They were a good pick actually. Stylish and from my reflection in the store glass window, they suited me.

We walked out of the shopping centre and over to our car. Steven put a hand up to stop us, walked over to his commodore, looked around and started sniffing it. Yes sniffing. Sky and I looked at each other with confused weird looks on our faces, then back to him all normal.

“Ok, let’s go,” he said and unlocking the car and sat in the driver’s seat. I walked over to the front and got in while Sky climbed in the back.

Steven had pulled out to the busy street and made his way back to the long stretch of dead grass and open space within minutes, weaving around cars pushing us up further. We had all sat quietly only exchanging glances.

“What’s going on?” I finally asked.

Steven looked in the rear-view mirror and then to me, “All I know is that I am driving you to a service station at Gympie where Lachlan will meet us.”

“Did Chelsi say anything?” I asked.

“No, she does not talk to my kind,” he smirked.

“Well, it’s not like you really like her,” I pointed out.

He made a face saying, “I am trying to. She is a whole other story though. She won’t even look at us if she can get away with it.”

“Why is she like that?” Sky asked from the back.

“I heard that she was attacked by a vampire, savagely, not bitten, but basically ripped to pieces. It just so happens that Jason had found her and bit her to save her life. I don’t know why she was attacked like that for no cause she was not even fed on. Apparently un-provoked, but I don’t believe there is any reason why someone should have that happen to them. It’s a bit of a mystery,” he told us.

“So like an unsolved, vampire psychopath, attempted murderer?” I said frowning.

“Basically.”

I turned back and looked at Sky. She had the same expression that I probably had.

I turned back asking, “Could it have been the witches?”

“Trinity! Not all of us are psychotic because of the witches. We have a basic animal instinct to hunt, kill, destroy, feed and mate. Most of us can hold all the temptation inside, but there are a lot that enjoy being what they are and live it to their full extent.”

I cringed at the images floating in my head. “Maybe Garth and Vex are still needed to protect the humans like they were created to do,” I said loudly, but more to myself.

“And you, Trinity. You are the third. The wise woman,” Steven announced.

“There is nothing wise about me,” I said flatly.

“I think you are more aware and knowledgeable than you think you are,” Sky chimed in.

“I can’t be the third. I don’t want to be,” I hissed out through gritted teeth.

“You will have to be Trinity. Order needs to be restored,” Steven stated.

“How am I going to do anything?” I asked.

“Train, learn and prepare to take on anyone. We should never have been created. Though the intentions were good, we are now a plague and with us now being exposed, it is even more dangerous,” he replied.

“But Jason fixed all that,” Sky added.

“Yes with the police, but there are people that have believed in us since our creation and this has just let them know they were right. They don’t need to see the proof; they know it just by what Mark blabbered.”

“So we are still in danger?” I asked.

“Yes, until these people are exposed and gotten rid of, then we need to pretend we are normal every day teens and young adults.”

“That don’t age,” I said with sarcasm.

“Yeah a few will have to go into hiding for a while. Those that don’t will have to play their part.”

“Like Jason and Chelsi?” I said, trying to hide the venom in my voice.

He turned and looked at me, “Yeah, for now.”

Chapter Seventeen

The drive seemed to drag out, but it was only Sky and I talking. Steven looked too deep in thought, concerned, which only made the butterflies in my stomach swim around faster. We didn’t know anything; it seemed Steven had more of an idea than what we did. I couldn’t shake the bad feeling I was having and it made me long to have my own hand in Jason’s. I wanted us to go out like couples do, but from the way Steven said, “For now,” I can’t see that happening anytime soon.

“We are here,” Steven said.

I looked ahead and saw the servo come into view.

I felt twitchy all of the sudden. It was as if I wanted to jump out of my seat and run.

The sun was setting, but I could make out Lachlan’s car, he and Nikkee were standing next to it.

We drove in and parked beside it.

I opened my door and Nikkee was on me in a flash.

“OMG, Trinity. I have been so worried. We have been waiting here for hours,” she said, muffled in my shoulder.

I could feel her fear, her anxiety and realized this was why I was feeling twitchy. I had let my guard down and her feelings came flooding through.

She was really scared, hungry and confused. I thought she had been handling her transition well considering she already knew so much, but now I finally knew that was not true. She was exactly like I was and still am. Afraid of the monsters that we had become.

Sky’s arms came around us both. We stood there for a while longer before breaking away from each other.

“We are ok,” I said pulling my arms from around Nikkee. I placed one on Nikkee’s shoulder and the other on Sky’s. “We will work through this together,” I smiled and they both returned one.

“We need to leave,” Lachlan said next to us.

I looked over and gave a nod.

“Thank you Steven,” I said walking over and putting my arms around him.

He returned the gesture and I hugged him tight. In the short time I had known him, I had grown quite fond of his smart arse banter and caring manner. Even if he did have a problem with the wolves, he still helped. I know he cared, that he was coming around. I felt a pang knowing he would be left alone. I felt fearful for him. I broke away from our embrace and smiled.

“Nikkee?” he said, reaching his arms out he was wanting her to hug him. “I won’t bite,” he added with a smirk.

She walked over and gave him a hug. I looked to Lachlan and if looks could kill, I think we would all be in trouble.

His eyes snapped to me as a warning, but I just returned a smirk. He should know by now, his threats mean little to me.

He sighed and turned around walking to his car, opening the door and hopping in.

Nikkee and Steven broke apart and Sky walked up and put her hand out to shake his. He looked at it for a moment and then placed his hand in hers.

I smiled, it was definitely a start. I was supposed to bring them all together, maybe this showed that it would work. Baby steps I reminded myself. Baby steps.

We pulled out of the service station driveway. Steven went back the way we came while we went in the direction of home.

Nikkee sat in the front while Sky and I sat in the back.

“So, what’s going on?” I asked.

Lachlan looked in the rear view mirror at me then back to the road.

“The authorities have placed Mark in a mental ward at Caboolture Hospital,” he said.

“That’s great news!” Sky muttered venomously.

I placed my hand on hers for comfort, she responded by squeezing tight.

“Well, it was until someone busted him out,” he replied.

“What?” Sky and I shouted at the same time.

Since Nikkee didn’t say anything, I guessed that she was aware.

“Yeah, we are not sure who; we have footage being examined. But we are guessing it is someone that has been looking for evidence of our existence for a long time. These types of people always pop in throughout history. They look for clues and well Mark had some very descriptive information. After the blood work came back clear, the police considered him insane. They did to start with, but with his insistence to check the blood, they humoured him,” he laughed and added, “Only problem was, whoever had been involved in the case obviously knew people who would find the information priceless. And not to mention the bones that they took from the ritual sight have now gone missing from evidence,” he finished. His eyes flicked back to me. They had anger and concern in them.

“Oh no, Sab?” I said.

“Yeah, he spelled the police station into a trance, walked in to collect them and they were gone. He compiled a tracking spell, but it's very weak. One step at a time. Whoever is behind this is smart and knows that there are witches that would have used magic. I am assuming they used some sort of cloaking spell, which means they have a witch themselves, which I am also guessing led the authorities to the woods since Mark didn’t know we would be there,” he told us.

“Shit! I had wondered about how they found us there,” I replied.

“They don’t think it’s a normal witch. More like a rouge one with no knowledge of why the humans would need the bones, but it can only be a witch that can move them and keep the magic stored within. Jason said that Sab told him, no witch good or bad would let a human have their sacred bones. Even for their own gain. And it was definitely a witch and humans that took them because Jason couldn’t smell any trace of wolf or vampire,” Nikkee told us.

I sat back in my chair not realizing I had moved forward in the suspense of listening. Sky squeezed my hand slightly to let me know she was thinking the same way.

What the hell?

“So what are we going to do?” I asked.

“We are going home. We need to pretend like everything is normal and that we are not immortal blood suckers and all that jazz,” Nikkee replied.

I moved forward, reached my arms around the chair and her. She was scared, more than I was. She didn’t have a handle on her feeding like she thought. I could see it as clear as day in my mind. She was terrified she would eat her parents and anyone else she met. She had done well on her first feed, but now she had a taste for it, she just wanted more and more and that scared her as much as it scared me. Was I going to start feeling like that once my buzz wore off from her blood?

“We will help, Nikkee. We wouldn’t let you do anything we know you wouldn’t want to do,” I said reassuring her.

“Yes, we will all be there Nikkee,” Sky added.

I looked down, saw Lachlan’s hand reach over and place it on Nikkee’s leg and gave a small squeeze. His way of saying, he would be too.

Lust and longing swept over me. I wanted to reach around and grab Lachlan around the neck and crush my lips against his and…!

“Oh God,” I said and sat back in my seat. I placed my hands on my head and hung it down. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block the image out.

“Now you know how I feel,” Lachlan said. I could hear the laugh in his tone.

“Shut up,” I snapped.

“No, seriously, do you think it is fun for me? Wanting to leap into Jason’s arms and ravage him?” he asked.

I looked up, “Really!?”

“Yeah, really. So please work on blocking us out because it makes it quite uncomfortable trying to have a normal conversation with him,” he laughed.

I laughed too.

“I never thought of that. It’s kind of creepy,” I said.

“Tell me about it,” he replied in a smart arse tone.

“I will do my best,” I promised.

I did not want to have images of wanting to kiss Lachlan and I definitely didn’t want to have images about Lachlan wanting to kiss Jason. It was starting to get weird. I tried to clear my mind.

“I wonder if I can swap and choose who I want to have feel me or be able to block you all out, but keep Nikkee’s feelings and emotions just below the surface in case she ever needed me,” I said out loud, more to myself.

“It would be good if you can do that. But don’t shut us out completely we are also your lifeline if you ever need us,” he replied.

“Only if a witch hasn’t put a spell on you to not feel anything,” I pointed out.