Storm and Fury

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “They want to play with their prey first?” I finished for him, feeling my stomach twist. “Or use them to draw out more Wardens? I know what demons do to Wardens.”

  “I hope they’re not torturing Misha,” Peanut whispered. “He’s always so freaked out when he knows I’m around, but I like the dude.”

  Nicolai twisted around, facing me. “I know this may be hard to hear, but the likelihood of him being alive—”

  “He’s not dead,” I said. “I would kn—”

  “We’re not giving up on him,” Thierry said, interrupting me. “We are still going to look for him.”

  A but hung in the air between us. A but that meant they would look for him, but they wouldn’t endanger other Wardens to do so. But meant that, in the end, Misha was disposable, because if he was killed, the bond would be broken but would be reassigned by my father.

  But meant that Misha was as good as dead.

  “We’re leaving in the morning to return home,” Nicolai was saying. “We will look for him in DC, as well.”

  “So, you’ve got your reinforcements and that’s it?” I snapped, unable to stop myself. “You come here asking for our help, but when we give it, you’re just going to bail?”

  “You tell them, Trinnie!” Peanut shoved his fist into the air.

  “Trinity,” Thierry warned.

  “We’re actually not getting reinforcements.” Zayne spoke up once more. “After the massive size of this attack, there’s no way the community can afford to send any new trainees with us.”

  “Well, that sucks,” I grumbled, and he cocked his head. “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Wow,” Peanut murmured. “You could sound a little more convincing.”

  Then it struck me.

  Zayne had said he recognized the demon, so there was a good chance that this demon would be taking Misha to DC. And now that they weren’t getting reinforcements, they still had their own problem to deal with—the problem of something killing demons and Wardens.

  Nothing against Zayne or his clan—I was not going to rely on them searching for Misha, and I couldn’t go to DC by myself. I’d never been, and I had no idea where to look. Add into that the problems with my vision? I’d need help.

  “I want to go to DC,” I said, and got nowhere quick.

  Peanut gasped.

  “Absolutely not,” Thierry said, placing his hands on the desk. “That is not going to happen.”

  I ignored him, turning to Nicolai. “I can help you.”

  Nicolai looked visibly uncomfortable as he met my gaze. “Trinity, I know you’re worried about Misha, but—”

  “I am worried about him. He’s like a brother to me, and I’m not okay with letting everyone else look for him while I stay sheltered here,” I said, ignoring the way Thierry’s jaw hardened.

  “I know you’re trained and you can hold your own,” Zayne began, walking away from the window. “And I’m sorry for what has happened to Misha. We will look for him. I promise you that. But we don’t have the resources to babysit you while you run around DC looking for him.”

  “Babysit me?” I laughed, my hands curling into fists. “Are you serious?”

  “Oh, no.” Peanut popped his hands on his hips. “Boy is about to get a smackdown.”

  “I don’t think he meant to say it the way it came across,” Dez said.

  “Actually, I did mean it that way,” Zayne said.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I said.

  “I’m freely giving it to you,” he replied.

  “While Zayne could have phrased that much better, he is right,” Dez continued, his voice rising above ours. “We have a significant issue at home and without reinforcements—”

  “Without reinforcements, you and I both know you won’t be going out of your way to look for Misha, and there’s a good chance this demon will take him to DC. You all said you’d seen him there.” My heart started pounding as I turned to Nicolai, who would ultimately have to agree for me to be able to go with them. “You have a problem, and I can help you better than any Warden can.”

  “Trinity.” Thierry started to rise. “Don’t—”

  Matthew reached behind him, placing his hand on Thierry’s arm, halting him.

  “I have no choice,” I said, voice thready. “I will not stand by and let something happen to Misha when I can do something about it.”

  “Oh, no...” Peanut drifted to the ceiling. “Oh, no, Trinnie, what are you gonna do?”

  I was going to show them exactly how I could help them.

  Thierry saw it written on my face as I took a step back. He lifted his hands as if he could stop me. “Your father—”

  “I don’t care what he thinks. You can’t stop me, Thierry. Neither can he. I’m eighteen and there is no law that supersedes the fact that I’m an adult,” I said, welcoming the warm glow sparking alive deep in my stomach. “I love you—I love both of you, but I have to do something.”

  Then I let the grace take over.

  19

  Warm, heady power lit up my veins and turned the corners of my vision from darkness to light, and I saw the exact moment those in the room saw that I wasn’t who they thought I was. For some reason, I focused on Zayne.

  His eyes widened as he took a step back from the glow that was starting to radiate from my skin. His arms unfolded to hang limp at his sides.

  “What in the Hell...?” someone whispered.

  “More like the opposite,” I said as I extended my right hand and felt the whirl of white fire erupt and swirl down my arm, forming the sword that had been very much like the one the statue of the battle angel had held.

  “Holy smackeroos,” Peanut whispered from somewhere above me.

  The sword was heavy and warm in my palm, spitting and dripping white fire as I pulled my gaze away from the awestruck expression that had planted itself on Zayne’s face to those of the older Wardens from DC. The glow from my grace danced over their faces.

  “I can help you defeat whatever thing is killing Wardens,” I said, fully aware of the fact that Thierry and Matthew looked like they were seconds away from having a heart attack. “This sword can cut down a fully shifted Warden within a heartbeat, leaving nothing behind. The same for a demon—any demon.” I lifted the sword, bringing it near my chest, causing both Wardens to flinch. I turned my head to where Zayne stood. “So, as you can see, I do not need a babysitter. You all need me.”

  “That’s enough.” Thierry’s voice was weary as he sat back down in his chair.

  “Is it?” I challenged, scanning the room. “Because I just want to make sure everyone in here realizes I’m not a liability. I’m an asset.”

  “I’m confident everyone in here now realizes that,” Matthew said, sighing. “Please, Trinity, pull it back. I think you’re starting to frighten them.”

  Smirking, I drew in a deep breath and forced my muscles to relax. The white fire around the sword flared and then flickered before the sword collapsed into itself, leaving a fine shimmer of golden dust that evaporated before it touched the floors. I knew the exact moment they could no longer see what existed in me when the corners of my vision returned to the vague, muddy darkness.

  Feeling itchy in my own skin, I crossed my arms and lifted my chin. “You help me find Misha and I’ll help you deal with your problem.”

  “What...?” Zayne cleared his throat, and when I looked at him, I inherently knew he had no idea what I was. No one could fake the shock settling into his face. That didn’t mean I trusted any of them entirely, but he truly hadn’t known. “What are you?”

  “She’s a Trueborn,” Thierry answered, sounding more tired than I’d ever heard. “Half human—”

  “Half angel?” Nicolai finished, his eyes wide as he stared at me with a mixture of wonder and...something else, something far more potent. Fear. “Y
ou’re a nephilim.”

  “I prefer to be called Trueborn,” I said. “Nephilim is so...outdated.”

  Peanut snorted, reminding me that he was still lingering in the room.

  “How?” Zayne reached out, clasping the back of an empty chair. “How is this possible? I thought that...”

  “You thought that all Trueborns were gone? Hunted out of existence by demons and Wardens alike and nothing but myth and legend?” Matthew supplied for him. “That is true.”

  “But...but she’s standing right here.” Zayne took a step toward me and then stopped short. “How?”

  “She is the last of her kind,” Matthew explained. “And we’ve been charged with keeping her hidden and safe in our community since she was a young child. That is how she’s lasted this long.”

  “That’s not the only reason,” I said, feeling the wet warmth start to drip from my nose. Reaching up, I wiped my hand under my nose. When I looked down, my finger was dotted with blood. I sighed. “It’s why I’ve been trained.”

  “And...you’ve just been kept here?” Zayne asked.

  “Until my father summons me.” I shrugged as Matthew strode toward me, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket. “End times, I guess, or something like that. But I’ve been safe because of Misha.”

  Matthew slowly lifted his hand, making sure I saw him before he dabbed the handkerchief under my nose. “Oh, Trinity,” he murmured, handing me the fabric.

  “Why is she bleeding?” Zayne demanded.

  “It’s the grace,” Matthew said, stepping back. “She’s always had nosebleeds afterward and it weakens her. Trinity may be a walking, breathing myth, but she is still half-human. Using the grace is hard on the human side of her. She’ll be curled up asleep somewhere soon.”

  I smiled a little at that, because he made it sound like I was child who tuckered herself out.

  “I think I know Misha’s role in this,” Dez said, speaking for the first time since I’d decided to do the whole show-and-tell routine. “If I remember correctly, when there were many more Trueborns, they were...bonded to Wardens. Their strength helps... How do I say it? Cancel out some of the human setbacks? And vice versa? The angelic side powers the Warden, makes them stronger and faster?”

  I nodded. “He’s my Protector. If you take me with you and help me look for him, I will help you with your problem. I will stay with you as long as it takes, even after we find Misha.”

  “That’s how you know he’s not dead,” Zayne said. “Because you’re bonded to him?”

  “Yes. I’d feel it.” I put my fist to my chest, crumpling the handkerchief in my grasp. “And I haven’t felt it. Not yet. Until I feel that, I cannot give up on him. I won’t. Would you?”

  A muscle flexed along Zayne’s jaw as he looked away.

  “Unbelievable,” Nicolai murmured. “Who all knows what she is?”

  “Very few,” answered Matthew, dropping down in the unoccupied seat. “If it were to get out, demons would be trying to breach these walls every day to get to her. Demons think she’s human unless they smell her blood.”

  “That’s why you all reacted the way you did to her blood,” Zayne said, cursing under his breath. “They can sense it and it will tell them she’s half-angel? Hell. They wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from coming after her. She’s the closest thing to Heaven that they’d ever get to.”

  “Yeah, and they tend to get a wee bit nom-nom,” I said, shivering. “Demons believe that if they consume a Trueborn, they’ll be able to enter Heaven.”

  “Holy Hell,” whispered Dez. “Is that true?”

  “We have no idea,” Matthew said. “But the demons believe it, and as long as they believe it, it’s a threat.”

  “And not the only one,” Thierry said. “Trueborn blood, bone, hair and even their muscles are coveted for incantations and spells. Every part of her is considered valuable in the dark market.”

  The dark market was sort of like the black market for organ donors...except the dark market was frequented by witches and demons and a whole slew of supernatural baddies.

  “I’m special.” I lifted my shoulders again. “Very special.”

  Zayne stared at me, opening his mouth and then closing it.

  “Is that why you can see ghosts?” Nicolai asked.

  “Oh, now people care about seeing me?” Peanut sighed dramatically from his position near the ceiling fan.

  I shook my head at him. “Yes, it’s because angels can see spirits and the souls of those who have died. And other humans that can do it, they have watered-down angelic blood. Probably from a great-great-great-grandmother times a thousand who got a little freaky with an angel.”

  “I think it goes without saying that you must not tell anyone what Trinity is, not even your other clansmen,” Thierry said, and something flickered across Zayne’s face, like he was putting a puzzle together in his head and he’d found the missing piece. “We were charged with keeping her safe until she is needed—”

  “And I’m needed now,” I told Thierry.

  “I know Misha is like a brother to you, but you cannot expose yourself to demons,” Thierry tried again, speaking softly. “You going after him is a risk that he wouldn’t even want you to take, and this could be a trap.”

  “I don’t care,” I said. “I could’ve stopped that demon. I should’ve used my grace to do so, but I didn’t. I can control it. You know that. I cannot sit around and do nothing, Thierry. I’m sorry. And if you forbid it or forbid them helping me, I swear to God, I will leave on my own. You will not be able to stop me. You know that.”

  Thierry did know that.

  Sitting back, he ran his palm over his face as he slowly shook his head.

  “This was coming,” Matthew said to him. “We knew this deep down. She’s right. We can’t stop her. Only her father can.”

  “Who is her father?” Zayne asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” Thierry muttered under his breath, and I snorted at that. They really didn’t. He lifted his head as he dropped his hand. “Trinity is a weapon, and whatever problem you’re having in DC, she will be able to help you. That is true. But are you willing to help her?”

  My breath caught as understanding roared through me. Thierry was relenting. Holy crap, he was.

  “Yes.” It was Zayne who answered, surprising me. “Yes, we will help her. You’re right,” he then said to me. “I couldn’t walk away from this, either, if this was someone I knew and cared about. So, I understand that. I do.”

  Feeling a little bad for being suspicious of him, I ducked my chin. “Thank you.”

  Nicolai’s gaze shifted from me to Zayne and then to Thierry. “Yes, we will help her.”

  I almost fainted, right then and there. Part of me couldn’t believe this was happening. They would help me find Misha and I...I was leaving the community, really leaving it, for the first time since I was a small child. We’d be leaving in the morning and I would need to pack.

  I was still stunned when Peanut spoke. “I’m going with you.”

  Surprised by Peanut’s statement, I forgot that I was around other people when I turned to him. “What?”

  Peanut was fully corporal, his eyes wide. “I’m going with you. To DC.”

  “But you haven’t left the community since you came here with me.”

  “Who...who is she talking to?” asked Dez.

  “Probably Peanut.” Thierry sighed. “He’s a ghost.”

  “You have a ghost here?” Nicolai’s voice was strangely pitched.

  “Yes,” answered Matthew. “Apparently he followed her here about ten years ago...”

  As Matthew explained who and what Peanut was, I focused on my ghostie roommate. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “I’m positive. If you’re leaving, I’m going.”

  “But I�
�ll be coming back,” I told him.

  A look of doubt crossed his pale face. “If you’re leaving, I’m going with you. Don’t even try to argue with me. You know it’s pointless. I’ll just follow you, anyway, and haunt you. You know I will.”

  I did. He would totally do that.

  “Okay.” I turned back to everyone. “Well, apparently you’re getting a two-for-one special. Peanut’s coming with.”

  * * *

  Saying goodbye to Jada and Ty the following morning was harder than I ever could have imagined, even if it was temporary.

  “I wish we were going with you,” Jada said, her beautiful vivid blue eyes glimmering. “I’m going to be so stressed out with you being out there and me stuck here.”

  “Don’t,” I told her, squeezing her hands. “You know I can take care of myself and I’m not going to be alone.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to worry any less.” Ty reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You promise to call us every day.”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  “FaceTime,” Jada said. “You have to FaceTime us even though I know you hate it.”

  “I will even though I completely hate it,” I said, laughing. “I won’t be gone that long, and I’ll be back before you know it, with Misha.”

  “Yes.” Jada squeezed my hands. “With Misha.”

  Jada and Ty hung out while I finished packing, which consisted of me throwing all the leggings and tops, along with a few lightweight sweaters, I could pack in an oversize luggage. It was just the start of summer, so I figured there could still be some cool nights. Upon Jada’s suggestion, I added a few pairs of jeans. After they left, I shoved all the undies and bras I owned into a small suitcase, because I really didn’t know how long I was going to be. I was trying to be optimistic, but even with the DC clan’s help, it wasn’t like I was going to show up and find Misha immediately, and that was if—

  “Stop,” I whispered, closing my eyes. Misha was still alive, and he would stay that way. I refused to believe anything else.

  Opening my eyes, I zipped up the bag and then grabbed my laptop, shoving that into a tote along with my glasses and the satchel with my blades in them. Then I went to my nightstand and picked up the photograph of my mom and her paperback. Carefully I tucked them away in a tote bag, placing them in between the sweaters that didn’t fit in the suitcase so they’d be safe. I was scanning my room for anything else I might need when there was a knock on my open door. I turned, finding Zayne.