“Mitchell,” Momma cried with a smile. “I was letting the girls feel their new baby sister.” She smiled happily at Daddy, and I wondered if she couldn’t see the shadows around him. I hadn’t either, until baby Quinn had kicked me.
Daddy leaned down to kiss Momma on the head, and he ruffled my hair too. “I’ve got to go into the office for a couple hours. I’ll be home in time for dinner. Girls, be good for your Momma.”
“Yes, sir,” we said in unison, Kincaid muffled, as she kept her head buried against Momma. I sat there waiting, until I heard the door shut, as Momma looked at me. “Claire bear, what’s wrong, sweetie? You seem different around your daddy.”
I glanced down, but I could see Kincaid looking at me, begging me without words.
“I’m scared of the shadows.” I whispered finally. Momma frowned and reached out to stroke my cheek, “What shadows, Claire bear?”
I knew then she couldn’t see them, and that frightened me even more. “The shadows around Daddy.” My voice was barely a whisper, my fear of the shadows, and now Daddy, choking my voice.
Momma looked scared all of a sudden, and I was afraid she was scared of me. “What do you mean exactly by the shadows?” Her words were careful, and she smiled at me encouragingly.
“They dance around Daddy. They never leave him,” I answered her, frowning.
“When did you start to see the shadows?” I felt better, since Momma seemed to believe me.
“After we felt Quinn kick,” I said, gesturing to Kincaid and Momma’s belly. The terror that crossed Momma’s face in that moment made my heart hurt. I threw myself at her, hugging her as hard as I could. Kincaid clung to her too, desperate to make her feel better.
“It’s okay, girls,” Momma whispered, holding us tightly, while rocking. She pushed us back a little and looked at Kincaid. “Do you see the shadows too, Kinny?”
Kincaid shook her head and looked at me. “What is it, KinCaid?” Momma sing sang her name and she giggled.
“He smells,” she said, looking up at Momma. Her face grew still at those words, and I knew it meant something bad.
Momma wrinkled her nose, “Like he smells bad? Or good?” she asked, in a funny voice.
“Bad!” Kincaid exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her face. “Like that egg we had to throw away the other day!”
I set my hand on Momma’s belly and felt baby Quinn roll over and kick hard. Momma forced a smile at us, but she looked sick.
“Well, I’ll have to see what I can do about that!” she declared in a cheerful voice, but I wasn’t fooled. Momma was scared now, scared of what we saw and smelled when we were around Daddy. Her fear made my tummy swirl. “But we shouldn’t mention it to Daddy, okay?” She smiled at us reassuringly. “We don’t want to hurt his feelings, now do we?” We shook our heads solemnly. We didn’t want Daddy angry at us either. She pulled us tightly to her, and I heard the whisper above my head. “I promise to protect you.”
It was four in the morning when I woke from the dream, so I decided to go for a run. The steady pace I forced myself to keep helped clear my head. I had suspected, but finally remembering the reason I was wary of my father hit me hard. He was my first sight of evil, and even as a child, I recognized the danger. Mother had realized it as well, when we told her. She must have had experience with visions, abilities even, I thought. Kincaid had shown one too when she could smell him, a smell I now realized was sulfur.
It stood to reason our ability had to be genetic; a gift from our mother or father, or perhaps both had abilities. I couldn’t remember the color of their eyes though, but Kincaid had the same blue eyes as me. I wondered if that meant something. Mother had called us special, and I always assumed it was just something a mother would tell her children, but now I thought maybe she had meant it as something more. Perhaps our destiny was a little bigger than your average one.
He was waiting for me on the porch steps, as I came back from my run, Serafin curled up on his lap. The white bag next to him had the name of my favorite bakery on it.
“Should I be jealous? Has my fickle feline found a new companion?” I joked, plopping down next to them on the step.
“I fear I was nothing more than a momentary convenience for her,” Luke responded ruefully, as Serafin sashayed out of his lap. I smiled, before peeking into the bag between us.
“And what have you brought me?” I asked, taking a deep whiff of cinnamon. “Mm, are those cinnamon scones?”
“I’m impressed you recognize them by the smell alone. They’re a favorite of mine,” he answered, turning to grab a coffee cup on his other side and handing it to me. “I have news.”
I looked up, hopeful. Could it be possible he had found Kincaid so quickly? He shook his head at my hopeful look.
“Not really good news,” he explained. “Well, some of it is.” I cocked my head, urging him to go on. “Jessie left Jeremy last night. Showed up on my mom’s doorstep. Seems like your burning trick did the trick.” I smiled hugely at that. He was right, it was good news, and I was also glad to know my illusion had held. “The other bit is less exciting. It seems the Youth Village burned down twelve years ago, taking with it all its records.”
My eyes narrowed at his news. Twelve years ago, I had gotten my powers, and apparently the home my sister had been left at burned down. I didn’t believe in coincidence.
“I know, I thought it was a bit odd myself, so I did some more digging. The fire was declared arson and assumed to be started by one of the former tenants of the village. A Michael Hunt.” He paused here. “But Michael Hunt was never arrested or found. I spoke with the sheriff in town, and he said most who worked there had scattered years ago, but there was still one woman that lived in town who worked for the Youth Village for going on thirty years. There’s a chance she might remember Kincaid.”
I nodded at him. “It’s worth a shot. At the moment, it’s the only lead we have.”
Luke looked reluctant to say it, but he did anyway, “We do know where your dad is.”
I shook my head adamantly. “I remembered something last night. It’s why I went for a run. I’m the reason my mother hid us from our father.”
I explained my dream and the shadows to him. He looked overwhelmed, but kept an open mind.
“Shadows?” he questioned me, and I wondered how to explain.
“Yes, they surround someone evil. Jeremy had them. It’s how I knew he was no good. I’ve been able to see them since my eyes turned blue. I think my mother must have done something to our powers that night. Whatever she did turned our eyes brown and locked our abilities away.”
He nodded again, and I couldn’t help myself. “You’re taking this much better than I would have expected,” I mentioned, uncertain I would be so accepting, if our roles were reversed.
“It helps that I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” he replied distractedly. He held up the hand he was holding. The hand he had taken the moment I sat down. “I can’t deny that I need to touch you whenever I’m near you. Not just want, need. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before. Not only that, but I would damn near do anything for you. Jump in front of a speeding bullet, take you to New Mexico, anything you need to be happy.”
I threw my arms around him and he caught me, pulling me more fully into his embrace. I buried my head into the crook of his shoulder, inhaling his clean scent. His arms around me were strong, and I felt truly safe for the first time, since I was six years old. I pulled back from him after a moment, our faces inches from one another.
“I’m not sure what the future will hold. I don’t even know what I am or what we’ll face, but I do know this. You are worth it. Everything I’ve survived led me to you, and I would do it again for the chance to find you. I never believed in happily ever after, until I met you.”
My last words were caught by our lips joining together, as he kissed me for the first time. It was the first kiss of the last man I would ever kiss. I knew that without a shadow of a doubt. The burn
I felt when he touched me turned into an inferno, as he kissed me. Flickers of images shot through my mind at the touch of his lips on mine. They moved so fast, I could only catch a couple. One, an image of a boy with my eyes, and in the last, I was standing between two women, all three of us with identical blue eyes.
Our lips parted, and our foreheads settled against each other. His hand cradled my face, as he whispered, “You are my future.”
We heard a throat clear, and our heads jerked up. “I hate to interrupt this touching moment, I really do, but we’ve got more serious matters to deal with.” She was tiny, was my first thought. The second was how big that gun looked in her tiny hands.
She caught our sudden concern, as we looked at the gun. She waved it gently, and we leaned back. “Chill, I don’t intend to hurt you. I just wanted to make sure you listened, because other people do want to hurt you.”
I blinked, studying her. “You were in my house yesterday.” I murmured, feeling Luke jerk next to me. She caught his movement, before nodding at me.
“Yes, you’re much stronger than I gave you credit for. I don’t know what your ability is, but there’s no doubt you’re one of the three.”
“The three?” I questioned, obviously this woman knew far more than I did.
She sighed and looked up at the sky, as if she were searching for answers to the universe. “You really don’t know anything, do you? And I don’t have the time to explain it to you. Suffice to say, you’re in danger, every day, until you are reunited with your sisters, and even then you’re still in danger. You are the culmination of a five-hundred-year-old prophecy—an incredibly dangerous one. There are those that feel your death would keep you from being united with your sisters and therefore stop the prophecy. Others want you brought together, so they can see the prophecy fulfilled to their advantage. Any way you slice it, you’re in danger.”
“What prophecy? Are my sisters in danger as well?” I demanded, seeking information, because for the first time in my life, I was in front of someone that could possibly give me clear answers.
“There’s no time.” She looked apologetic. “I’m truly sorry, but I’m risking myself to warn you. You need to leave. Find your sisters. Together is your only chance to survive what’s coming. Your decision will decide the fate of the world.”
Serafin screeched and jumped down in front of the woman, separating her from us. Serafin caught me by surprise, and the second our eyes were off of her, the woman disappeared from sight. We jumped up; looking for her, but Serafin head-butted my leg, her urgency apparent. She was warning us, just like the woman had.
I tugged on the hand I still held. “I hope you were serious about New Mexico, because we need to go now.” I told him, alert to our surroundings. We had no time if the crawling sensation on my neck was any indication.
Suddenly, I was tucked under Luke’s arm, my back to his chest and being unceremoniously dragged to his car. His entire body covered mine in an attempt to protect me from any type of physical attack that may come at us. He had the car door open and was tucking me in, when we heard the first shot.
“Fuck!” he roared, and instead of going around, he crawled in with me. His Charger was a roomy car, but he was a big man. He continued to cover me with his body, but there was nowhere to go as he shifted over me. A second later, the back of the seat laid flat, and we were horizontal.
“You find danger a turn on?” I quipped, feeling his big body cover me completely. This earned me a choked laugh, as he pulled himself up.
“I find you irresistible,” he replied, and while I knew he said it to make me laugh, there was no denying the truth that echoed in his words. “But right now I think we should escape the bullets coming our way.”
“Good idea,” I agreed, missing his warmth as he pulled himself into the driver’s seat. He kept his head down as he gunned the engine down my drive. His arm hovered over me protectively, while I stayed curled up on the still reclined seat. It made me a more difficult target, and we both knew I was the reason for the shots.
Within minutes, we were on the highway, and I reached into my pocket for my phone, thankful I always kept it on me. We would need money and weapons to make it to New Mexico, and I knew just the man to call.
“Garvin,” I said, when he answered the phone. “Plan Mayday in effect.” Luke glanced over at the high pitched squeal that came through the speaker. “Garvin. I’m serious.”
“I’ve got you. No worries. Where do we meet?” he answered me calmly, all business now.
“Where Sweet Tea pulled us over. We’ll need a car too, preferably bullet proof.”
“On my way,” he assured me, ending the call as I slid the phone down.
“Plan Mayday?” Luke sent a questioning glance at me, as he made random turns to elude anyone that attempted to follow us from my house.
“A joke. Well, not a joke now. But when I first found Garvin, he was fascinated by my life, especially my time living on the streets. We had so many conversations about what you would need to start over. What I wished I would have had in a few instances.” I gave a reluctant chuckle at the memory. His fascination would come in handy now. “So Plan Mayday was born. A contingency plan, if I ever had to pick up and disappear.” I looked down at my fingers twisting in my lap. Luke reached over and wrapped his hand around mine, stilling them. “Sometimes, I think he did it so he’d know if I ever left. It was his way of making sure I didn’t disappear from his life without a warning.”
“I can’t blame him for that,” Luke murmured, tightening his hand around mine. “I’m glad I was here.” I could hear the unvoiced fear in his words. If he hadn’t been here when it all went down, would I have left him without a word? It was my turn to grip his hand tighter.
“Let me make this clear. I wouldn’t leave without you. Like it or not, we’re a package deal now.” My tone was fierce, as I staked my claim to him.
“I like,” he replied, with a possessive rumble. I relaxed back in my seat, marveling at the incredible changes my life had undergone in such a short period of time. A part of me held onto disbelief, wondering where the defiant rebellious woman I had been went, disappearing with nothing more than the gentle touch of the man next to me.
If was as if that touch had shattered the brittle shell surrounding me and allowed me to emerge as the woman I was meant to be. A woman that I hadn’t known existed inside of me: fiercely confident, passionate, and loving … the last piece more surprising than the rest. Loving. Not a word I would have ever used to describe myself, believing my heart to be incapable of such an emotion. I had always assumed love would weaken me, tie me down, but instead it had set me free.
The danger that surrounded us was immense, but for the first time in years I felt alive, set on possibilities I had buried long ago. The flicker of hope that had sprung inside of me when I touched him had grown into a flame. My sisters were out there, and we would find them.
“Where do we need to meet him?” Luke interrupted my internal monologue, and I laughed, the sound surprising us both. He gave me a curious smile to which I replied with an offhand shrug. I couldn’t exactly explain my happiness to him.
“Um, where you pulled me over. Do you remember?” I asked him, ready to give directions. He shook his head, almost as if he couldn’t believe I would ask him that.
“I remember. I don’t think I’ll ever forget,” he said, with a smile. “What is sweet tea, by the way?” There was no way he missed my flush at his question, and no chance he would let it go.
He arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
“That’s what Garvin called you when he saw you for the first time. A long drink of sweet tea,” I admitted, with only a hint of the embarrassment I felt. Luke gave a startled laugh, shaking his head. He had never really had the opportunity to get the full Garvin experience, and I could only picture how it would go when it did happen.
After another half hour of aimless driving to make sure we weren’t followed, he pulled over onto
the shoulder where we first saw one another. He left the car idling, remaining alert to the possibility that we would be found.
“Touching you …” He paused, and I found myself waiting anxiously, wondering if he could put the feeling into words where I couldn’t. “… altered me. I don’t know how else to explain it. I’m not the same man I was before I touched you.”
I nodded, understanding better than he knew. My hand was cradled in his. Touching him felt as necessary to me as breathing now.
“But even before I touched you; that first glimpse of you ...” He paused, a faraway smile on his face. “I’d never seen a woman as beautiful as you were. I had to remove my sunglasses to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.” He chuckled, looking at the moment in hindsight.
“I was actually seeing things, but you were all I wanted to see. It’s as if your face filled my field of sight. You became everything. I couldn’t shake it. I didn’t want to walk away. So I pursued you.” He admitted this with a casual shrug; one I knew wasn’t nearly as casual as it appeared. So far, nothing about us had been remotely casual. Compelling, perhaps, but not casual. Fate was a term I had never believed in, but now couldn’t seem to escape.
Luke tensed next to me, as we watched a black SUV slow down to pull in behind us.
“It’s okay. It’s Garvin,” I replied to his unspoken question. He glanced at me, but trusted me enough not to ask if I was sure. I jerked my head, indicating we needed to get into his vehicle. Luke nodded and opened the glove box. He pulled out a semi-automatic Glock before sliding out of the car. I sidled quickly to the passenger door of Garvin’s SUV, uncomfortable with being out in the open, since the last time I was, shots were fired at me.
Slipping into the car, I noticed Garvin was dressed head to toe in black. The first time I had ever witnessed such a thing.
“Very Mission Impossible,” I complimented him, gesturing to his clothes. He preened a bit, obviously happy I’d noticed.
Unbound (The Trinity Sisters Book 1) Page 6
