Triple Infinity

by K. J. Jackson

  She came, delicious agony screaming into his mouth, and Triaten gratefully released with a shattering shudder.

  She collapsed on him, her body still quaking while it rose up and down on his chest.

  Her head under his chin, Triaten frowned at the ceiling.

  What the hell had he just done?

  ~~~

  The call came in late that afternoon.

  Triaten was out with the construction crew on the back of the new left wing, and Shiv was working on the mosaic. Triaten had cleaned and removed all of the red-gowned goddess holding the baby while Shiv showered. He left the white-gowned goddess, she was mostly done, and Triaten could see no errant traces of Shiv’s over-active subconscious attached to the figure.

  A blank slate greeted Shiv when she walked into the room, and the grateful look she gave Triaten was reward in itself for his quick work.

  “You really are a fixer, aren’t you?” she asked him, wonderment on her face.

  Triaten just shrugged.

  Bent over architectural plans, cold wind nipping at his neck, Triaten pulled away from the crew, surprised, when Stewart walked over to him with the phone. Stewart rarely set foot out of the kitchen, and walking across errant two-by-fours and nails scattering the mucky ground was definitely out of place for him.

  It was Aiden. He was back with Skye.

  After filling in Aiden on Shiv’s arrival in Brigton, Triaten promised he’d bring her down to Aiden’s house right away. As he walked toward the house to collect Shiv, Triaten ignored the twinge in his gut. He wondered how long it would be before Skye figured out that he and Shiv had gotten close.

  As they rode down the mountainside in Triaten’s jeep, which had been picked up from Joe’s and driven up to the ranch by one of his horse groomers days ago, he saw a new side of Shiv.

  He’d seen her scared, happy, angry, thoughtful, hesitant, and laughing, but he’d never seen her nervous. She twitched when she was nervous, picking invisible specs off her jeans and shirt. Her feet wouldn’t stop tapping, and she twirled dark strands of hair tightly around her finger, letting it unravel, and then twirling again. Triaten tried several times to start up a mundane conversation with her. But it was clear she couldn’t hold a thought in her head.

  They turned into Aiden’s long drive, and the deep ruts on the tight road bumped, making Shiv give up the hair twirling and grab the handle above the window.

  “I didn’t talk to Skye, but Aiden said their trip went really well. He said Skye was tired, but that she’d be ecstatic you were here.”

  “Hmm,” Shiv afforded his comment a small head nod.

  Triaten stopped the jeep, and put it into park. They were halfway up Aiden’s drive, still cloistered by thick groves of tall pines. He turned to Shiv.

  “Are you ready? Ready to see her? If not we can back up and wait a little while.”

  Shiv waffled for a long moment. She didn’t look confident in her choice, once made, but nonetheless committed. “No, I need to see her. I need to before it’s too late.”

  Triaten’s eyebrow rose in question as he looked at Shiv. “Before it’s too late for what?”

  But she didn’t answer. She was already looking out the window again, mind far off, feet shaking, hand tapping awkwardly on her thigh.

  They pulled into the clearing where Aiden and Skye’s house stood. Skye paced like a caged cougar on the long front porch. Aiden leaned against the railing, relaxed, watching her.

  Skye caught sight of the jeep and flew down the porch stairs and across the clearing, meeting the jeep halfway to the house. Tears were streaming down her face as she opened the passenger door before Triaten even had it in park.

  She looked like she was about to dive in at Shiv and smother her, but instead she stopped, staring at her through the thick curtain of wetness in her eyes.

  “Shiv...” her voice choked as she put her hand out to her sister, touching her arm lightly, almost as if she couldn’t believe Shiv sat right in front of her.

  Frozen for a moment, Shiv sat dumbly until the touch on her arm. Slowly, she swung her legs out of the car, backing Skye up as she stood.

  Skye gave her an inch before she could stand it no more, and threw her arms around her sister. A touch taller than Shiv, Skye had her head wrapped in one arm, the other gripped tightly around her waist. Skye’s eyes were squeezed tight, but it didn’t stop the tears from falling down behind Shiv, onto the edge of the jeep.

  “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Skye muttered, haltingly, over and over again.

  Shiv was caught, a deer in headlights look on her face, until Aiden stepped forward and squeezed his wife’s shoulder. He squeezed it three more times, increasingly more insistent, until she finally took the hint and released Shiv from the smother.

  Skye shuffled a step back, allowing Shiv space to step away from the jeep. But before Shiv had even taken two steps, Skye grabbed her hand and twisted their arms together. She wasn’t letting her sister go anywhere.

  Aiden smiled down at his wife, and then turned his attention to Shiv. “Hi, I’m Aiden, your sister’s husband.”

  He held his hand out to shake, but Shiv’s right arm was captive in Skye’s death grip. So she awkwardly turned her left hand outward and shook his hand.

  Triaten made his way around the jeep and greeted Aiden, then bent over to squeeze the part of Skye that wasn’t attached to Shiv.

  Skye was busy wiping her face with her right hand, so moments passed before she realized an ill silence hung over the group.

  Triaten stepped in. “Why don’t you two go inside to talk. It’s chilly out here.”

  Beaming, Skye started to the house, dragging Shiv along with her, crunching through the red and gold leaves blanketing the ground.

  The door closed behind the two women.

  Triaten and Aiden stayed by the jeep.

  Triaten walked around to the front of the jeep and hoisted himself up to sit on the hood. Feet on the bumper, he leaned forward on his knees as he stared at the closed door to the house.

  Aiden joined his friend, leaning against the jeep’s grill, legs crossed. He pointed with his thumb before he folded his arms across his chest. “I hope that goes well.”

  “Me too,” Triaten said, not believing in the slightest it was. “Did you see Shiv’s face?”

  Aiden nodded. “Yes, unfortunately. I just hope Skye pauses for a moment to see it too. She’s just so happy Shiv’s here.”

  Aiden looked around the clearing surrounding his house. The needles on the evergreens had started to turn winter-dull, and the leafless aspens stood out starkly, bare white twigs against the forest.

  “We missed fall completely, didn’t we?”

  “Pretty much. The leaves came down fast this year.”

  “Have you heard from Charlotte?”

  “No.” The lie came out quickly. Too quickly.

  Aiden gave Triaten an assessing glance. “Do we need to be worried about her?”

  Triaten shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

  Satisfied, Aiden nodded. “Did we miss much around here?”

  Triaten knew Aiden was really asking about the elders, and what they were up to. “They finally got DeLisio and Shafar together to figure out that land at the border of Algeria and Morocco. The both of them are at the ranch. And the elders are pretty consumed by that, right now.”

  Aiden nodded. “That’s good. That area has been a hotbed of unrest for too long. Too many innocents.”

  Both of their eyes shifted to the movement through the picture window in the living room. Shiv and Skye were clearly yelling at each other, circling, arms flailing, fingers pointing. They moved out of view.

  Aiden cringed and looked at Triaten. “What’s she like?”

  “Shiv? She’s a good one.”

  Aiden nodded and looked back at the trees. “How has that been working — the negotiations at the ranch?”

  “Pretty good. They think I’m just a caretaker, so don’t think twice about me n
osing about. It’s helped for guiding the talks.”

  “Any progress?”

  “They’re close to a deal. And actually, I have to go off tonight to take care of the roadblock,” Triaten said casually. “While I was waiting for Shiv to get ready to come down here, I talked to Horace — the only thing holding the deal back right now is a partner of DeLisio’s.”

  “A partner?”

  “Yes, apparently he’s entangled with a Malefic named Genevieve. You ever heard of her?”

  Aiden scanned his mind. “No. What family is she of? A purebred Malefic?”

  “Not sure.” Triaten shrugged. “Malefics have been popping out of the woodwork like termites, lately.”

  Aiden kicked the leaves in front of him. Triaten could tell he was antsy about whatever was happening in the house.

  "Training went well?”

  Aiden smiled at that. “It did. Skye can be a bit of a spit fire, and I’m sure you can guess how that went over with the masters.”

  “Her knuckles rapped a few times?”

  “More than a couple. I spent a lot of time emulating your peacekeeping skills.”

  Triaten chuckled at the comment. Aiden’s nature screamed warrior — there had never been a lot of room in his friend’s life for neutrality. “How did that work out for you?”

  He shrugged. “She’s alive. They’re alive. I chalk it up in the success column.”

  “Have you given any thought to having her fight a Malefic yet?” Triaten skirted into the issue lightly.

  “No.”

  “Aiden, you know she's going to have to be in battle eventually — until she actually feels what it’s like to fight death — no — face death –”

  Aiden stiffened, glaring at Triaten. “She won't be facing death.”

  Triaten rolled his eyes. “Clearly not, you'll be there. But until she's in a real battle, you don't know how you should be training — how she'll actually react, what you need to work on. You only have limited time, you know.”

  "Why do you say that?” Aiden demanded. “Have you heard something?”

  “No, but that doesn't mean the elders aren't making plans for you two right now.”

  Silence.

  Triaten tried again. “All I'm saying, is that the more experience she has — experience with a buffer of safety — the better Skye will be prepared for the moment your protection is more than two feet from her side. She needs true battle experience.”

  Aiden crossed his arms against his chest, eyes still on the house. “I know what you’re suggesting. And you know I don’t go on those missions anymore, Triaten. It’s been more than twenty years.”

  “I know, and I’m not trying to bring you back into the work. This is for Skye — do you really want the first time she’s in front of a Malefic, fighting, to be uncontrolled? Do you want it to be with her father again?”

  “He’s not going to try to kill her. He wants her power too much.”

  “Well, how about all of the Malefics you killed that came back after the time shift? How about the Folotto family? Do you think they’ve forgotten you killed six of their own — four that didn’t survive the time shift?”

  Reference to the reigning head family of the Malefic’s drew a scathing look from Aiden. The Malefics had no systematic elder organization like the Panthenites. They ran in randomness, juggernauts of power gained by crude backstabbing and assassinations. And there was no arguing Aiden had put himself on the Folotto’s to-be-killed list.

  Aiden wouldn’t look at Triaten. Truth or not, he didn’t like what Triaten was suggesting. He stared at the window. There was no movement inside.

  “How do you think it goes in there?” Aiden asked.

  “No clue.” Triaten replied, exasperated.

  ~~~

  When the door had closed behind them and they entered the warmth of the house, Skye could barely believe she was holding onto her sister. She had lost, and gained so much over the last half year. And here was the one thing that she thought she’d never have back again. Her sister. Tears began to slide down her cheeks once more.

  They walked into the wide open room, and Skye sat Shiv down on one of the long benches at the table. She still hadn’t let go of her hand. It was then, looking at her little sister, that she noticed her neck.

  “Oh my god, Shiv, what happened?” Skye’s fingers went to Shiv’s neck, gently touching the inflamed red lines, the marks bright red against her cream skin. Skye pushed dark hair out of the way and investigated the marks as they went around her neck.

  Shiv let her look for only a moment, and then jerked back at the touch. “It was nothing. A misunderstanding at a bar.”

  Alarm widened Skye’s eyes. “A bar? Shiv, these are not nothing. Someone was choking you.”

  Shiv pushed Skye’s arm away from her neck. “Please, can we drop it? I’m fine. This was my only injury, and I’m fine.”

  The sisters stared at each other. Both seeing the other as an adult for the first time.

  Skye couldn’t resist reaching up and tucking a strand of dark hair back from Shiv’s face as tears welled in her eyes. She had tucked that hair back countless times when they were children. “You’re beautiful. You were beautiful at fourteen. But now you’re a beautiful woman.”

  Shiv avoided Skye’s gaze and looked around the room. “Aiden’s handsome, and he seems nice.”

  “He is.”

  “He’s big.”

  Skye chuckled. “He is. I’m sorry I didn’t invite you to the wedding. After what you said to Triaten and Charlotte when they found you, and then the note you sent with box, I didn’t think...I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me.”

  Shiv got up from the bench and walked into the living room. Her left arm crossed her ribcage, and she rested her right elbow on it, her arm propped up with her hand fisted in front of her mouth. She looked out the picture window, and watched Triaten and Aiden at the jeep for a moment.

  With a deep breath, she turned back to Skye, still sitting. “You abandoned me.”

  Skye blinked, stunned.

  Shiv repeated herself, this time, stronger. “You abandoned me.”

  “Shiv, I never wanted to,” Skye pleaded. “I would have never left you alone. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I begged you. I begged you to stop. To not hurt him. I begged you. But you did it anyway. You did have a choice, Skye. That split second before you stabbed him. You chose.”

  “Shiv, I couldn’t take the chance. I couldn’t let him get anywhere near you again.”

  Shiv didn’t answer. But Skye could see her jaw flexing as she looked out the window.

  Skye stood, advancing on Shiv, her arms outstretched, reaching for her shoulders. “I know. I did have a choice. I was so stupid. And I’m so sorry. All I wanted to do was protect you.”

  Shiv stepped away from her, pointing at her. “No, Skye, when I said you abandoned me, I don’t mean just when you stabbed that kid. I mean again and again, you abandoned me. You did it when I was fourteen, and you’ve been doing it ever since.”

  Desperation escalated Skye’s voice. “Shiv, no. You didn't want to see me."

  “I was sixteen when you got out, Skye. Sixteen. Of course I didn't want to see you.” She was yelling now. “There have been a whole lot of years between then and now.”

  “But Shiv, I tried, at your apartment –”

  “Once.” Shiv interrupted her and stormed past her, back into the dining room. She turned back to Skye, finger still outstretched at her, accusing. “You tried once. Was that all I was worth? You could have tried again. And again.”

  Skye followed her, pleading. “I didn’t know. Shiv, if I had known.”

  “You are my sister, my only family, and you gave up on me. You gave up.” A tear fell down Shiv’s cheek. She smudged it away with anger. “And then I needed you, and you were nowhere.”

  “What, Shiv? I don’t understand.” Worry instantly replaced any ire that was growing in Skye. “When did you need me? I wou
ld have been there in a second.” She caught a hold of Shiv’s shoulder this time. “What happened? Shiv, stop — tell me — when did you need me?”

  Shiv looked Skye in the eye. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I needed you, Skye. Really, truly needed you. But you had already abandoned me.”

  Shiv shrugged Skye’s hand off her shoulder and walked to the door.

  Desperate, Skye reasoned at Shiv’s back. "Shiv, wait. I know it’s devastating. I know what it's like to be abandoned by the person you counted on the most.”

  Shiv looked over her shoulder at Skye as she grabbed the door handle. “Well then, me walking out this door will be nothing new to you.”

  The door to the house opened, and Shiv strode over the jeep. Her cheeks were pulsating pink.

  “Triaten, can I have the keys, please.” She held out her hand. It wasn’t a question.

  Triaten slid off the hood. “Let me drive you up to the ranch, love.”

  She glared up at him, hand shaking, palm still up and waiting. Triaten dropped the keys into it. She stomped around to the driver’s side, adjusted the seat, knocked it into gear, and sent leaves, dirt and gravel flying as she whipped the jeep in a tight circle and drove down the drive.

  Skye walked up to Aiden and Triaten just as the taillights disappeared into the trees.

  Aiden’s arm immediately went around Skye’s slumped shoulders. He pulled her into him, wrapping her in a tight embrace, and then kissed the top of her head. “Didn’t go as well as you had hoped?”

  Skye flattened her cheek onto Aiden’s chest. She bit her lip, trying to not let the tears restart. “I was so happy to see her and she...” her voice wavered as her head bent down. “She’s so angry at me, Aiden. And I can’t blame her. I did abandon her.”

  Aiden kissed her head again as his hand went up and down her back. “Tell me what I can do.”

  “Nothing.” She sighed. “I don’t know what to do. What I can even say to her.”

  “Do you want me to bring her back, kicking and screaming, if necessary? Or I can send Triaten to do so.”