“No, I don’t believe it.” My insistence on Scott’s innocence was borderline fanatical, but I could not believe he’d betray me. I’d never felt unsafe around Scott, or had any type of vision of him hurting me. You didn’t see this, the words whispered through my mind before I could stop them, maybe your gift is wavering. I shoved the thoughts from my mind. I saw what I needed to see, it had always been that way. If Scott was a danger to me, I’d see it.
Garvin glanced at Sinclair, but she shrugged helplessly.
“I never saw him. I couldn’t tell you if he had any shadows.” The reminder of her ability to see evil instead of smell it had me whining.
“It’s completely unfair that you see shadows around evil people, and I get to smell the equivalent of hell farting.”
This had everyone chuckling until Luke commented, “I wonder how Quinn knows? It seems to be a sense, sight and smell for you two, but there’s sound, taste, touch. I wonder which one belongs to her.”
She would know now. Her power didn’t just come in because she hit puberty or had a birthday. It was because she was in such danger that she needed her magic. My eyes met Sinclair as we had the same thought. We had to find her, protect her from our father, and teach her what little we knew – it would be our only hope of surviving what was to come.
“We’ll find out.” Sinclair’s determination had us all nodding. She glanced at me. “You’ll be the one to find her.” Her sympathy washed over me even as I worried about the fact that I hadn’t had a vision of Quinn, ever, not even after seeing her last night when her power came in. If I couldn’t find her, we might never unite as the trinity.
“At the moment, we need to consider Scott unknown and dangerous.” I glared at Milo, but he refused to back down. “We don’t know what his intentions are, and I’m not willing to take the risk with your life. These enemies don’t want to kill you, Kincaid, they want to use you.” His concern was unmistakable, and I couldn’t deny the shiver I felt when he mentioned our enemies. There were worse things than death, and there was no doubt what awaited me if they successfully captured me.
“We won’t let them.” Piper’s low words held weight as she met my eyes. “I swore to protect your sister and I swear to protect you. The trinity needs to exist. I believe you will bring the light to us. You’ve already triggered magic even the elders have never seen. We can’t stay in this state of neutrality any longer. We have to fight for the right thing. Inaction only makes the evil stronger.”
“You never cease to amaze me, sis.” Milo reached over and dragged his little sister into a hug. “And you’re right. If Kincaid’s prophecy is right, the light will win out.”
“Yeah, but not without a fair amount of devastation.” Remembering the lines of prophecy that had followed my telling of the three sisters, I couldn’t help but dread what might happen.
“What prophecy?”
“Past, present, and future blend,
The earth rumbles, the wind wails,
The flames burn as the rain pours.
Three form the trinity,
United, bound, and found,
Together create the light
Darkness cannot break.”
Garvin broke the silence that followed my recounting. “Definitely sounds prophetic. Kind of an end of day’s vibe you have going there.” I watched Sinclair shiver before pasting a smile on her face.
“We win.” She sounded resolute. “That’s what it says. We win. There will be a battle.” A hard swallow followed that statement before she continued. “But he can’t break us, and that’s what matters. Together we will defeat him.”
“Girl power!” Garvin pumped his fist enthusiastically and I laughed.
“Do you miss not having a vagina?”
“You could not handle me if I had a vagina.” There was no mistaking the sass in that head shake. “Not to be a buzzkill but what now?”
“Perhaps we should take this somewhere more private. If Scott is an enemy then the enemy knows where we are.” Evan nodded toward the window where our motley crew was catching more than a few curious glances.
“Well, that nixes my apartment.” I managed to say it with minimal bitterness. I wouldn’t risk my sister’s safety, even if I didn’t believe Scott was the enemy.
“Evan’s house is out since Mitchell suspects his connection to Kincaid. After our little rescue I’m sure they will keep an eye on his house or any place he frequents.” Milo stated.
“We didn’t leave anyone alive to talk.” I argued, tucking one of my wayward curls behind my ear impatiently.
“Exactly why I think they’ll be more prepared when they make the next attempt. And they will scour Evan’s life to see where he made the connection to you. We aren’t safe here. We’ve got your sister now so there’s no reason to stay here.”
“Then that leaves your place. No one should know about it.”
“I’d rather a place none of us have ever been. No ties to any of us. It minimizes the chance someone will discover it.”
“Like a hotel?”
“It might be our best option at the moment.”
“Let’s go then.”
“If your ex-fiancé sees us leave, he might follow.” Portia piped up. The difficulty of sneaking eight people, a wolf, and a cat out of a glass conference room and through a lobby did not escape me.
“Then we make him think we’re still here.” Sinclair’s smile was devious, and I couldn’t help but wonder how we were supposed to accomplish that. I asked her, and she seemed surprised before it dawned on her. “You’ve never seen my gift.”
“We’ll need to leave without being seen though. Your illusion can’t do that.” Luke reasoned and Milo replied, “Kincaid can cloak us. The same way she did Kai when we came in.”
“We can take our car when we leave.” Sinclair said, counting heads. “Everyone should fit in the SUV. It’ll be tight though.” She glanced at me. “It’s bullet proof. Which has come in handy.”
“Just so long as you don’t drive.” Garvin interjected, making the sign of the cross.
“You didn’t die.” Sinclair stuck her tongue out at him, and I giggled. The exchange was so unlike the image I’d built in my mind of Sinclair. She was supposed to be tough, serious, and focused. Instead I found she was happy, and more open than I’d imagined. The soft glance she shared with Luke clued me in that maybe he was the reason for her attitude. Our protectors seemed to have the ability to protect us from ourselves as well as others.
“The timing will have to be perfect.”
“Can you cloak everyone in the room at the same time or individually?”
“Either way. It’ll probably be smoother if we do it individually.”
“Yes, I can project the illusion of them as you cloak them. It won’t be as noticeable.”
“Start with Kai. He’s harder to see from the window.”
“Okay.”
I whispered the spell to cloak him, and for a split second he disappeared before suddenly reappearing. It was such a perfect duplicate I questioned if the spell had worked. He moved back toward the door, tail wagging.
“Did?” My gaze switched between Kai and Sinclair as my question trailed off.
“Yep.” Sinclair grinned at my startled awe. Her gift was amazing. The ramifications of what she could do were huge.
“That is so cool.” I finally managed to say, completely impressed by my big sister.
“Damn.” Milo muttered. “It’s the silent Kai. Can we keep him?”
“Dude, I can hear you, and don’t think I’m gonna forget. It’s not like I want you to be able to hear me.” Milo grunted as the invisible Kai knocked into him. “He looks nothing like me either. I’m much better looking.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Who’s next?” Sinclair’s gaze landed on Portia, and she stepped forward. We moved from person to person that way until everyone had a doppelgänger, finally finishing with each other.
“This has got to be t
he weirdest thing yet.” Milo said next to me. I couldn’t see his face, but from the sound of his voice he was staring at his mirror image, who had his arm around my mirror image. The sight was disconcerting to say the least.
“I look good.” Sinclair’s illusion of herself rolled her eyes at Garvin’s statement, and I laughed. “What? I’m on point. Even my hair looks good and you know we had an early morning. I can admire myself.” He huffed and I could practically see his arm wave.
“Now comes the hard part. Getting out without running into anyone or losing each other.” The cloaking spell did an admirable job of making each of us disappear, but it meant we couldn’t see one another either. “Remember they can still hear us and feel us if we brush against them so be careful.”
“Why do I feel like you’re looking at me when you say that?” Kai whined.
“Because I am.” I retorted mildly. “The tricky part will be getting out the door. Each of us needs to keep up with the person in front of them. If we become separated met up at the coffee shop two blocks away.” I gave them directions, and told them how to undo the spell if necessary. We slipped out the door keeping watch on the lobby as we timed our exits when no one was looking toward the conference room.
I brought up the rear as I slipped out seconds behind Evan. I trusted him to keep up with Patrick who’d went ahead of him. He was our guide to the SUV since he knew where it was parked. We made it out the door to the street and the sudden onslaught of people to avoid distracted me. A warm hand grasped mine and tugged me to the right.
“Evan?” I had no idea who held my hand, the grip felt masculine, but without being able to actually see them I wasn’t sure. He didn’t respond, which felt odd, but a group of students on a field trip almost walked into us and I had to move to avoid getting trampled. I let the hand guide me, figuring it was Evan or Patrick with me. Moments later, I spotted Scott walking behind us, his gaze frantic as he scanned the street. The thought that he was looking for me crossed my mind, but a whiff of sulfur had me spinning around. We had cut down a side street, to the SUV I thought, but from the smell we’d been intercepted by our enemies.
“Well, look what we have here.” They came from both sides, more than I could count. My hand slipped from the one that held mine, no longer sure if it was friend or foe. The way their eyes skimmed the area, I knew they couldn’t see me through the cloaking spell. It was my only advantage since I was severely outnumbered.
The fight was short lived as they figured out where I was. I managed to take out six of them before they surrounded me. Two sharp jabs felled another one, and as I attempted to slip through the crack he’d created, I felt the needle pierce my arm. Whatever was injected worked almost instantly, the blackness enveloping my vision before I hit the ground.
Chapter Twelve
“Where is she?” My stare was black as I glared at Evan and my father. Neither they nor Kincaid had made it to the SUV so we’d went to the coffee shop to regroup. Evan was waiting on us and Patrick had shown up seconds later, but Kincaid was nowhere to be found. The pulsing in my blood told me she was in danger and one of them knew something.
“I don’t know, son.” My rage notched up at the word son. My mate was missing, and there was a possibility my father knew where or why. His use of the word son did nothing to calm me. If he’d harmed her in any way, I’d kill him in a second. He held his hands up. “The street was crowded and I was afraid we’d get separated. I told Evan to head left, then go to the black SUV on the next street. I figured one of us would uncloak, and he’d be able to recognize which vehicle. But I lost him and Kincaid.”
“I heard you talking, Patrick, but I didn’t catch the words. Kincaid had my hand, but then there was a group of school kids. We were separated. I decided to head to the coffee shop.” Evan paused, his face haggard as he looked every inch of his sixty years. “I saw Scott on the street. He appeared to be looking for something or someone. I thought she was safe. The cloaking…no one should have been able to see her.”
“Unless she broke the cloaking spell.” My father shook his head even as he said it. “But that makes no sense. Why would she do that? And who would have been close enough to recognize her?”
“Scott. He was on the street.” Evan said, exhaustion making his words heavy.
“Could he have taken her by himself?” Portia asked curiously.
“No.” I replied distractedly. This felt wrong. Scott had been with Kincaid for years, yes she’d dumped him, but why would he go after her? I knew he wouldn’t have a chance against her in a fight. If someone took her, they would have needed an army.
“Are we sure someone took her? Maybe she left on her own.” Luke obviously didn’t want to be the one to mention it, but the point had to be made.
“No way.” Kai rested against my leg, his words reverberating in my head. “Someone took her. The same ones who had Evan. Now whether it was Evan, your father, or Scott that lead them to her, I don’t know. But I do know she’s in danger.”
“Can you track her?” I kept the words inside of my mind, not entirely sure if Kai could telepathically communicate with me the same way he did with Kincaid.
“Yep.”
“Go.” His weight left my leg. I’d never lifted the cloaking spell from him because there were so many people around. A customer opened the door, and I watched her stumble slightly as if something had brushed past her.
“We need to get off the street.” Portia murmured as her hand rested lightly against my arm. I gave her a tight nod, and we all headed to the SUV somberly. I waited till everyone had piled in before I stepped back.
“I’m going to check the area around the building. See if I spot something. You go ahead, find a hotel, and get checked in.” I patted my pocket where my cell phone was stashed. “Call me and I’ll meet you.” Portia gave me an uncertain look, but a quick glance toward Evan and my father had her nodding. I hadn’t forgotten his apparent ability to read minds, and until I knew for certain I could block him from reading me, I needed to avoid him. At the moment, the only one I trusted with Kincaid’s life was Kai.
“Anything?”
Kai had led me to a nearby side street, as I examined the area I could see signs of a struggle. She’d brought down a few of them based on the amount of blood staining the street, but she was nowhere to be found. I pushed back the fear that she was lying dead on the ground next to me and I just couldn’t see her because of the cloaking spell.
“The cloaking spell would end if Kincaid died?” The question slipped out before I could stop it, and if a wolf could look sympathetic Kai did.
“We’d all know if she’d died. Since the trinity’s magic has been triggered, if one of them dies it will create a void. A noticeable one. It’s part of the reason so many want to get to one of them. They could potentially steal the power of the one killed. Magic would feel the loss. However, we are her protectors, guardians, and we’d feel her death on a different level.”
Kai’s words gave me a cold comfort, even as the idea of her death made me desolate.
“I can’t imagine a life without her.”
“You won’t have to.”
His cryptic words drew my gaze, and he sat down as stared at me steadily.
“You’ve completed the bond with her. Touch was all that was needed. If either of you dies, the other one will as well. Right now you’re our best link to her. Your magical abilities have merged, bonded. You should be able to get glimpses of her, what she’s feeling, what she’s sees, even what she feels.”
“But I’ve got nothing. I didn’t even know she’d been taken!”
“They might have drugged her.” He stood up and nudged me. “We might as well go. There’s nothing else here. They left in a vehicle and I can’t track her that way.”
“Scott was around here. Maybe he was part of it. He might have seen something.” I kicked a piece of trash as I gave a frustrated laugh. “It’s a needle in a damn haystack. She was fucking invisible when she was tak
en. Only a few knew that.” I didn’t want to think about the fact that it was likely my father or her grandfather was part of this but there was no escaping the logic.
“If they are responsible, they will be dealt with.” Kai sniffed the ground. “I don’t smell a scent I recognize. The sulfur is too strong.”
“You can smell it too?”
“Yes, only because of Kincaid though. It’s damn inconvenient at the moment.” Kai’s connection to Kincaid was impressive. It was almost as if they shared the same conscious.
“Maybe if we go to the street?”
“I could probably trace Scott’s scent. If he was on the street like Evan said.”
“Alright. But we need to disguise you. A fucking wolf walking through downtown is going to attract attention.”
Hours later and we’d followed more dead ends than I cared to think about. Scott’s scent had traced over itself multiple times. I wasn’t sure if was intentional or he’d actually been looking for Kincaid. Either way, we’d found nothing. Even when we checked Evan and my father’s trails they led to the café. We’d lost both at different points before picking them back up again. We couldn’t discount either as a suspect yet.
I stood in the parking garage, fighting the urge to go back to the street and keep looking. She’d been here and even as logic told me she was long gone, I wanted to stay where I’d last seen her.
“We won’t find anything here.”
“You reading my mind?”
“Just saying what I’m thinking.”
“It feels wrong to leave.”
“We will find her. I can promise you that, and when we do we’ll kill everyone that had anything to do with harming her.”
I glanced at Kai and nodded, neither of us would allow them to live, not after this. Even if it meant the death of our own blood.
I slid into the car with a sigh.
“I still need to be able to block Evan from my thoughts.”
“I can help you with that.”
I raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Kai’s tongue lolled out as he gave me a look.
“I know what Kincaid knows. I can tell you a spell to block him, if you think you can manage it?”
Found (The Trinity Sisters Book 2) Page 12
